Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is ramping up pressure on the Obama administration over the BP oil spill — but not in the way that many people might expect.

Jindal is demanding that deepwater drilling, the process that resulted in April's disastrous spill off the Louisiana coast, resume again as soon as possible.

He argues that the economic losses from a six-month federal moratorium on the practice will only compound the widespread environmental concerns about th

Washington, DC, USA. Charlie Baker is a Republican health care executive who hopes to unseat Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick this November, in part with a plan he cleverly calls “Baker’s dozen.

”It is 13 ways to save taxpayers well over $1 billion that includes various schemes for shrinking state government.

“Right now, under this administration, state government is not working,” Baker says in a recent campaign ad.

Meanwhile in New York, Andrew Cuomo’s gubernatorial

New Orleans, LA, USA. It’s certainly no secret that the oil industry remains deeply embedded in Louisiana culture.

Not only does it employ tens of thousands of people, but it is the economic engine state leaders depend on as they struggle to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Even so, it was something of a surprise earlier this summer when the first round of lawsuits over the BP oil spill reached a federal court in downtown New Orleans.

One of the judges on the court

Washington, DC, USA. A year after suffering record investment losses, many of the nation’s largest public pension plans report double-digit percentage budget gains for the year that ended June 30. Although the improved returns in fiscal 2010 did not wipe out the damage funds suffered in the previous two years, the figures confirm how the financial industry has stabilized and liquidity increased since the Wall Street crisis battered state pension plans.

A review by Stateline of 20 publi

Washington, DC, USA. For the people who hold elections in West Virginia, the passing of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd in June was upsetting in more ways than one. West Virginia had already held its primary election in May. So the special primary to pick candidates to run for Byrd's seat, scheduled for Saturday (August 28), represents an unanticipated expense for counties during a time of historic budget pressures.

“Every budget year, you have one election,” says Jamie Six, the clerk of