• How Tennessee Plans to Solve Its IT Problems
• BY: Heather Kerrigan   |   May 15, 2013
• In an effort to keep employees and their skills up to date, the Volunteer State is urging 1,600 IT workers to reapply for their jobs.
• 8 Comments

• Illinois' Public-Pension Dilemma
• BY: Charles Chieppo   |   May 15, 2013
• State lawmakers moving to fix the nation's worst-funded pension system have a choice: a plan that saves a lot of money or one that might survive a court challenge.
• 11 Comments

• Bike Lane Battles Heat Up
• BY: Tod Newcombe   |   May 15, 2013
• Cities like San Francisco and Chicago are running into resistance from drivers as they try to meet demand for more bike lanes.
• 4 Comments

• Will Kindergartener Bank Accounts Catch On?
• BY: J.B. Wogan   |   May 15, 2013
• San Francisco was the first city to create college savings accounts for every kindergartener in public school. Now other jurisdictions are contemplating a similar program.
• 7 Comments

• NTSB Advocates Stricter Standards for Drunk Driving
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Nation   |   May 15, 2013
• The National Transportation Safety Board recommended Tuesday that states lower their threshold for drunken driving from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent or less.
• 1 Comments

• Majority of States Show Positive Performance on Cutting Carbon Emissions
• BY: Stateline   |   Nation   |   May 15, 2013
• Over the past decade, 32 states have successfully cut their carbon emissions, while 18 states have seen increases.

• Minnesota Becomes 12th State to Allow Same-Sex Marriage
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Minnesota   |   May 15, 2013
• Minnesota becomes the 12th state to allow same-sex marriage with Gov. Mark Dayton's signature, which was celebrated with a large festival.

• Takoma Park is 1st U.S. City to Allow 16-Year-Olds to Vote
• Source: Washington Post   |   Takoma Park, Md.   |   May 15, 2013
• Though some residents argued that teenagers lack the maturity and experience to handle the responsibility of voting, the Takoma Park City Council in Maryland passed an amendment to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in city elections.
• 8 Comments

• Christie's Affordable-Housing Battle Heads to Court
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   May 15, 2013
• A three-judge panel said it will hear arguments on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to grab up to $162 million in affordable-housing funds for his proposed $32.9 billion budget

• Feds Block Utah Public-Lands Law
• Source: Salt Lake Tribune   |   Utah   |   May 15, 2013
• A federal judge signed an order blocking implementation of a Utah law prohibiting some Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service employees from enforcing state laws anywhere in Utah after the U.S. Department of Justice argued the law was unconstitutional.

• DUI Bill Advances in Washington State Amid NTSB Calls for Crackdown
• Source: Seattle Times   |   Washington state   |   May 15, 2013
• A bipartisan bill to stiffen Washington state’s DUI penalties cleared its first legislative hurdle, while a safety board in the other Washington sought to kick off a national conversation about changing the very definition of drunken driving.

• Controversial Arizona Laws Rack Up Huge Legal Fees
• Source: Arizona Republic   |   Arizona   |   May 15, 2013
• Lawsuits defending some of the state’s most controversial laws have cost millions of dollars and thousands of hours of state employee time, diverting them from other important work.
• 3 Comments

• Child Welfare Bills Signed by Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper
• Source: Denver Post   |   Colorado   |   May 15, 2013
• The bills address a number of issues within the child welfare system, including expanding the number of case-specific child fatality reviews and creating a statewide hotline for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect.

• Florida Legislators Pay Peanuts for Health Insurance
• Source: Miami Herald   |   Florida   |   May 15, 2013
• Florida House Republicans, who last month loudly and proudly rejected billions of dollars in federal money that would have provided health insurance to 1 million low-income people, pay less than the $25 a month they wanted to charge poor Floridians for basic coverage.
• 2 Comments

• Gov. Jerry Brown Unveils Cautious Budget for Deficit-Free California
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   California   |   May 15, 2013
• Brown put lawmakers on notice that he had no desire to ratchet up spending despite a multibillion-dollar windfall of tax receipts in recent months.