President Obama took up the cause of state and local governments Saturday (June 12), as he urged congressional leaders to boost funding for health care and schools.  In a an article published in Stateline.org,

Obama called for Congress to continue giving states a higher matching rate for Medicaid health insurance expenses. That aid would continue help to states that first came in last year’s economic stimulus law.

Already this year, roughly 84,000 jobs have been lost in state and local governments, despite those governments taking “difficult steps to balance their budgets,” Obama wrote.