US States Likely to Defy US Downgrade to Keep Top Credit Ratings
More than a dozen states have pristine triple-A ratings from Moody's, according to Bloomberg-compiled data, ranking them higher than the US government, which was stripped of its last top credit rating on Friday. That's in part thanks to requirements for all but one, including the District of Columbia, to balance their operating budget in some form, according to a 2021 report by the National Association of State Budget Officers.
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Bloomberg
12 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Property Tax Hike Likely in 2026 Budget: Chicago CFO
Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski says the city will likely seek to raise property taxes to address next year's budget deficit. She spoke to Bloomberg's Romaine Bostick in a wide-ranging interview at a Bloomberg New Voices event in Chicago. (Source: Bloomberg)
CBS News
15 minutes ago
- CBS News
Florida's DOGE kicks off with audit of Broward County spending, Gov. DeSantis says
Cities, counties and law enforcement agencies across Florida will now undergo state audits, with Broward County being up first, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday morning in Fort Lauderdale alongside the state's newly sworn-in Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia. DeSantis said reviews by his Office of Policy and Budget and Ingoglia's Department of Financial Services will focus on governments that have "refused" to comply with state "Department of Government Efficiency" efforts, which were announced in February. The reviews also are tied to DeSantis' effort to get the Legislature to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to lower property taxes. State auditors will be in Broward County and Gainesville starting July 31, DeSantis said. The two local governments were advised Monday night about the announcement. According to the Florida governor, Broward local government spending just doesn't add up. "Their county government has increased property tax burdens by the tune of $450 million, in addition to ad valorem collections, that's an increase of close to 50% just since 2020, but yet the population of Broward has barely grown at all, less than 5%," he said. The governor said the county is spending as if the money belongs to someone else. "I think it was, was it $800,000 for the Rose Bowl? They did a float in the Rose Bowl. The county administrator here makes almost half a million dollars a year. So there's a lot of things that really deserve scrutiny," he said. DeSantis said Broward is among communities that have drawn complaints since the state announced its DOGE efforts, with others being in places such as Hillsborough County, Manatee County, Northeast Florida and South Florida. "In particular, there's a couple sheriff's departments across the state that people find concerns about," DeSantis said. "I find it interesting that the two counties he chosen to audit first are two bright blue counties, but I'm sure that's merely a coincidence," said Geller. He said the state's numbers are off and explained that a large amount of money goes toward the airport, seaport and public safety. Geller also said recently passed legislation is also causing Broward to spend more. "They passed a law saying if there's homeless people, you have to remove them, but they didn't give us any money to do that; the county's having to do that. So, the legislature keeps passing laws that are costing us money and then complaining that we have to spend money!" "We've given them everything they've asked for. They said, 'Well, you didn't pass a resolution telling us you support DOGE.' I don't support it. I'm not grateful they're planning on giving the county a colonoscopy, but we will follow the law." Ingoglia, who was sworn-in as CFO on Monday, said they're going to begin auditing municipalities and agencies with a team on the ground and using artificial intelligence. If the municipalities and agencies don't comply, DeSantis said not only will the state withhold funding, there will also be fines. "For example, if we send a letter to a city and say, you know, provide us information on these 100 things, and they don't do it, then each individual item would be a daily fine of $1,000, so that'd be $100,000 a day," he said. The governor said they are starting with areas where they've gotten a lot of complaints and little compliance. So where does Miami-Dade County stand? "I don't think they fully got on board, but we do have some of the commissioners that are helping on that. So I would say that they've been better than some, but not good enough. So, I think it's very possible that you'll see an announcement on Miami-Dade within the next couple weeks," DeSantis said. DeSantis said Ingoglia, a former state congressman who was sworn in as CFO on Monday, will make his top priority auditing local government spending. In addition to local government audits, Ingoglia said he will focus on ensuring insurance companies follow requirements. "If they're slowing stuff, we're going to have conversations with them," Ingoglia said. "I'm not going to sit back. I'm not going to allow anyone to game the system, whether it is on one side or the other side, whether it is trial attorneys gaming the system or insurance companies gaming the system." Critics have accused some property insurers of not properly paying claims and have raised questions about carriers sending money to shareholders and affiliated companies while seeking rate increases. In his remarks during Monday's ceremony, Ingoglia called the appointment to the Cabinet post an "honor that has been bestowed upon me." This report includes information from the News Service of Florida.
Fox News
15 minutes ago
- Fox News
House hearing examines millions of dollars' worth of improperly documented VA incentive payments
Jen Kiggans, R-Va., led a hearing on Tuesday to discuss millions of dollars' worth of incentive payments distributed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that were improperly documented. Kiggans, at the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, said incentive payments for recruitment, relocation and retention have lacked oversight for years, according to a news release from the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "They call it the three Rs, which are recruitment, retention, and relocation," Chris Lovell, a retired Marine Corps Major and CEO of veteran-owned Lovell Government Services, described to Fox News Digital. "It gives additional pay to folks… to keep them and retain them, especially if they have specialty vocations that the VA needs." A recent audit found that between 2020 and 2023, VA payments for relocation grew by 85%, retention payments grew by 131%, and recruitment payments increased by 237%. A total of $1.2 billion worth of incentive payments were given to employees during that period, but $341 million of those were not properly documented, according to the committee. The audit discovered that in one instance, the Veterans Health Administration awarded $30,000 in relocation payments to an employee who never moved, the release noted. Lovell, whose Florida-based business provides resources to the VA, said that this has been an ongoing problem. A 2017 report found improper payments from the VA totaled over $158 million in unsupported spending, according to the release. These documentation issues could be mitigated if the agency improved its management and upgraded its outdated system, Lovell said. The Defense Civilian Pay System, used by both the Department of Defense and the VA, was created more than 30 years ago. "It's a two-pronged approach to cleaning up what's perceived as fraud and waste," he said. "If [management says] they want to clean up erroneous payments or payments without documentation, then they need to supervise that. … And the second piece of that improvement process… is the system." However, Lovell said that the VA is doing "great things" for veterans on a daily basis. "We're happy to be a part of that," he said. In an email, a spokesperson for the VA referred Fox News Digital to the agency's testimony at the hearing. The VA currently has around 482,000 employees, the majority of whom work in the Veterans Health Administration, according to its website. Earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency found the VA had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a month for website changes before canceling the contract and having an internal staffer take over. While combing through loads and loads of data, DOGE discovered a previous contract by the VA for its website maintenance. "Good work by @DeptVetAffairs," DOGE said in a post on X. "VA was previously paying ~$380,000/month for minor website modifications. That contract has not been renewed, and the same work is now being executed by 1 internal VA software engineer spending ~10 hours/week."
