State Budget | featured news

Faced with a total budget gap of $215 billion for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, most U.S. states looked to their prison and university budgets for relief, according to a report released on Thursday.

Desperate for cash, Arizona state lawmakers are considering selling the House and Senate buildings, then leasing them back over several years before assuming ownership again.

After several days of debate, half of California lawmakers signed off on a budget deal that closes a $24 billion gap and shores up state finances, for now.

California's Senate approved a package of bills early on Friday morning that would balance the state budget by closing a $26.3 billion shortfall threatening the finances of the government of the most populous U.S. state.

California lawmakers finally sealed a deal with the governor on a plan to close a $26 billion budget gap.

Legislative leaders emerged from late-night budget negotiations Tuesday to announce they were closing in on a final agreement on how to address the state's $26.3-billion deficit.

A pro-marijuana group is launching another television bid to legalize pot in California — this time with the pitch that legalizing and taxing the drug could help solve the state's massive budget deficit.

The White House on Tuesday dashed hopes that the federal government would help California overcome a mammoth budget crisis that has brought the state dangerously close to an economic meltdown, saying the state will have to solve the problem on its own.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed Wednesday to let California government come to a "grinding halt" rather than agree to a high-interest loan to keep the state afloat if he and the Legislature do not close the yawning budget gap in coming weeks.

Michigan officials said Friday that the state is closing three prisons and five prison camps in hopes of narrowing a $1.4 billion budget gap for fiscal 2010.