FEATURES

• States Handing Off More Responsibilities to Cities
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• States are asking cities to take charge of more programs, but they may not provide enough support.

• Fend-for-Yourself Localism
• By: Elizabeth Daigneau
• In October 1987, the first-ever issue of Governing debuted with a cover story on how in 1980, power and responsibility shifted from the federal government to the state and local level.

• From the Archive: The New Federalism: Unplanned, Innovative and Here to Stay
• By: John Herbers
• State and local governments are fending for themselves in unprecedented and imaginative ways. Things will never be quite the same.

• States Struggle to Regulate the Bond Industry
• By: Russell Nichols
• While critics question the fairness of the bail bonds industry, proponents argue that its services save states money and keep defendants from fleeing.

• Does Government Work Require Government Employees?
• By: John Buntin
• Volunteers are taking on jobs once performed by public employees.

• The Rise of the Recall Election
• By: Ryan Holeywell
• Angry voters are increasingly using recall elections to remove local leaders.

• Implementing Electronic Health Records in Doctors' Offices
• By: Jonathan Walters
• For e-health records to work, physicians need to be brought online.

DEPARTMENTS

• Can Texas Find a Future for a Third of its Workforce?
• By: Paul W. Taylor
• Almost a third of the state's workforce is neither a knowledge worker or a service worker. How will the state train and create jobs for this sect of the workforce?

POLITICS + POLICY

• The CDBG Mobilization
• By: Zach Patton
• Mayors and county leaders are angrily and aggressively pushing back against proposed cuts against CDBG.

• States Attempt to Streamline Education
• By: Zach Patton
• Proposals in states like Washington and North Dakota aim to streamline education from pre-k to Ph.D.

• Lottery Revenues Not a Sure Bet
• By: Zach Patton
• The recent economic crisis suggests that state lotteries and other forms of gambling may not be the predictable cash cows they once were.

• States Considering Prize-Linked Savings Programs
• By: Tina Trenkner
• Credit unions want permission to award cash and prizes to customers who save.

• Bankruptcy's Bank Shot
• By: Donald F. Kettl
• What connects government default, short selling and union bashing?

• Wiretapping Internet Calls May Require New Law
• By: Ryan Holeywell
• Police officials say the problems with tracking Internet phone calls are so prevalent that the federal government should step in.

• Health-Care Reform: To Implement or Not to Implement?
• By: Jessica Mulholland
• Many question health-care reform's status -- but it's still law, and likely will remain so.

• Pollution Prejudice Against the Poor
• By: Linda Baker
• Some critics charge that cap-and-trade plans discriminate against the poor.

• What to Call the Gas Tax: Not Just Semantics
• By: Alex Marshall
• Calling the gas tax a 'user fee' is logically and factually wrong.

• Seniors and the City
• By: Tod Newcombe
• Most experts agree little is being done to make cities more age-friendly, but some cities are taking steps.

PROBLEM SOLVER

• Making Performance a Priority in Georgia
• By: Heather Kerrigan
• Performance measurement isn't a once-a-year event -- it's an ongoing process.

• Effectively Engaging the Public
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• There's more to keeping in touch with constituents than public hearings

• Trading Laptops for Smartphones
• By: Steve Towns
• The handheld device is proving handy for cities.

• The Power of No
• By: Girard Miller
• This is the time for state and local leaders to take a 'no new spending' pledge.

• New York State's Medicaid Director Suggests Cuts
• By: Tina Trenkner
• Jason Helgerson, formerly Wisconsin's Medicaid director, came to New York to help control costs.

Training Opportunities

• Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality
• This white paper describes how developing competencies in five key area can help public safety agencies more effectively do their jobs in the face of extremely important and difficult sets of issues.
• Crime Prediction and Prevention


• FutureStructure: A New Framework