State and Local

Budget Battles

  • Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) arrives at Democratic Party caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/ File Photo

    Factbox: What happens in a U.S. government shutdown?

    By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker, Reuters

    In shutdowns, nonessential government employees are furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep...

  • FILE PHOTO: A pharmacist holds prescription painkiller OxyContin at a local pharmacy in Provo

    Delaware Sues Opioid Manufacturers, Distributors Over Epidemic

    By Nate Raymond, Reuters

    (Reuters) - Delaware on Friday became the latest state to file a lawsuit accusing corporations of helping fuel the national opioid epidemic, suing a wide range of companies involved in making,...

  • FILE PHOTO - Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin listens as U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a tax reform industry meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

    Trump Tries to Sell Tax Reform to Democrats

    By David Morgan, Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to sell Democrats on his tax reform plan on Wednesday even as Senate Republicans edged closer to passing a budget measure that...

  • FILE PHOTO: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (L) listens to Representative Tom Marino (R-PA) (R) before a House Judiciary committee hearing on the 'Oversight of the US Department of Homeland Security' on Capitol Hill in Washington July 14, 20

    Trump's drug czar nominee withdraws from consideration

    By Sarah N. Lynch and Makini Brice, Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. lawmaker who was President Donald Trump's pick for drug czar withdrew on Tuesday after a report he spearheaded a bill that hurt the government's ability to crack down...

  • U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

    Senate Republicans Gain Crucial Support for Budget Vital to Tax Reform

    By David Morgan, Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday gained crucial support for a vote on a budget resolution that is vital to President Donald Trump's hopes of signing sweeping tax reform...

  • 10 States with the Most Structurally Risky Bridges

    By Eric Pianin

    Certainly nobody is predicting another bridge collapse like the one in Minnesota over the Mississippi River in August 2007 that killed 13 people and injured 145. But a new U.S. Department of...

  • Why Conservatives Win When Expectations Rise

    By Diana Furchtgott-Roth

    Conservatism offers a winning agenda to people who want to be upwardly mobile—that is, almost everyone. In contrast, the liberal agenda focuses on keeping Americans safe, with an emphasis on food...

  • A school bus is seen parked in front of a school in the Queens borough of New York January 15, 2013. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

    School Busing: A New Controversy

    By Jenni Bergal, Stateline

    MaKayla Marie Strahle was only 11 when she stepped off a school bus, started to cross the road and was struck and killed by a pickup truck in west central Wyoming just days before Christmas 2011. The...

  • Chuck Schumer: 15 Things You Didn’t Know

    By Maureen Mackey, The Fiscal Times

    When Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid surprised Washington last week with the announcement he would retire from the Senate in early 2017 and not seek reelection, one of the first people he told was...

  • Outrageous Public Pensions Could Bankrupt These States

    By Steven Malanga, The Fiscal Times

    Some of the worst public-sector pension problems in America are playing out in states and cities where legislation or local court rulings have granted extraordinary protections to workers’ retirement...