Archive for the ‘Policy’ Category

Alaska Watchdog:Boroughs to end financial disclosure laws

An often overlooked provision in Alaska statute allows cities to exempt themselves from campaign financial disclosure requirements, and several Alaskan boroughs have made the move to include the exemptions on the upcoming October ballots. On Tuesday night, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly introduced an ordinance...
August 5th, 2010 | Policy, Transparency | Read More

Unfunded pension liabilities drastically underestimated

(NCAP) Recent reports state that due to over-estimated discount rates, the public employee retirement pension liabilities of many state and local governments have been under-estimated by 75-86 percent. Read the article <here>
July 30th, 2010 | Fiscal Policy, Policy | Read More

Responsible ways to stop digging the debt hole

(The Heritage Foundation) When Gallup recently polled Americans on the biggest threat to America’s future well-being, the escalating national debt tied terrorism at the top. They’re right to worry. Washington’s debt is on a completely unsustainable path. The Congressional Budget Office...
July 20th, 2010 | Economics, Policy | Read More

State rolls millions in to General Fund

(AlaskaWatchdog.org) After several years of internal discussion and organization, the Legislative Finance Division has completed a project that adds more than $750 million into the General Fund in an effort to simplify State finances. Legislative Fiscal Analyst David Teal said the Budget Clarification...
July 16th, 2010 | Fiscal Policy, Policy, Transparency | Read More

Indiana Legislators push for Transparency Website

STATEHOUSE (June 24, 2010) – Senate Republican leaders today proposed the Daniels administration unilaterally move forward without a legislative mandate on a new “transparency website” showing budgets and spending by Indiana state government. The key GOP senators said the site should later be expanded...
June 28th, 2010 | Accountability, Fiscal Policy, Policy | Read More

Signatories of petitions now subject to rules of Open Government

(The Spokesman-Review) The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a big victory for open government when it ruled that political petition signers do not have a broad First Amendment guarantee to hide their names from public view. The 8-1 decision stemmed from a challenge by a Washington state religious group,...
June 25th, 2010 | Accountability, Policy | Read More

Medicaid: facing a tough road

(The Heritage Foundation) In passing Obamacare, Congress has put the states in quite a pickle. To sharply expand health coverage, Obamacare flung wide the gates of Medicaid eligibility. It envisions a massive expansion of the federal-state health program that, historically, delivers low-quality care...
June 11th, 2010 | Economics, Fiscal Policy, Health Care, Policy | Read More

Union bail-out has Republican supporters

(Michigan Capitol Confidential) Michigan Congressman Thad McCotter, R-Livonia, is one of just nine Republicans nationwide to co-sponsor legislation that seeks to bail out union pension funds and put taxpayers “on the hook for $165 billion in unfunded union pension liabilities,” according...
June 9th, 2010 | Economics, Fiscal Policy, Policy | Read More

Anchorage VA clinic: $76mil, 184,000 square feet

(KTUU) Patients and staffers at Anchorage’s veterans’ clinic have waited two years for this day: the opening of their new building on North Muldoon Road. Less than seven miles from the site of the new crime lab, the new clinic measures 184,000 square feet, but with a price tag that should...
May 17th, 2010 | Accountability, Economics, Issues, Policy | Read More

Promised healthcare premium decrease turns to increase

(AP) New healthcare legislation allowing adults to remain under the coverage of their parents’ plan is expected to raise premiums near 1 percent. This coming despite the campaign promise that premiums would be reduced by 2,500 per average family. Read the article <here>
May 11th, 2010 | Health Care, Policy, Recent News | Read More

Editorial: The downward spiral of the state of Illinois

(Chicago Tribune) Illinois needs leaders who see that, across this nation, concerns about the public sector’s size, cost and reach is the domestic issue that most rivets Americans. Read the article <here>
April 23rd, 2010 | Economics, Policy | Read More
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