Teacher pay
Senate leader Phil Berger answers questions from reporters during a press conference outlining the state budget Monday, June 21, 2021 at the North Carolina Legislative Building. The budget includes tax cuts, raises and bonuses. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)
Senate budget uses NC revenue boon on more tax cuts, capital

By Gary D. Robertson Jun. 21, 2021 03:45 PM EDT

South Carolina Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, asks lawmakers to put a $1,200 bonus for state workers making under $50,000 a year into the budget on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in Columbia, S.C. The proposal failed. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
SC House budget: Raises for public workers; no vaccine lotto

By Jeffrey Collins Jun. 09, 2021 03:22 PM EDT

Aja Purnell-Mitchell, second from left, sits with her three children, Cartier, 14, left; Kyra, 15, and Kyla, 13, at a local food hub in Durham, N.C., on Friday, May 28, 2021, where they often help their mother. "Getting them back into it, helping them socialize back with their friends, maybe meet some new people, and, of course, pick up the things that they lacked on Zoom,” Purnell-Mitchell said, ticking off her hopes for the summer school session ahead, which will be the first time her children have been in the classroom since the coronavirus outbreak took hold in the spring of 2020. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Another COVID side effect: Many kids head to summer school

By Carolyn Thompson Jun. 06, 2021 08:19 AM EDT

FILE - This Jan. 17, 2021, file photo shows the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina's Legislature is ending its regular session on Thursday, April 13, 2021, ceremonially wrapping up its duties but expecting at least several returns later in the year to handle more work, including how to spend federal funding related to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
3% state employee raise; no vaccine lottery yet in SC budget

By Jeffrey Collins Jun. 02, 2021 06:09 PM EDT

Senate Finance Chairman Bodi White, R-Central, left, and Sen. Ronnie Johns, R-Lake Charles, ready for a discussion of the Senate's budget proposal in a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee on Monday, May 24, 2021, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Melinda Deslatte)
Analysis: Lawmakers load Louisiana budget with pet projects

By Melinda Deslatte May. 30, 2021 04:00 PM EDT

Senate Finance Chairman Bodi White, R-Central, left, and Sen. Ronnie Johns, R-Lake Charles, ready for a discussion of the Senate's budget proposal in a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee on Monday, May 24, 2021, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Melinda Deslatte)
Louisiana Senate releases $37B budget proposal for next year

By Melinda Deslatte May. 24, 2021 06:36 PM EDT

Economist Stephen Barnes, left, and Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, both members of the Revenue Estimating Conference, review income projections ahead of the conference's meeting Tuesday, May 18, 2021, in Baton Rouge, La. The conference increased the income forecast for the current and upcoming budget years, giving lawmakers more money to spend. (AP Photo/Melinda Deslatte)
La. income forecast grows, giving lawmakers more to spend

By Melinda Deslatte May. 18, 2021 04:15 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2021, file photo, state Rep. Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, is sworn in during the opening of the Arizona Legislature at the state Capitol, in Phoenix. A budget deal struck between Republican leaders Bowers and Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, and Gov. Doug Ducey includes implementing a flat 2.5% income tax that cuts $1.5 billion a year from state revenue and keeps higher earning taxpayers from having to directly pay a new 3.5% surcharge to fund schools. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool, File)
Arizona GOP budget deal envisions massive income tax cut

By Bob Christie May. 18, 2021 02:09 PM EDT

Rep. Jerome "Zee" Zeringue, R-Houma, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, talks with a legislative staffer during the opening day of the Louisiana legislative session in Baton Rouge, La., Monday, April 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Louisiana House votes for $36B budget, federal aid spending

By Melinda Deslatte May. 06, 2021 06:23 PM EDT

Reps. Bill Wheat, R-Ponchatoula, from left, Chris Turner, R-Ruston; and Troy Romero, R-Jennings, look through budget documents during a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee on Monday, May 3, 2021, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Melinda Deslatte)
Louisiana House GOP leaders unveil their budget proposal

By Melinda Deslatte May. 03, 2021 01:32 PM EDT

Arkansas session marked by culture wars, coronavirus fights

By Andrew Demillo May. 01, 2021 11:10 AM EDT
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The 108-day Arkansas legislative session that wrapped up last week was dominated by culture war issues and the coronavirus pandemic,...

Capital projects, sales tax holiday: $42.6B Tennessee budget

By Jonathan Mattise May. 01, 2021 08:07 AM EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's upcoming state budget is one signature by the governor away from becoming law, including a one-week sales tax holiday on...

Editorial Roundup: Indiana

By The Associated Press Apr. 27, 2021 02:00 PM EDT
KPC News. April 25, 2021. Editorial: Legislature closes controversial session Lawmakers closed out their 2021...

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper delivers his State of the State address before a joint session of the North Carolina House and Senate on Monday, April 26, 2021 in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP)
Cooper address focuses on COVID, finding agreement with GOP

By Gary D. Robertson Apr. 26, 2021 08:52 AM EDT

Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette, listens during a session at the Statehouse, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Indiana lawmakers approve state budget, finish session

By Tom Davies Apr. 22, 2021 06:01 PM EDT

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signs a bill requiring schools to provide in-person classes five days a week starting April 26 and for next school year on Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Columbia, S.C. The bill also requires school districts to pay teachers extra if they have to teach both in person and online. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
SC governor signs 5-day-a-week in-person class measure

Apr. 22, 2021 05:40 PM EDT

Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston speaks during a session at the Statehouse, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Highlights of Indiana's new state budget

Apr. 22, 2021 04:23 PM EDT

Vote near on Indiana budget with schools boost, vaping tax

By Tom Davies Apr. 21, 2021 05:27 PM EDT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana public school and teachers groups are cheering the education funding increase included in the new state budget plan that’s poised...

Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, speaks during a news conference at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Thursday, April 15, 2021, with Indiana Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, center, and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville. A new state revenue report given Thursday to legislators projects tax collections will bounce back stronger than expected from the pandemic recession. (AP Photo/Tom Davies)
Indiana budget deal boosts school funding, construction

By Tom Davies Apr. 20, 2021 04:09 PM EDT

Wisconsin schools receiving $175 million for COVID-19 tests

Apr. 20, 2021 12:15 PM EDT
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin schools will receive more than $175 million in federal funding to pay for school-based COVID-19 testing for teachers, students...