Government Finance

The South Carolina General Assembly is returning to Columbia on Tuesday to consider nearly $53 million in local projects that Gov. Henry McMaster wants out of the $13.8 billion state budget. All the money went toward items put in by lawmakers for local concerns, like $25 million to help pay for a quantum computer facility in Columbia, $7 million for a cultural welcome center in Orangeburg and $500,000 to improve the stadium at Summerville High School. McMaster says he allowed projects where lawmakers detailed exactly who got the money and where it was going.

Top Indiana Republicans expect to see action toward tightening the state’s abortion law during the Legislature’s special session that is set to start next month. Leaders of the Republican-dominated Legislature said Friday they were glad the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling returned decisions on regulation abortion to the states. Republican House Speaker Todd Huston said he expected lawmakers would “take action to further protect life when we return to the Statehouse.” GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb earlier this week called the Legislature into a special session starting July 6 to take up a tax refund proposal, but state law allows legislators to take up any subject.

Groups representing the oil industry and refiners say a meeting with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was productive and should send a signal to markets that the United States is committed to long-term investments in the oil and refining industry. The meeting Thursday with Granholm and other top officials came as President Joe Biden called on Congress to suspend federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel as a way to relieve high gas prices that have frustrated drivers and spurred inflation. The Democratic president also called on states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide similar relief, and he delivered a public critique of the energy industry for prioritizing profits over production.

Arizona’s legislature has approved a bipartisan $18 billion spending plan making substantial investments in public schools and new highways. The budget passed early Thursday also pays down long-term debts and includes no major tax cuts. The improbable bipartisanship was enabled by an unprecedented surplus topping $5 billion, which allowed for a broad array of new spending and savings. More than half a billion goes to K-12 schools, and a proposal to expand private school subsidies was dropped. Republican leaders tried for months to craft a much more limited plan without Democratic support before looking across the aisle for votes.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister says the island nation's debt-laden economy has “collapsed” as it runs out of money to pay for food and fuel. The country is seeking help from neighboring India and China and from the International Monetary Fund. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office in May, was emphasizing the monumental task he faces in turning around the economy as it nears, he said, “rock bottom." Economists say the crisis stems from domestic factors such as years of mismanagement and corruption, but also from other troubles such as its $51 billion in debt, the pandemic and terror attacks. Getting the economy back on track will take time.

Republicans in the Arizona House have approved a massive expansion of the state’s private school voucher program. They voted Wednesday to allow all 1.1 million public school students to use public money to attend a private schools. The measure comes just four years after voters overwhelmingly rejected a smaller voucher expansion after an unprecedented mobilization by teachers opposed to using tax dollars for private education. It still needs approval in the Senate, which backed a smaller expansion in February. Democrats fiercely opposed the voucher bill. The party line vote came as the House and Senate prepare to vote on a nearly $18 billion state budget that will need Democratic support if it is not trimmed substantially.

Facing stubbornly high gas prices that average about $5 a gallon nationwide, President Joe Biden has urged Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months. If savings from the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal tax on gas are fully passed along to consumers, drivers would save about $2.76 for a 15-gallon fill-up. It’s unclear, though, if Biden can push his proposal through Congress, where lawmakers, including some Democrats, are skeptical or even opposed to the idea. Many economists also are wary of a gas tax holiday.

A special session of the Indiana Legislature will begin July 6 to take up the governor’s proposal for sending out $225 payments to all taxpayers from the state’s growing budget surplus. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a proclamation Wednesday setting the date for the special session to start. Holcomb said two weeks ago he would call a special session as he announced his plan amid the worst national inflation in 40 years. Republican legislative leaders have signaled support for Holcomb’s proposed tax refund and joined with him in rejecting calls from Democrats for suspending the state’s gasoline taxes, which will grow to 62 cents a gallon starting July 1.

President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months — an election-year move meant to ease financial pressures. But it's not clear Biden has the votes to suspend the taxes. Many lawmakers in his own party have expressed reservations. Biden says he knows the move wouldn't reduce “all the pain but it will be a big help.” If the gas tax savings were fully passed along to consumers, people would save roughly 3.6% at the pump. Prices average about $5 a gallon nationwide. Biden also wants states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide similar relief.