Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Police are working taxing overtime hours as calls over ICE-related activity soar. The police chief is trying to keep everyone safe, maintain community trust and prevent stressed-out officers from quitting.
The state will need to reform its antiquated tax code, warily approach bond measures that tie the hands of policymakers, and get serious about spending oversight.
Oklahoma puts its tobacco settlement funds in a trust, spending only the interest. The strategy has had long-term public health benefits.
Experiments show that extracting rare earths from acid mine drainage can turn something harmful into a useful resource. But states will need to sort out who owns that mine waste.
Gov. Bob Ferguson supports a proposed nearly 10 percent tax on incomes over $1 million.
Laws targeting the practice have been a mess. It benefits both businesses and consumers, and pricing decisions should be left to market forces.
An Urban Institute analysis tracked growth in median household income between 1970 and 2023. State rates range from negative to nearly 80 percent.
A massive fraud scandal on Gov. Tim Walz’s watch gave Republicans an opening in Minnesota. The recent immigration enforcement surge has made things more complicated.
A Tennessee program’s success stems from a yearlong commitment to housing stability, employment continuity and social support. It merits national attention.
Alabama’s central data repository enables coordinated action across health, law enforcement and governmental agencies.
Switzerland’s education system embodies a tight connection between school and work, functioning as a talent development system for the economy. Employers take the lead.
Whether they come from abroad or elsewhere in the U.S., they are reshaping communities in profound ways. That’s not likely to change.
Chatbots with inadequate safeguards are harming our children, rewiring their brains in ways that lead to anxiety, depression and self-harm. State lawmakers should take swift action to protect them.
Plans for an autonomous vehicle future are being made in many large cities. But how close are those plans to being realized?
A market crash doesn’t seem imminent, but there are lessons for public financiers, pension funds and policymakers from collapses of the past.
How people feel about where they live is an overlooked factor in engaging them in civic life. There are ways to boost those feelings.
Public officials can make the greatest difference when they focus on their communities’ housing, transportation and utility costs.
Advanced systems are reshaping professional judgment, forcing local governments to rethink accountability, performance management and labor relations.
New governors in Virginia and New Jersey signed executive orders aimed at lowering costs.
Joe DiVincenzo has served as county executive for Essex County, N.J., since 2003. He's become a power broker in Democratic state politics even while working with and endorsing some Republicans.
A new report outlines what it would cost to bring world-class transit to America’s urbanized areas.
They should take steps to protect and boost their own revenues. And they should take a second look at their own tax cuts.
It’s important to give renters a stronger voice. And we need to make big bets on new ways to build.
States will be scrambling to manage new priorities and demands from Washington, tighten their belts in a tough budget cycle and respond to federal frameworks on AI regulation.
Billions of dollars are at stake. With new federal rules, it’s up to state lawmakers to ensure that programs like food stamps serve those in need without wasting taxpayer dollars.
Progress is slow and uneven a year after the Eaton Fire. The wealthy and the well-insured are faring the best.
A national repository of personal information the federal government is seeking poses serious dangers. Americans should be free to speak out without fear that their data will be used to target them for retaliation.
Thirty-six states will hold gubernatorial elections this year, with at least 21 incumbents term-limited or not running for another term.
New York’s 51-member city council unanimously selected Julie Menin as its next speaker. She could help determine the prospects for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ambitious agenda.
It could signal major changes in compliance, grants and oversight for state and local governments. That’s happened in the past.
