BY LIZ FARMER | APRIL 3, 2019 AT 4:00 AM

In the decade since the Great Recession, most cities have recovered. But even in places that have bounced back -- some stronger than before -- many people are still struggling.

A new report by the Brookings Institution outlines how the economic expansion over the last decade has been a lopsided one marked by growing income inequality, wage stagnation and racial divides.

BY LIZ FARMER | MARCH 29, 2019 AT 4:00 AM

Historic flooding in the Midwest has left millions of acres under water in 10 states after a "bomb cyclone" storm brought heavy snow and drenching rains. And it’s far from over. Weather forecasters say more precipitation is on the way.

The task list for the cleanup and recovery is already mounting. So far, the floods are affecting the safety of more than a million private water wells; farms won’t be able to plant crops this year; and Superfund waste sites are inaccessible.

And when it comes to getting the money to rebuild, states and localities in the Midwest likely have a long wait ahead of them.

BY LIZ FARMER | MARCH 27, 2019 AT 2:15 PM

Federal funding to combat the opioid crisis more than doubled last year, marking an important commitment to prevention, treatment and recovery. A new report looks at whether and how that extra $4 billion is being effectively spent.

In 2017, more than 70,000 people in the United States died from a drug overdose; almost 50,000 of those deaths involved an opioid. In 2018, the Trump administration increased opioid funding to states to more than $7 billion, from a little more than $3 billion in 2017.

BY LIZ FARMER | MARCH 22, 2019 AT 4:00 AM

New Jersey will likely be the next to legalize recreational marijuana, which would make it the 11th state (plus the District of Columbia) to do so. Medical marijuana is legal in an additional 22 states, meaning that more than half the country permits some form of the drug.

And yet, most growers and sellers can’t get a bank account for their business.

BY LIZ FARMER | MARCH 20, 2019 AT 4:00 AM

The aircraft manufacturer Boeing has received roughly $1 billion in tax incentives and credits from Washington state over the past four years. That includes tens of millions of dollars for activities in 2017 related to production equipment for the 737 MAX jets, all of which have been grounded in the past week after two fatal crashes.

BY LIZ FARMER | MARCH 14, 2019 AT 3:12 PM

This week, President Trump introduced his vision for the federal government’s 2020 budget. It proposes slashing domestic spending by 9 percent, including a 31 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Defense spending, on the other hand, would increase by 5 percent, or $34 billion.

Here are six things state and local officials should consider when reviewing the administration’s proposal.

BY LIZ FARMER | MARCH 7, 2019 AT 2:57 PM

For the past year, most teacher strikes aimed at boosting education funding have been getting results. But when it comes to restoring cuts made during the Great Recession, new data show these states and others still rank among the worst in the country.

BY LIZ FARMER | MARCH 6, 2019 AT 4:00 AM

Three weeks after Amazon announced it would back out of plans to build a second headquarters in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are still lobbying to woo the company back in hopes of getting the 25,000 jobs and billions in community investment that it promised.

BY LIZ FARMER | MARCH 1, 2019 AT 4:00 AM

Kentucky and Illinois have two of the worst-funded pension plans in the country, and they’re struggling under the weight of skyrocketing costs. Both are now considering drastic measures to ease the annual burden in ways that critics say will ultimately make the problem worse.

After PG&E's bankruptcy and downgrades, S&P says more could follow if the state doesn't reform utility regulations.

Unlike states, localities are more constrained in their ability to raise revenues. It's creating big budget deficits for some school districts.

How much home sales impacts a place depends a lot on its property tax policies.

The president's plan to build a border wall could cost the most for California, Hawaii and Maryland -- three of the 16 states suing to block the declaration.

Lawmakers in at least a half-dozen states are considering forming a compact in which they would agree to end efforts to lure companies with tax incentives.

A new study of Baltimore shows that private capital is more often spent in low-poverty places that don't need it as much.

Some of the nation’s largest public pensions top a list of two dozen funds invested in private prison operators, a new report from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has found.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the New York State Teachers' Retirement System and the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System lead the list of pensions holding shares in the two largest private prison companies, CoreCivic and GEO Group. In total, AFT President Randi Weingarten says 24 funds across 20 states hold more than $75 million in stock in the two prison companies.

State government is the most polarized it's been in recent memory. In all but 13 states, one party holds a trifecta, controlling both chambers of the legislature and the governorship.

But while one-party dominance tends to mean that legislation moves faster, that hasn't always meant better fiscal policy. “When you have a trifecta come into place there’s the ability for a state to ultimately think in a completely partisan manner," says Brian Kirkell, principal at the tax consulting firm RSM. "In either direction -- left or right -- partisan tax policy isn’t always the best policy.”

The NFL’s Rams are making their first Super Bowl appearance in nearly 40 years as a Los Angeles-based team this Sunday, but the event also marks a first for people in more than half a dozen states: They can legally put money down on the outcome.

As more than 1 million federal and contract employees struggle to make ends meet after missing a month of pay, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is also starting to take a bite out of states and cities' revenue.

The Washington, D.C., region is by far the most affected. Around 400,000 federal and contract workers there are impacted by the impasse, which has entered its fifth week. All told, the region has so far missed out on nearly $200 million in tax revenue.

State tax collections took a dive in December compared to the same month a year ago. Observers are worried the dip could indicate more uncertain economic times ahead.

Lower income tax collections is the culprit, according to data compiled by Governing of the top 10 most populous states with an income tax and with recent data available. Every state except Indiana saw a December drop compared with a year ago, ranging from -3.4 percent in Ohio to -41 percent in California.