The Monitor from McAllen, Texas • 4

Duri'jriE'is I Tuesday, November 26, 2002 THE MONITOR, McAilen, Texas Worst year for state bti rxs changes would erase most or all the gains, Rockefeller analyst Nick Jenny said. Scheppach said state budget shortfalls could hurt residents in a number of from tuition hikes at state colleges to reductions in Medicaid benefits. State workers could lose Assoc, JJ on: Unfortunately, even when ths cccr.cry warn back, It ttfl but I tlzizs gfcksg to continue In a very, very CZrS.l citation for st least the next two or threo years until, In particular, we get some msjsr refenns In the Medicaid program. Raymond Scheppach, executive director for the group xal Survey of jobs. States are looking to the fed Alcohol and gasoline were among other items that saw tax increases.

More than a dozen states also raised various fees, including those for emergency services, driver's licenses and filing of court records. "It's a pretty dire outlook for states," said Raymond C. Scheppach, executive director for the governors' group. when the economy comes back, it will help, but I think states are joing to continue in a very, very difficult situation for at least the next two or three years until, in particular, we get some major reforms in the Medicaid program." Exploding health care costs, which generally make up one-third of state budgets, continued to outpace tax revenue for state governments, many or which already have cut services, combined programs and trimmed work forces to try to keep pace, the report said. Spending on Medicaid, the state- and federally-funded program for the poor, elderly and disabled, accounted for the By Eun-Kyung Kim The Associated Press i WASHINGTON State budgets are in their worst shape since World War II, prompting legislatures to institute the largest tax increases in a decade, the National Governors Association Said Monday.

Soaring health care costs and a sputtering economy that hurt tax collections were blamed for the budget problems. State lawmakers responded with $8.3 billion in tax hikes for the fiscal year that began for most states on July 1. That was the largest dollar increase since 1992t-when $15 billion in tax hikes were the association reported. The report found that 23 of 49 states raised taxes; Florida did not participate in the survey. Cigarettes and other tobacco products saw the biggest tax hikes, $2.9 billion, followed by sales taxes, $1.4 billion; corporate income taxes, $1.2 billion; and personal income taxes, $1 billion, according to the report.

eral government help, Scheppach said. About $3.5 billion has yet to be appropriated to states to help them enact homeland security measures, he said, and they are hoping to receive several billion dollars to institute changes in the way states must conduct their elections. "The Fiscal Survey of States-is released twice a year by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers. largest portion of health care costs. It grew 13.2 percent last year, the fastest growth rate for the program since 1992, the report said.

The Senate passed a bill last July to send states $9 billion in Medicaid assistance. The legislation received support from both Democrats and Republicans, passing on a 75-24 vote, but has stalled because the House has not passed a similar plan. The nation's governors are pressing lawmakers to revive, the measure. Scheppach said state rev--enues dropped last year by 6 percent, the first collective decrease since World War II. Nearly every state reported shortfalls at the end of the fiscal year, many even after dipping into rainy-day funds.

"We don't have an estimate of the total shortfall because states are going back now and re-estimating revenues in budgets," he said. "But my sense is, probably, we have a shortfall of at least $40 billion now. That's going to be a drain on the economy going forward." The National Conference of State Legislatures reported last week that even after scaling back spending plans, states are seeing a $17.5 billion budget shortfall just three months into the fiscal year. Another report released Monday said states saw a slight increase In tax revenues during the first quarter, but not enough to reverse the downward, trend of the past two years. The Nelson A.

Rockefeller Institute of Government found increases in corporate and sales taxes, with a drop in personal income taxes. Though that added up to a 2.4 percent increase in state revenues from July through September, inflation and other legislative On the Net: National Governors Association: www.nga.org Fiscal Survey of States: www.nga.orgcdafilesNOV200 2FISCALSURVEY.pdf fell The Associated Press LEGO MANIACS NBC Today Show hosts Katie Couric, Al Roker and Matt Lauer pose with LEGO busts of themselves outside the studio Monday, In New York. The LEGjO Company presented the models to the anchors In celebration of Its joining the Macy's and NBC families for one of Americas most time-honored family traditions the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this Thursday on NBC. The new called the LEGO Carousel of Imagination, celebrates the creativity, Imagination and endless possibilities that LEGO bricks have provided for more than 45 years. Four LEGO Master Model Builders worked full-time for nearly two weeks designing, rendering, building and gluing the one-of-a-kind busts.

Boston Archdiocese is ordered to release 11,000 documents on priests accused of molestation By Denise Lavoie The Associated Press BOSTON Sharply criticizing the Boston Archdiocese, a judge Monday ordered the public release of about 11,000 internal church documents related to 65 priests accused of molesting children over the past three decades. The two rulings by Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney came as lawyers for alleged victims and the Roman Catholic Church met to try to settle more than 400 lawsuits. On Friday, the church complied with a court order to hand over the documents to lawyers for alleged victims. But the church asked that the documents be sealed from public view until The number one rated hospital for overall orthopedic services in Texas is Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen. That' not just our opinion.

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"While the defendants have seemingly produced the documents to opposing counsel at the last minute and under a warning of sanctions and contempt, they still resist public disclosure of those documents," the judge wrote. "If the tone of this endorsement is harsh, so be it The court simply will not be toyed with," she wrote. The judge also ruled in favor of victims' lawyers seeking the psychiatric records of the Rev. Bernard Lane. The documents were sought by lawyers for a man who claims he was repeatedly raped by the Rev.

Paul Shanley. Attorneys hope the documents show the archdiocese had a habit of transferring priests to other parishes even after accusations of child abuse. In her ruling, Sweeney criticized the church's decision to allow Lane to celebrate Mass at a parish in the late 1990s, even after church officials had psychiatric reports showing he had a history of molesting boys. Sweeney said the records "raise significant questions of whether the archdiocese was realty exercising the care they claimed to use in assigning offending priest Archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Morrissey did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the two rulings. Lane's attorney also did not immediately return a calL Meanwhile, more than two dozen lawyers representing hun-dnds of alleged victims met with lawyers for the archdiocese to begin setdement talks In more than 400 lawtuits against the church.

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