#state-budget

#state-budget

The governor's budget proposal, the first step in hammering out a new spending deal with the state Legislature by April 1, includes plans to provide free childcare to children aged two and over in New York City and children aged four and up throughout the rest of New York State, pledging $4.5 billion to expand free childcare statewide. That investment represents a $1.7 billion increase compared to the 2025 state budget.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget proposal includes no money for a fund formed last year to boost the state's local newsrooms, casting doubt on whether a heralded effort to help California journalists will amount to anything and how serious Newsom is about supporting the struggling industry. It's a significant walkback from an August 2024 deal between state leaders and Google in which they agreed to jointly spend $175 million over five years to fund local journalism.

According to the proposal, the cost of the program would equal approximately 3% of Tennessee's annual state budget. It could be funded by the state's recurring surplus estimated at $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion per year. Mitchell asserted that Tennessee has the fiscal capacity to support the initiative without cutting existing services or raising taxes. The money is there. The question is priority, he said.

When we first started as appropriators a little over a year ago or almost a year ago, we did the long term forecast and at that time, four years out, education funding and school foundation program looked to be about $686 million in the hole in the red. And we're looking at where we're at today with [public school funding] recalibration and increased expenditures, not increasing revenues, and now we're looking at a four year out forecast being $800 million in the hole,

The truck that arrived ahead of schedule at Allyssa Canoy's home in Fairbanks brought enough heating fuel for the frigid winter months ahead - and a surprise bill for $2,600. Canoy and her two sons have checks arriving that will cover that expense and leave some money for the boys, too. Starting Thursday, Alaska plans to begin distributing to residents their annual dividend derived from the state's $83 billion oil wealth fund, a sort of bonus that Alaskans get for living in the state.

There is a natural tendency to peer backward through rose-colored glasses. Yes, the world was burning and falling apart in 1968, too. But the news came with the Chronicle in the morning and the Examiner in the afternoon. In the evening, when Walter Cronkite told you " And that's the way it is," that's the way it was. That isn't the way it is anymore.

With just days remaining until the end of the legislative session, the Governor's Department of Finance informed lawmakers it will not be finalizing a critical bridge loan to prevent serious service cuts to BART, Muni, AC Transit, and other Bay Area public transit operators next year. Not authorizing the loan now could lead to quick service cuts by major Bay Area transit systems. Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguin (D-Oakland) have been working for months to try to finalize loan terms.

Thanks to the hard work of advocates, a $750 million loan was put into the state budget so that Muni, BART, Caltrain, and AC Transit can continue to fund operations. The idea is to give these agencies a way to bridge their funding shortfalls until a regional measure can go before the voters next year. However, now that loan is in jeopardy.

The loan included in a budget deal between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature earlier this summer was designed as a bridge to keep BART, San Francisco's Muni, AC Transit in the East Bay and Caltrain on the Peninsula afloat through 2026. The hope was that by then, lawmakers could persuade voters to back a long-term funding source, likely through a regional sales tax measure.

"These new, upgraded liquor licenses will help strengthen our economy and support the local businesses that anchor our neighborhoods," Mayor Michelle Wu said.

We welcome the challenge that the legislature and the governor put to us to do projects faster, even faster, even better and even cheaper.

Governor Kathy Hochul's announcement frees up $800 million initially set aside for the redesign of Penn Station, which will now potentially fund housing and green space initiatives.

If one is convicted of an existing crime, e.g. harassment or menacing, and the individual convicted was wearing a mask, that there'd be some penalty enhancer during sentencing.