July 2012 | Table of Contents

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July 2012 | Table of Contents

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Panama Canal Expansion Has U.S. Ports Rushing
By: Ryan Holeywell
States are seeking to spend billions of dollars to build bigger ports to accommodate the massive ships that will soon be traveling through the canal. Can they move quickly enough?

Cathy Lanier Changes Policing in D.C. and Maybe Nation
By: John Buntin
The police chief's rejection of zero-tolerance policing that’s driven urban crime fighting for a generation may change the future of public safety in America.

Legislating Social Media in the States
By: Dylan Scott
States are confronting the challenges of protecting passwords, regulating status updates and other issues surrounding a new world with Facebook and Twitter.

David Walker’s Plan to Fix America
By: Zach Patton
After stepping down as head of the Government Accountability Office, David Walker started drawing the nation’s roadmap to fiscal sustainability that’s also applicable to states and cities.

Southern States Have Become Job-Training Leaders
By: Dylan Scott
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina have quietly positioned themselves as leaders in the job-training effort. Each state’s program is unique, but they share some commonalities.

Disclosing Public Employee Pay Troubles Some Officials
By: Mike Maciag
A GOVERNING survey shows mixed attitudes on disclosing public employee compensation

Social Issues Overshadow Tennessee Legislative Session
By: Alan Greenblatt
Tennessee made a bid (again) to become the nation’s most socially conservative state by voting on bills regarding school prayer, sex education, climate change and abortion.

Los Angeles Transit Needs Taxpayers' Money to Rebuild
By: Alan Greenblatt
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is asking voters to pay a half-cent sales tax longer so he can finish his plans to improve the highway and subway systems quicker.

Does Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Save Money?
By: Alan Greenblatt
Seven states have enacted drug testing for welfare applicants in an effort to cut costs and combat fraud -- but it’s not clear the move does either.

More Trees Equals Less Crime
By: Zach Patton
In Baltimore, a new study showed that a 10 percent increase in tree cover yielded at least a 12 percent decrease in crime.

Chatype: The Nation’s First Municipal Font
By: Zach Patton
Chattanooga, Tennessee raised more than $10,000 to support its efforts to become the first U.S. city with its own font.

North Carolina Politics Get in the Way of Governing
By: Paul W. Taylor
Gov. Bev Perdue and at least 30 state lawmakers have decided not to run for reelection this fall, many of them citing the loss of civility and willingness to compromise when it comes to doing the public’s business.

Medical Tourism Saves Government Money
By: David Levine
Even when you include airfare and meals, having public employees travel abroad for health care -- which a growing number of public entities are offering as an option -- can be significantly cheaper.

What Birds Indicate About Home Values
By: Elizabeth Daigneau
New research shows that lots of birds in an area can mean higher property values.

Chicago Brings Participatory Budgeting to the U.S.
By: Tod Newcombe
Participatory budgeting, which started in Latin America, lets citizens determine spending priorities.

Reducing Pet Populations in Pittsburgh
By: Jessica Mulholland
Pittsburgh has begun to shift funds away from impounding and euthanizing cats and dogs toward a free spaying and neutering program.

The Public’s Problem with Performance Measurements
By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
The average citizen isn’t interested in government-tracked measurements. But if it’s results-based data that directly affects their lives, they might be.

It’s A Paperless, Paperless World..... Thinking Outside the Box to Gain Efficiencies through Prepaid Cards
April 23, 2013
Public sector organizations are under intense scrutiny to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible and with maximum transparency. An important consideration is the way in which payments are made and managed. Prepaid cards can offer flexibility, security and accountability to governments as a method of dispersing benefits, healthcare and social care payments, child benefits and housing benefits to their constituents.

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