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. “I think we should get away from ‘allowable growth’ and instead make our decisions based on providing money to improve [...]
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 Andrew Thomason | Illinois Statehouse News SPRINGFIELD — Illinois could add 100,000 new enrollees to its Medicaid rolls in the near future. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers Medicaid, asked the federal government to approve accelerating the expansion of the state-federal health insurance program under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. [...]
February 02, 2012
By Hannah Hess | Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — In 1989, Douglas Wilder campaigned for Virginia governor with a promise to crack down on gun violence. He won the election by less than a half percent — becoming the nation’s first post-Civil War black governor — and promised to be a leader for gun control in [...]
February 02, 2012
By Lynn Campbell | IowaPolitics.com DES MOINES — If students enrolled at Iowa’s state universities have to pay higher tuition, university presidents should share the pain, some House Republicans said. “This is about making accountable a person that is receiving a half-a-million dollars in tax dollars to run an institution,” said state Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, [...]
February 02, 2012
By Stacy Brown | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — A small group of Chester Upland School District parents came to the Capitol on Thursday to deliver a big message to Gov. Tom Corbett.
February 01, 2012
By Carten Cordell | Virginia Statehouse News
ALEXANDRIA — Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed $2.2 billion payment into the state pension fund still falls $600 million short of what state retirement officials say is needed to address a multi-billion hole.
February 01, 2012
By Lynn Campbell | IowaPolitics.com
DES MOINES — Jody Miller played online poker for three to four years before the government cracked down on the practice a couple of years ago.
Before that, Miller said, online poker was technically never legal, but the laws were rarely enforced. But increased government enforcement, he said, made it more difficult to play and caused some online poker websites to shut down. Some players saw their assets frozen and become tied up in online accounts.
