• 1.65 trillion
• Source: Governing   |   Nation   |   March 1, 2013
• The amount state and local governments have borrowed over the past decade to fund infrastructure investments, using tax-exempt bonds.

• 17 million
• Source: Governing   |   Nation   |   February 28, 2013
• The expected cut in the number of meals served to seniors through state-administered nutrition programs under sequestration.

• 577
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   February 27, 2013
• The number of times the word "education" was mentioned -- which was more than any other -- in State of the State speeches this year by 47 governors. View which other words were uttered most often.

• Less than 10 minutes
• Source: McClatchy/GOVERNING   |   Pontiac, Mich.   |   February 26, 2013
• The average 911 response time in Pontiac, Mich., compared to an hour before the police department was disbanded in favor of a contract with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office. The change by the city's emergency financial manager is saving it more than $2 million a year.

• $3,218
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Connecticut   |   February 25, 2013
• The average federal tax refund in Connecticut, which was the most of any other state in 2011. View refund data for every state.

• 79%
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   February 22, 2013
• The rise in armed robberies of drug stores between 2006 and 2010, according to Drug Enforcement Administration estimates.

• 148 years
• Source: The (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger   |   Mississippi   |   February 21, 2013
• The time it took Mississippi to ratify the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. It became the last state to do so this month after the movie "Lincoln" inspired a professor to look into why it had not.
• 1 Comments

• 17
• Source: Kaiser Health News   |   Nation   |   February 20, 2013
• The number of states plus the District of Columbia that have opted to run their own health insurance exchange. Twenty-five states are letting the federal government run theirs and eight want state-fed partnership exchanges.

• 150,000
• Source: Stateline   |   Florida   |   February 19, 2013
• The number of online K-12 students in the state of Florida, which has more than any other state.

• 26 years old
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   February 15, 2013
• The new age, as of January 2014, that children in foster care will get Medicaid coverage until under the Affordable Care Act. Currently, foster care kids lose Medicaid coverage when they turn 18.

• 38.3
• Source: National Center for Health Statistics   |   Nation   |   February 14, 2013
• The provisional rate of marriages per 1,000 people performed in Nevada in 2010 -- by far the most of any other state. Mississippi had the lowest marriage rate that year.
• 1 Comments

• $65 million
• Source: Austin American-Statesman   |   Texas   |   February 13, 2013
• The amount of money Texas has spent since 1992 compensating innocent people who were imprisoned. Texas pays more than any other state to the wrongfully convicted and a recently introduced bill would raise the rates even more.

• 7%
• Source: GOVERNING   |   Nation   |   February 12, 2013
• The portion of legal Hispanic immigrants who were eligible for citizenship in 2011 but chose not to seek it because they don't want to become U.S. citizens, according to a new Pew Center study.

• 36%
• Source: New York Times   |   Nation   |   February 11, 2013
• The portion of Americans born to immigrant parents with at least a bachelor’s degree, which surpasses the rate of college-educated Americans as a whole, according to a recent Pew report.

• 22%
• Source: USA Today   |   Nation   |   February 8, 2013
• The decline in Americans' spending on reading materials (both digital and print) since 2000. Meanwhile, spending on other forms of entertainment has increased 25 percent.
• 1 Comments