Ear to the Ground - State News Roundup

Even if Congress approves a massive $825 billion economic stimulus package, states would still be left with billions of dollars of overspending gaps to close on their own, a new analysis released Jan. 26 shows.

New Jersey Transit has threatened fair hikes if it doesn't get $150 million of Federal Taxpayer Bailout - the same day it begins construction on an $8.7 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River, officials said yesterday.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has created a new Pork Czar and 15 person state agency to dole out more than $3.5 billion in federal stimulus funds to be heated by the Pork Czar.

The governing body of the California Teachers Association voted over the weekend to support signature gathering for a ballot measure that would hike the California sales tax by a penny on the dollar.

The WSJ Online has a must-read article on the unprecedented state spending binge of the last five years. The GAO estimates that state and local governments will face cumulative overspending problem by $131 billion in 2009, increasing to a staggering $181 billion in 2010.

California towns are bailing out local car dealers.

Illinois taxpayers are footing the bill for at least part of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's TV tour.

Iowa Governor Chet Culver's is recommending reducing overspending by 6.5% in the budgeting year that begins July 1, which would spend less than the state budget from two years ago.

Colorado activist Freda Poundstone on Monday submitted a proposed ballot measure that would drastically cut taxes and fees paid by Coloradans on everything from car registrations to telephone bills.