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NJ Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono says she's not 'one of the boys.'
More than a decade after the killing, Wyoming remains among a handful of states with no hate-crime law. Shepard's mother says the state has taken 'two steps back.'
Despite the continuing government shutdown, House Republicans passed an emergency bill to restore federal funding to border security.
Hiring freezes, furloughs and other personnel cuts are slowly beginning to taper off in some of the nation's cities, a new report finds.
What may seem like a mathematical quibble has ballooned into an all-out war between two ends of the spectrum with no clear end in sight.
Massachusetts is launching an online program in January that gives users a snapshot of how policy ideas will play out before they're even formally proposed. Other states are already taking notice.
Some of the changes we are seeing just make the old more efficient. But some will have a much deeper impact, and governments that apply old ways of thinking to them will be making a big mistake.
The former mayor of Detroit was sentenced today after being convicted for public corruption.
The Office of Management and Budget's work supporting the implementation of the new health law has been a rigorous process, one that might guide the shaping of other complex government initiatives.
City finances are starting to turn a corner as a new survey has found that general funds should stop their long slide that began half a decade ago.
Hollywood's iconic landmark is also its biggest headache.
A recent study found that pension portfolios are getting questionable investment advice. CalPERS may have a solution.
Wendy Davis has a new campaign video out. It doesn't mention she's a Democrat.
The Tax Foundation's ranking of states based on how business-friendly they are has generated a lot of attention, but a better rating doesn't necessarily mean a state has a stronger economy.
Innovation is an important part of leadership, but so is failure.
A big salary hike for Boston police might turn out to be the defining issue of the city's hotly contested mayoral campaign. Beyond that, it illustrates a deeper problem.
Thanks to the federal government shutdown, North Carolina has run out of funds to allow residents to sign up for the program that provides food vouchers and nutrition information to women and children.
The only police department with more Facebook "likes" than Brimfield, Ohio's is New York City's. We interviewed Brimfield's police chief to see how his department got 88,000 people from around the world to care about his community.
Homeless veterans are notoriously difficult to count. Michigan found a way to test the accuracy of its numbers and deepen the state’s understanding of veteran homelessness today.
Arizona plan to tighten voter registration to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting would affect only several thousand people.
Here's a breakdown of which cases this session could have the biggest impact on Governing readers.
Protesters say they'll cause congestion on Washington's Beltway starting Friday, but state transportation leaders aren't saying much about how they'll respond.
A new GAO report finds that states don't do a particularly effective job of monitoring kids on psychotropic meds.
Nearly every state has a prescription drug monitoring program, but most aren't being used by providers and pharmacists. New York's new system makes it easier to get the right data in the hands of the right people.
In Colorado, voters will consider a huge tax hike on legal marijuana; New Yorkers could expand gambling; and voters in Washington state are in the midst of a multimillion-dollar campaign over the labeling of genetically modified foods.
Despite the bleak employment outlook and negative rhetoric, recent surveys suggest enrollment for public administration programs and interest in government careers has increased.
Recent security problems involving contractors suggest that we need to rethink what government services should be performed by the private sector.
The news came as the city is dipping into its own reserve funds to continue operating during the shutdown.
Many Republican politicians are finding the government shutdown tests their party loyalty.
Federal workforce and numbers of employees by agency for each state.
State totals on active duty, reserve forces and civilian employees for each branch of the military.
Due to the unique financial structure of the District of Columbia, the city can't even spend its own money to pay for Medicaid.
States have hiked tobacco and gambling taxes, but thanks to lobbying, most alcohol taxes remain untouched.
California, Illinois and Indiana are quickly approaching a federal deadline that will require them to help fund Amtrak operations or lose service in their states.
The Granite State has a unique governmental structure that ultimately gives residents more power than state representatives.
With the health insurance exchanges set to open for business Oct. 1, thousands of these navigators are now in training. They have also become the latest target in the continuing partisan war over health reform.
All the public-sector management news you need to know.
Federal workers sent home this week aren't limited to the Washington, D.C., region. View states and agencies most affected by the shutdown.
Arlington County, Va., police went back to the basics and to everyone's surprise, a sign that says "Don't Hit the Car in Front of You" seems to be reducing accidents.
Without fanfare, Colorado has started to process applications for people planning to sell recreational pot.
It's not just the Washington, DC-region that's being hit hard by the government shutdown. The federal government is a huge employer across the country.
Many states are closing Head Start programs due to the government shutdown. They may close more in the future.
Many GOP governors oppose Obamacare, but they don't want their own states to suffer from a shutdown.
Retiree health benefits, commonly treated by governments as malleable when times are tough, may be harder to slash if a recent California court ruling holds.
For comprehensive and ongoing coverage of the federal shutdown on state and local governments, agencies and employees, look no further.
Much of our infrastructure is invisible to its users, and so are some of its costs. Those problems can be addressed in ways that can hold down the costs of infrastructure and make it more self-sustaining.
On the first day of the shutdown, state unemployment offices in the mid-Atlantic received an unusual number of applications from federal employees -- some getting more in one day than an entire year.
View maps showing population density and land area for the 200 most populous cities.
If the shutdown lasts more than a couple weeks, the states may start paying for federal programs. But it's unclear whether they would ever be reimbursed.
View population density and land area data for U.S. cities.
If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling later this month, state and local programs could experience massive spending cuts. But the impact depends on a number of factors, experts say.
A national memorial service for fallen firefighters would lose access to a venue, and other needed facilities, if the federal government shutdown persists.
Doing what Congress failed to do, California became the first state to require websites to let minors delete what they post on social media. But the new law has already ignited a heated debate.
Hoping to reinvent the sprawling city, El Paso officials decided to teach the development community the importance of new urbanism. Now, other cities are following in its footsteps.
States and localities aren't too concerned about the immediate impacts of the federal shutdown that began at midnight, but a prolonged one is another matter.
There are a number of things that states and municipal governments can do to help get their retirement costs under control without dialing back their current employees' benefits.
Population data for residents moving to new states in 2012
For these teams to have impact, departments need to know just what they can do for them and how they do it.
Jeff DeWitt helped rescue Phoenix financially during the recession. Now he faces new challenges in D.C., if confirmed
Library systems in cities across the country are debuting Hoopla, a free and unlimited streaming service for music and movies -- though the selection won’t be quite the same as Netflix or Hulu.
As finances grow tighter and pension liabilities stay in the spotlight, treasurers in several states have been clashing with their peers about how best to manage the money.
Like many places, Takoma Park, Md., suffers from low turnout for local elections -- part of the reason it’s lowering the voting age to 16 starting next month.
The site of the now-demolished Detroit Tigers baseball stadium is now home to “pop-up dog parties.”
Recent TB outbreaks among the poor, homeless and immigrant populations of several U.S. communities have officials worried that the once-tamed disease will become more widespread and harder to contain.
Hemp – a substance that can't get you high but can be used to make products like paper and plastic – was banned along with marijuana because they have a similar chemical make-up. As states legalize pot, even more are legalizing hemp.
To compete with the private sector and nonprofits these days, states and localities have to rethink their recruiting and hiring processes.
Ride-sharing services and the uncertainty about how or whether to regulate them like taxi cabs illustrate a world where “ownership” is a rapidly changing concept.
Technology is changing the way citizens interact with local government.
After experiencing a homicide rate that earned it international attention last year, Chicago is upending the traditional style of policing and using social networks to rank people’s likelihood of killing and being killed.
State and local governments need to change how they tell their story.
For cities searching for ways to use mobile technology effectively, Boston's latest app offers a case study on how to do it right. It’s transforming the citizen/government relationship.
It's not black and white, but understanding the pros and cons increases your chances of coming to the right answer for a particular project.
Public works projects should only be built when they have a clear purpose, but the United States hasn't always followed this philosophy.
In the decade since the parties put politics aside to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, education policy has gone from pragmatic consensus to ideological division.
Some worry that the drop in the number of reporters covering state capitals and the slow death of print media are making public officials and institutions less accountable.
A tax fight in Missouri may signify the limits to cuts.
Each state’s new crop of residents varies significantly across demographic groups. See how those moving to your state compare to others.
Even the country’s most sprawling, least dense, most automobile-dependent city in America is trying to adapt to people’s preference for urban living.
No matter what Washington does, it will fall to the states and localities to address the social, fiscal and economic effects. We need to talk about how that will play out.
Pressure is building for state and local governments to switch their workers to defined-contribution retirement plans. But defined-benefit plans have advantages that should not be ignored.
In an effort to avoid reporting mandates from the SEC, states are being urged to voluntarily disclose information about their finances in a more formalized way.
New York officials believe they're the first to use signs to encourage drivers to use cellphones in safe, designated places like rest stops.
In 54 big cities and towns, at least a quarter of the population lived below the federal poverty line last year, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Researchers are studying how motorists interact with their cars in the moments before a crash.
The federal health law will cause a surge in demand for mental health care that combined with an already severe shortage of mental health workers has many worried there won’t be enough providers to serve everyone in need.
The legislation, which will cut red tape and ensure critical port projects are completed more quickly, got unanimous passage. Its next stop is the full House of Representatives.
Moody's proposes making pension liabilities a bigger factor in bond ratings, which may lead cities to make better financial decisions.
It's not easy to determine what constitutes quality public-sector performance. Finding the answers to some crucial questions is the most important step toward a disciplined approach to high-performance government.
Our one-way, hub-and-spoke model for delivering electricity dates back to the days of Thomas Edison. But disruptive technologies are enabling a new model that will transform utilities as we know them.
All the public-sector management news you need to know.
We trust our public employees with taxpayers’ dollars, public resources and essential services -- but does any of that mean they’ll make the right choice for their own retirement?
The legislation to allow states and localities to collect online sales taxes has been stuck in the U.S. House, but the issue may gain momentum back.
The D.C. Council failed Tuesday to overturn a mayoral veto of a hotly contested measure requiring the city’s largest retailers to pay their workers no less than 50 percent more than the current minimum wage.
By threatening to withhold mass transit funds, Washington is preventing California from realizing savings from its pension reforms. It isn't the first time special interest legislation has stood in the way of cheaper government.
Gov. Dave Heineman, who tried to eliminate the state income tax earlier this year, wants to replace the lost revenue by ending some sales tax exemptions. But legislators still aren't sold.
Democrat Bill de Blasio became his party's presumptive nominee in the race for New York City mayor on Monday, after his chief rival Bill Thompson conceded the primary and Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave his endorsement for the general election.
Inmates who committed serious crimes when they were minors but were prosecuted as adults will have a new opportunity to get out of prison under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday night.
Getting better results needn't always mean massive spending and heavy infrastructure. There are innovative ways to get the same results at a fraction of the cost, or even at no cost.
The partnership is a first of its kind in the country and will save the states millions in start-up and maintenance costs.
Combining data with new analytics techniques can help governments react nimbly and purposefully. It's hard work, but the potential payoff is worth it.
Laboring late into the night Thursday to finish their work for the year, state lawmakers acted to allow many more immigrants who are in the country illegally to obtain California driver's licenses, a measure Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign.
Oregon’s House leadership is talking about referring its own marijuana legalization measure to voters rather than waiting on someone else to write a ballot measure for 2014.
Denying reports that he has agreed to Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, aides to Gov. Tom Corbett said on Thursday he is reviewing options for Medicaid reform that he will outline next week.
A bill that would boost California's minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016 won approval by the state Legislature on Thursday and was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown, who said he would sign it.
Heavy rains caused widespread flash flooding in Colorado on Thursday, forcing hundreds of evacuations and leaving at least three people dead.
Eight years after Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast, Mississippi still hasn’t spent almost $1billion in federal money dedicated to recovery from the storm.
Statistics from a collaborative effort to reduce the use of antipsychotic drugs to control troublesome behavior by people with dementia in nursing homes shows that North Carolina led the nation in achieving reductions.
More than half of U.S. states are working to make sure veterans earn academic credit for military service.
With Congress back in session, tough issues like Syria and the deficit may put the bill known as the Marketplace Fairness Act on the back burner.
District Mayor Vincent C. Gray vetoed legislation Thursday that would force the city’s largest retailers to pay a super-minimum wage to their workers, ending two months of uncertainty over the controversial bill’s fate and setting up a decisive override vote at the D.C. Council as early as Tuesday.
Ohio’s law enforcement database and its facial recognition software are open to more than just law enforcement, a concern of members of the advisory group reviewing the security of the systems.
Foreclosures in Orlando —- and the rest of Florida — have dropped dramatically since the state started expediting them under a new law that took effect July 1.
People with limited English skills will have an easier time in Michigan's courts after the Michigan Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday setting down a uniform rule for the availability of interpreters.
Gov. Jay Nixon scored two key victories as the Republican-controlled Legislature failed to override his vetoes of legislation that aimed to cut income taxes and nullify federal gun laws Wednesday.
New York City’s Democratic power brokers moved swiftly on Wednesday to prevent a combative sequel to the party’s primary for mayor, as union officials and party leaders rallied around the front-runner, Bill de Blasio, and urged the second-place finisher, William C. Thompson Jr., to end his quest for a runoff election.
City Treasurer Kathy Sheehan's resounding victory in Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary overshadowed a broader story about the city's political present and future that played out further down the ballot.
In a rare effort to move legislation more quickly, Gov. Jerry Brown endorsed a bill that would raise California's minimum wage to $10 an hour by January 2016.
The Reason Foundation -- one of the early champions of public-private partnerships -- outlines a plan for lifting the federal ban on interstate tolling to fund roads.
States that don't recognize same-sex marriage will face a few tax complications come 2014.
Backers say the Water Resources Reform and Development Act will cut approval time for much-needed upgrades to ports, inland waterways and flood control projects.
New Jersey Gov. Christie had vetoed an earlier version, asking lawmakers to remove a paragraph that would have eliminated requirements placed on minors that were not also imposed on adults.
Governor Deval Patrick abruptly changed course Tuesday and said he no longer supports a controversial new tax on computer software services that has triggered a fierce backlash from the state’s technology community and spawned numerous attempts to repeal it.
The rules, released late Monday, cover everything from pot shop licensing to inventory tracking to marijuana packaging to advertising.
Richmond, California's leaders approved on Wednesday morning a plan for the city to become the first in the nation to acquire mortgages with negative equity in a bid to keep local residents in their homes.
An epic national debate over gun rights in Colorado on Tuesday saw two Democratic state senators ousted for their support for stricter laws, a "ready, aim, fired" message intended to stop other politicians for pushing for firearms restrictions.
But the authors raised alarms about a lack of housing, substance abuse and other types of reentry programs available to third-strikers released from prison.
The city’s beefed-up automated force also will nab drivers who run stop signs and encroach on pedestrian crosswalks, and truckers who drive overweight trucks through neighborhoods where they are prohibited.
Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer, two brash New Yorkers whose careers were shattered by sex scandals, sought political redemption in Tuesday’s primaries after a campaign season that played out at times like a lurid reality show.
Bill de Blasio, an activist-turned-operative and now the city’s public advocate, celebrated a remarkable come-from-behind surge, it was not clear if he had won the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff election on Oct. 1 with William C. Thompson Jr., who finished second.
View changes in monthly job totals and unemployment rates for metro areas.
Despite the governor's best efforts, the economy is struggling and so are his approval ratings.
A new conservative report claims welfare benefits disincentivizes people to work. Federal data, however, suggests that's not the case.
Midland, Texas, ranks at or near the top of the list in every measure of recent economic and population growth. See how your area compares.
In the next few years, states and localities will face new fees and taxes on the health plans they offer. One of their biggest challenges may be keeping employees informed even though the feds are leaving them in the dark.
New Yorkers narrowed the field of candidates vying for mayor to two (or maybe three) on Tuesday. Here's what you need to know about them and the race.
With the feds and states more marginalized than ever, cities -- and the mayors who run them -- are growing stronger.
The Minnesota Legislature approved a $4.7 million disaster-relief measure on Monday, offering reimbursement checks to counties in central and southern Minnesota battered by windstorms, floods and ice storms over the spring and summer.
Gov. Chris Christie today signed legislation requiring out-of-state law enforcement agencies to notify New Jersey authorities before conducting counter-terrorism operations within its borders.
Top District officials said Monday that they were outraged to learn about an aggressive practice of recouping city tax debts that pushed hundreds of city landowners into foreclosure.
Hawaiian Governor Neil Abercrombie called on Monday for a special legislative session next month to pass a bill that would legalize gay marriage in the strongly Democratic state that already allows same-sex civil unions.
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders broke an impasse Monday over how to reduce prison crowding, agreeing to seek more time for that effort from federal judges but preparing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to relocate inmates if the jurists say no.
If the recalls succeed, they could have a chilling effect on lawmakers throughout the country the next time they vote on gun control measures.
The smallest amount of municipal-bond issuance in Michigan in 10 years is threatening to derail the state’s economic comeback, showing how Governor Rick Snyder underestimated the fallout from Detroit’s bankruptcy.
The federal government has denied the state's request to waive No Child Left Behind testing requirements for students in elementary and middle school, the Texas Education Agency announced Monday.
The long, hard battle over the state’s right-to-work law appears headed to the Indiana Supreme Court.
As services take over the economy, the traditional sales tax has become less helpful to state revenues. Despite several states' failed attempts to tax services, Massachusetts is trying it again.
Vice President Joe Biden highlighted the facility, which, among other winners of recent TIGER grants, has seen a jump in business thanks to booming auto exports.
The biggest question they face is whether the Legislature can muster enough votes to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a contentious bill that would cut state income taxes for the first time in nearly a century.
