The middle class is receiving less of America's total income, declining to its smallest share in decades as median wages stagnate in the economic doldrums and wealth concentrates at the top.

Heading into next week's GOP convention, Republicans are finding themselves confronting controversies over Medicare and abortion far from the issues they've been trying to highlight for months: jobs and the slack economy.

Premiums for health insurance covering about 73,000 state and local government workers in New Mexico and their dependents could increase by 15 percent next year under a proposal by Gov. Susana Martinez's administration.

A panel searching for ways to advance manufacturing in Pennsylvania recommends tax cuts, public-private partnerships with schools and policies that recognize natural gas production as an opportunity for developing new markets.

Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are seeking to call President Barack Obama to account on several fronts, going after his stands on health care, taxes and the debt as the GOP ticket looks to build momentum heading into the party's convention.

Texas officials are vowing to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood after a federal court sided with the state in a challenge over a new law that bans clinics affiliated with abortion providers from getting money through a health program for low-income women.

The California governor, in a bid to protect pensions, is hoping a seven-year tax increase for the wealthy will help offset record budget deficits.

Montana lawmakers are trying to decide whether it's worth spending up to $119 million to expand the state's Medicaid program to include as many as 57,000 more people now that a U.S. Supreme Court decision has given them the option.