FEATURES

• 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

POLITICS + POLICY

• 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.

• The Politics of Rising Tuition Costs
• By: Peter Harkness
• Obama blames the states, but the problem is more complicated.

• House GOP: Who Needs Data, Anyway?
• By: Ryan Holeywell

• 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.

• Rick Snyder Takes a Venture Capitalist’s Approach to Governing Michigan
• By: William Fulton
• The governor is redirecting economic development incentives. Will it work?

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

PROBLEM SOLVER

• 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.

• Colorado Program Connects Inventors to Patent Attorneys
• By: Brian Peteritas

• NYC to Pilot Multifunction Phone Booths
• By: Brian Peteritas

• Lessons from Utah's Massive Data Breach
• By: Steve Towns
• Utah's former CIO Steve Fletcher says cybersecurity is everyone's job.

• "Say on Pay" for Public Pension Funds
• By: Girard Miller
• What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Training Opportunities

• Health Care Reform After the Decision
• In this Mercer Report, you’ll learn how different organizations plan to tackle the new requirements of ACA and discover where most employer concerns are focused, who expects to be hardest hit, and how different health plans and Medicaid may impact overall costs.
• Crime Prediction and Prevention


• Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality