$1B Budget Shortfall in NJ NEW JERSEY Treasurer Ford Scudder announced last week that the state is facing a budget deficit of close to $1 billion for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 combined. But he said the state would be able to manage the shortfall with “reasonable spending restraints.”...

TRUCKING INDUSTRY SUES RI OVER NEW TOLL SYSTEM The American Trucking Association and three companies - MASSACHUSETTS -based, convenience-store chain Cumberland Farms; MASSACHUSETTS -based cargo carrier M&M Transport Services; and NEW JERSEY -based New England Motor Freight - have filed a federal...

The older a state is, the more likely it is to have fiscal problems. That’s one of the findings of an analysis of state fiscal health by William Bergman, director of research for Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit that advocates for transparency in local, state and federal government finances. ...

Minnesota state Rep. Dave Baker (R) sponsored a bill ( HB 1440 ) this session that would have imposed a “penny a pill” fee on every opioid painkiller pharmaceutical companies sold in the state to provide funding for opioid abuse prevention and treatment. The measure was personal for...