Latest news with #budgetcrisis
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Terra Alta council suggests using donations, volunteers due to $0 budget
TERRA ALTA, (WBOY) — Amid administrative chaos centered around the Town of Terra Alta's budget, the town council held an emergency meeting Thursday night to discuss potential solutions, as well as the fate of the town's employees. 12 News previously reported on how the town failed to submit its annual budget to the West Virginia State Auditor's Office by the annual deadline, meaning it can't collect taxes and its budget is set at $0. During Thursday's meeting, residents raised questions on how the town is going to pay its employees or maintain the town as a whole. The meeting yielded few answers, with the council saying many of the decisions will fall on the new leadership following the upcoming municipal election, which is set for next Tuesday, June 10. Harrison County cemeteries in need of donations for maintenance Solutions discussed during the meeting included soliciting donations and volunteers to serve the community. Another solution was to tap into the $55,000 Shaw Fund, which was set up by a now-deceased former resident to be used to improve the town. 'At this time, we are getting no tax or levy money,' Town Clerk Kambra Sisler said. 'At this time, the main focus should be getting a bill into legislation to try to change the state so that there is an acceptance for us moving forward for our next budget because when we submit our next budget, it is 101% of what we received the previous year and we're receiving zero. So 101% times zero is zero.' With no budget and no answers, the town's employees are in a state of limbo. Their positions have not been officially eliminated as of Thursday night, but as it stands, there is no concrete plan to pay them. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
01-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
U.S. Departure From WHO Leaves Void Which China Is Partly Filling
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus looks on during a press conference ... More on the World Health Organization's 75th anniversary in Geneva, on April 6, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) At the May annual meeting of the World Health Organization's members in Geneva, Switzerland, officials and delegates spoke of the potential disruption that could be caused by the organization's budget crisis. They expressed concerned about possible program cuts that could lead to substantial increases in burden of disease and deaths globally. The biggest source of the financial difficulties is the United States, as under President Trump the country is pulling its long-standing funding from the WHO and other global health initiatives, including ones like the U.S. Agency for International Development which was established 64 years ago. In Jan., Trump signed an executive order that begins the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO. Terminating U.S. membership severely challenges the WHO's ability to carry out its global public health mission. This is because of the important role the U.S. has played in funding the organization. Throughout the 77-year history of the WHO, the U.S. has been by far its most important sponsor. The U.S. contributed $1.2 billion to the WHO in 2023. For the two-year budget ending in 2025, the U.S. donated $958 million, or nearly 15%, of the WHO's budget. Under U.S. law, the country must give the WHO one year's notice and must meet its financial obligations to the organization for 2025. And so, the U.S. is set to formally exit the WHO in 2026. This has led to the WHO cutting its 2026–2027 budget by 20% to $4.2 billion. In turn, this opens the door for China to become the world's largest funder of WHO. China announced it would give $500 million, in part to fill the void the U.S. has left. Its previous contribution was just $39 million. The WHO is also raising mandatory member contributions by 20%. At the same time, others are attempting to close the funding gap. WHO said it has secured over $170 million in new commitments from multiple countries and organizations. Drug maker Novo Nordisk, for example, is pledging almost $58 million through its philanthropy foundation. The WHO is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations. As a specialized U.N. agency, the WHO is responsible for international public health. Here, its role is to coordinate with all 194 member states in a wide range of public health activities, such as managing disease outbreaks and surveillance, vaccination campaigns, water sanitation projects and support for countries dealing with health emergencies. International cooperation has proven vital for managing pandemics and other global health threats. From its inception in 1948, the WHO has spearheaded numerous programs that have saved tens of millions of lives. One of the first major projects the WHO was involved in was a global immunization campaign that eventually led to the eradication of smallpox in 1980. And since 1977, the WHO Essential Medicines List—which is revised and updated every two years—has been a vital guide for many nations in their medication procurement policies. Essential medicines are intended to be available in all healthcare systems, at all times, in adequate amounts, and in the appropriate dosage forms. Currently, no other organization has the capacity to coordinate international rapid response efforts, to share medical research and innovation and to disseminate critical intelligence. This includes among other activities, the entity's instrumental work on multiple Ebola crises in Africa and worldwide measles outbreaks, as well as seasonal influenza strain sequencing used to develop annual flu shots. The WHO is also indispensable in efforts to eradicate HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and dozens of neglected tropical diseases, such as leishmaniasis, Dengue fever and river blindness. NTDs refer to a diverse group of parasitic and bacterial diseases that cause significant morbidity and mortality in more than one billion people around the globe, which disproportionately affect poor and marginalized populations. The WHO's roadmap for NTDs, drawn up in London in 2012, contains goals on public-private partnership commitments with respect to the distribution of existing treatments, drug donation programs and R&D funding of new pharmaceutical development. There has been significant progress in the implementation of large-scale prevention of disease and treatment of patients suffering from NTDs. This improvement could be reversed in the face of budget cuts. The U.S. became a WHO member through a 1948 joint resolution passed by both houses of Congress. According to Lawrence Gostin, expert in public health law, Trump's action notifying the U.N. that the U.S. is withdrawing violates American law because it does not have explicit approval of Congress to leave WHO. Nonetheless, there doesn't appear to be anything stopping the Trump administration from moving ahead with its plan. Perhaps the administration is motivated by the fact that many Republicans in Congress maintain their opposition to the WHO, saying it hasn't adopted needed reforms. Lawmakers point to the organization's alleged inability to demonstrate independence from the political influence of certain WHO member states, ironically including China, which will now wield more power. Legislators also objected to the U.S. signing on to the world's first pandemic treaty, a proposed legally binding agreement designed to prevent, prepare for and respond to future global pandemics. As the U.S. retreats from international health entities like the WHO, it appears that China is stepping in. China looks to supplant the U.S. leadership role with respect to influencing global health policy.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lackawanna County rating drops one point above junk bond
LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— The financial reputation of Lackawanna County just took another hit. The credit rating agency has officially downgraded the county's credit rating. But while the rating dropped, there may be a sign of hope for what lies ahead. 28/22's Kathryn O'Leary explains what this means for county residents. Filmmakers highlight Lackawanna County boxing star Lackawanna county's credit rating has been lowered from BBB to BBB-, just one step above junk bond status, that drop stems from last year's budget crisis, but the outlook has now shifted from negative to stable. The credit agency says years of unbalanced budgets, delayed payments, and over-reliance on one-time fixes forced the downgrade. At one point, the county faced a 21% effective deficit, but officials say things are finally turning around with a tough 2025 budget that raised taxes, froze salaries, and eliminated vacant positions. 'The only thing that the taxpayers in Lackawanna County should know is we're finally on stable ground. And that's not just me saying that. That's the credit rating agency saying Lackawanna County is finally addressing the underlying problems that this government has faced the last 10 years,' voiced Bill Gaughan, commissioner, Lackawanna County. Gaughan says they don't plan to borrow more money anytime soon, so this drop shouldn't affect taxpayers, and if they stay on track with these financial fixes, the rating could improve again down the road. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
27-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
DC mayor seeks business-friendly policies to spark growth amid loss of up to 40,000 federal jobs
WASHINGTON — With the nation's capital facing a pair of overlapping budget crises, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has unveiled a budget proposal that bets heavily on business-friendly policies designed to boost investment and move the city away from dependence on a dwindling number of federal jobs . 'We have a shifting economy and if we don't shift with it, we'll have a city that people flee,' Bowser said Tuesday as she presented her proposals to the public — and to the D.C. Council, which will now begin debating the plan. 'If you don't have enough money, something has to go or you have to make more money.'
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
DC mayor seeks business-friendly policies to spark growth amid loss of up to 40,000 federal jobs
With the nation's capital facing a pair of overlapping budget crises, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has unveiled a budget proposal that bets heavily on business-friendly policies designed to boost investment and move the city away from dependence on a dwindling number of federal jobs. 'We have a shifting economy and if we don't shift with it, we'll have a city that people flee,' Bowser said Tuesday as she presented her proposals to the public — and to the D.C. Council, which will now begin debating the plan. 'If you don't have enough money, something has to go or you have to make more money.' In the short term, Bowser has been scrambling to fill an immediate budget shortfall that was essentially created by the U.S. Congress. She announced Tuesday that her team had managed to navigate that sudden deficit without the mass layoffs that had been originally feared. In the longer term, her government faces an estimated $1 billion shortfall over the next three years created by President Donald Trump 's ongoing campaign to radically shrink the federal workforce. The city's Chief Financial Officer has estimated that 40,000 jobs for District of Columbia residents will ultimately be lost. The more immediate budget crisis started in March when the House of Representatives approved a federal government funding bill with an obscure change that forces the District government to revert to its 2024 budget parameters — effectively cutting $1.1 billion from its previously balanced budget midway through the financial year. The Senate approved that bill, but also immediately approved a simple fix that would make the D.C. budget whole again. That fix has languished in the House for two months without a vote, despite President Donald Trump publicly pushing for its immediate approval. Bowser said she still hoped the House would address the issue, but added that she couldn't wait any longer for that fix. Her government has already invoked a 2009 law allowing the city to increase spending by 6%, shrinking the 2025 shortfall to around $410 million. Now she has proposed a supplementary 2025 budget plan that — through a combination of creative bookkeeping and temporary hiring freezes — papers over the shortfall without any layoffs, furloughs or significant service cuts. 'We have had some unprecedented things to work through,' she said Tuesday during a public event to present both her 2025 emergency changes and her 2026 budget proposal. 'We think we have a sound budget here.' Both proposals will now come before the D.C. Council for debate and potential modification. Council members are expected to be sympathetic to Bowser's maneuvers on the 2025 budget emergency, but her proposal for next year's budget could spark some fierce resistance and debate. One of the most controversial aspects of Bowser's long-term budget proposal would be a tightening of the admissions requirements for Medicaid, which could result in an estimated 25,000 residents being removed. At the same time, Bowser is proposing a package of business-friendly policies designed to spark more real estate development and construction, including tax incentives, streamlined zoning procedures and a pause on some environmental restrictions and requirements. The 13-member council is currently down one member; Ward 8 representative Trayon White, who faces federal bribery charges, was expelled by his peers in February. His seat will be filled in a July special election. Most of the remaining 12 D.C. Council members were in attendance at Tuesday's budget unveiling, with some asking pointed questions about Mayor Bowser's priorities. 'A first read of this proposed budget shows DC is walking away from our commitments to lower utility bills and reduce our largest sources of carbon output and pollution from our buildings,' Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen said in a statement. Bowser responded that a business-friendly environment was precisely her goal as she seeks to diversify the local economy away from federal jobs while preventing a talent exodus and without raising taxes. 'We're proud of the work we've done and the decisions we've made,' she said. 'We have to have a city that grows. We have to have more jobs, more businesses and more people.'
