California churned out its first batch of IOUs in nearly two decades amid grumbles from bankers, growing public outrage and scant progress in resolving the state's widening budget deficit. The state controller's office fired up a pair of printing presses and began rolling out nearly 29,000 IOUs totaling more than $53 million.

In the latest attempt to increase pressure on state senators locked in a leadership stalemate, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said he will withhold paychecks from them. He also said he had withheld more than 250 travel vouchers worth $560,000. Senators' base pay is $79,500 a year, and some are also paid tens of thousands extra for leadership posts.

With the budget signed by Gov. Jim Doyle, Wisconsin has become the first state with a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions to put in place domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. But supporters of the ban still contend the creation of domestic partner benefits violates the constitutional amendment because it creates a legal status that approximates marriage.

Gov. Deval Patrick's administration will seek legislative approval to take over about 30 of the state’s worst schools and dramatically weaken their teacher contracts. The move took superintendents, school committees and teachers by surprise because the state has long been hesitant to usurp local control.

An independent commission voted to slash lawmakers' per-diem payments, car allowances and medical and other fringe benefits by 18 percent. The California Citizens Compensation Commission had voted last May to cut salaries for legislators and constitutional state officers by 18 percent as of December 2010.

Amazon.com has severed formal ties with all Rhode Island businesses, a move intended to shield the online retailer from the General Assembly’s push to tax some online sales. While Amazon has no physical Rhode Island presence, several local businesses—book dealers and other retailers—are enrolled in the “Amazon Associates" program,”which refers buyers to Amazon.com.

Former House Speaker Ray Sansom not only accepted a $110,000 job at Northwest Florida State College—he helped write the job description, according to a newly released e-mail. Sansom has been indicted by a grand jury, and last week a House investigator found probable cause that he violated House rules.

Gov. Rick Perry is being pressed to add issues ranging from children’s health care to voter identification to the agenda of the special session that begins Wednesday, but his answer is still no. Perry made clear when he called the session that he wants lawmakers to take just a few days to complete must-do business, then be gone.

With states facing shortfalls totalling $121 billion in the next fiscal year, a growing number of them have turned to squeezing their workforces for savings, and the effects on government services are being felt, both great and small. More than 728,500 state employees in at least 21 states already have or will be furloughed.

Democratic leaders in the state Assembly, frustrated by the refusal of Republicans to support tax hikes to help balance the state budget, pushed through a proposal that uses a series of legal maneuvers to put higher levies in place without any GOP votes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto any budget package that includes tax increases, and he vetoed a budget last winter that contained a similar tax ploy.