America is getting older. Fast. Baby boomers -- the 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964 -- are rapidly hitting retirement age. The oldest boomers turned 65 last year, and for the next two decades, Americans will hit that age at a rate of 8,000 a day. By the time you finish reading this paragraph, another five boomers will have reached 65.

Governing's multiple-part series on aging in America continues this month with a new magazine feature (below) as well as additional stories, data and interactive content at governing.com/generations.

Poverty Among the Elderly Getting Harder to Ignore
Many elders are ill-prepared to shoulder the cost of retirement, and the gap between what seniors need to live on versus what they have might land squarely on state and local governments.

FEATURES

• Newbies Infiltrate State Legislative Chambers
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Thanks to term limits and anti-incumbent fervor, half the lawmakers across the country have less than two years’ experience.

• Top 10 Legislative Issues to Watch in 2013
• By: Dylan Scott, Ryan Holeywell
• Here are 10 of the biggest topics states will tackle in the year ahead.

• Millennials in the Mayor’s Seat
• By: Dylan Scott
• Young leaders are injecting cities with a new energy.

• Pension Obligation Bonds: Risky Gimmick or Smart Investment?
• By: Eric Schulzke
• Pension obligation bonds have bankrupted whole cities. Yet some governments are still big players.

POLITICS + POLICY

• The Era of Divided Government is Over
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• For the first time in a long time, one party holds both the legislature and governorship in 37 states.

• States Double Down on Incentives to Woo Companies
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• In the wake of the recession and the long, slow recovery from it, state and local governments have been even more eager to offer incentives to the few projects they have hopes of landing.

• Why N.Y. Lawmakers Work When No One Else Does
• By: Jane Gottlieb
• Whether anyone is there or not, New York state Assemblyman John J. McEneny calls a session every three days. There’s a reason why.

• Teachers Rack Up Wins Against Reform Efforts
• By: Alan Greenblatt
• Education reform ideas that have generally received widespread support are experiencing pushback in the states, including some surprising places.

• Is Universal Phone Service a Sleeper Issue to Watch in 2013?
• By: Paul W. Taylor
• There are conflicting pressures on the universal service fee to maintain “plain old telephone service” on one hand and help pay for a broadband future on the other.

• Who Pays for Superstorm Sandy?
• By: Peter Harkness
• States don’t just want money to rebuild -- they want money to make far-reaching changes to infrastructure too.

• Municipal Leaders Fear Deficit Reduction Could Impact Bond Exemption
• By: Ryan Holeywell

• In Wake of Meningitis Outbreak, Who Will Oversee Compounding Pharmacies?
• By: David Levine
• Investigations uncovered a loophole that some compounding pharmacies exploited for financial gain. Now, regulators and policymakers must decide who’s going to close it -- the feds or the states.

• Waiting to Exhale: GPS Inhalers Identify Asthma Hotspots
• By: Dylan Scott

• Sandy Forces Northeast to Rethink Infrastructure
• By: William Fulton
• In an effort to emerge more resilient and prosperous, states and localities are rethinking power grids, roads and sewers in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

• 11 Cities in Massachusetts Band Together to Solve Urban Ills
• By: Tod Newcombe

PROBLEM SOLVER

• Governments Resisting the Urge to Merge
• By: Mike Maciag
• Despite strained finances, there’s been no significant shift toward consolidation in recent years.

• The Difficulties of Measuring Government Success
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• Take weatherization. It’s harder than advertised to come up with an easy way to assess the program’s success.

• Miami Taps into Organic, Local Food Movement to End Homelessness
• By: Brian Peteritas
• A community just outside the city offers homeless people a paycheck and place to live in exchange for work on a sustainable urban farm.

• New Anti-Bullying Program Shows Promise in New Hampshire
• By: Brian Peteritas
• Nine-week program that teaches good morals, ethics and behaviors has resulted in increased reporting of incidents.

• How Acting Like a Tech Entrepreneur Can Improve Government Services
• By: Steve Towns
• Letting the public test unfinished products saves agencies money and time.

• The Secret to Massachusetts’ High Credit Rating
• By: Mark Funkhouser
• Massachusetts has the highest credit rating it’s ever had. Its secret? Discipline.

Training Opportunities

• Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality
• This white paper describes how developing competencies in five key area can help public safety agencies more effectively do their jobs in the face of extremely important and difficult sets of issues.
• Crime Prediction and Prevention


• FutureStructure: A New Framework