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States are reducing subsidy slots, slashing provider reimbursement rates and raising co-pays for low-income parents amid shrinking federal aid.
State lawmakers will be rushing to address crime, AI, housing and a host of other issues – including growing budget gaps – ahead of elections this year.
Massachusetts voters approved an additional tax on incomes of more than a million dollars. At least a billion extra dollars will support transportation and education projects this year.
So far, seven states have passed laws approving the use of Medicaid funds to pay for community-based programs intended to stop shootings. But unlocking the funds is complicated and it's unclear how much money will actually be diverted.
The Inflation Reduction Act includes $1 billion to help states implement modern building codes. The CEO of the International Code Council outlines both obvious and underappreciated reasons they are essential.
Across the nation, state transportation agencies are warning that public safety is at risk if lawmakers don’t overhaul how road maintenance gets funded. Some states are proposing new taxes and fees.
While home insurance rates and utility prices have increased across the country, Texas has been hit especially hard since its historical winter storm three years ago. Experts expect increases to continue.
More than $5.8 billion of the $7.8 billion in federal funds awarded to Illinois schools since March 2020 has been spent. In Chicago, the school system faces a $391 million shortfall for the 2024-25 school year.
The state has not yet signed up for a federal program that would help feed 2 million children who receive free or reduced-cost school lunches over the summer. State officials expect their own funds to be sufficient.
As inflation and interest rates ease, 2024 will be a perfect time for overdue multiyear strategic planning and keeping up with breakthrough information technologies.
After the U.S. Supreme Court stripped federal oversight of millions of acres of wetlands, the financial maintenance of those lands now falls to the states. It could take years for them to address the loss of federal standards, if they do it at all.
The state’s Individual Disaster Assistance Grant Program has paid $227,675 in response to storm damage. FEMA estimated the state’s spring flood damage at $6.3 million. As of Dec. 4, crop insurers had paid out more than $248 million due to drought.
The Solar for All component of the IRA will use $7 billion of federal funds to pay for 60 solar energy projects in disadvantaged communities nationwide. Nearly all states have applied for the infrastructure grants.
New York City schools have received more than $7 billion in federal aid to help students recover academically after the pandemic. But 36 percent of students were still “chronically” absent last year. Those in poverty were gone 45 percent of the year.
Florida was the only state to decline millions in federal funding that could have been put toward reducing tailpipe emissions and the effects of climate change. The state will build roads and bridges instead.
Wealthier, healthier states receive far more than those with fewer taxable resources and less healthy populations. Congress could do a lot to narrow this fairness gap.
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