Trip’s morning reading: The tax man cometh

As New Mexico’s state lawmakers approach next month’s regular legislative session with pleas to raise taxes ringing in their heads, they need to know they’re not alone. Twenty-nine states raised taxes or fees this year, bringing in an estimated $23.9 billion — the highest increase since at least 1979, according to data released this week, reports Stateline.org.

New Mexico is facing a difficult times economically, like much of the nation. New revenue estimates for the state released Thursday just confirm how bad it is: New Mexico is staring at a potential budget gap of $550 million to $600 million, and some state lawmakers predict it will get worse.

Elsewhere, the bad economy is forcing state officials into situations that are making news. In the Sunshine State, class sizes in Florida’s public schools crept upward this year for the first time since 2002, a reversal fueled by Florida’s worsening budget crisis, according to the Orlando Sentinel. And in Louisiana, the administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal is considering the privatization of more of the state’s employee health-insurance program operations, reports the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Moving away from the state budget watch, South Carolina can’t claim a monopoly on state officials with a wandering eye. Yes, I’ve made a few cracks at the expense of S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford. But one state over, in Georgia, a similar-sounding soap opera has taken a dark turn. On Thursday, the Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson announced that he will resign Jan. 1, nearly a month after trying to kill himself and four days after his ex-wife told the world he had cheated on her with a lobbyist, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Meanwhile, Sanford seems to have scored somewhat of a victory. A legislative committee contemplating whether he should be impeached has dismissed 28 of 37 ethics charges against the governor, reports All Headline News.

A day after the New York legislature killed a bill to allow same-sex marriage, New Jersey’s version of the legislation appeared very much alive, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. But advocates have a narrow window, the paper reports:

Proponents of the bill are urgently pushing for its passage in the next few weeks. While Gov. Corzine has said he will sign it if it reaches his desk, Gov.-elect Christopher J. Christie, who takes office Jan. 19, has said he would veto it, which means the issue would most likely be a nonstarter at least until Christie leaves office.

On the media front, it appears the New York Times is about to go through a painful period. Starting next week, managers may start picking newsroom staff for a new round of layoffs, reports the New York Post. Hearing this makes my heart — and head — hurt.

Then there’s this troubling development: Some editors at The Dallas Morning News have started reporting directly to executives outside the newsroom who oversee advertising sales, under a restructuring that overturns longstanding traditions in American newspapers aimed at shielding news judgments from business concerns, reports the New York Times.

With millions now watching TV on their computers, can the media companies put the Hulu genie back in the bottle? That’s the question asked by the New York Times in the wake of yesterday’s announced deal giving Comcast, the country’s largest cable operator, ownership of NBC.

And here’s a list of 10 web trends to watch for in 2010 from Mashable’s Pete Cashmore.