Budget & Taxes Lottery Success Spurs Backlash State lottery sales topped $70 billion last year in the 43 states that have them, according to the American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. That sum represents more than 10 percent... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More
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... Read More