SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) – Public employees
in San Jose, California’s third-largest city, are gearing up for
a marathon court battle if local voters approve a measure in
June to overhaul the city’s pension system.

“It’s just a straight-up war with us,” said Jim Unland,
board president of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association,
the union representing the city’s police force. ” Once the thing
passes, we’ll be in court for years.”

May 3 (Reuters) – From the hearing rooms of the U.S.
Congress to the halls of state legislatures across the country,
a cry is rising for more states to be able to tax transactions
over the Internet as a fix for their budget problems.

On Thursday, the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings put a
damper on the promises of the “Amazon Tax,” saying that
additional revenues “would be of limited scope and are unlikely
to affect a state or local government’s overall budget picture.”

By Lisa Lambert

(Reuters) – U.S. states’ tax revenues have improved greatly, but they remain below the peaks reached before the recession, a report showed on Friday.

The U.S. Census said on Thursday that tax collections rose in all 50 states in fiscal 2011, which for most ended on June 30, 2011. That was a strong reversal from previous years, when the financial crisis, housing downturn and recession combined to cause a revenue collapse in virtually every state.

By Lisa Lambert

(Reuters) – Since 2009, the city of Chesapeake, tucked up against the Great Dismal Swamp in southern Virginia, has cut its workforce twice. This summer, nearly three years after the recession ended, the city of 222,209 has plans for a third round of layoffs.

“We’re not seeing the recovery we want to see,” said Budget Director Steven Jenkins, who is hoping many of the 20 people will move into other jobs.

April 8 (Reuters) – Since 2009, the city of Chesapeake,
tucked up against the Great Dismal Swamp in southern Virginia,
has cut its workforce twice. This summer, nearly three years
after the recession ended, the city of 222,209 has plans for a
third round of layoffs.

“We’re not seeing the recovery we want to see,” said Budget
Director Steven Jenkins, who is hoping many of the 20 people
will move into other jobs.

By Lisa Lambert

(Reuters) – Unemployment rates dropped in almost all U.S. states in February, with many of those considered up for grabs in the 2012 presidential election registering the biggest improvement, data released on Friday showed.

The Labor Department said that in 29 states the rates dropped from the month before and in 13 states there was no movement.

March 30 (Reuters) – Unemployment rates dropped in almost
all U.S. states in February, with many of those considered up
for grabs in the 2012 presidential election registering the
biggest improvement, data released on Friday showed.

The Labor Department said that in 29 states the rates
dropped from the month before and in 13 states there was no
movement.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The finances of public pensions rebounded in the final quarter of 2011 from the quarter before, but the cash and security holdings were still below end-of-2010 levels, according to U.S. Census data released on Thursday.

Gains in stocks and international securities lifted holdings 3.2 percent from the third quarter to $2.61 trillion, slightly less than the $2.64 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2010.

By Lisa Lambert

(Reuters) – More Americans are living in cities now than a decade ago, according to U.S. Census data released on Monday.

The most urban state is California – one that dominates the popular imagination as a land of empty deserts, open beaches and thick redwood forests – the Census numbers showed.

March 19 (Reuters) – Revenues in most U.S. states increased
in the fourth quarter of 2011, but their recent surge is
tapering off, as they grew just 2.7 percent from the final
quarter of 2010, according to a report released on Monday.

“This is a noticeable slowdown from the 11.1 (percent) and
6.1 percent year-over-year growth reported in the second and
third quarters of 2011, respectively,” the Rockefeller
Institute, a think tank that closely watches states’ revenues,
said in the report.