State Budget Solutions' Fourth Annual State Debt Report > Publications > State Budget Solutions. State Budget Solutions' (SBS) fourth annual State Debt Study reveals that state governments face a combined $5.1 trillion in debt. This total equals roughly $16,178 per capita, or 33 percent of annual gross state product. Another telling way to view the problem - state debt is equal to 469% of all fiscal year state general and other fund expenditures. Since 2010, SBS has conducted a comprehensive examination of debt facing the 50 state governments. These reports have repeatedly found trillions in combined debt that stand in stark contrast to officials' proclamations of balanced budgets and belt-tightening.
This year's update, and those in the past, show unfunded public pension liabilities' incredible contribution to state debt. SBS' unique and comprehensive approach to calculating state debt includes four separate components. The table below shows each state's total debt, along with details breaking down that debt into its four contributing components. Components of Debt Outstanding Debt. Secession Plan Floated By Some Northern Colorado Leaders. GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) – Several Colorado counties that strongly oppose increased regulation of the oil and gas industry say they want to form their own state. They are planning on calling it North Colorado or Northern Colorado. The counties are frustrated with the new agricultural and energy bills that have recently been signed into law. “We really feel in northern and northeastern Colorado that we are ignored — citizens’ concerns are ignored, and we truly feel disenfranchised,” Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway told CBS4.
(credit: CBS) Conway said the new laws don’t support the interests of the northern part of the state, which is rich in agricultural history. Conway said that’s why he and others are proposing to break away from Colorado to form a new state. “This is not a stunt. Parts of Nebraska are also apparently interested in joining in on what would be a new state. Conway says five of the current 50 states were created through a similar process. Rep. Mississippi aims to curb teen pregnancy with umbilical blood law. Secession Plan Floated By Some Northern Colorado Leaders. Obama to take post-Sandy tour of Jersey Shore on Tuesday. Get live coverage of President Obama's visit to the Jersey Shore. WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is looking to get his groove back — at the beach. A post-Hurricane Sandy tour of the New Jersey coast line on Tuesday, gives the president a chance for a three-point play that can move him ahead of the recent controversies that have dogged the White House.
With New Jersey’s Republican Gov. Chris Christie at Obama’s side, effective government, bipartisanship and economic opportunity will be the unmistakable message in the face of the coastal recovery. For Obama, the tour helps him continue redirecting the political conversation after two weeks of dealing with the fallout over the administration’s response to terror attacks last September in Benghazi, Libya, the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department’s review of journalist phone records as part of a leak investigation. To be sure, New Jersey is still rebuilding.
Developers Want To Turn Old Tiger Stadium Site Into Entertainment Complex Showcasing African Culture. DETROIT (WWJ) – An ambitious Detroit businessman thinks he has a bombshell idea for transforming the empty lot where old Tiger Stadium used to be. After many failed plans from other developers, Francois DeMonique told WWJ City Beat Reporter Vickie Thomas he wants to see the site at Michigan Avenue and Trumbull transformed into a unique hotel and entertainment complex that showcases African food and culture. “I love this city and I believe in this city.
I’ve put a lot of effort into it and my company, which is Urban Café Corporation, we are dedicated to being a part of the new face of Detroit. This may be just the first African-American development built from the ground up,” he said. DeMonique’s vision for Urban Café Detroit is one where visitors can stay in a hotel, attend a live concert, have a fancy dinner and dance the night away all under one roof without having to drive to separate destinations.
The look of the building would be aesthetically pleasing, DeMonique said. Detroit's pension boards pay $22K to send 4 trustees to Hawaii. Four trustees of Detroit’s two public pension funds are heading to a Hawaiian beach resort this weekend with their $22,000 tab paid for by the funds, which are mired in claims of mismanagement and said to be at least $600 million underfunded. Trustees say the conference provides the education they need to manage complex investments for the funds’ retirees and beneficiaries. But other major public pension systems, including the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions, avoided sending their officials to Hawaii because of concerns the exotic locale sends the wrong message at a time when pensions nationwide are contemplating or implementing reduced benefits to cope with rising retirement costs and shaky investment returns.
The city’s two public pension funds — the General Retirement System and the Police and Fire Retirement System — each are sending two trustees to the six-day National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) conference, which starts Saturday. Rob Ford in 'crack cocaine' video scandal. A cellphone video that appears to show Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine is being shopped around Toronto by a group of Somali men involved in the drug trade. Two Toronto Star reporters have viewed the video three times. It appears to show Ford in a room, sitting in a chair, wearing a white shirt, top buttons open, inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe.
Ford is incoherent, trading jibes with an off-camera speaker who goads the clearly impaired mayor by raising topics including Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and the Don Bosco high school football team Ford coaches. “I’m f---ing right-wing,” Ford appears to mutter at one point. How can you indicate what the person is actually doing or smoking? Ford's lawyer The Star had no way to verify the authenticity of the video, which appears to clearly show Ford in a well-lit room. A lawyer retained by Ford, Dennis Morris, said that Thursday evening’s publication by the U.S.
Throughout the video Ford’s eyes are half-closed. Boomtown: Meet The Washington Aristocracy. Obama's America Will Become Detroit. President Barack Obama travelled to Michigan this week and made his case for class war in defense of the welfare state. We need to take more money from the rich, he said, or schools will not be able to afford books, students will not be able to afford college, and disabled children will not get health care.
"Our economic success has never come from the top down," said Obama. "It comes from the middle out. It comes from the bottom up. " Obama spoke these words a few miles from Detroit — the reductio ad absurdum of his argument. If America continues down the road to Obama's America — a road that began when President Franklin Roosevelt started building a welfare state here — our entire nation will become Detroit. Obama's economic and moral vision has played out in that city. Last week, as reported by the Detroit Free Press, Michigan's state treasurer told Detroit's mayor and city council that the state may soon appoint an emergency financial manager for the city. What happened to Detroit? Detroit insolvent, EM Kevyn Orr says. Palm Beach County sheriff gets $1 million for violence...
By Dara Kam and Stacey Singer - Palm Beach Post Staff Writers Florida House and Senate budget leaders have awarded Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw $1 million for a new violence prevention unit aimed at preventing tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., from occurring on his turf. Bradshaw plans to use the extra $1 million to launch “prevention intervention” units featuring specially trained deputies, mental health professionals and caseworkers.
The teams will respond to citizen phone calls to a 24-hour hotline with a knock on the door and a referral to services, if needed. Subscribers get total access to this story, and all our in-depth news, digital editions and exclusive content. Subscribe today, or try a 24-hour or 7-day digital pass. Farrakhan son is part-time Harvey cop but hasn’t worked a shift in 4 years. BY KIM JANSSEN Federal Courts Reporter kjanssen@suntimes.com April 21, 2013 10:22PM Updated: May 23, 2013 6:09AM The Nation of Islam styles him its “Supreme Captain” — a potential successor to his controversial father, Minister Louis Farrakhan. But when he’s working for the Harvey Police Department, Mustapha Farrakhan is just a regular part-time cop. If, that is, he’s actually working for the Harvey Police Department. Farrakhan, 52, certainly has a police badge from the crime-plagued south suburb. He drives an unmarked Harvey Police squad car, complete with flashing police lights, and parks it outside his home at night.
And he’s been registered with the state as a gun-carrying Harvey cop since 2006. But he hasn’t worked a single shift in more than four years, according to state records. Neither Farrakhan, his close pal, Harvey Mayor Eric J. Instead Eaves issued a statement describing Farrakhan as a “volunteer” police officer whose appointment he “stands behind.” Rhode Island professor Erik Loomis blames West, Texas, explosion on lack of unions and bad zoning. Police: 12 Bodies Recovered In Texas Plant Explosion. Get Breaking News First Receive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning. Sign Up WEST, Texas (AP) — The bodies of 12 people have been recovered from the remnants of a tiny Texas farm town that was rocked by a roaring explosion at a fertilizer plant, authorities said Friday, confirming for the first time the number of people who perished in the accident. Officials did not identify those killed, but the dead were believed to include a small group of firefighters and other first-responders who rushed toward the West Fertilizer Co. to battle a fire that apparently touched off the blast.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes said he could not confirm how many first-responders had been killed. The Wednesday evening explosion was strong enough to register as a small earthquake and could be heard for many miles across the Texas prairie. Even before investigators disclosed the fatalities, the names of the dead were becoming known throughout the community of 2,800. City Offers Free Internet Access, Computers to Low-income Households.
AVALON PARK — A little more than a year ago, Sharon Bryant moved from public housing and into her own apartment in Englewood. Bryant said she owes it all to the Internet. "I never really knew much about the Internet, so I didn't bother to learn how to use it until I needed a job," said Bryant, 22. "That's when I discovered that most jobs require that you submit your resume or fill out an application online. And if you don't know how to log onto the Internet, you're in trouble. " Growing up in the Harold Ickes public housing complex, and later living in the Dearborn Homes public housing complex, both on the South Side, Bryant said Internet use was not a priority to her. She became more digital savvy after getting assistance from the Chicago Housing Authority's Technology Lab at its Lake Parc Place apartment building, 3983 S. "There are more Sharons out there waiting for their chances, and they will have that chance thanks to the city partnering with others," Emanuel said.
Wife of ex-judge confesses in Texas DA slayings. (AP) Wife of ex-judge confesses in Texas DA slayingsBy DANNY ROBBINSAssociated PressKAUFMAN, TexasAuthorities say the wife of a former judge has confessed to being involved in the shooting deaths of a North Texas district attorney, his wife and an assistant prosecutor. Kim Lene Williams was arrested early Wednesday. Kaufman County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Justin Lewis says Williams is being charged in all three deaths. Lewis says she is being held on $10 million bond. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Williams told investigators Tuesday that she was involved in the shootings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, Cynthia, and one of his prosecutors, Mark Hasse.
The investigation has also focused on her husband, Eric Williams, whom McLelland and Hasse successfully prosecuted for theft. The McLellands were found dead March 30, two months after Hasse was slain. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. The official did not describe the evidence against Williams. 5 Teens Under 17 Arrested In Oakland Shooting Death Of Paramedic. Get Breaking News First Receive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning. Sign Up OAKLAND (CBS SF) — Five juveniles ranging in age from 14 to 16 have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of off-duty paramedic Quinn Boyer in the Oakland Hills two weeks ago, Oakland police Chief Howard Jordan said Tuesday. Jordan said the crime is part of what he described as “a disturbing trend in this city” in which juveniles as young as 13 have been involved in violent crimes. “I call on parents, the schools and the community to change the cycle,” Jordan said. Boyer, 34, who had worked as a paramedic for five years, the last two for Santa Clara County Ambulance, was shot while he was driving shortly before noon on April 2 and crashed his car down a ravine in the 5200 block of Keller Avenue.
Boyer, who grew up in Oakland, was in Oakland on April 2 to take his father to a medical appointment. Teens Arrested In Shooting Death Of Off-Duty Paramedic In Oakland Chris Filippi. Texas Soldier Arrested for ‘Rudely Displaying’ Weapon. I just got off the phone with Army Master Sergeant C. J. Grisham, a serving American soldier and veteran of the the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, who recently was illegally disarmed by the Temple Police Department while out for a walk with his son. “We live out in the country in Texas, near Temple,” he told me. “My son and I were on a ten-mile hike so that he could earn his hiking merit badge – it’s the last badge he needs to become an Eagle Scout.” But half way into the hike, Grisham said, “a police officer pulled up.” Initially, he was “cordial” and he “asked what we were doing.” Grisham told him. From here, things took a turn for the worse.
“‘Where you going with that rifle?’ The video of the incident is below. Particularly chilling is the officer’s telling Grisham that a police officer is “allowed to” carry a weapon, but that Grisham is not — despite Grisham’s having a permit. In an interview today, I asked Grisham why he thought the officer behaved in this way. What happens next? The lucrative business of smuggling cigarettes - Apr. 16, 2013. Cigarette smuggling is on the rise as taxes soar in some states but remain low in others. This pack from Virginia was bought in New York City for $8, a discount off the local going rate of around $12 per pack. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Yeah, it's illegal. But that's how much can be made from selling a tractor trailer's worth (that's 800 cases, each holding 600 packs of cigarettes) of low-tax Virginia cigarettes in high-tax New York, based on estimates from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
And that's exactly what criminals are doing. In 2011, more than 60% of all cigarettes sold in New York were smuggled in from another state, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank. That's up from about 36% in 2006. It's not just happening in New York. Mackinac and others pin the blame on rising state taxes, and say things could get even worse if President Obama's proposed 94-cent-a-pack cigarette tax hike goes through. Porn film permits have dropped dramatically in L.A. County.
Study: CA High-Speed Rail Will Lose $124-$373 Million A Year. North Carolina House approves bill requiring background checks for welfare. Gadsden High School: Ump pushed English-only in game. Separate-gender classes among changes for Southfield public high schools. Huffington Post bringing Christie to White House Correspondents' dinner. Conn. Father’s Stunning Claim: Son’s School Is Teaching That Americans Don’t Have the Right to Bear Arms. Trust in Gold Not Bernanke as U.S. States Promote Bullion. Virginia Builds $1 Million “Super” Bus Stop. Hundreds of Texas educators take free concealed handgun class. Mom killed after she denies man romantic access to daughter. Maryland Lawmaker Introduces New Bill After 7 Year Old Suspended For Chewing Pastry Into Shape of Gun // Mr. Lawmaker wants to eliminate Ga. income tax. Teen sexting would be misdemeanor.
As economy flails, debtors' prisons thrive. Proposed Bill in North Carolina Would Establish a State Religion. Georgia town passes law requiring residents to own guns. Texas AG to Obama: I'll sue if U.N. Arms Treaty is ratified. Judge: Stockton, Calif., Can File for Bankruptcy. Hundreds of teens mob pedestrians on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Study: New York Enjoys Less Freedom Than Any Other State In The U.S. Driving With Your Dog? Bill Would Prohibit Pets Behind the Wheel. 1 $750G bid for unwanted Alaska ferry worth $80M. Kentucky Legislature Passes Hemp Bill, Rand Paul Vows Support From D.C. Veteran Gregory Schaffer’s American Flag Faces Removal, Due To Liberal Complaints.
Gas Tax Increase Could Soon Be Reality. Florida County Spends Tens Of Thousands On Ambulance For Obese Patients. Washington state weighs first-in-the-nation abortion insurance mandate.
Gun Control. Education. Dumb Laws, Stupid Laws: We have weird laws, strange laws, and just plain crazy laws! Police Departments Beg And Barter For Ammo While DHS Buys Up 1.6 Billion Rounds In Past Year. Solitary Confinement: Punishment Or Cruelty? CPS Sex Education: Nation's Third Largest District Extending Lessons To Kindergarteners. Naked pictures on the Internet would face restrictions under proposed Florida law. Bill Repealing Adultery Officially Signed Into Law. Drug Testing Company Sees Spike In Children Using Marijuana. 46,609,072 People on Food Stamps in 2012; Record 47,791,996 in December. Texas Starts Budget Debate Flush With Energy Boom Cash. Perry Ending Calif. Trip Empty-Handed – So Far. New Hampshire Legislator: We Need to 'Restrict Freedoms' of Conservatives.
Mississippi passes 'anti-Bloomberg bill,' banning local limits on portion sizes and requirements to post calorie counts. 1 in 3 Illinoisans lives in or near poverty level: report. Illinois Senate Moves Toward Total Gun Ban.