Budget Deficit, Billion | featured news

The budget deficit rose in October, the first month of fiscal year 2013, as looming negotiations over expiring tax cuts and imminent spending reductions dominated the post-election political landscape.

The State of Illinois is still paying off billions in bills that it got from schools and social service providers last year. Arizona recently stopped paying for certain organ transplants for people in its Medicaid program. States are releasing prisoners early, more to cut expenses than to reward good behavior. And in Newark, the city laid off 13 percent of its police officers last week.

The Senate Finance Committee's healthcare reform bill would cost an estimated $829 billion over 10 years and reduce the budget deficit by $81 billion, congressional budget analysts said on Wednesday.