FEATURES

• Health-Care Reform: Similar States, Different Views
• By: John Buntin

• States disagree on whether health-care reform will spark a boom - or lead to a colossal bust.

• Health Care for the Needy
• By: John Buntin

• Lacking a health-care system for the poorest of the poor, Montgomery, Ala., crafted a uniquely local solution.

• Southeastern Water Wars
• By: Josh Goodman

• Water supply limits in the region have led to threats of water poaching and calls for toilet rebates to meet the region's unquenchable thirst.

• Stemming the Tide of Homelessness
• By: Zach Patton

• Rapid re-housing might just be the answer to the nation's growing homelessness problem.

• Rushing to Pay for Education Reform
• By: Tina Trenkner

• States are clamoring for a slice of $4.35 billion for education reform. Will being first help them win?

• Keeping the Streets of America's Snowiest City Clean
• By: David Kidd
• There are places nationwide that get more snow, but among cities with populations greater than 100,000, Syracuse's snowfall is supreme.

DEPARTMENTS

• Taking Stock
• By: Alan Ehrenhalt
• Recalling 22 years of assessing the ebb and flow of states and localities.

Politics + Policy

• Reaching for a Tuition Tax?
• By: Josh Goodman

• Universities and hospitals are tax-exempt, and that costs cities money.

• Health Reform, Utah Style
• By: Josh Goodman

• Massachusetts and Utah have embraced health exchanges, but will Utah's work?

• Merging Historically Black Universities
• By: Josh Goodman

• Gov. Haley Barbour's proposal has more to do with the budget than race, but it's still part of the issue.

• A Candidate Takes on Taxes
• By: Josh Goodman

• Former U.S. Senator and Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee breaks with tradition.

• A Decade To Remember
• By: Donald F. Kettl
• 10 years, 10 highlights for federalism.

• Texting to Better Health
• By: Jessica Mulholland

• Patients want better access to care, even if they receive it via a text message.

• Smart Meter News: Utilities Controversy
• By: Elizabeth Daigneau
• Complaints about smart utility meters are on the rise.

• The Aughts: The Decade of Infrastructure
• By: Alex Marshall
• As the decade ends, there's little to cheer save a notable exception: infrastructure.

• Empty Lot Syndrome
• By: Tod Newcombe
• Cities explore temporary uses for vacant lots.

Problem Solver

• Driving Change: Go Big or Go Home
• By: John O'Leary
• Forget incremental improvement, create a team focused solely on change.

• Fatally-Flawed Mortality Statistics
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• Inaccurate information on death certificates impacts how states allocate health-care funds.

• Los Angeles Embraces Google's Gmail
• By: Steve Towns
• An innovative technology deal turns political for the Los Angeles City Council president.

• Furlough Fever
• By: Girard Miller
• Are four-day workweeks the beginning of a permanent trend or a passing phenomenon?

• San Francisco's Populist Public Defender
• By: John Buntin

• Jeff Adachi is a public defender loved by the public and feared by public officials.

Training Opportunities

• Outsmarting the Social Services Fraudster
• Learn how IBM InfoSphere Identity Insight helps social services organizations reduce time and labor for caseload management, comply with new regulations fast and cost-efficiently and identify fraudulent behavior rapidly to stop it before it occurs.
• A Safer Public Through Advanced Analytics
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• Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality