Benefits Manager

A Louisiana senator has agreed to accept the state's cigarette tax renewal that the House tacked onto his proposal to fund a popular college scholarship program, potentially ending one of the most contentious battles of the legislative session.

The fate of thousands of Connecticut state employee jobs and a labor savings-and-concessions deal that's supposed to balance the $40.1 billion state budget appeared Wednesday to lie in the hands of one Department of Correction union local.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the largest union representing workers in New York's executive branch reached a contract agreement that protects the union's members from administration plans for cost-saving layoffs, both sides announced Wednesday.

A total of 22 Kentucky counties have now qualified for unemployment assistance due to severe weather that occurred beginning mid-April.

Federal health officials say the latest data on silicone breast implants show they are relatively safe, despite frequent complications that lead about one in five women to have the implants removed within ten years.

The debate over public employee pension and health benefits legislation wound up taking so much time that the New Jersey Legislature is under the gun to approve a state budget in nine days.

The financially troubled Postal Service is suspending its employer contribution to the Federal Employee Retirement System.

Some low-income Planned Parenthood of Indiana patients were left fending for themselves Tuesday to pay for birth control, breast exams, Pap tests and other medical services while a court battle continued over a new state law that eliminated the organization's Medicaid funding.