States

If the auto industry thinks it has problems now, wait until Barack Obama takes the wheel. Not long after assuming the presidency, Obama is expected to grant a waiver allowing California and more than a dozen other states to enforce their own greenhouse-gas emission standards on autos.

The last time Indiana missed its deadline for passing a budget and had to shut down the government was during the Civil War. But on Monday, as lawmakers raced to hammer out an agreement over school funding, state agencies began preparing 31,000 workers to be temporarily out of a job. Republican Gov.

Barack Obama says unprecedented transparency will be a hallmark of his presidency. But following the money in the stimulus package won't be easy. Many of the most important spending decisions aren't being made in Washington. They're getting thrashed out at state and local levels, where accountability is a wild card and there's no guarantee that taxpayers will get the dollar-by-dollar information Obama is promising.

California and three dozen other states formed a task force Friday to investigate whether the abuses alleged at a New York state retirement fund are taking place at public pension agencies across the country. The announcement marks the latest expansion of a pay-to-play probe that has increasingly revealed California connections. New York Atty. Gen.

The recent run of states legalizing gay marriage -- punctuated Wednesday by Maine becoming the fifth state to do so -- has increased the likelihood that California voters will face another ballot measure on the issue as early as next year, according to strategists on both sides. The California Supreme Court is expected to uphold Proposition 8, November's ballot measure banning same-sex marriage, with a decision coming in the next few weeks.

Across the country, state legislators and governors struggled Tuesday night to agree on spending cuts and tax hikes as they ran up against a midnight deadline to approve a budget. The day began with 14 states lacking a final budget signed by the governor. By evening, several had come to some agreement. But some states -- most significantly, Arizona and Pennsylvania -- faced the specter of a government shutdown for failing to have a budget in place by the start of the new fiscal year today.

Budget trouble extends far beyond California. Here's a rundown of other strapped states: Arizona -- Republican Gov. Jan Brewer kept state government running but rejected funding levels for K-12 schools and said she was calling a special session next week to increase school funding. Connecticut -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed the Democrats' proposal and was meeting privately with legislative leaders about a new two-year tax-and-spending plan.

When Congress decides how to pay for President Obama's signature healthcare initiative, some of his strongest political bastions may be footing a heavy bill. And in a political irony, states that went for Obama's Republican rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, in 2008 are among those likely to benefit most from Democratic healthcare policies.

In a Troy office building where advertising executives once courted Motor City automakers, film production workers discuss which stretch of downtown Detroit would offer the best sense of urban decay. Down the hall, in a warehouse that has been converted to a makeshift studio, dozens of prop builders are fashioning blocks of foam and stacks of plywood to build a set for a rocky mine shaft. For the next 11 weeks, the cast and crew of "Red Dawn," a remake of the 1980s action thriller that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is scheduled to release next year, will be working in Michigan.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest believes that many states might be able to close gaps in their budgets by placing a tax on soda and other sugary drinks. The health advocacy group released a study this week that estimates budget-strapped states -- including California -- could generate a combined $10 billion a year by levying a tax of 7 cents per 12-ounce can of Coke or other beverage. Currently, 25 states impose special taxes on sugary drinks. The group, which is lobbying for such taxes and has suggested a national excise tax on sugared drinks, said raising the price of the beverages would reduce consumption.