Features

• Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's Evolving Leadership
• By: John Buntin
• Bobby Jindal took office with a mandate to change state government. Three years later, it’s the governor’s approach to leadership that has changed instead.

• Goodbye Moderate Governors, Hello Partisans
• By: Josh Goodman
• From Vermont to Hawaii, moderate governors are leaving office after the fall elections. Will partisan purists soon be running state government?

• Democrats May Lose Control in 2010 State Elections
• By: Louis Jacobson
• Democrats are poised to lose a slew of state legislative chambers and attorney general offices.

• The Politics Behind Not Levying Personal Income Taxes
• By: Jonathan Walters
• In the nine states that don’t levy a personal income tax, the politics of staying that course remains powerful.

• States Test Algae as a Biofuel
• By: Zach Patton
• Could algae be the next big thing in biofuels? Some states are finding out.

Departments

• The Resiliance of Procurement Reform in Georgia
• By: Paul W. Taylor
• A political transition down South will test the resilience of procurement reform.

Politics + Policy

• Legislatures Tackle Concussions in School Athletics
• By: Josh Goodman
• Growing concerns about the risks associated with serious head injuries are catching the attention of state legislatures.

• Smarter Parking in San Francisco
• By: Josh Goodman
• San Francisco's two-year pilot project will adjust parking prices based on time and location.

• Oregon’s Pension Puzzle
• By: Josh Goodman
• Oregon's public pension performance in the past decade has been stellar, but can they maintain it in years to come?

• Florida's Amendment 4 Puts Land-Use Issues on the Ballot
• By: Josh Goodman
• Is this the perfect year for Florida voters to constrain development?

• Why States and Localities Are Watching the Lower Federal Courts
• By: Donald F. Kettl
• Court cases rarely travel up to the Supreme Court, so lower courts are often the last stop for controversial cases.

• States Take a Closer Look at Interstate Tolling
• By: Tina Trenkner
• States stuck with maintaining federal highways are paying more attention to the potential of interstate tolls.

• Creating User-Friendly Medical Technology
• By: Jessica Mulholland
• Students design medical technologies with the patient in mind.

• LEED Introduces Green Guidelines for Sustainable Landscapes
• By: Elizabeth Daigneau
• A new rating system seeks to make sustainable landscapes standard.

• Getting in Front of Communication and Transportation Investments
• By: Alex Marshall
• Government keeps adapting to how information and people travel.

• Problems in Preserving a City's Downtown District
• By: Tod Newcombe
• Downtowns, the soul of every city, are hanging on.

Problem Solver

• Moving Vets Off Medicaid and Onto VA
• By: Heather Kerrigan
• A nearly two decades-old reporting system designed to prevent benefit fraud is helping cash-strapped states save millions -- but not in the way originally intended.

• Forgetting the Economic Cycle Already?
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• In boom times, states forget the bust years. That’s worrisome as revenues show signs of life.

• Michigan Broadens Its IT Consolidation
• By: Steve Towns
• Michigan broadens its IT consolidation initiative to facilities and administrative services.

• Who Should Pay the Pension Bill?
• By: Girard Miller
• As states face funding problems, retirees and employees will feel pressure to chip in.

• Lewis Ledford Oversees Parks and Recreation Growth
• By: John Buntin
• Even in tough times, North Carolina's Parks and Recreation Director Lewis Ledford keeps state parks bustling.

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