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Gov. Rick Scott will soon launch a new hunt for noncitizens on Florida's voter roll, a move that's sure to provoke new cries of a voter "purge" as Scott ramps up his own re-election effort.
In a major setback for Gov. Jerry Brown, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to block a court order that he release 9,600 inmates from state prisons, moving California a step closer to relocating or freeing those prisoners by the end of the year.
Robert "Bobby" Tufts hasn't made it to preschool yet, but he's already been elected twice as mayor of a tiny tourist town in northern Minnesota.
North Carolina last month became the seventh state to pass legislation barring judges from considering foreign law in their decisions, including sharia. The bill awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.
Worried about the potential impact on the fragile economies in their states, Republican governors this weekend warned their counterparts in Congress not to shut down the federal government as part of an effort to block financing for President Obama’s health care law.
BART trains will be rolling for at least another week after Gov. Jerry Brown stepped in late Sunday night to block an impending strike, just hours before the scheduled 12:01 Monday walkout by the transit system's union workers.
U.S. Labor Department estimates released Friday indicate state government employment has reached the lowest levels since May 2005.
Gov. Scott Walker says they are. But there are a lot of problems with one-size-fits-all policies.
Despite an accompanying funding cut, a block-granting experiment in Pennsylvania is showing promise for improving the way vulnerable populations are helped.
System dynamics was invented a half-century ago to use technology to analyze complex industrial processes. It's got a lot of potential for the public sector.
New York State’s top prosecutor is investigating some of the nation’s largest banks in connection with their use of credit-reporting databases that disqualify people seeking to open checking or savings accounts — an inquiry that has gained urgency as the ranks of the unbanked has swelled in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
The coal industry has traditionally opposed regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency. That conflict heightened recently after President Obama’s speech on the nation’s energy future, calling for stricter regulations on carbon emissions. This “War on Coal,” as it was identified by political leaders in Washington, was immediately criticized by lawmakers across West Virginia leading them to a sit down with newly appointed EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
Advocates for civil liberties and gay rights filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to overturn Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage and its refusal to recognize out-of-state marriages by gay couples.
BART unions late Thursday officially gave 72-hour notice of an impending rail line strike for Monday morning, telling riders they will need to find another way to get around if a deal is not reached this weekend.
For the first time in nearly half a century, the state Supreme Court will hear a landmark case that could redefine gun rights in New Jersey.
Arkansas school districts cannot use a little-known state law to employ teachers and staffers as guards who can carry guns on campus, the state's attorney general said on Thursday in an opinion that likely ends a district's plan to arm more than 20 employees when school starts this year.
The Newark, N.J. mayor and runaway front-runner in the special election for the seat of late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s ruled out a presidential run or serving on the ticket of another candidate in the next national campaign.
State officials said Thursday they are again running out of the lethal drug used to operate the nation’s busiest execution chamber.
Tony Bennett resigned Thursday as Florida education commissioner following two days of controversy over school grades in his home state of Indiana.
The cuts and changes Congress has been weighing to the farm bill could knock millions off SNAP rolls and reverse years of progress states have made in streamlining applications. See data showing how each state could be affected.
A Missouri law allowing students to transfer to better school districts has spurred contention, with racial and economic undertones.
A decade after the largest blackout in American history, engineers are installing and linking 1,000 of those instruments, called phasor measurement units, to try to prevent another catastrophic power failure.
Colorado government employees will see their first pay increases in four years when they get their latest paychecks Wednesday, a sign that the state is continuing its economic recovery after the recession.
A federal judge Wednesday extended for another week a hold on a state law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have hospital admitting privileges.
Indiana would see one of the biggest reductions among states in its uninsured population if it expands Medicaid under a full implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to a report released Wednesday.
Supporters of the health law see back-to-school season as a natural time for Obamacare outreach, a chance to find young families who could benefit from new health coverage options. But weeks before the school bells start ringing in parts of the country, there’s no concerted effort to reach parents at the schoolhouse door.
Gov. Pat Quinn will sign a bill into law Thursday legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes in Illinois in a ceremony at the University of Chicago.
Backers of the bipartisan plan say it would make the public safer by giving the federal government broader authority to test and regulate chemicals. But in return for backing that greater federal authority, the chemical industry has insisted on limits to the power of states to add additional regulations of their own.
Rhode Island and Minnesota on Thursday became the 12th and 13th states to sanction gay nuptials.
Seattle's so-called "ramps to nowhere" will be torn down in 2014.
See how Los Angeles' new system operates and why it means more green lights for drivers in one of the nation's most congested cities.
Philadelphia is the nation's most obese and most diabetic big city, which is why it's undertaking wide-ranging efforts to get people to eat healthier.
A Governing survey of senior state and local officials paints a portrait of a sector hard-hit by budget cuts, pay freezes and a lack of advancement opportunities. But the news isn’t all bad.
The well-to-do city in Southern California will pay off 30 years worth of liabilities in a decade.
The district will be the first in the state to arm teachers and is doing so under a state law that allows licensed, armed security guards on campus.
The state's Democratic dysfunction spilled into the courts Tuesday as Illinois' two top legislative leaders filed a lawsuit challenging Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to withhold lawmakers' paychecks until they send him a measure to overhaul the highly indebted government worker pension system.
A ruling blocking New York’s ban on large sodas was upheld by an appeals court, which said the city’s Board of Health failed to act within the bounds of its authority when it approved the plan.
But the doctors' advisers say they are applying more to prove that they cannot obtain the privileges than to actually secure them.
A federal judge has closed the door on a state law that would have prevented Medicaid recipients from accessing health care services at Planned Parenthood clinics.
Just over an hour after lawmakers ended their second 30-day special session of the year, Gov. Rick Perry called lawmakers back for a third one, with transportation funding the only issue on the agenda.
Booker and Oprah have been pals for a while. The mayor made an appearance on Winfrey’s show “Oprah’s Next Chapter” last year. And Winfrey gushed about him in a Time magazine feature two years ago.
Saying taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for the mayor's "mess," the San Diego City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night not to pay any of Bob Filner's legal bills as he fights a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by one of his top aides.
With most state-run social service programs, such as Medicaid and food stamps, funded by the feds, who decides whether gay couples will receive those benefits?
The president's proposal would reduce the top corporate tax rate, eliminate loopholes and use the one-time revenue to pay for roads, transit and other transportation systems.
In California, Nevada, Florida and the District of Columbia, companies are allowed to test their self-driving vehicles on private roads, then public roads. But legislation is just the beginning.
Prison reforms may result in better conditions for inmates, but those improvements come at the expense of welfare cash assistance and other government relief for the needy, according to a study released this month by Rice University and Louisiana State University.
Hoping it will push U.S. lawmakers to develop a long-term transportation funding plan, infrastructure advocates developed a smartphone app that allows users to complain to members of Congress about their travel troubles.
Massachusetts becomes the 15th state to have an active agreement of this type with the Department of Agriculture.
A study has found that a controversial program that orders patients with severe mental illness to receive treatment when they are not hospitalized has had positive results.
Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt and Jay Leno have joined prison hunger strikers in calling for an end to California's use of solitary confinement to control prison gang violence.
The power of eminent domain has traditionally worked against homeowners, who can be forced to sell their property to make way for a new highway or shopping mall. But now the working-class city of Richmond, Calif., hopes to use the same legal tool to help people stay right where they are.
"This is probably the most unique and novel way I've seen of talking about a longer time frame," says Peter Ruggiero, a coastal engineering scientist at Oregon State University. He says it's "useful," because most analyses look only at this century, and "the world doesn't end in 2100."
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday signed into law a measure directing state officials to regulate abortion clinics based on the same standards as those for outpatient surgical centers, a change that critics say will force most to close.
The 15-year struggle to legalize medical marijuana in the District ended like this: A 51-year-old Northwest resident entered a North Capitol Street rowhouse Monday evening and emerged 90 minutes later with slightly less than a half-ounce of street-legal, high-grade, D.C.-grown cannabis.
Anthony Weiner has dropped to fourth place among Democrats seeking to be New York City mayor after admitting he continued to exchange sexually explicit online messages and photos following his 2011 resignation from Congress, with 53% of likely voters saying he should withdraw from the race, a poll released Monday showed.
While the economy recovers, SNAP participation hasn't yet fallen. View charts and updated data for each state.
With federal support for social service programs dwindling, cities are looking for new ways to combat poverty.
At least four school districts have hired chief innovation officers at the district level since 2011, while Newark Public Schools has this position in a number of its schools.
A state law takes effect Thursday that will provide consumer protections for precious metals buyers and, effective next July, give the Minnesota Department of Commerce oversight over dealers and their employees.
A doctor who filed an affidavit in support of Wisconsin's new abortion regulations provided a federal court with inaccurate information on how difficult it would be for doctors who perform abortions to obtain the hospital admitting privileges required by the law.
Of all the obstacles standing between the Republican Party and the White House, preventing heavily Latino, trending-blue Western states from settling comfortably into the Democratic column is high on the list.
Experts differ on the motivating factors behind the soaring numbers.
Financial incentives are offered in Indiana, Idaho, Minnesota, South Dakota and Utah to students who complete high school in fewer than four years, lowering districts' instructional costs. Although exact figures remain elusive, the creation of these programs suggests their popularity may be growing among students, said Jennifer Dounay Zinth, a senior policy analyst at the Education Commission of the States.
California has a reputation for having some of the nation's most aggressive rules on workplace safety, consumer protection and environmental quality. Now some impacted companies are fighting back, and officials in Sacramento worry that some of the state's landmark laws may be in danger.
Tennessee Rep. Lois DeBerry, one of the longest-serving women lawmakers in the nation and a powerful influence in state politics, died Sunday after a nearly five-year bout with pancreatic cancer. She was 68.
Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.
After months of gathering signatures and skirmishing in court, gun activists in Colorado, with the support of the National Rifle Association, have forced Democratic senators John Morse and Angela Giron into recall elections.
The move suggests that even as Anthony Weiner vows to press ahead with his candidacy, there are mounting doubts about its political viability within his own campaign.
The former county executive says that Maryland's new transportation funding package was key to his decision to take the cabinet-level post.
U.S. DOT tells states to be prepared for a slowdown in cash disbursements.
Analysis of long-term government commitments such as pensions is important, but overly rigid funding rules are a formula for intergenerational conflict.
State officials found dogs to be helpful therapeutic aids for counseling the surviving children of the mass school shooting. A new law may make Connecticut the first state with a formal animal-assisted therapy program for trauma victims.
The states will receive a one percent increase in the matching rate to their Medicaid program to pay for services that include counseling for healthy diet habits as well as screenings for various cancers and other diseases.
Residency requirements for municipal workers make it harder to recruit the best and the brightest, but a statewide ban like Wisconsin's may not be the best way to end them.
Calls for reforming city taxi services are getting louder just as new technologies are making it easier to get a ride.
Lawmakers in Kansas and several other states are pitching an interstate compact to streamline the process of building new power lines so that renewable energy can be added to the grid more quickly.
The drive to raise the amount victims can recover in medical malpractice lawsuits may be going to California's ballot box.
Representatives for the Memphis Grizzlies, the National Basketball Players Association and the National Hockey League Players’ Association appeared at a hearing in Legislative Plaza on Tennessee’s “jock tax,” a surcharge of $2,500 per game levied on pro basketball and hockey players.
Utah, complying with the federal Gun Control Act, denies or revokes concealed-carry firearms permits for anyone with a prescription for marijuana. While Utah doesn’t allow marijuana to treat ailments, eight of the 31 states that recognize Utah’s concealed firearms permit do.
House and Senate members, scheduled to return to the Capitol on Thursday, have spent most of the last two weeks divided on a key part of the plan to invest about $900 million more for highways.
The United States prison population fell by 1.7 percent to 1,571,013 between the end of 2011 and the end of 2012, according to a new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, marking the third consecutive year of decline in the U.S. prison population.
As Bob Filner points a finger at political rivals as well as himself for his problems, petitions to recall him from office are about to hit the streets.
The Senate gave final approval to a measure giving the state Department of Health and Human Services the authority to regulate abortion clinics with the same standards as outpatient surgical centers.
“As a former prosecutor who was appointed by President George W. Bush on Sept. 10, 2001, I just want us to be really cautious, because this strain of libertarianism that’s going through both parties right now and making big headlines, I think, is a very dangerous thought,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said.
The legislation, H.R. 2218, is part of two Republican initiatives -- to ease federal regulations on businesses and to end what they call a war on coal.
There are benefits in city consolidations, but the payback may not be financial.
From the moment an IT project is launched, there’s political pressure from agencies to back off business changes that would deliver results.
Thanks to recent revenue increases, some states are unfreezing public workers’ pay for the first time since before the recession. But looking at pay levels rather than total compensation hides a great deal of the story.
New York City’s first bike-sharing program, which is the nation’s largest, has the potential to revolutionize city life -- and not just in the Big Apple.
The combination of a limping economy and tight federal budgets has led many state and local governments to ever more imaginative -- and risky -- revenue sources like violence and buzzkill taxes.
A little lie the Seattle mayor told his constituents about a gun buyback program may now cost him his re-election. It’s a lesson for all public officials about dealing with reporters.
The results of a Governing survey paint a portrait of a public sector hard-hit by budget cuts, pay freezes and a lack of advancement opportunities. But employees have reasons for optimism.
After years of development, Los Angeles reached a milestone that few other, if any, major cities can claim: Every single traffic light -- all 4,398 of them -- can be monitored and controlled remotely.
Hit by tornadoes and earthquakes, Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Greensburg, Kan.; and San Francisco all learned how to turn local tragedy into a new and vibrant vision. Their lessons are a playbook for local officials dealing with disasters.
The fatal explosion earlier this year at a Texas fertilizer plant that hadn’t been inspected since 1985 brought attention to the nation’s dysfunctional and ineffective system of keeping employees -- both in the public and private sectors -- safe.
The city, which is one of the nation’s poorest and most obese, is resorting to creative measures to get people to eat healthier. There are signs that its efforts are working.
The practice of converting waste into energy isn't new, but its advocates argue that it’s underutilized in America.
Even though poverty is often linked with higher risks of HIV infection, less than half the states cover routine testing for Medicaid recipients. The feds are offering states an incentive to change that.
With so many states and localities pruning money from parks and tree-planting programs to balance budgets, a free app helps public officials put a monetary value on the benefits of growing them.
Gay marriage is more than a social issue -- it’s a public health issue. New research suggests prohibitions on gay unions may take a psychological toll.
Doctors can write a parks prescription for patients that gives free admission to one of South Carolina’s 30 state parks.
From a facility in Wilmington, Del., the passenger rail operator manages trains across the country.
At least three states already allow and more are considering allowing localities to charge citizens for what can be dangerous and expensive rescues that occur when recklessness (like kayaking during a flood) is involved.
Many states ended fiscal year 2013 with a surplus, but experts warn that it doesn’t mean their financial woes are over.
Two powerful women in Detroit are pushing hard for the city to focus its resources on fighting its high violent crime rate, which, in 2012, was five times the national average.
With large numbers of students needing to take non-credit developmental courses in their first year of college, states are paying more attention to the problem by asking who is really responsible and attempting to reform their education systems accordingly.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services held a conference call with reporters to reiterate the economic and social benefits of expanding the healthcare safety net for the Florida's poorest residents, in an effort to convince lawmakers to reconsider Medicaid expansion.
Idaho water quality regulators must go back to the drawing board after the federal government this week rejected a 2-year-old rule that allowed some new pollution to be discharged into the state's prized waterways without review.
The enrollment is aimed at gay couples who had been married previously but shied away from CalPERS' health plan because employees had to pay taxes on their spouses' health benefits.
Since DOMA was declared unconstitutional on June 26, those tax consequences have gone away.
The law takes effect immediately, but it may be well over a year before the program is up and running.
Washington state legalized adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana last fall, but marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
A federal judge has delayed enforcement of a key portion of Alabama's new abortion clinic law until March 24, 2014.
The House approved a bill that keeps judges from considering foreign law in state court decisions.
Last month, Democratic lawmakers sent Gov. Chris Christie a stack of gun-control bills that would do everything from banning the .50-caliber Barrett assault rifle to creating a more stringent photo ID system.
One New Jersey gun-rights group has come up with a novel approach to drum up opposition to the measures: urge Christie to veto the bills and get a chance to win a free gun.
The University of Colorado Boulder reported it is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights over its handling of an alleged sexual assault involving a student.
A key House committee has approved a bill that would grant a measure of budget autonomy to the District, the latest step in the city’s long-running effort to win the ability to spend its own money freely.
Survey results assess the state of the public employee workforce.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes on Wednesday stayed lawsuits challenging Detroit's historic bankruptcy filing.
Generous health care and pensions will go by the wayside for future political appointees overseeing the Chicago area's local bus and train service, but the current officeholders will get to keep the benefits until they are reappointed to new terms under new legislation signed by Gov. Pat Quinn.
Even though cities have higher rates of crime and murder, a new study finds that overall, urban areas are safer than the sticks. However, that doesn't apply to every American city.
Despite pent-up demand for e-books, Montgomery County, Md., libraries are stymied by book publishing pricing practices that are straining budgets. A county resolution calls for a remedy to the problem.
With many of the states that now ban gay marriage not likely to change in the near future, the next wave of challenges could come from legally married same-sex couples seeking to have their marriage rights recognized on their home turf.
Anthony D. Weiner’s improbable campaign for mayor was engulfed on Tuesday by a new scandal involving explicit online messages, imperiling his political resurrection two years after he resigned from Congress over similar behavior.
Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher disagrees with Mayor Michael Hancock's recreational marijuana tax target, arguing the city should seek a starting tax rate of 3.5 percent instead of the mayor's suggested 5 percent tax rate.
in light of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case, state Sen. Steve Gallardo called on state lawmakers and leaders to review the state’s “stand your ground” law.
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell announced Tuesday that he repaid more than $120,000 in loans to a businessman whose nutritional supplement he and his wife promoted, and he apologized for the first time for a gifts scandal that has consumed his final year in office.
A former communications director for the mayor of San Diego filed a sexual harassment lawsuit on Monday alleging her ex-boss asked her to work without panties, demanded kisses and dragged her around in a headlock while whispering sexual advances.
The administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo agreed on Tuesday to give 4,000 mentally ill people who have been kept in institutional homes in New York City the opportunity to move into their own subsidized apartments, settling a contentious legal battle over the care for such patients that dragged on for a decade.
Gov. Pat Quinn hinted Tuesday that he may summon lawmakers back to Springfield again this summer to take up public employee pension reform, saying next month's State Fair would provide an ideal time for legislators to work on the issue while also having a little fun.
More than 70 protesters were taken to jail during the weekly Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina General Assembly, bringing the total number arrested in the legislative session to 925.
The challenges facing today's governments require a management approach that cuts across disciplines and departments.
The Justice Department's civil rights division has filed suit in federal court against Florida healthcare agencies claiming the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by forcing disabled children to live and grow up in nursing homes for the elderly.
More kinds of food stamp fraud would be explicitly subject to state sanctions, under a bill signed privately Monday at the state Capitol by Gov. Scott Walker. It was passed in the legislature with broad bipartisan support.
Stepping up efforts to enroll young Americans in health insurance this fall, the Obama administration is enlisting the help of actors and entertainment industry officials to educate 20-something consumers about the need to get covered.
Utah sees a more than 13-to-1 return on investment when inmates complete vocational secondary education in prison and gain employment afterward, according to a University of Utah study released this week by the state’s Department of Corrections.
The use of campaign funds to cover the personal expenses of serving in a legislative session is legal, according to election officials. But it has been controversial for several years, with many legislators avoiding the practice.
A USC student said Monday that she believes university officials performed a shoddy investigation when she told them last year that she had been raped by her then-boyfriend in 2010.
The lawsuit accuses the state of abusing its authority eight years ago by transferring the plaintiffs to psychiatric facilities at the end of their prison terms — in effect, summarily extending their sentences without recourse. None of the plaintiffs are still in mental health institutions.
Will New Jersey Gov. Christie’s constant presence in America’s pop culture become too much, eventually turning off the GOP primary voters he needs to woo before he can advance to the general election?
The contentious dispute between the City of Detroit and the city’s pension funds will be decided by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes in a federal courtroom and not in state court in Ingham County, Rhodes has declared.
The state’s highest court has ruled that special magistrates appointed by the state courts do not have the authority to free convicts who claim that their cases were tainted by the state drug lab scandal.
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a new North Dakota law that bans abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected — as early as six weeks into pregnancy — calling the law "clearly invalid and unconstitutional."
In the latest ruling on a series of laws targeting immigration that local governments across the nation have passed, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said multiple parts of the ordinance in Farmers Branch are unconstitutional and encroaches on the federal government’s authority.
The U.S. water infrastructure system needs expensive upgrades in the next decade, but many states and localities have failed to set aside the funding or come up with a timeline to make them happen.
All the public-sector management news you need to know.
When the state stopped picking up litter on the highways, Bakersfield, Calif., found a sustainable way to get the job done -- and help the homeless in the bargain.
Even big cities like L.A. don't have the capacity to collect energy data in a timely fashion. But a federal program helps the city’s building owners measure consumption.
Detroit's historic bankruptcy filing -- already thrown into turmoil by a Michigan court Friday -- has ignited a largely uncharted legal front in the closely watched battle between public employee unions and governments across the country struggling to meet costly pension obligations.
The state could have to pay millions of dollars to prison guards in the wake of a decision by a state equal rights official who determined that the Department of Corrections shorted an officer 35 minutes of pay a week and must pay him back wages for more than a year.
Nearly twice as many state employees were let go in the past fiscal year compared to the previous four due mostly to the administration's decision to privatize the state's charity hospital system.
