Washington, DC, USA. Next month, a deeply divided Congress will decide how much money to give states to build and maintain highways, bridges and public transit systems. The outcome is anybody's guess.

When federal lawmakers return to Capitol Hill next month, one of their first assignments will be the normally routine task of finding money for better roads and rails.

Washington, DC, USA. The possibility of a double-dip recession is worrying state officials who thought they had put the worst downturn since World War II behind them.

State officials say the bleak economic news of the past few weeks has triggered new alarm just as jobs are slowly increasing and tax collections are improving.