Stateline Stories

Delay in Implementing Sequester Forces Deeper Unemployment Cuts

Unemployment benefits were already on the chopping block thanks to sequestration. But in three-dozen states, the pain for the long-term unemployed is even greater because states have been slow to enact the across-the-board federal cuts.

Federal Road Fund Could Go Broke by 2015

With federal transportation money drying up, will the burden fall to the states?

Obama Budget Calls for More Competitive Grants

The White House budget, released Wednesday, envisions making states compete with one another for a host of federal grant programs, similar to the Race to the Top education program.

States Rack Up Victories in Bids to Collect Online Sales Taxes

After more than a decade of trying, state officials think they may get to collect billions of dollars of taxes on online sales soon. Find out why.

Sequester Will Force Universities to Scale Back Scientific Research

The sequester is already limiting the amount of money universities can offer to graduate students.

How Federalism Could Doom DOMA, But Save State Bans

Supporters of same-sex marriage are optimistic after this week’s Supreme Court arguments, but some worry about a narrow ruling.

Justices Appear Skeptical of Defense of Marriage Act

A majority of the court seemed skeptical of whether the federal government could justify refusing to recognize state-allowed same-sex marriages.

DOMA: The Supreme Court Justices in Their Own Words

Roll over each Justice to see what they said.

Prop 8: The Supreme Court Justices on Gay Marriage in Their Own Words

Supreme Court justices heard arguments Tuesday in the first of two cases that could dramatically alter the divergent paths the states have taken on gay marriage. See their comments during the arguments by rolling your mouse over each justice.

Divided Court Confronts Gay Marriage

The justices appeared split over same-sex marriage, but the outcome of the case remained unclear.

Legislatures Consider Limits on Prisoner Deportations Through Secure Communities

As Congress considers major revisions to federal immigration laws, legislators in a few states are trying to curb the federal government’s power to deport immigrants who land in jail.

Supreme Court Will Review Michigan’s Affirmative Action Ban

The nation’s highest court will decide whether a Michigan affirmative action ban passed by voters in 2006 can prevent colleges and universities from using race when they decide which students to admit.

AGs Split Ahead of Gay Marriage Arguments

Gay marriage has divided the states, and as the Supreme Court takes up arguments this week, attorneys general are as divided as the public.

Congress May Reverse Some of Sequester’s Cuts to WIC

An effort to keep the federal government open could also deliver relief to pregnant women, mothers and young children in need of food.

Voter Registration in Supreme Court Spotlight

It’s gotten less attention than the challenge to the Voting Rights Act, but an Arizona challenge to the National Voter Registration Act could upset elections administration around the country.

Nullification: Old Arguments Against Feds Get New Life

States challenging Washington is not new, but Second Amendment worries have breathed new life into a movement championing a wider range of topics than ever before.

Congress Debates Highway Safety Funding Cuts

Budget battles on Capitol Hill could cost states federal money to fight distracted driving and to roll out graduated licenses for teen drivers.

The 5 States Most Vulnerable to Sequestration’s Education Cuts

Automatic federal budget cuts will slash more than $1 billion in K-12 education dollars this year, paring everything from Title I money for low-income students to school improvement initiatives.

Price tag of Sequester to States: $6 Billion

The belt-tightening from Washington begins in earnest, but states still aren’t sure just what the sequester will mean for them.

Automatic Defense Cuts Will Deal Blow to States

A Stateline analysis shows automatic defense spending reductions will hit defense contractors hard. This sector comprises as much as 8 percent of some state economies.

States in Recovery: Revenues

For nearly half the states, recovery is tenuous, with revenues still below peak levels before the recession.

Deep Divide Apparent as Supreme Court Considers Voting Rights Act

The justices divided along ideological lines in the Voting Rights Act case, leaving the outcome in doubt.

States with Heavy Military Presence Hurt Hardest

The White House published a 50-state list of potential impacts from the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. States that rely heavily on military spending would be hurt worst.

Supreme Court to Weigh States’ Rights vs. Voting Rights

States’ rights will once again take center stage at the Supreme Court Wednesday as arguments are heard over a challenge to the Voting Rights Act.

States, GOP Lawmakers Eye Tougher Election Laws

The run-up to the 2012 elections was one of court battles and legislative jockeying over Republican-backed voter ID and elections laws that critics called bald-faced attempts to suppress turnout and disenfranchise Democratic voters.

Social Issues Challenge State-Federal Relationship

States have leapt ahead of Washington on key social issues, ushering in a new era of stress between the two levels of government.

Uncertainty from Washington Continues for States

States trying to craft their budgets for the upcoming year will have to wait until March for more details from Washington.

‘Cliff’ Deal Answers a Few Questions for States

Congress averted the much-feared “fiscal cliff” late Tuesday, passing a legislative package to be signed promptly by President Obama. The deal answered a few burning questions for state governments, but many still linger.

Congress Likely to Postpone Online Sales Tax Collection

A bipartisan group of state elected officials has pushed hard for federal legislation that would allow states to require the collection of sales taxes on internet purchases. For now, though, that effort hasn’t overcome congressional gridlock.

Fiscal Cliff Jitters Could Boost Early State Tax Revenue

When filmmaker George Lucas sold his company and the Star Wars franchise to Walt Disney Co. this fall, he saved hundreds of millions of dollars in state and federal taxes by not waiting until next year when higher tax rates are anticipated. He’s hardly alone.

Medicaid Trumps `Fiscal Cliff’ as Top State Budget Concern

Medicaid is still the biggest budget worry for the coming year, according to a new survey of state legislative directors to be released soon. Nowhere is the problem larger than in Texas, which faces a $4.3 billion Medicaid deficit.

Supreme Court Takes Up Gay Marriage Cases

The high court has accepted two gay marriage cases for its spring term. One case, out of New York, concerns whether the federal government can deny benefits to gay couples married in states that allow same-sex marriage. It will also review California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

After Obama Vow, Washington Weighs Role in Election Management

President Obama has brought renewed attention to the issue of voting difficulties around the country, and in the process has set in motion a variety of proposals to change election law.

In Fiscal Cliff Talks, Governors Get White House Seat

A group of governors on Tuesday called for Washington to find a solution — any solution — to the nation’s budget woes as the federal government’s so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ grows nearer.

Jobless Benefits At Risk in Fiscal Cliff Debate

Amid the fervor over the fiscal cliff in Washington, there’s one federal program also facing a Dec. 31, 2012 deadline that if allowed to pass could cost unemployed Americans thousands of dollars and deprive states of crucial federal funding that’s helped them weather the worst of the Great Recession.

More States Dig into Libor Scandal

As lawsuits and inquiries mount, more states are looking into the rate-rigging scandal.

Budget Cuts, Revenue Swings Await States In ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Drama

State budgets and economies would be hit particularly hard by the automatic tax increases and spending cuts caused by the looming “fiscal cliff,” if it’s not averted, according to a new report by the Pew Center on the States’ Fiscal Federalism Initiative, which explored how the fiscal cliff would affect states in a number of ways.

Despite Governor’s Push, Puerto Rican Statehood Unlikely

Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuno is pressing President Obama and Congressional leaders to get the ball rolling on statehood for the island commonwealth, after a historic referendum. But don’t expect action anytime soon.

Obama's and Romney’s Tax Plans: What Do They Mean for States?

Overlooked during the presidential campaigns is how Obama and Romney’s tax proposals could affect states. Here’s a look.

Law Enforcement Predicts Dire Impact from Automatic Cuts

Law enforcement officers fear that if the automatic funding cuts, known as sequestration, take effect on Jan.2, 2013, layoffs and program closures are sure to follow, according to a survey from the National Criminal Justice Association and the Vera Institute of Justice.

States Struggle With Unemployment Funds Still in the Red

More than $26 billion in lingering debt and billions in mounting interest have forced a number of states to scale back unemployment benefits, raise taxes, tap general funds and even turn to the private bond market.

Sequestration: How a Spending Stalemate Would Affect the States

There is still time for Congress to avoid the “fiscal cliff” that would force billions of dollars in spending cuts and tax increases at the start of next year. But whatever happens, the states run the risk of being big losers.

Welfare Waiver Proposal Hits Potential Roadblock

It took less than a month for the Obama administration’s move in July to grant states more flexibility in handling their welfare programs to shift from low-profile policy proposal to hot-button political issue that quickly permeated the presidential race.

Statehood for Puerto Rico? Romney Supports a 51st State

Would a Mitt Romney presidential win help pave the way for Puerto Rican statehood? On Wednesday, Puerto Rico’s governor said Romney has assured him of it.

One of Five Americans Struggling To Afford Food, Survey Finds

Despite record food stamp enrollment around the country and an economy considered to be on a modest upswing, the Great Recession is continuing to take its toll on many Americans, a Gallup survey found.

Heat Wave, Budget Cuts Strain Utility Safety Net

Budget cuts and a blistering hot spell wave left states short on cash this summer while tackling high energy demand. Now many worry about having enough heat when winter comes.

With VP Pick, Romney Endorses Fed-State Overhaul on Food Stamps, Medicaid

By choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney has endorsed large changes in federal-state relations, particularly in dealings with food assistance and health care.

Still No Farm Bill, But More Assistance to Drought-Ravaged States

With Congress still at an impasse over the farm bill, the Obama Administration this week pledged $30 million more to aid farmers and ranchers hit hard by drought.

A Likely Reprieve for Food Stamp Program

The food stamp program has been facing the threat of deep reductions that would cut off benefits for millions in states all over the country. But a stalemate in Congress may stave off the pain.

Health Care Ruling Casts Doubts on Billions in State-Federal Funding

By making the federal health law’s Medicaid expansion optional for states, the U.S. Supreme Court has cast doubt on decades of established state-federal programs and billions of dollars in funding tied to them.

Are States’ Unemployment Insurance Loans Dragging Down Economies?

Most states are still paying off those unemployment benefits that went out to millions of those without work during the recession, but it’s the way some are doing it that raises concern.

Health Care Ruling, Elections Dominate Governors’ Meeting

The typical low-key summer gathering of the nation’s governors was anything but subdued this year. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision leaving it up to the states whether to expand their Medicaid programs topped headlines coming from the National Governors Association meeting in Virginia.

Iowa Governor Blasts Pentagon Air Guard Cuts

Just days before he and other governors are scheduled to meet with Pentagon brass, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad attacked the Defense Department Thursday (July 12) for failing to work with governors on plans to drastically cut the size of the Air National Guard.

Food Stamp Fight on Capitol Hill

Congress is considering dramatic changes in the way states administer their food stamp programs.

All Eyes on U.S. Supreme Court

States await key decisions this week from the U.S. Supreme Court on health care, immigration and elections.

What Happens to Health Law Money Already in State Coffers?

If the high court overturns all or part of the health law, Congress could seek refunds of the nearly $14 billion in federal money already sent to states to implement it.

Post-Recall Wisconsin Open for Business, Governor Says

The recent recall election in Wisconsin that let Governor Scott Walker keep his job was apparently also good for businesses in the state, or so says the governor.

Public-Sector Issues Erupt in Presidential Campaign

President Obama and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney both found themselves over the weekend explaining comments they made involving the public sector.

Richer States Get Less From Uncle Sam

The federal tax burden falls most heavily on affluent Connecticut, while the state of New Mexico, home of the White Sands Missile Range, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the highest poverty rate in the nation, gets the most federal dollars back, studies of the federal budgets impact on states show.

Fed 'Control' of States Needs To Change, Bush Tells NCSL

Speaking to nearly 5,000 state officials at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) convention Tuesday, Texas Gov. George W. Bush called for a change in the relationship between state and federal government."I want to move beyond the command and control attitude in Washington, D.C." he said.

States Fight For Federal Law To Redress Balance of Power

States say Congress oversteps its authority, sometimes unwittingly, with lawmaking activity that tramples on state prerogatives. Legislation to deal with the problem is pending in both the U.S. House and Senate, and last week President Clinton signed an executive order that declares that federal regulations may override state and local laws only when Congress expressly says they may do so. But Delaware Gov. Tom Carper, who has just ended a one-year term as chairman of the National Governors' Association, says even more needs to be done.

Is Federal Red Tape Tying Up Innovative Job Programs?

The federal government has made money available for a new approach to unemployment, but states have to jump through bureaucratic hoops to get it.

Grandparents Need More State Help to Raise Kids

More children are living with relatives or close family friends because their parents can no longer care for them, but most states aren’t doing enough to help, a new report says.

Bush Budget Cuts Education

President Bush proposed shrinking federal spending on education by more $3 billion in his new budget proposal released Feb. 6, but he also wants to launch new initiatives to strengthen math and science achievement and reform America's high schools.

Bush Budget Short on State Aid

With the federal government swimming in a sea of red ink, states can be grateful that their own financial pictures have gotten rosier because there is little extra money to trickle down from Washington, D.C. President Bush's proposed 2007 budget squeezes savings from an array of domestic spending programs -- including a number of programs that benefit states and local governments -- and calls for $13.6 billion in cuts to Medicaid spending over the next five years.

Federal Red Ink Shrinks Money for States

President Bush is offering states no help in paying for congressionally ordered changes to driver's licenses and would foist new costs on states to provide food for low-income pregnant women while slashing money to revitalize poor neighborhoods. One day after Bush released his $2.77 trillion proposed 2007 budget, analysts scouring the document concluded that while it is chock full of savings for the federal government, it could spell new financial responsibilities for states.

2006 Puts State-Level Issues in Limelight

The grass is definitely greener in state capitols than in Washington, D.C., this election year. While the federal government is mired in red ink and stymied by partisan division, most states in 2006 have extra cash and are blazing new policy trails.

Child-Support Enforcement Takes Hit

Deep slashes in the federal child-support enforcement program -- included in Congress' most recent budget cuts -- have left states searching for ways to avoid scaling back what has been hailed as the government's most successful social-services program.

Governors to Meet With President Bush

The federal budget deficit, the Iraq war and al Qaeda terrorism may be federal -- not state -- issues, but their impact on the states colors what's on the minds of the nation's governors as they gather in Washington, D.C., over the next several days. During the National Governors Association's annual winter meeting, which runs Feb. 25-28, the states' chief executives will have the chance to voice their top concerns to President Bush and other federal officials.

States Hope for Better Deal in New Congress

(Updated 3:45 p.m. EST, Tuesday)When the 110th Congress convenes in January, there will be a new Democratic majority negotiating with a Republican president and, state leaders hope, a new relationship between the federal government and the nation's 50 statehouses.

States Seek Help With Exports

States want Congress to renew the charter of a bank that many people may not have heard of, but many businesses have.

Insurance Changes Explained: Why State Officials Are Nervous About New Federal Rules

Traditionally, the federal government has left most regulation of insurance to the states. But passage of the Dodd-Frank law two years ago inserted the federal government deeper into the mix.

Governors Rip Feds in Annual Policy Speeches

If there was any doubt states are frustrated with federal policymakers, the nation's governors provided stark reminders in "state of the state" speeches delivered during the first two months of 2008.

Govs Turn to Fixing Infrastructure

PHILADELPHIA - Improving the nation's crumbling bridges, roads and sewage systems is a $1.6 trillion problem that governors intend to explore in the next year.

States Worry About Dwindling Road Funds

(Updated 12:30 p.m. EDT, July 24, 2008)Drivers are buying less gasoline, draining the federal Highway Trust Fund and jeopardizing thousands of major road and transit projects around the country.

States Eye Their Share of Federal Bailout

With President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress pledging quick action on a proposed multi-billion dollar fiscal package to boost the U.S. economy, states are banking they will get a cut of any federal rescue plan.

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.

States Feel the Pinch of Tight Bush Budget

States would be spared draconian cuts next year under President Bush's plan to balance the federal budget by 2012, but health, social and other programs important to states still would be squeezed. Bush's $2.9 trillion blueprint for fiscal 2008 resurrects some failed budget cuts and seeks to wring new savings that will be felt by states, primarily in health-care funding.

In their own words: What govs would tell feds

What do governors most want from Congress and the White House? "Stay out of my business" was the tart advice from Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D). But other governors said they seek federal partnership in energy and health care - and more dollars to carry out laws imposed on them by Congress, such as the No Child Left Behind Act.

Congress Tackles States' Agenda

As the domestic agenda takes center stage in Congress, states are sending lawmakers a simple message: more money and less federal interference.

House Stimulus Plan Wins State Praise

State officials got their first look of the massive economic package worth $825 billion that Congress promises to deliver next month to President-elect Barack Obama, and many liked what they saw.

Economic crisis: Today's state perspective(2)

A scan of today's state news stories shows spreading economic distress - and an array of political plans to cushion the impact, including talk in Nevada of taxing prostitution (it's legal in some counties there). Nevada is among the states hit hardest by the recession.

Congress, States Try to Harness West Winds

The economic stimulus package before Congress includes incentives to build more electric lines for wind power. But state and federal leaders still must conquer imposing obstacles, from mountain ranges to a daunting economy to layers of red tape.

Q&A: How Much of a Difference Will the Economic Stimulus Package Make to States? (Economists)

Stateline.org asks economists Raymond C. Scheppach, David Wyss and Jerry Nickelsburg for a quick assessment in the first of a series of questions and answers with policymakers about states and the recession.

Stimulus to Ease, Not Fix, State Budget Woes

Exactly how much each state will get from the $787 billion economic package that President Obama is expected to sign shortly will vary widely, but the infusion of federal dollars still won't plug the gaping holes in many state budgets.

Court Cuts Trigger Blunt Warnings

The budget emergency facing state governments has produced an uncommon alliance of advocates - from business leaders to public defenders and chief judges - who, in blunt terms, are urging state lawmakers not to slash funding for the courts.

Q&A: How Much of a Difference Will the Economic Stimulus Package Make to States?

Stateline.org asks the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials for a quick assessment in the second of a series of questions and answers with policymakers about states and the recession.

Stimulus: No Blank Check for States

Of the $200 billion states stand to get from the federal economic stimulus package, governors will have leeway in how to spend about $135 billion with the rest of the money restricted for specific uses. Implementing the stimulus package will be a major topic among governors who arrive in Washington, D.C., this weekend for their annual winter meeting.

Tracking the Recession: Lowering Expectations

Governors and other elected officials are trying to avoid overselling the federal stimulus package as the magic solution for state budget woes.

Rejecting Stimulus Funds: Pros and Cons

With a record 12.5 million Americans on the unemployment line and state budgets bleeding billions of dollars, it might seem politically suicidal that a group of Republican governors would want to walk away from their states' full share of the federal stimulus package. But some experts say these governors' actions make sense politically.

A List of Point People and Websites Overseeing the Stimulus in the States

To oversee stimulus spending, many states have appointed point people, sometimes called "stimulus czars." Stateline.org has compiled a list of Web sites and people overseeing the stimulus in all 50 states.

Tracking the Recession: USDA Hands Out Stimulus money for Flood projects

Eleven states receive funds that federal officials say will rebuild dams and strengthen rural economies.

Despite Stimulus, Schools Feel Budget Pain

The economic stimulus will help public schools and colleges survive the recession over the next two years. But in some states the fiscal situation is so precarious that schools are still going to suffer large cuts.

Federal Stimulus Dollars, State Deficits -- and Federalism

Even with well-timed help from the economic stimulus package, state governments will face a rough three years ahead, warns Raymond C. Scheppach, an economist and executive director of the National Governors Association, in his latest commentary for Stateline.org. With state budgets through 2011 expected to face shortfalls of $200 billion to $250 billion, the federal government should take care not to heap more costs on states with new legislative initiatives, Scheppach writes.

Energy Stimulus Could See Lower Returns

Congress expects its nearly 70-fold increase in State Energy Program funding to save consumers $22.3 billion, but experts argue lax oversight could generate a much lower return on investment.

Tracking the Recession: Lawmakers Dreading End of Stimulus Dollars

Most of the federal stimulus money will be gone after next year, and state officials are growing uneasy about how they will balance future budgets. A new survey shows how much states relied on the stimulus to cover gaps in fiscal 2009 and 2010.

As Federal Funding Dries Up, States May Play Greater Clean Tech Role

Drastic federal spending cuts pose challenges for the U.S. clean energy sector, researchers say, and states may need to help fill in the gap.

Divided Congress Resorts to 3-month Highway Bill

TRANSPORTATION BEAT: Congress keeps highway money flowing to the states for another three months, but the prospects are dim for a longer-term deal.

States May Lose Federal Help in Fighting Radon

Federal budget cuts worry state officials who depend on money from Washington to help combat cancer-causing radon gas.

Confusion in the Capitols

There's an overwhelming sense of uncertainty among state lawmakers and health care officials around the country as they scramble to figure out what exactly the new health care law means for their governments, their citizens and their budgets. With estimates in individual states ranging from savings of $1 billion to $27 billion in additional costs, the one thing clear about health care reform is that little, if anything, is actually clear.