Taxes
Covering topics such as bonds, cryptocurrency, federal aid and pensions.
States are expecting flat revenues and increasing costs in this new fiscal year. They’ll face hard choices even if Congress does not cut major aid programs.
Consumers are feeling pain at the pump and demanding solutions. Some politicians are pushing gasoline tax waivers – but that means less money to fix roads, and often not much economic relief.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers have made several proposals on how to help alleviate the financial pressures of increasing gas prices and inflation costs, but it’s unclear which plan will be the final version.
Fourteen people are accused of submitting fraudulent COVID-19 business relief applications totaling more than $183 million; another two dozen cases have already been resolved and dozens more investigations are still open.
Revenues are robust enough to allow for increased spending, and tax cuts on top of it. But current flush conditions might not last long enough to turn permanent cuts into a good idea.
The state pours $100 million annually into the system, with a proposed increase of $250 million this year, and yet it remains unable to keep staff and place troubled youths in the right places quickly.
Nearly 50 percent of Gary residents are not subscribed to a broadband service. Town officials hope that $5 million of ARPA funds will eventually reduce that digital divide by 90 percent.
Kansas is just the latest: States keep throwing money at corporations, a practice that does little to improve their economies. What if they all decided to end this wasteful and ruinous arms race?
Civic engagement consultant Irina Fursman, who lived in Ukraine, has raised more than $20,000 from U.S. gov tech companies to help people there meet their basic needs amid the Russian invasion.
The stimulus program that followed the Great Recession was a model for tracking projects and spending down to the ZIP code level. We don’t have that with the American Rescue Plan, dooming us to fight about what matters most.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced the funding will be used to help city residents bounce back in their careers and education after being hit hard by COVID-19.
Another $85 million will be allocated toward building a new federal courthouse, replacing the current one that was built in 1933 and no longer meets safety, prisoner security or accessibility requirements.
Many want to sanction Putin and Co. at every turn, but it’s a mistake to move too quickly. Pension funds actually don’t hold that much in Russian assets, and they're sitting ducks for crafty, amoral traders.
The state has updated a law that will likely add more decentralized autonomous organizations to the state, which officials hope will further Wyoming’s status as a national trendsetter for virtual currency.
Unprecedented federal investment from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will soon land in state broadband offices. Maryland, Maine and Utah share their plans for putting those resources to use.
Gov. Jay Inslee proposed spending $100 million to subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles, but only $25 million was earmarked for EV incentives in the budget that was passed on Thursday.
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