Government And Institutions

State Senate Republicans want to set aside up to $5 million from the state's $250 million small business program to help provide micro-loans to urban entrepreneurs, saying Thursday that more jobs are needed to help Connecticut's struggling cities.

Gov. Doug Ducey signed a $9.1 billion budget plan for Arizona on Thursday that keeps K-12 school funding essentially flat, cuts about $100 million from the state's universities and eliminates state funding for community colleges in Pima and Maricopa counties.

The U.S. Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week.

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, a sign that strong hiring will likely continue.

Concerns about tax increases on sales and income being sought by Gov. Tom Wolf in his sprawling budget plan must be balanced by consideration of the benefits, including cuts to school taxes, the Democratic governor said Wednesday.

A new federal study says many workers in employer-funded pension plans that fail could see their benefits reduced under the current system of government support.

The AFL-CIO union says it and its affiliated unions are freezing political contributions to federal candidates "until further notice" to channel funds into the labor's intensifying battle to stop or at least help shape a proposed free-trade agreement being negotiated by the U.S. and other nations that border the Pacific Ocean.

Lax oversight by the state has allowed the oil and gas industry to contaminate protected water aquifers and endanger the public, California regulators acknowledged Tuesday while pledging to intensify supervision.

The head of New Jersey Transit says she'll try to keep potential fare hikes "in the single digits." Executive director Ronnie Hakim (HAY'-kihm) told NJ Transit board members Wednesday that an $80 million budget gap is forcing her to look at all options, including fare increases.

Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline appealed to Nebraska lawmakers on Wednesday in their latest effort to overturn the state law that allowed former Gov. Dave Heineman to approve a route through the state.

One of the most critical issues for Illinois government in recent history is heading to the state Supreme Court.

The Federal Reserve is ordering Bank of America to revise its plans for increasing dividends or buying back stock, saying there are gaps in its risk planning.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that government ethics reforms must stay in the state budget he is negotiating with legislative leaders.

China is reviving growth of its nuclear power industry with approval of its first new project since Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster.

After weeks of negotiations on how to overhaul regulations for ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, the sponsor of an Arizona House proposal declared the job virtually done Wednesday, and the House approved the proposal.

Aides to top House Republicans and Democrats are trying to negotiate a bipartisan compromise to permanently revamp a law that annually threatens cuts in Medicare payments to doctors, including a 21 percent reduction set to take effect April 1.

Sixty-two thousand properties have faced foreclosure in Detroit this year over unpaid taxes.

It's not just Gov. Scott Walker.

An official with the state's largest teachers union says it will continue to press Gov. Chris Christie to make a court-ordered $1.6 billion payment into New Jersey's public pension system.

A top state lawmaker said Tuesday he expects the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker to take a firm stand against any taxpayer funding for Boston's bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.