FEATURES

• Red States, Green Jobs
• By: John Buntin
• The South has more green jobs than any other region. But will politicians keep investing in something many Southern voters don’t believe in?

• ALEC Enjoys A New Wave of Influence and Criticism
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• The American Legislative Exchange Council’s conservative ideas are resonating in practically every area of state government. And its opponents aren’t happy about it.

• Governments Experiment With Risk-Free Financing
• By: Russell Nichols
• Massachusetts may be the first state to use social impact bonds, a unique model that started in the U.K. for financing social programs proven to work.

• When Teams Leave, What Do You Do With the Stadium?
• By: Ryan Holeywell
• Houston’s sports teams left the Astrodome over a decade ago, and leaders still don’t have the answer.

• Cybercrime Hits Small Towns
• By: Tod Newcombe
• As more public employees use social media, mobile devices and cloud computing, cyberattacks are becoming a bigger concern. Is small-town America prepared?

POLITICS + POLICY

• Taxing the Rich Isn’t Always a Moneymaker
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Several states increased taxes on the wealthy in recent years. The move brought in extra revenue but didn’t solve all of states’ budget problems.

• St. Louis Wants to Control Its Own Police Force Again
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• In the nineteenth century, some states took control of local police forces. Today, St. Louis is the last big city whose force is still under state control.

• America’s Least Active City Sits Down to Celebrate
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• After Lexington, Ky., earned the award for least active city, residents and the mayor took to the streets to boast their win in a Sedentary Parade.

• California’s Money-Saving MVP
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• If finding ways to save money for a cash-starved state wasn’t enough, California’s Auditor Elaine Howle is adding the task of setting up a new redistricting commission to her to-do list.

• Governments Abandon Fingerprinting for Food Stamps
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Most states and cities stopped requiring that recipients be fingerprinted because it was costly and slowed the application process. New York City and Arizona are the last jurisdictions that still do it.

• New Documentary 'Urbanized' Explores Design of the City
• By: Ryan Holeywell

• 2012 Presidential Candidates Challenge Mandates
• By: Donald F. Kettl
• Republicans and Democrats call for fewer mandates. Both parties, however, have yet to answer fundamental questions about what government should do and how it should pay for it.

• Cross-Border Insurance Revisited
• By: David Levine
• Texas Gov. Rick Perry once supported a binational U.S.-Mexico health insurance plan. Why didn’t the idea grab the Lone Star State’s fancy?

• Greening the Corporate Bottom Line
• By: Elizabeth Daigneau
• Companies are legally obligated to try to maximize profits. Some states are creating companies that can also factor employees, the community and the environment into financial decisions.

• A Lesson for Passenger Rail, From Roads
• By: Alex Marshall
• A look back at the building of millions of miles of roads shows why passenger rail needs a well-structured bureaucracy in order to succeed.

• The Trouble with Pedestrian Malls
• By: Tod Newcombe
• Once popular, these car-free zones are slowly disappearing from the urban landscape.

PROBLEM SOLVER

• Training for Free
• By: Caroline Cournoyer
• A Georgia program that President Obama wants to expand nationwide shows that businesses might hire more workers if they don’t have to pay for training.

• In Government We Don’t Trust
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• People have gradually lost trust in government. How can public leaders get it back?

• Farm of the Future: Aquaponics?
• By: Steve Towns
• Milwaukee hopes to pioneer new tech advances in farming that would create jobs and eliminate food deserts in depressed neighborhoods.

• Slaying the OPEB Dragon
• By: Girard Miller
• Retiree medical costs can be tamed, but it requires effort. Some solutions are obvious, others are at the cutting edge of innovation.

• Gabe Klein Pursues a Pedestrian-Friendly Message in Chicago
• By: Tina Trenkner
• After instituting new bike lanes and one of the nation’s largest bikeshare programs in D.C., Klein hopes to have similar success as Chicago’s new transit chief.

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