Two months ago, a pair of economists representing the Douglas administration and the Legislature forecast personal income-tax withholdings at $327.5 million through February. That forecast was overly optimistic. The economic recovery hasn't materialized and the state's General Fund is $12.2 million short for the first two months of 2010.

Two weeks after lawmakers voted to close Vermont Yankee in 2012, Vermont regulators are being pressed to act sooner — shutting it down immediately — because of leaking tritium that environmental groups say is polluting the environment.

he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will reconsider its 2002 approval of the Lake Champlain cleanup plan — a plan that has failed to produce any reduction in phosphorus pollution or to halt periodic algae blooms.

Senate Health Committee Chairman Doug Racine unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would maintain forward momentum toward a more streamlined health care system -- but postpone the big decisions until next year.

The House Judiciary Committee is poised to recommend significant restructuring to the state's judiciary -- to produce financial savings to respond to the state's financial crisis while maintaining access and increasing efficiency.

The downgrading of the city's credit rating Monday by Moody's Investors Service because of Burlington Telecom's financial problems will increase the cost of city borrowing, Jonathan Leopold, the city's chief financial officer, said Tuesday.

Attorney General William H. Sorrell, the Federal Trade Commission and 34 states announced Tuesday a settlement with LifeLock, Inc., a Tempe, Arizona-based identity-theft-prevention service, to resolve an investigation into the company's allegedly misleading advertisements.

A study released on the eve of the 2010 Census has some eye-opening news about the count's importance for Floridians: In a national ranking, the amount of Census-based aid flowing to the state and the three-county South Florida region puts both in the bottom five.

Kansas and Vermont have become the two latest casualties of record unemployment insurance claims. Both states have exhausted their unemployment insurance trust funds and have turned to borrowing from the federal government to keep unemployment benefits flowing.

In Michigan, where many enterprises are struggling to survive, the renowned University of Michigan is in the midst of a construction boom and hiring spree. Michigan State University, on the other hand, plans to lay off faculty and cut programs, blaming state funding that is lower than it was a decade ago. Flagship universities in other states are also prospering, while their lesser-known counterparts suffer from vanishing state appropriations. 

So, why not change the arrangement and require big-name universities to take responsibility for their own financing, leaving more state money to support the other state schools? As legislatures face their toughest budget year since the recession began, the idea of giving a few universities autonomy to control their own finances has some appeal.