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By Alexander J. Bandza , Associate, Jenner & Block The problem of aging public infrastructure in the U.S. and around the world is well recognized. For example, U.S. businesses pay $27 billion in additional freight costs because of the poor conditions...

Budget & Taxes FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUNDING BOTTLENECK FORCES STATES TO HIT BRAKES ON ROAD PROJECTS: With the specter of an empty federal Highway Trust Fund looming, states — which count on that fund for 15 to nearly 60 percent of their transportation...

Budget & Taxes KS Keeping Some Tax Credits Secret According to Kansas’ Department of Revenue, in 2013 the state granted $622 million in income and privilege tax credits, allowing taxpayers to deduct various qualifying expenses from their...

Budget & Taxes FEDERAL HIGHWAY TRUST FUND RUNNING ON FUMES: For quite some time, state and local transportation officials have been anxiously watching the federal highway trust fund shrink and waiting for Congress to do something about it. "We've...

Budget & Taxes States Embrace Earned Income Tax Credit As states continue to recover from the Great Recession, several are embracing a tax credit to help bring working families along. This year five states, including California and Massachusetts...

Budget & Taxes Gas Tax Hike Coming to CA? Raising prices at the gas pump is a risky proposition in California, where cars have always been king. In fact the state is one of only a few in the nation that haven’t raised gas taxes since the...

Budget & Taxes Pension Reforms Struck Down In States Twice in two weeks courts have rejected state pension reform laws. On April 30, Oregon’s Supreme Court ruled that the reductions the state made to cost-of-living adjustments in 2013...

Budget & Taxes Congress Settles On Highway Funding Extension After battling over rival transportation funding bills for a week, with U.S. House Republicans favoring a five-month extension they passed last month and Senate Republicans preferring...

Budget & Taxes Budget Surplus Surge In CA With the state’s economy continuing to improve, California lawmakers were expecting a budget surplus this year of about $2 billion. But last week Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D) announced that...

Budget & Taxes Another Tall Transportation Order For CA When it comes to the issue of transportation, California Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) main focus - beginning with his first pass through the governor’s office a generation ago - has...

Budget & Taxes PHILADELPHIA CIGARETTE TAX IN LIMBO: The cash-strapped school district and city of Philadelphia have been pushing for a bill imposing a $2 surcharge on every pack of cigarettes sold in the city to provide enough funding to avert...

Budget & Taxes GAS TAX 'ON THE TABLE' IN NJ: Since pledging in 2011 to use more cash and less debt to pay for his state's transportation needs, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has put only $66 million of the $1.2 billion he pledged...

Budget & Taxes States Back Tax Breaks for Military Vets Despite facing a budget shortfall this year, Maryland doubled its income tax exemption for military retirement pay to $10,000. And a budget hole forced Connecticut to raise taxes on its...