Will California Make a Big Change in How It Votes? Feds Probe Dallas DA’s Use of Forfeiture Assets
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Also in our State & Local news roundup: Stories from Missoula, New York City and Little Rock.
Here is our State & Local news roundup for the weekend of November 14-16, 2014 …
DALLAS, Texas: Since August, the U.S. Department of Justice has blocked the Dallas County district attorney’s office from using federal criminal forfeiture funds and is investigating apparent “accounting discrepancies,” according to Jennifer Emily of The Dallas Morning News. A county audit has also raised questions how the DA has used state forfeiture funds.
SACRAMENTO, California: It’s anticipated that more than half of Golden State voters cast absentee ballots in this month’s elections, breaking an all-time record for mail-in voting from 2012. Christopher Cadelago of The Sacramento Bee reports that the “uptick has more Californians pushing for the state to go all the way and ditch traditional polling places,” just like in Colorado, Oregon and Washington state, which have seen major cost savings.
MISSOULA, Montana: A new report from the University of Montana says that research grants from an under-the-radar state agency have “produced significant economic benefits” for the state. David Erickson of The Missoulan reports that the Montana Board of Research and Commercialization Technology grants “have created 459 jobs, increased statewide household incomes by $315 million ($229 million after taxes), increased gross sales that were realized by Montana-based businesses by $718 million, and increased tax and non-tax revenues by $66 million, not including property taxes.”
NEW YORK CITY, New York: The redesign of New York state’s official website looks very similar to the website of New York City. Miranda Neubauer of Capital New York reports that the “similarity is an indication, if nothing else, of the influence of the state's chief digital officer Rachel Haot, who oversaw the New York City site redesign in an equivalent chief digital officer role for the Bloomberg administration.”
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas: Gov. Mike Beebe, who is getting ready to leave the governor’s mansion after two terms, is warning state lawmakers, including the governor-elect, that the state can’t afford a package of tax cuts already approved and additional tax cuts that have been proposed, Andrew DeMillo of The Commercial Appeal reports. Beebe says that state agencies and higher education will face steep reductions in their budgets.