Politics

"We need to have the debt ceiling raised quickly with close to $30 trillion in debt at risk," said Steve Mnuchin, the former treasury secretary.

The House is holding onto the bill until an agreement is reached with the Senate on public school funding.

The state Senate on Tuesday gave a green light to the general appropriations act, which now goes into a constitutionally required 72-hour cooling off period before a Friday vote.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott traded barbs over the flow of migrants as the city has been overwhelmed since Texas began sending them on to Chicago last August.

Streamlining the federal grant process should start with getting rid of the "government legalese" that complicates notice of funding opportunities, experts said.

Additional spending was permitted by a rosier revenue forecast that lifted expected general fund revenues through the next biennium.

A draft environmental report released by a federal agency could threaten California and Arizona's water supply, if the states don't reach an agreement on their own to protect the Colorado River.

Maine's tax collection season was better than expected, bucking expectations at the threat of looming recession, a state committee told lawmakers.

Public school districts account for most of the bonds on ballots as some need to finance new facilities to accommodate rising enrollment.

While fiscal 2023 and 2024 budgets remain balanced, outyear gaps increase to $4.2 billion, $6.0 billion and $7.0 billion in fiscal 2025 through 2027, respectively.