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- Stateline Story
States Help More Workers Get Health Care
The stimulus package threw a lifeline to millions of newly unemployed workers by helping them pay for extended health care through the pricey federal COBRA law. But those laid off from small businesses get the help only if state law allows it.more -
- Stateline Story
Tracking the Recession: Credit Crunch Eases Slightly
It's still hard for states to borrow money, but Georgia shows it's not impossible.more -
- Stateline Story
Opinion: New Infrastructure Spending Demands New Thinking, Oversight
Congress and the Obama administration should find a new and better way to distribute billions of economic-stimulus dollars for infrastructure projects, John Rennie Short, who studies urban and environmental issues as a professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, writes in a commentary for Stateline.org.more -
- Stateline Story
Wall St. Ills Worsen State Fiscal Headaches
(Updated 4:30 p.m. EDT, Sept. 19, 2008)The turmoil on Wall Street is setting off warning bells in state capitols. The immediate casualty is the loss of millions of dollars in the value of states' pension funds and other investments, but a bigger fear of state officials is a prolonged financial crisis that further reduces already shrinking tax revenue.more -
- Stateline Story
Cash-Strapped N.J.: Pay up for State Police
Facing tough times financially, New Jersey recently started billing some of its smallest communities for a service they have enjoyed free for nearly 90 years: regular state police patrols that help towns without local police respond to crime, car accidents and other emergencies. Pennsylvania is considering doing the same.more -
- Stateline Story
Coaches earn way more than governors
Every state but one pays its college football or basketball coach more than it pays its governor. Arkansas lawmakers defend their right to chew tobacco in the Statehouse. And Florida's state employees type in hundreds of online Wikipedia updates. In case you missed those stories this week, "Worth Noting" fills you in.more -
- Stateline Story
State finances expected to dip
Most states are sitting on comfortable budget cushions, but falling home sales, higher energy prices and skimpier sales tax collections could bust some state budgets this year.more -
- Stateline Story
Illinois gov runs up travel tab
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's commuting costs start to add up. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds settles a dispute with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over a cranky game warden. California corrections officials install "flushometers" to control wasteful toilet flushing in prisons. In case you missed any of those stories this week, "Worth Noting" fills you in.more -
- Stateline Story
GAO Critical of Last Year's $10 Billion Bailout for States
Congress may want to think twice about signaling to states that Uncle Sam will rescue them each time a recession hits, the General Accounting Office, a congressional watchdog organization, suggested in a new report. Routine bailouts hardly give states an incentive to sock money away for tough times, the GAO said, amid other criticisms of last year's $10 billion federal bailout of states. more
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- Stateline Story
Report: States Spend Less; More Cuts in the Offing
State spending declined this year to the lowest level in nearly 15 years, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. more