The stimulus package would include funding for production and distribution of COVID vaccines, $1,400 checks for Americans and expanded unemployment benefits. Many are eager for the relief, despite the large price tag.
Working together to create their own alternative to Bitcoin and its copycats could be a way to generate value, at no initial cost, for struggling pension funds. Madisons, anyone?
The state’s progressive tax structure is reaping billions from the wealthiest to fund the state’s safety net. But it also reveals how the pandemic has widened the economic gulf for millions of Californians — more than the rest of the country.
While the first round of stimulus checks encouraged spending as workers were adjusting to life at home, many expect the second round of payments will mostly go towards bill payments and savings.
The left loves it, and it has proponents nationally and in state legislatures around the country. But soaking the rich is a way to drive the wealthy out and curb entrepreneurship.
To install the detectors and screening equipment necessary for a firearms ban, the state would need to spend $1.5 million, which is more than the Capitol Commission’s annual maintenance budget.
With Democrats in control of the Senate and the rest of Washington, further stimulus is a near-certainty. State and local aid, which has been held up by the GOP, will be part of the mix.
The state’s Special Transportation Fund will drop to just over $100 million by the end of this fiscal year, which is not enough to fund the multimillion-dollar transportation projects Gov. Lamont hopes to achieve.
Vaccines, a new presidency, a reshuffled Congress and a pandemic-shifted economy will transfigure the state and local fiscal landscape.
Recent data shows that while overall spending has increased, there is great variation among states on public education expenditures per student. The average is $12,612, but New York spends nearly double that amount.
The new congressional stimulus package does not include direct aid for states and localities. Only a few states have seen revenues increase from last year, meaning cutbacks are coming due to COVID spending pressures.
