3/10: Ga. leaders may increase fees dramatically

Macon Telegraph: State leaders may increase fees dramatically to balance budget

Georgia legislators are working to balance the budget, and they're considering raising fees to do that. Some fees will be raised substantially. And the annual sales-tax-free, back-to school shopping weekend will likely not take place this year.

The idea is to take many of the 1,800-plus fees the state charges for various licenses, court costs and inspections and raise them until they fully — or close to fully — fund that government function. Many fees haven’t changed in decades, something the state Department of Audits has pointed out more than once in recent years. For instance, the Georgia Department of Transportation charges just $10 to license a new airport.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Unemployment rate in state rises to 11.1%

ARKANSAS: State as 'ground zero' for climate politics as Lincoln vs. Halter heats up

FLORIDA: Norovirus clusters found across the state

GEORGIA: State leaders may increase fees dramatically to balance budget

KENTUCKY: House passes $3.4 billion transportation bill

LOUISIANA: State still has a problem with underground cockfighting

MISSISSIPPI: House approves legislation to create 12 charter schools

NORTH CAROLINA: Researchers find higher price on junk food means less consumed

SOUTH CAROLINA: State spending cuts could mean 2,300 fewer state employees

TENNESSEE: Toddler dies after mistaking loaded gun for Wii game controller

VIRGINIA: Editorial: In Virginia, legalized discrimination is alive and well

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

2/18: Internet access hard to find in MS, AL

Census Bureau says: Hard to find Internet access in Mississippi, Alabama

Data released Wednesday shows that Mississippi and Alabama rank at the bottom nationally in the percentage of households with access to the Internet. Neither state has gotten much help from a $7.2 billion pool of stimulus money to fund broadband expansion.

Only 56.6 percent of homes in Mississippi have Internet access, last in a nation where 73.5 percent of homes have access. In Alabama, 61.7 percent of households have access to the Web.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Editorial: Alabama legislature snubs charter schools

ARKANSAS: Gov. Beebe proposes repaying lawmakers' project fund

FLORIDA: Big crowd rallies against EPA's plans for stiffer environmental regulations

GEORGIA: Groups oppose Gov. Perdue's hospital bed tax

KENTUCKY: State is one of eight to take part in early college pilot project

LOUISIANA: Rating the health of the state's parishes

MISSISSIPPI: State House will likely kill proposed soda tax

NORTH CAROLINA: NC Innocence Inquiry Commission frees first wrongly-accused man

SOUTH CAROLINA: Tourism is an $18 billion industry in the state
TENNESSEE: Senate approves Health Freedom Act

VIRGINIA: Gov. McDonnell takes away discrimination protections for state workers

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

2/12: Home heating aid shifts to the South

ABC News: Home heating aid shifts to the South

The recent cold snap in the Deep South has sucked federal emergency home heating dollars away from traditional cold-weather states, causing heating aid to dry up faster than usual in many northern states.

Last month, $490 million in emergency heating funds were released by the Obama administration once a formula that took into account colder-than-normal temperatures and, for the first time, unemployment levels. Both of these factors favored the South.

Emergency funding more than tripled for Florida and Georgia, and more than doubled in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Bill to create charter schools in state is tabled indefinitely

ARKANSAS: Fiscal session's first week ends with no-raise expense bill in place

FLORIDA: State sees decline in illegal immigrants

GEORGIA: Details on CRCT cheating at public schools released

KENTUCKY: Hundreds take part in rRally against mountaintop removal held in Frankfort

LOUISIANA: Gov. Jindal's $24 billion budget spares higher education

MISSISSIPPI: Gov. Barbour signs bill to restrict over-the-counter medicines used in meth making

NORTH CAROLINA: Editorial: Pressing for justice

SOUTH CAROLINA: Report shows state needs tougher jobless laws

TENNESSEE: State to resume enrollment in CoverKids, the uninsured children's program

VIRGINIA: State budget continues to be a mystery

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

2/11: Pew Center releases State of the States 2010

Stateline: Pew Center releases State of the States 2010

The State of the States 2010 report looks at the larger trends that have the potential to change state government in lasting ways. The report says that states still are working to find the bottom of a fiscal crisis prolonged by historic revenue drops, eye-popping budget deficits, double-digit unemployment in more than a dozen states and rising demands for social services.

The report could help inform choices made by policy makers and voters in the upcoming year.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: New report says more black students taking AP exams

ARKANSAS: Gov. Beebe's spending plan for upcoming year stalls in Senate

FLORIDA: Congressman promotes U.S. Senate campaign by sponsoring NASCAR vehicle

GEORGIA: "Suspicious" school test scores widespread across state

KENTUCKY: Gov. Beshear, three others defend Toyota

LOUISIANA: State says State Farm's 19% rate hike is 'unreasonable'

MISSISSIPPI: Legislature gives first OK to guns in parks, restaurants

NORTH CAROLINA: Foreclosures in state rose 32% from a year ago

SOUTH CAROLINA: Bill to give students healthier foods advances in legislature

TENNESSEE: Lawmaker pushes for juvenile sex offender registry

VIRGINIA: Gov. McDonnell wants state to have more charter schools

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

12/23: Census reports slow growth in states

USAToday: Census reports slow growth in states

New state population estimates show Louisiana added 40,563 residents, a 0.9% increase -- nearly to the population level before Hurricane Katrina.

In the South, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina saw increases of 16% or more, and Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Louisiana saw growth of under 10% as compared with population numbers recorded in 2000.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith announces he'll switch parties

ARKANSAS: Immigrant population expanding in state

FLORIDA: State leaders plan statewide conference on job creation

GEORGIA: Task force says Lake Lanier is Atlanta's best source for drinking water

KENTUCKY: State's Race to the Top program doesn't include charter schools

LOUISIANA: Gov. Jindal balances budget by cutting $248 million from state agencies

MISSISSIPPI: Special Gulf Coast census under consideration

NORTH CAROLINA: Sen. Kay Hagan defends health care bill tradeoffs

SOUTH CAROLINA: New poll says electorate is tired of Sanford drama

TENNESSEE: Attorney General to appeal the guns-in-bars decision

VIRGINIA: Incoming governor names Sean Connaughton as state's transportation secretary

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

11/12: Obstacles exist for electric car use

Tennessean: Obstacles exist for electric car use

A few cities in the U.S. will be targeted in an electric vehicle push and a program is being launched to provide a network of recharging stations. Included in these cities is Nashville, and there's concern about consumer hesitance to the vehicles.

"If every one of us had a car or two in the garage that was charging every night, could that be handled?" said Joe Hoagland, TVA's vice president for environmental policy, science and technology. "I'm not sure." If people want to fast-charge vehicles at the same time, it could mean transformers blow.

Efforts to stagger charges or build larger transformers are being pursued, as are ways to improve batteries, figure out the best way to give electric cars a 100-mile range, and establish ways for people to pay if they need to plug in while visiting a friend or shopping.

It'll have to be convenient to get the public's buy-in.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: State's aversion to charter schools may be over as federal dollars available

ARKANSAS: Agriculture in state could be taking $650 million hit this harvest

FLORIDA: State ranks 7th on Pew Center's list of 'States in Fiscal Peril'

GEORGIA: State may raise fees for public services & licenses instead of raising taxes

KENTUCKY: Q&A with Rand Paul, candidate for U.S. Senate seat

LOUISIANA: Opinion: Senator fails to keep immigrants out of 2010 Census

MISSISSIPPI: Opinion: Justice too slow for death row inmates

NORTH CAROLINA: No more test points for cash in Goldsboro school, say officials

SOUTH CAROLINA: New study shows state could save $5 billion if more energy efficient

TENNESSEE: Gov. Bredesen open to furloughs and contract freezes

VIRGINIA: State to work with Delaware and Maryland on off-shore wind energy

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