As state revenues tick upward, budget gaps remain
After enduring two years of crippling budget deficits, states may have slightly better times ahead, according to a new report issued yesterday by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Nearly every state expects to collect more revenue in the 2011 fiscal year than in 2010, the report says. In total, general fund revenues are expected to grow by an average of 3.7 percent in 2011, compared with an average decline of 1.5 percent in 2010. “While not out of woods,” the report says, “the performance of revenues in many states has officials looking up instead of down.”
Annual Scorecard Shows Public Employees Get Better Benefits - WSJ.com
As of March, 88% of state and local government workers had access to employer-sponsored medical plans, compared with 71% of private-sector workers, according to a Labor Department report released Tuesday. Governments also picked up a larger share of the health-care tab. Public employers paid 89% of the premiums for policies covering individual workers as of March, compared with 80% at private-sector companies.
Adviser describes a worst-case scenario for state pension fund - State Government and Politics - Kentucky.com
Owen Covington said: Kentucky's pension system could run out of money in less than a decade due to inadequate contributions and sagging investments.
Kentucky's state pension fund could run out of money in 2019 if contributions remain inadequate and market investments sag, under a worst-case scenario presented to lawmakers Thursday. More likely, by 2018, the fund will pay out nearly half of its assets every year for retiree benefits, making it difficult to get the high returns it needs from large, long-term investments, pension officials said. The fund currently earns far smaller returns — 3.59 percent over the last decade — than its goal of 7.75 percent a year.
Study - Colleges Spent More on Recreation Than Instruction - NYTimes.com
The report, based on government data, documents a growing stratification of wealth across America’s system of higher education. At the top of the pyramid are private colleges and universities, which educate a small portion of the nation’s students, while public universities and community colleges serve greater numbers, have fewer resources and are seeing tuitions rise most rapidly.
News Analysis - John Roberts’s Stamp on the Supreme Court - NYTimes.com
Owen Covington said: A good look at changes in the past year in the Supreme Court under CJ John Roberts.
“They’re fearless,” Lisa S. Blatt, who served in the solicitor general’s office for 13 years before joining Arnold & Porter last year, said of the justices in the majority. “This is a business court. Now it’s the era of the corporation and the interests of business.” That trend, lawyers and legal scholars said, may well threaten recent legislation overhauling financial regulations and the health care system when challenges to them reach the court.
Criminal recidivismQ and A with Howard Snyder
Owen Covington said: Talking with a chief at BJS about criminal recidivism numbers, and why that is receiving increased attention today.
Howard Snyder is chief of Recidivism, Reentry and Special Projects for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Donna Lyons, who heads NCSL’s Criminal Justice Program, talked with Snyder for State Legislatures magazine about the challenges and significance of recidivism data in sentencing and corrections policy making.
