State and Local

Factbox: What happens in a U.S. government shutdown?

By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker, Reuters

In shutdowns, nonessential government employees are furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep...
Delaware Sues Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors Over Epidemic

By Nate Raymond, Reuters

(Reuters) - Delaware on Friday became the latest state to file a lawsuit accusing corporations of helping fuel the national opioid epidemic, suing a wide range of companies involved in making,...
Trump Tries to Sell Tax Reform to Democrats

By David Morgan, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to sell Democrats on his tax reform plan on Wednesday even as Senate Republicans edged closer to passing a budget measure that...
Trump's drug czar nominee withdraws from consideration

By Sarah N. Lynch and Makini Brice, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. lawmaker who was President Donald Trump's pick for drug czar withdrew on Tuesday after a report he spearheaded a bill that hurt the government's ability to crack down...
Senate Republicans Gain Crucial Support for Budget Vital to Tax Reform

By David Morgan, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday gained crucial support for a vote on a budget resolution that is vital to President Donald Trump's hopes of signing sweeping tax reform...

U.S. consumer finance agency expected to punish Equifax: lawyers

By Reuters and Patrick Rucker

By Lisa Lambert and Patrick Rucker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. consumer finance watchdog agency is expected to punish Equifax for its cyber breach with the wide-ranging powers it has used with...
U.S. incomes, poverty rate bounce back to pre-recession levels in 2016

By Reuters

By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. poverty rate fell for the second straight year in 2016 while median income rose to an all-time high of $59,000 as the economy made up ground lost...
Congress sends Trump disaster aid, debt limit increase

By Richard Cowan and Amanda Becker, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to provide disaster aid, extend the debt ceiling and fund the federal government for three months on Friday, delivering on...
Should Gold Be Legal Tender? Behind the Push to Revive an Ancient Standard

By Marsha Mercer, Stateline

By the end of the year, Texas plans to open the nation’s first state-supervised gold and silver depository, allowing ordinary Texans, as well as businesses, banks and others, to store their precious...
The Solar Eclipse Could Cause Traffic Jams All Over America

By Jenni Bergal, Stateline

The moon will block out the sun, and day will plunge into night. Birds will stop singing, crickets will start chirping, and many people will gasp, weep, or even howl when they see the sun’s corona...

The New Fiscal Nightmare: 2012 State Budgets Cuts

By James C. Cooper, The Fiscal Times

State and local budget cuts will increase 40 percent in fiscal 2012. $50 billion in cuts could cost nearly 1 million jobs in the coming year. Property taxes fell 3 percent in last year's fourth...
States Balance Budgets with Drastic Service Cuts

By Karen Hube, The Fiscal Times

Many states have announced higher-than-expected tax revenues. But the windfall is largely the result of smoke and mirrors -- revenue estimates for this year were set at ultra low levels, leaving...
States Cutting Back On Drug Programs for HIV Patients

By SHEFALI S. KULKARNI, Kaiser Health News

Cash-strapped states across the country are scaling back efforts to provide life-saving medicines to HIV patients. The result: more than 8,300 people – a record number -- are on waiting lists in 13...
The 10 States That Make The Most Money From Sin

By 24/7 Wall St.

As state budgets strain under huge debt loads, they are counting increasingly on “sin taxes”, one of the few reliable sources of revenue in these uncertain economic times. States have profited from...
State Pensions Recover from $700 Billion Shortfall

By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

The CBO reported that state and local pension funds were underfunded by about $700 billion in 2009, but because of stock market gains since then have time to address the shortfalls.

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