February 03, 2012
By Gene Meyer | Kansas Reporter
TOPEKA — Kansas tax hawks shrieked over the state’s dead-center ranking of its business climate.
But the ranking was better than the same survey in 2011 conducted by the nonpartisan Tax Foundationresearch organization in Washington, D.C. The 2012 survey was released Jan. 26.
February 03, 2012
By Lynn Campbell | IowaPolitics.com JOHNSTON — Gov. Terry Branstad on Friday called for scrapping Iowa’s decades-old system of allocating money to schools on a per-pupil basis and replacing it with a system that focuses on improved results.
February 03, 2012
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the new state House and Senate maps is a reminder that even in the most cynical of political activities, the power remains with the people.
February 03, 2012
By Anthony Brino | Illinois Statehouse News
SPRINGFIELD — The federal tax credit that has supported wind energy for almost 20 years is set to expire at the end of 2012.
With this expiration looming, the future of the industry in Illinois — one of the top producers of wind energy in the nation — could leave the state struggling to meet its renewable energy requirements, even as the state exports more wind energy than it uses.
With 1,500 turbines in operation and about the same number in permitting stages, Illinois’s wind industry also has thrived because of an electric grid ideal for carrying power into Chicago and exporting it to Midwestern and Eastern states and the state’s renewable-energy requirements.
February 02, 2012
By Lynn Campbell | IowaPolitics.com DES MOINES — Lisa Russell doesn’t like the cameras in some Iowa cities that lead to traffic tickets of up to $200 for speeding or running red lights, but she also knows the cameras are bringing in money.
