• States Face Crucial Choices Over Essential Health Benefits
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   February 3, 2012
• States must decide what to use as a benchmark for their health insurance exchanges, but dissimilarities among plan benefits and costs cause concerns.

• Top Economists Doubt Further Jobless Rate Drop
• BY: Mike Maciag   |   February 3, 2012
• Economists issue their 2012 forecast for the nation's unemployment rate, a key issue in the November elections.

• Former Philly Schools Super's Unemployment Claim Denied
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   Pennsylvania   |   February 3, 2012
• Former Philadelphia schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who left her post with a controversial buyout worth nearly $1 million from the district, had her unemployment claim denied by the state of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

• Nevada Governor Staying Out of GOP Endorsement Game
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Nevada   |   February 3, 2012
• Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is staying out of the nomination fight despite his rising stature in the GOP — or perhaps because of it.
• 1 Comments

• Ron Paul: States Should Resolve Land Management Issues
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Nation   |   February 3, 2012
• Republican Rep. Ron Paul railed against the federal government during campaign stops in Nevada on Thursday, saying states are in the best position to resolve conflicts over the management of wild horses and roads on public lands.

• Why Has Indiana Spent Thousands Lobbying for Keystone Oil Pipeline?
• Source: Indianapolis Star   |   Indiana   |   February 3, 2012
• The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Henry Waxman, wants to know why Indiana spent taxpayer money lobbying in favor of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline because it doesn't go through the state and Indiana "appears to receive no clear benefit" from it.
• 12 Comments

• Obama Seeks $5B to Help Hire Veterans
• Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek   |   Nation   |   February 3, 2012
• President Barack Obama will renew a request for $5 billion in his 2013 budget to encourage local law enforcement agencies and fire departments to hire military veterans who have served since the Sept. 11 attacks.

• Exodus from North Carolina Legislature Grows
• Source: Raleigh News & Observer   |   North Carolina   |   February 3, 2012
• State Rep. Joe Hackney, a 32-year veteran lawmaker and former speaker, said he would not seek another term, becoming the latest in a string of top Democrats to announce retirements in the past week. Lawmakers say the moves signal deep frustrations with the new GOP legislative leadership and a desire to avoid bruising re-election battles in unfavorable districts newly drawn by Republicans.

• Obama Boosts Offshore Wind-Farm Plans
• Source: USA Today   |   Mid-Atlantic   |   February 3, 2012
• Federal environmental reviews for "wind energy areas" off Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia are now complete and find "no significant environmental impacts" from their development. That finding clears the way for companies to seek leases. Wind power has expanded quickly in the United States but all of that growth has occurred onshore.

• High Stakes, Power Struggles as Oregon Legislature Takes up Governor's Health Reforms
• Source: Oregonian   |   Oregon   |   February 3, 2012
• The battle to reshape Oregon's health care system is heating up in the Legislature, where the Senate is scheduled to pick up where lawmakers left off last session. Rather than wait for federal health reforms to kick in, Gov. John Kitzhaber last year spearheaded a law to revamp the state's Medicaid program further and faster.

• GovDeals.com Offers Bargains While Helping Agencies
• Source: Tennessean   |   Nation   |   February 3, 2012
• Bargain hunters score big when governments give up equipment they bought for plans that never panned out. But officials say that they’re the winners — and that moving to online auctions lowers sale costs, creates a larger audience of bidders and brings in cash for items otherwise gathering dust.

• State Rep. Howze Says to Run for Detroit Mayor
• Source: Detroit News   |   Detroit   |   February 3, 2012
• State Rep. Lisa L. Howze is expected to announce today that she is running for mayor of Detroit in 2013. "Given the financial crisis in the city of Detroit, Howze feels her vision for the city coupled with 20 combined years of experience as a certified public accountant and finance professional make her ripe for the job," her office said in a statement.

• New York City Mayor Offers a Budget Free of Tax Increases or Broad Layoffs
• Source: New York Times   |   New York City   |   February 3, 2012
• Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, seeking to stabilize New York City’s finances after years of budget crunches and economic woes, proposed a spending plan that was as routine and as free of drama as any in recent memory, with no tax increases or layoffs of teachers, police officers or firefighters.

• Mississippi Republicans Challenge Powers of Attorney General
• Source: Stateline.org   |   Mississippi   |   February 3, 2012
• Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood hires lots of outside lawyers. They make a great deal of money for the state, and for themselves. Not everyone is happy with that situation.

• Bowles Won't Run for North Carolina Governor, But Etheridge Joins Race
• Source: Raleigh News & Observer   |   North Carolina   |   February 3, 2012
• Erskine Bowles said that he would not run for governor, but other Democrats moved to fill the void with former Congressman Bob Etheridge announcing that he would seek his party's nomination.