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States look toward expanded gambling for revenue
Long after the recession ends, one of its most visible legacies is likely to be more places - and ways - for Americans to gamble. Pennsylvania lawmakers in October ended the nation's longest state budget standoff by counting on some $250 million in revenue that would be raised by legalizing and taxing casino table games, such as blackjack, craps and roulette.
140 firefighters, officers in Tucson face layoffs
TUCSON - More than 140 firefighters and police officers in Tucson could be laid off next month as part of $32 million in cuts proposed to close the city's budget deficit this year.
Phoenix-area cities paying retention bonuses
Cities in metro Phoenix are paying millions of dollars in retention bonuses as they lay off employees, cut pay or raise taxes amid the recession. Compensation experts question the wisdom of retention bonuses as the state's 9.3 percent unemployment rate has drastically reduced turnover. Cities defend the bonuses as an incentive to retain employees and make up for stagnant wages.
Nightmare scenarios haunt states
One question keeps coming up as governors and legislators grapple with a seemingly never-ending stream of gloomy budget news that keeps getting worse: How bad can it get? The answer, according to experts and a look through history, is probably that it could get worse than it has been in a generation - maybe even a lifetime - but not catastrophic.
Sale of state prisons running into wall of opposition
When lawmakers chose April Fool’s Day as the deadline to submit a plan to privatize the state’s prison system, they unwittingly telegraphed just how dubious the plan was. First, the whole idea of putting state prisons under private control was a difficult sell to the public. Then there was a question about how many of the state’s 10 prisons to auction off.
ADOA says new state financing on track
The state says it's on track to obtain new financing that Treasurer Dean Martin says Arizona needs to avoid having to issue IOUs for state paychecks and other payments in February.
State budgets: $28 billion short this year
Thirty-six states face budget shortfalls totaling $28 billion in the fiscal year that began just five months ago, according to a new 50-state report. The assessment predicts another $56 billion in shortfalls across 35 states next fiscal year and $69 billion in shortfalls across 23 states the year after that.
Lottery big part of state’s financial plans, but first voters must vote to keep it
While other contributors to state revenues have dropped off severely of late, the Arizona Lottery has been a growing source of tens of millions of dollars per year since its inception in 1980. The lottery funds a variety of voter-approved state programs in areas such as education, health and transportation and has contributed $2.3 billion in all to its beneficiaries.
Highway money on states’ radar
States are hoping that a job-creating initiative to be outlined by President Obama on Dec. 8 will include billions of dollars for infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, recession-worn Michigan may be ineligible for $475 million in federal highway money next year because it can't find $84 million in matching state funds.
With hay, alfalfa prices down, cotton production ticks up in Arizona
As farmers see hay and alfalfa prices tanking, cotton production in Arizona is expected to rise by 4 percent this year, industry experts say.
Prosecutors: US-Mexico gun smuggling is challenge
State prosecutors meeting at a conference Dec. 2 said the illegal flow of guns from the United States to Mexican drug cartels poses one of the biggest challenges in trying to reduce violence along America's southern border.
Flagstaff council rejects 4 day week
FLAGSTAFF - Saving an estimated $40,000 a year is not enough incentive for Flagstaff to go to a four-day work week for city workers. The City Council had been asked to consider implementing an alternative work schedule for nonessential city employees.
