Under an existing state appropriations restraint, also known as the Gann Limit, lawmakers cannot spend more in the state budget than an amount determined by a formula that takes annual tax proceeds, changes to the population and cost of living into consideration.
Tax revenue above the limit must be divided between schools and refunds to taxpayers. More recent carve-outs in the law also allow leaders to direct excess funds to infrastructure and local government.
The limit applies to most other appropriations of tax revenue, including money that lawmakers tuck away into the “rainy day” fund and other reserves.
California voters also have capped the amount of money lawmakers can set aside in the rainy day fund at 10% of general fund proceeds in a given year.
The proposed changes would exempt deposits into the rainy day fund and a short-term reserve, called the Projected Surplus Temporary Holding Account, from the state appropriations limit. The cap on the rainy day fund would grow from 10% of general fund tax revenue to 20%.
In effect, the measure would allow the governor and the Legislature to put more money into budget reserves, creating another option to avoid triggering rebates.
For example, if the spending limit is $400 billion for the year, and revenue hits $410 billion, the measure would give lawmakers the option to deposit the $10 billion above the spending limit into the rainy day fund, direct the money to infrastructure or give it to local governments, instead of returning the funding to taxpayers and increasing funding for schools.
WASHINGTON — President Trump says his administration will make one-time payments of $90 per person to help more than 20 million Medicare enrollees pay for their Part B premiums. It will cost about $2 billion.
Less than one-third of all Medicare recipients are eligible for the payments, which are expected to be sent out this week. Not eligible are roughly 35 million Medicare Advantage enrollees, millions of people with disabilities who get premium assistance and low-income Medicare recipients.
The election-year promise that the Republican president made over the weekend comes as the Nov. 3 midterms are fast approaching, with the cost of living and healthcare expenses among the top issues for voters.
Some questions and answers about the payouts:
Some 20.8 million people in the original Medicare Part B who are living in the United States, not receiving premium assistance from Medicaid or not paying an income-related monthly adjusted amount.
Medicare Advantage enrollees, who make up more than half of the eligible 64.2 million Medicare beneficiaries, will not receive a payment, according to KFF, a healthcare research nonprofit. Nor will 12 million low-income older adults and people with disabilities who get premium assistance.
The Part B program covers expenses such as doctor’s visits, ambulance services and lab tests. Total monthly costs generally start at about $200 and vary with income.
Allison Schuster, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement that the administration “is enabling Americans to take control of their health by putting money directly back in the hands of Medicare patients.”
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website, eligible beneficiaries will receive one $90 rebate this month, with most getting a direct deposit on or around Friday. Others will receive a paper check from the Treasury Department later in October.
Juliette Cubanski, director of KFF’s program on Medicare policy, said the payment will be automatic.
“As far as a benefit goes, people don’t have to call or sign up — it’s just money they receive directly, but not everybody on Medicare will receive this money.”
A White House fact sheet says people can call (800) MEDICARE ([800] 633-4227) to check their eligibility for the premium rebate. To check on payment status, people should call the Social Security Administration at (800) 772-1213.
Payments will come out of the Medicare Improvement Fund created by Congress in 2008 and intended to make improvements to the Medicare fee-for-service program.
The fund was created to improve program management and conduct oversight of contracts and contractors, according to the Congressional Budget Office, but its purpose has expanded after various legislative changes.
This is not the first time the fund has been used.
President Obama’s administration, along with Congress, redirected $20 billion to expand healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
But under Trump, it is the first time that the fund has been used to directly pay recipients.
Critics of Trump’s promise characterize the $90 payments as a preelection stunt designed to sway voters rather than address structural problems in healthcare costs and administration.
The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, said in a statement that “this is another desperate attempt by a failed president to escape Americans’ revulsion with his failed agenda, amounting to one tank of Trump-inflated gas.”
Trump recently promised $500 rebate checks to an estimated 1 million Obamacare enrollees across 30 states whom the White House alleged were overcharged by the Biden administration for some fees.
Cubanski said the Medicare rebate payments were being doled out when Americans were feeling the bite of higher food, energy and gas prices. Surging healthcare costs are only compounding those pressure, she said.
“This might be helpful for people but it might not go very far.”
Hussein writes for the Associated Press.
Acting President Rodríguez has prioritized the reengagement with Western multilateral institutions. (Presidential Press)
Mérida, October 6, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan acting government is resorting to a Qatar-led financing agreement in order to regain access to multilateral loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
According to specialized outlet Bitácora Económica, Qatar is preparing to establish a specialized rescue fund to settle Venezuela’s estimated US $2.5 billion debt with the IDB.
Under the proposed mechanism, the Qatari fund would immediately clear Venezuela’s overdue principal and interest payments, while issuing a new, long-term loan with favorable interest rates for the South American nation.
Venezuelan economist José Guerra claimed that Qatar will be joined by the United Arab Emirates and that the Gulf countries will back the financing initiative with their sovereign wealth funds.
The Qatari-backed initiative would reportedly allow Venezuela to address short-term liquidity constraints and access a new IDB credit line worth as much as $8 billion. The financing would be used for public infrastructure projects, including the national road network, water distribution systems, and stabilizing the national electric grid, as well as providing additional funding for state budgets.
The proposed Gulf-backed debt arrangement comes amid a broader, deliberate push by Caracas to re-establish formal relations with major US-led multilateral financial institutions.
Over recent months, high-level Venezuelan delegations have held technical and institutional meetings with representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF).
In September, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez met in New York with IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva, as well as senior World Bank and IDB officials.
Caracas’ rapprochement with Western multilateral institutions has coincided with a geopolitical shift in its foreign policy since the January 3 US military strikes and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The Venezuelan government, headed by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, reestablished ties with Washington while also strengthening relations with US allies such as Qatar and the UAE.
Doha initially provided intermediation for US control over Venezuelan oil export revenues, with funds deposited in Qatari bank accounts. The scheme was later transferred directly to the US Treasury Department. Energy firms from Qatar and the UAE were recently announced as stakeholders in a Venezuelan offshore natural gas project as well.
Venezuela’s reengagement with Washington-based financial institutions saw the IDB officially reopen its country office in Caracas on October 2, seven years after halting operations in the Caribbean nation.
The IDB had suspended all active credit lines and disbursements to Venezuela in May 2018 following payment arrears. The relaunched local office follows the formal reinstatement of Venezuela’s voting rights in June, when the IDB Board accepted Calixto Ortega as the country’s governor at the IDB.
During an expanded session of the National Economic Council in Caracas on October 2 with IDB officials, Acting President Rodríguez emphasized the importance of access to international multilateral credit for both the public and private sectors.
“This agenda that we have been developing with the multilateral financial system is for development, for investment and financing in infrastructure and services,” she stated during the televised session. “In Venezuela, there is a very important installed industrial capacity to develop, and a boost in financing will bring us to full capacity.”
Rodríguez added that the renewed engagement aims to ensure that private companies, communal production units, and small businesses can access international loan programs to expand local production.
While direct sovereign lending to the Venezuelan government remains contingent on fully clearing arrears, the multilateral’s private-sector arm, IDB Invest, has already initiated direct financial assistance to key Venezuelan corporations and commercial banks.
Under recently approved financing structures, IDB Invest is reportedly delivering commercial-rate loans and capital support to food processing conglomerate Empresas Polar, as well as private commercial banks Banco Mercantil and Banesco.
The allocations for Banco Mercantil and Banesco are designed to strengthen liquidity and capitalization within the national banking system, while also boosting local credit lines for businesses.
Meanwhile, the funds directed to Empresas Polar are earmarked for agricultural development projects and supply-chain expansion, particularly targeting grain production in Portuguesa state, according to reports.
Unlike traditional development loans, the IDB Invest credits are extended at market interest rates, focusing directly on private-sector growth and sustainability.
The Venezuelan government’s current strategy marks a departure from the former President Hugo Chávez’s stance toward multilateral lending institutions.
In November 2008, at a Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) summit, Chávez criticized the IDB, labeling it an “instrument of political pressure” used by Washington to impose orthodox economic policies on sovereign nations.
At the time, Chávez called on Latin American governments to withdraw from both the IDB and the IMF, which he labeled as a “weapon of US imperialism,” advocating instead for regional alternatives such as the Bank of the South to replace traditional multilateral lenders.
ra2studio/iStock via Getty Images
Move comes after ethics experts criticised three nationally broadcast ads and called for independent investigations.
Published On 6 Oct 20266 Oct 2026
United States President Donald Trump has said he will stop using taxpayer funds for television advertisements featuring him after widespread criticism of the campaign-style spots.
In a post on his social media site on Monday, Trump defended the advertisements, which cost at least $1.5m in federal funds and were aired ahead of the US November midterm elections.
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Trump said he considered the advertisements to be “a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.”, but that they would no longer be funded by taxpayers but by either him or his MAGA PAC,
MAGA Inc. is Trump’s political war chest and had amassed more than $400m by the end of July.
The announcement came as ethics experts and lawmakers from both parties have criticised the three nationally broadcast advertisements and called for independent investigations.
The advertisements have run during football games as recently as Sunday and during other programming.
One features Trump declaring that “America will never be a communist country”, while a chorus repeats the words “love me”. Another combines images of Mount Rushmore with footage of Trump praising a “golden age of America”.
The advertisements end with a disclaimer saying they were paid for by the US government.
Democratic lawmakers said last month that the White House transferred $20m in Homeland Security Department funds to air the advertisements, including one that closely resembles a 2024 Trump campaign ad, and sought independent probes.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday called for an independent investigation, calling it a “staggering misuse of public funding and breach of public trust” after the calls for a probe.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, a Republican named to his position by Trump, last week said the advertisements were appropriate and rejected a request to investigate them.
Several of Tuesday’s papers lead on a Tory pledge to devote £10bn to an Iron Dome-style defence system.
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BRIT Hollywood star Jodie Turner-Smith is accused of helping fund her brother’s drug use and sex parties, according to a bombshell lawsuit.
Three women have also filed a complaint against convicted felon Richard Smith – alleging sexual coercion, non consensual sexual conduct, and imprisonment.
One of them, named Jane Doe 2, alleged that Smith referred to her as his “white slave” and described himself as her “master”.
Turner-Smith is named as a defendant in the harrowing case, that is now threatening to derail her Hollywood career.
The actress, the lawsuit claims “knew of significant dangers associated with Smith and, despite that knowledge, continued to provide or make available resources that enabled [him].”
Smith used the housing and money that he received from his sister to carry out the sexual abuse, according to the claimants.
Among Turner-Smith’s gifts to her brother was an Audi that he allegedly used to transport drug packages to USPS that were then moved across state lines.
Smith also used his famous sister to make some of the women feel safe and “lower her defences” during sex parties, it was alleged.
“I used to take care of her, now she takes care of me. She pays all my bills,” he told them, as per the papers.
Turner-Smith denies all the claims made against her.
Some of the more shocking accusations were made by Jane Doe 2, who said she met Smith in 2023 at an after hours party in Los Angeles.
He allegedly pressured her to take drugs where “trays of cocaine… and firearms or other weapons were present”, the papers say.
The pair engaged in a sexual relationship that later turned “unhealthy” and “controlling”.
Smith is accused of pressuring her to have sex with him as well as multiple other men.
Jane Doe 1 also claimed he pressured her to take drugs and engage in unwanted sexual activity with him.
At times, his own children were present during some of the illicit activities at a 1555 Vine Street residence, the papers say.
Meanwhile, Jane Doe 3 said she did not feel safe in the Hollywood home, and said Smith even pressured her to sell drugs.
He further “forced sexual activity involving himself and a roommate,” she said.
The three women allege that “they have suffered and continue to suffer emotional distress, fear, anxiety, humiliation, trauma, loss of peace of mind, and other damages as a result.”
Representing the three women, Nissan Thomas, said: “This lawsuit raises serious questions about what happened, who knew about it, and what resources continued to be provided after warning signs allegedly became impossible to ignore.
“They are asking the court to examine the conduct of each defendant based on the evidence – not on family relationships, celebrity status or speculation.”
A representative for Turner-Smith told TMZ that this is a “fictional lawsuit.”
“[It] was filed by someone who has been harassing Jodie while hiding behind the name Jane Doe,” the statement said .
“The claims are not true. This is an abuse of the legal system, allowing someone to make up facts and file meritless legal documents.”
mustafaU
RIYADH: A US economic delegation has held meetings with Syria’s sovereign fund to explore investment opportunities, as Damascus seeks to deepen ties with the world’s largest economy and attract international capital.
The meetings, which included representatives from government bodies and private companies, were focused on assessing the Syrian market and available investment opportunities amid the country’s economic opening and the lifting of sanctions, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
The discussions come as the Middle Eastern nation’s seeks to capitalize on the momentum generated following Washington’s termination of sanctions against Syria in July 2025.
“In his remarks during the meeting, Yasir Kahf, Director of Development and Planning at the Syrian Sovereign Fund, explained that the fund’s investment portfolio encompasses a diverse range of sectors and companies. He emphasized the Fund’s openness to establishing various forms of partnerships with US and international companies — including joint ventures — tailored to the specific nature of each sector,” the newly released SANA statement said.
Kahf also said the US Chamber of Commerce delegation’s inaugural visit to Syria represents a significant step toward enhancing economic cooperation.
Mohammad Mastat, director of public relations at the Syrian Sovereign Fund, said US companies had shown interest in entering the Syrian investment market, adding that several agreements and projects were currently under negotiation and would be announced in due course.
The easing of US sanctions has also created greater scope for investment and private-sector activity.
In May 2025, the US Treasury said sanctions relief would enable new investment in Syria and facilitate activity across all sectors of the Syrian economy as part of efforts to support its economic recovery.
The International Monetary Fund expects Syria’s economic growth to reach double digits in 2026 and remain strong in 2027.
It said the recovery is being supported by improving agriculture, hydrocarbon production, electricity provision, trade and services, alongside policies aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and achieving a strong, private-sector-led recovery.
