April 2013 | Table of Contents

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April 2013 | Table of Contents

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Should Local Government Be Run Like Silicon Valley?
By: John Buntin
Cities are contracting with Code for America -- what some call “the Peace Corps for geeks” -- in an effort to seed Silicon Valley virtues in local government.

Flood-Prone Cities Undertake Disaster Planning on Their Own
By: Jonathan Walters
Places like Hoboken, N.J., aren’t waiting for another Superstorm Sandy. They're taking matters into their own hands. But what’s best for one city may not be best for the region.

Pension Reform Success Stories
By: Liz Farmer
Most states and many municipalities have passed some kind of pension reform in recent years, but only a few did so in a way that addresses the immediate unfunded liability of their plans.

Is Mesa Mayor Scott Smith Arizona’s Next Governor?
By: Ryan Holeywell
The businessman-turned-mayor is turning Mesa around while leading the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Could this moderate Republican bring his pragmatism and policy knowledge to the governorship next?

How Smaller Cities Hold onto Major Employers and Grow
By: Mike Maciag
When a city’s economy depends mostly on one employer, local leaders will go to great lengths to make them happy. But to survive, towns need to attract new businesses.

Tea Party Running the Show in Georgia County
By: J.B. Wogan
Most of Fayette County’s elected leaders are Tea Partiers, shedding light on how Tea Party reformers -- if given full control -- might shape public policy and overhaul Republican politics at the local level.

Gender-Neutral Language Written into State Laws
By: Dylan Scott
Many states -- Washington being the latest -- have revised decades-old codes and statutes to remove any gender bias.

GOP Governors Ask ‘What Would Reagan Do?’
By: Donald F. Kettl
Furious at Washington gridlock and seeking to get their party back on top, Republican governors -- like President Ronald Reagan before them -- are waging an anti-tax campaign aimed at the income tax.

Will Insurance Ever Cover a Cancer Test That Saves Money, Lives?
By: David Levine
Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer. A new test that could curb lung cancer deaths, however, is fighting for approval.

Should the Public or Private Sector Control Broadband?
By: Alex Marshall
The question of who will install fiber-optic networks and who will control them is key because it could impact decades of economic growth. Telecom giants like AT&T think they should be the only player.

The Risks of Relying on User Fees
By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
In the past three years, states and cities have brought in billions of dollars in additional user fees. But there are pitfalls to this form of revenue boost.

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