4/20: Get your appliance rebates - fast!

New York Times: Get your appliance rebates -- fast

Consumers across the country are snapping up rebates for energy-efficient appliances. In Florida, the $17.6 million allocated for the program lasted a day and a half, with more than 72,000 claims filed.

Each state has structured its own program, sometimes excluding certain appliances like air-conditioners or requiring proof that old appliances were recycled before paying out the cash.

Kateri Callahan, the president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit coalition that promotes efficiency measures, praised the rebates as stimulating the economy while providing “an immediate, point-of-purchase incentive for consumers by ‘buying down’ the price of new, energy-efficient appliances.”

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Editorial: Find PACT solution that will last

ARKANSAS: Non-married couples in state to be allowed to foster and adopt children

FLORIDA: House passes Medicaid measure, giving large HMOs more power than ever

GEORGIA: Hundreds of artists protest cutting of Georgia Council for the Arts at Capitol

KENTUCKY: State's Cash for Appliances program to begin Thursday

LOUISIANA: House kills bill suspending prisoners' government pension benefits

MISSISSIPPI: Judge's ruling on racial isolation in MS schools points to troubling trend

NORTH CAROLINA: Amazon files lawsuit to block NC's data request

SOUTH CAROLINA: Group says adjusting state's tax structure could return funding to schools

TENNESSEE: Most cuts to state's Medicaid program will likely be delayed for a year

VIRGINIA: Tea party influence could go two ways in Virginia

If you have a news story about public policy to suggest, send an email to info@bettersouth.org

12/31: New 2010 law will limit payday loans in Kentucky

KENTUCKY: USA TODAY: New 2010 law will limit payday loans in Kentucky

Borrowers will be limited to two loans totaling no more than $500 at any one time. Payday lenders typically apply high interest rates on loans tied to a borrower's employment paycheck.

"Kentucky seems to be leading the way" in limiting payday loans, said Meagan Dorsch, spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

A leading grower of tobacco and maker of cigarettes, North Carolina will join the states making it illegal to light up inside most restaurants and bars. Excluded are cigar bars, country clubs and places operated by non-profit organizations such as veterans groups.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Prepaid Alabama College Tuition (PACT) program changes upset contract holders

ARKANSAS: Editorial: Arkansas gets a nice break

FLORIDA: Peacocks a problem for much of Florida

GEORGIA: State's super speeder law to begin Friday

LOUISIANA: Spending reduction plans released by Gov. Jindal's office

MISSISSIPPI: Lawmakers to consider tax on pre-sweetened soda

NORTH CAROLINA: State is 8th most religious in nation, according to Pew Research Center

SOUTH CAROLINA: A.G. McMaster joins 12 others in threatening lawsuit over health care deal

TENNESSEE: State's Medicaid program on electronic health records to get $2.7 million in federal funds

VIRGINIA: Gov.-elect McDonnell proposes privatizing state's liquor stores

If you have a news story about public policy to suggest, send an email to info@bettersouth.org