State Implications of Immigration Bill Become Clearer

By JC Hendrickson | Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 9:02 am

The much-anticipated immigration reform bill has started to take shape in Washington, D.C., and states now have a better idea of what to expect.

A few weeks ago, Capitol Hill Ideas took a look at the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, known as SCAAP, which is the primary way states are reimbursed for the cost of detaining criminal illegal immigrants. Funding for the program has been in flux for the past several years, and it now appears that immigration overhaul funds SCAAP through 2015.


Gov. John Kitzhaber on Coordinating Care to Cut Medicaid Costs

By Mary Branham | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 9:31 am

10 Questions with Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber: Coordinating Care to Cut Medicaid Costs

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a physician, says his state’s new approach to Medicaid under a federal waiver has fundamentally changed the way health care is organized and delivered. It established coordinated care organizations, which are moving away from a fee-for-service model.


Medicaid: Change is on the horizon; states prepare for turning point in health program

By Kathryn Tormey | Friday, May 10, 2013 at 1:18 pm

Stateline Midwest ~ May 2013

Since its inception in 1965, Medicaid has been a critical part of our nation’s safety net. And as both enrollment and spending have been steadily increasing — and a new federal health law is poised to take full effect — the strength of that net is being tested.


Proposed Food Safety Act Rules Raise Questions

By Jennifer Ginn | Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 12:00 am

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 made sweeping changes to how America ensures its food supply is safe. What remains to be seen is just how the Food and Drug Administration will enact those changes.


2013 Update on the Panama Canal Expansion and Ports in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast States

By Sujit CanagaRetna | Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 12:00 am

The ongoing Panama Canal expansion is perhaps the most transformative global transportation project now in progress. Upon completion in 2014, the expanded Panama Canal will facilitate an even greater flow of trade between Asia and the Americas and will substantially impact the volume of trade reaching Gulf and Atlantic Coast ports in the United States. The impetus for the expansion of the Canal, approved by the people of Panama in October 2006, sprang from that nation’s desire to continue as a pivotal player in global trade patterns and strategically leverage its greatest asset—the Panama Canal—for its own economic well-being. 


State Tax Trends 2013

By Jennifer Burnett | Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 3:58 pm

Taxes are the largest single source of general revenues for states. In 2011, taxes made up 45.9 percent of general state revenues, totaling $757.9 billion, or $2,432 per capita. In 2012, tax revenues increased 4.8 percent over 2011 in nominal terms, or 2.8 percent when adjusted for inflation. The largest component of tax revenues is sales and gross receipt taxes—47.2 percent—with corporate and personal income tax revenue coming in second at 40.5 percent. Other significant sources of state taxes include licenses at 6.8 percent of tax revenue; severance at 1.9 percent; and property at 1.9 percent.