Around the Nation

Houston Chronicle, April 4, 2007
"Lottery ticket sales paltry despite record jackpot"
Lotto fever has given way to Lotto fatigue.
Just ask the millions of Texans who aren't bothering to buy a ticket for tonight's $72 million jackpot.
As Lotto Texas moves into its 15th year, state officials and lottery critics say ticket sales are dropping sharply — and along with them, the size of the jackpots and the number of big winners.
[...]

New York Times, April 4, 2007
"N.J. pension fund endangered by diverted billions"
In 2005, New Jersey put either $551 million, $56 million or nothing into its pension fund for teachers. All three figures appeared in various state documents — though the state now says that the actual amount was zero.
The phantom contribution is just one indication that New Jersey has been diverting billions of dollars from its pension fund for state and local workers into other government purposes over the last 15 years, using a variety of unorthodox transactions authorized by the Legislature and by governors from both political parties.
[...]

CBS 5 (Phoenix, AZ), April 3, 2007
"Legislature approves April 17 tax deadline"
A bill approved by the Legislature gives Arizonans until April 17 to file their 2006 state income tax returns.
The Senate on Tuesday approved a House-passed version of a bill (SB1157), sending it on to Gov. Janet Napolitano. It would take effect immediately on her signature.
The normal filing deadline of April 15 is a Sunday this year, and the state legislation would synchronize the state with the alternative filing deadline set by the federal government.
[...]

(Oregon) Mail Tribune, April 4, 2007
"Flouride bill back before legislature"
The biennial battle over fluoridation to promote dental health surfaced again Tuesday in the Legislature.
The Health Care Subcommittee on Health Policy held the first public hearing on a bill mandating that municipal water systems serving 10,000 or more customers add fluoride to their drinking water. Invited testimony only was taken, with each side limited to approximately 50 minutes.
Opponents and proponents worked the halls of the Capitol prior to the hearing, offering up studies and position papers pro and con on the emotionally charged issue and giving media interviews.
[...]

The Newark Star Ledger, April 4, 2007
"State expands property tax relief"
Clearing the way for rebates of about $1,000 for most homeowners, Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday signed a $2.2 billion tax relief plan, the centerpiece of the Legislature's nine-month drive to rein in property taxes.
"I'm here to say we've done very well," Corzine said during a ceremony at Trenton's War Memorial, where he signed the tax relief bill (A1) and a second measure (A4) designed to control local school spending. "It's not everything that everyone would like, but it's really extraordinary."
[...]

USA Today, April 2, 2007
"As land-line customers go wireless, 911 loses funding"
Some 911 systems are facing budget crunches as more Americans unplug land lines and switch to cellphones, shrinking the revenue from phone surcharges that helps fund 911.
Many counties charge a fee to land-line users to fund 911 services. Cellphone users often pay smaller fees or nothing at all to local governments.
Most cellphone users pay state fees that help subsidize local 911 centers, but some officials say it's not enough.
[...]

The Houston Chronicle, April 3, 2007
"Earthlink wireless contract on city agenda"
The City Council on Wednesday is expected to consider a $2.5 million contract with EarthLink Inc. that would allow the company to build the city's wireless network and agree to be its "anchor tenant" for the first five years of the project.
While the agreement allows Mayor Bill White to keep his promise of not using taxpayer money to build the network, the city would be required to pay the company at least $500,000 annually for five years to use the service.
The contract, obtained by the Chronicle on Monday, details the standards EarthLink is expected to meet, as well as how the city plans to test the network and hold EarthLink accountable.
[...]

Stateline.org, April 3, 2007
"Toll roads hit speed bumps"
In 2006, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) triggered a toll-way mania when he signed a whopping $3.8 billion deal to lease the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road to a private investment firm for 75 years.
But this year, public and political opposition forced Daniels to shelve two smaller proposals for privately built and managed toll roads in the Hoosier State.
Daniels is not the only governor whose transportation funding plans are being detoured. As states increasingly look to toll roads and public-private partnerships for quick road-funding fixes, the public, consumer advocates and motorist and trucking associations are putting up barriers to pay-as-you-drive proposals.
[...]

Dallas Morning News, April 3, 2007
"TYC to free 552 (inmates) in days"
More than 500 parole- or release-ready juvenile inmates – more than a 10th of all those held by the scandal-ridden Texas Youth Commission – will walk free by the end of the week, the agency's conservator said Monday.
Freeing inmates who have already completed their sentences is the first step in a game plan that Jay Kimbrough and state lawmakers agree will bring the unwieldy agency back to its roots: providing professional-grade rehabilitation to the state's worst juvenile offenders.
[...]

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 4, 2007
"HOPE floats on pile of cash"
The popular HOPE scholarship program is overflowing with money these days, just three years after lawmakers worried it was going broke.
It is in such good financial shape that excess HOPE money is being shifted to other scholarship and education programs in the midyear budget. It has $744 million in reserves, almost three times what it had in the bank before limits on the program were approved in 2004.