Government And Institutions

Gov. Rick Snyder's budget director said there will be "real" cuts to government services after economists agreed Friday that revenue is $289 million short of projections in the current state budget and $527 million below what was expected in the next fiscal year.

Illinois' new Republican governor followed through on a campaign pledge Friday to replace the director of the Department of Agriculture, a former state lawmaker whom he'd criticized for not being a farmer.

A group of senators says Nebraska is losing in the nationwide push for renewable energy.

Vermont could reap hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue if it were to legalize marijuana, but only if other nearby states don't also jump on the bandwagon, according to a study released Friday.

Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed bills Friday to prohibit e-cigarettes from being regulated as tobacco products under Michigan law.

Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities rose to a record level in November following two months of declines, reflecting a big increase in purchases by Japan.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a special inspection of a backup pump at the Millstone Power Station has raised two findings it characterizes as of "very low safety significance." The backup pump is used to help cool the reactor after a shutdown.

Kansas would nearly triple its cigarette tax, raise taxes on alcohol and slow down promised income tax cuts to balance its budget under proposals Republican Gov. Sam Brownback outlined Friday.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will slash 10 percent from state university funding, give only a token increase to K-12 schools, and essentially double the current $8 vehicle license fee as part of a plan to balance the upcoming state budget that was released Friday.

Puerto Rico's governor signed a law Thursday that will increase the excise tax on a barrel of crude oil by 68 percent to help generate funds and sell an anticipated $2.9 billion in bonds.

The new Republican-controlled Congress is facing an old problem: where to find the money for highway and transit programs.

A New Jersey judge is weighing whether she has the power to force Gov. Chris Christie and the Legislature to make promised payments to public employee pension funds.

Swiftly expanding trade ties with Cuba, the Obama administration opened the door to easier travel and a wide range of new export opportunities with the communist island starting Friday, punching the biggest hole to date in America's half-century-old embargo.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage wants to set aside $2 million in Maine's budget to cover legal fees for cases in which the state's top attorney declines to represent the state.

Figures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated).

A three-day FBI raid of a suburban Chicago crematorium and an affiliated company that arranges the donation of human remains was wrapping up Thursday, authorities said, but they refused to disclose what led to the search or what evidence was seized.

The European Union's top court has ruled that Ryanair has the right to block or impose conditions on price comparison websites that mine data from the budget carrier's online database without its permission.

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell for the third straight week, with the benchmark 30-year rate again marking its lowest level since May 2013.

Apple, Google and two other Silicon Valley companies have agreed to pay $415 million in a second attempt to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging they formed an illegal cartel to prevent their workers from leaving for better-paying jobs.

The IRS is cutting taxpayer services just as President Barack Obama's health law is making filing a tax return more complicated.