Governing: State and local government news and analysis
A committee of judges and attorneys recommends piloting a program allowing non-attorneys to provide legal support.
After decades of bipartisan reforms that prioritized rehabilitation over punishment, states are moving back toward prosecuting younger teens as adults. It contradicts decades of research, and it doesn’t make communities safer.
States are having doubts about whether their sports betting programs — legalized in a rush of legislation over the last several years — are generating the promised benefits.
State and local financial managers face the impact of federal aid cutbacks, plus new rules and even some opportunities. It’s time to focus on what’s practical and necessary, both near and longer term.
They need a lot more support than they get. Their success is crucial to building the workforce our economy needs.
Reduced revenues and rising costs leave municipalities tightening their budgets, per a new National League of Cities report.
It’s easier than ever to send out a survey instrument, and they’re an important tool for governments. But with so many of them out there, it’s harder than ever to reach a critical mass of respondents.
It’s about governance and whether these systems can avoid reinforcing existing inequities. States, local governments and agencies need to move to embed fairness, transparency and accountability into every stage of AI use.
Big-city mayors are taking a wide range of approaches to interactions with the Trump administration.
The bill is coming due after years of underinvestment in water infrastructure. New research highlights needs in each state and the economic benefits from meeting them.
New work rules and other reforms could help break the cycle of dependency. But to implement them, states need to move beyond a patchwork of programs that don’t talk to each other. Federal policymakers could help.
The House voted this week to reauthorize the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program for seven years, while also modifying the program.
It’s more important than ever to celebrate those who improve the mechanisms of government. And we need to give them the kind of learning opportunities to enable them to have even more of an impact.
The state is shockingly lax on DUIs, and it isn’t even the worst. But it shouldn’t be surprising that so many people are dying on California’s roads.
A recycling project in Santa Monica, Calif., is helping the city move away from dependence on imported water.
What happens in Georgia could be a harbinger of the next presidential contest as well as MAGA’s future. Politicians of both parties should not underestimate the political power of Black women.
Katie Wilson, a progressive challenger to Seattle’s mayoral incumbent, was declared the winner more than a week after the election concluded.
They’re the foundation of our evolving economy, defining the next generation of growth. Their resource use is misunderstood. And they’re a boon for rural communities.
The Illinois legislature passed a bill with $1.5 billion to support transit in the Chicago area and statewide. It was in the works for years.
The April 2011 outbreak spurred the state to overhaul its emergency systems — now officials say its coordinated efforts may serve as a blueprint for other states.
The most obvious example right now is with artificial intelligence, but there are plenty of other challenges.
People outside of government aren’t the only ones who could benefit from a better understanding of election processes.
Instead of across-the-board property tax cuts, targeted state and federal incentives for younger first-time home buyers and older would-be sellers could begin to break the logjam in the housing market.
How one organization in Pasadena, Calif., is mobilizing amid a shortage of federal food aid during the government shutdown.
Just about every jurisdiction measures them differently. The data should differentiate between life-and-death situations and less serious ones. Doing so could save lives — including those of first responders.
A new California law overrides local regulations to provide multifamily housing around transit corridors. Can it succeed in finally getting much-needed housing built? And is sprawl really such a bad thing?
The issues that drove the winning campaigns reflected a mix of local and national concerns, and the results pointed to divergent, sometimes contradictory, priorities for big-city voters.
The media and politicians focus on which party is winning or losing congressional seats. But moving 20 million Americans into new districts mid-decade will represent a major tear in the fabric of representative democracy.
States are reducing subsidy slots, slashing provider reimbursement rates and raising co-pays for low-income parents amid shrinking federal aid.
Abigail Spanberger’s comfortable win in the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday, and Mikie Sherrill’s in New Jersey, gave Democrats their biggest electoral triumphs since Trump’s return to power.
