• A Powerful Measure of Urban Health: Strollers
• BY: Mark Funkhouser   |   April 24, 2013
• Cities compete for residents and tax base. Nothing defines urban livability more than a city that's kid-friendly.
• 3 Comments

• Are States Deepening the Nation's Red-Blue Divide?
• BY: Louis Jacobson   |   April 24, 2013
• Some Democratic and Republican states are pushing more ideological policies, but not all.
• 3 Comments

• Conservatives Target Illinois for Job Poaching
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   April 23, 2013
• Red states are trying to convince businesses to leave Illinois as the state struggles economically and fiscally.
• 10 Comments

• Senate Could Pass Online Sales Tax Bill This Week
• BY: Ryan Holeywell   |   April 23, 2013
• The legislation, which would allow states to collect sales taxes from Internet retailers, now has the White House's backing.
• 3 Comments

• Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Waste
• BY: Bob Graves   |   April 22, 2013
• An engineering feat more than a century ago created a host of problems for communities that depend on Lake Michigan for their water. But those problems also present opportunities.
• 2 Comments

• America’s Broadband Is Not Broken
• BY: Richard Bennett   |   April 22, 2013
• The argument for a massive reorganization of America’s broadband markets depends on a set of facts that don’t exist.
• 17 Comments

• Retiree Health-Care Benefits: The Next Shoe to Drop?
• BY: Liz Farmer   |   April 22, 2013
• The rising cost of health care for retirees may force states and localities to make wholesale changes to their pension health plans.
• 7 Comments

• Is Raising the Gas Tax Truly Politically Unpalatable?
• BY: Ryan Holeywell   |   April 22, 2013
• It's conventional wisdom in Washington that voters won't support a gas tax hike or a vehicle miles traveled fee. A new study suggests that long-held belief is wrong.
• 8 Comments

• Tying Welfare to Grades Meets Resistance
• BY: J.B. Wogan   |   April 22, 2013
• Should welfare benefits be tethered to a students' performance in school? One Tennessee legislator thinks so, but he's gotten national backlash for his proposal.
• 5 Comments

• Midwestern States Suffered Most Job Losses in March
• BY: Mike Maciag   |   April 19, 2013
• Most of the job losses last month were concentrated in Midwestern states. View employment data for each state.

• The Feds' Loss is State and Local Governments' Gain
• BY: Mike Maciag   |   April 19, 2013
• Public approval of state governments is at its highest since 2008, while views of Washington have plummeted to an all-time low, according to a new survey.

• Has Pension Reform Gone Too Far?
• BY: Liz Farmer   |   April 19, 2013
• Faced with growing pension gaps, states and localities in recent years have reacted with sweeping reforms.
• 11 Comments

• Colorado Wants Its Own Aerial Firefighters
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   April 19, 2013
• Most states rely on federal crews to fight fires from the air. But with those resources often stretched, Colorado wants to become the second state to respond to such emergencies on their own.

• Iowa's Generous Employee Benefits, Winning Audits, and the Side Effect of Furloughs
• BY: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene   |   April 18, 2013
• Plus: the misconception about failure and more management news
• 2 Comments

• Public Workers, Secret Pensions
• BY: Charles Chieppo   |   April 18, 2013
• Under an unusual arrangement dating back to 1948, information about the Boston-area transit agency's pension system doesn't have to be made public. That may soon change, and it ought to.
• 3 Comments