State budgets

It’s Democrat vs. Democrat with Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders debating competing spending plans as the July 1 deadline quickly approaches.

While political debate over Connecticut highway tolls remains jammed, Gov. Ned Lamont's administration warned about federal backlash over a maintenance backlog.

Maine avoided political infighting and adopted its $7.98 billion two-year budget well before deadline.

Democratic lawmakers scrapped Gov. Phil Murphy’s millionaire’s tax proposal and pitched their own budget plan just two weeks before a July 1 deadline.

Texas school districts sort through the implications of a new legislative formula to increase per-pupil funding.

The water district in Washington County, Utah, is driving a plan estimated at up to $1.8 billion to bring water 140 miles from Lake Powell.

Moody's is bullish on the state's budget and capital bills, less so on gambling expansion and recreational marijuana

Online wagers dominate in-person bets to drive New Jersey's still-modest but rising take from sports betting.

State governments generally are better prepared for an economic downtown than at any other time since the National Association of State Budget Officers began keeping records in 1988.

States struggle to reap the full benefits of the multibillion-dollar legal marijuana industry becuase of conflicts with federal law.

Deputy Governor Dan Hynes says the recent legislative session put the state on an "upward trajectory," but underfunded pensions dog the state.

Water, health care and housing lead the agenda in budget discussions.

State lawmakers at this year’s session provided $993 million for 1,600 bond-funded projects around the state.

State lawmakers punted the touchy subject of reimposing tolls to Gov. Ned Lamont, who may call a special session.

Soaring liabilities for post-employment benefits other than pensions are adding further weight to the state’s fiscal challenges.

The highest-ranked states were mostly west of the Mississippi River, driven by expanding economies and population growth.

Karel Citroen, head of municipal credit research at Conning, talks about states and credit quality.

"The elephant in the room is still there," an analyst says.

Texas surpassed $3 billion in sales tax revenue, the highest total for any month on record.

New revenue and fewer one-shot revenue solutions make the fiscal 2020 budget more acceptable to analysts, but dark long-term clouds remain.