SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Rainy day funds overseen by the state of New Mexico have been drawn down by almost 2 percent during the past year as spending on public education and infrastructure projects outpaces investment income and revenues linked to the oil and natural gas industries. The New Mexico State Investment Council said Monday that assets declined by ...

During the oil boom, state departments thrived off increased tax money and schools received more than enough funding. However, during the economic downturn, states that depended too heavily on oil taxes, such as Oklahoma, struggle to fund their education systems. Meanwhile, North Dakota students will see little to no change in their classrooms thanks to the high taxes paid by ...

Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers: ____ Feb. 10 The Times-Picayune on offshore oil revenue: There are some numbers that everybody concerned about Louisiana’s eroding coast knows offhand. Every 38 minutes, the state loses about a football-field-sized chunk of land. In 2017, the state is scheduled to receive 37.5 percent of the royalties that come from offshore oil and gas exploration ...

DUBAI – Saudi Arabia’s planned cuts in spending and energy subsidies signal that the world’s largest crude exporter is bracing for a prolonged period of low oil prices. The OPEC heavyweight shows no signs of wavering in the long-term oil strategy it has orchestrated since last year. Instead, it appears willing to continue tolerating cheap crude to defend market share ...

BATON ROUGE, La. — As lawmakers patched their way through this year’s budget, many of them talked as if they had drawn up a six-month plan, fully expecting Louisiana’s next governor to come in with a broader blueprint for fixing the state’s financial mess. They may have been too generous. This budget may not even hold for six months. One ...

LARKSVILLE — Gov. Tom Wolf met with Wyoming Valley West School District officials Thursday and discussed his budget priorities and the ongoing stalemate over the state budget. Wolf insisted a new tax on natural-gas extraction is the best way to increase education funding, explaining it would increase revenue by $1 billion a year. The state is now five weeks into ...

To get great or even good safety performance results requires a commitment to resources.  Each safety-compliant worker is a company investment — time and money are poured into each employee to develop skills, a belief and the desire to approach safety as an integral part of their job.  What happens though, when the resource pipeline is empty?  What happens when ...

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Port of Vancouver has slashed its budget by 18 percent, with most of the loss coming from removing revenue projections from its dedicated rail program. The Vancouver Columbian reports (http://bit.ly/1LWEFkI ) that commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a supplemental budget of $80.72 million, compared to the $98.19 million budget approved in November 2014. Most of ...

On Monday, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf shared that he would be open to discussing potential compromises regarding the severance tax he has proposed. While speaking in Western Pennsylvania, Wolf made the following comment regarding his stance on the state’s budget and severance tax: I want a better Pennsylvania. If I’m convinced we can have a better Pennsylvania with something better ...

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s state senators were told Monday that the House version of next year’s budget is short at least $155 million in identified needs, with holes mainly in public health care services for the poor and uninsured. But the gaps could be even larger, because of questionable financing sources used by the House. And that’s not counting ...