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Big Deficit Forecast in California

SACRAMENTO -- California's budget deficit will grow to $28 billion through June 2010 unless lawmakers take bold action, possibly including a hike in the state income tax, the legislature's nonpartisan analyst said. The Legislative Analyst's Office urged lawmakers to act immediately on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposals to close the deficit for this fiscal year, projected at $11.2 billion -- about 11 percent of the state's general fund. They include a 1 1/2 -cent sales tax increase and $4.4 billion in across-the-board spending cuts. But the analyst's office estimates that tax revenue will be even lower than the Republican governor's administration expected.

Hawaii Finally Gets Its Quarter

HONOLULU -- Still reveling in the election of the first Hawaii-born U.S. president, the islands marked the issuance of its state quarter -- the last in the 50-state quarter program. The quarter shows King Kamehameha the Great, the Hawaiian warrior who united the Hawaiian islands under his rule in the early 1800s, standing with his left arm outstretched. The U.S. Mint plans to make 520 million Hawaii coins before it ends the program. The current program, which started in 1999, will be followed with coins for the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

-- From News Services

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