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Miami City Manager Johnny Martínez fired his chief financial officer, Janice Larned, this week. Her termination is effective Friday.
Diana Elizabeth Kennedy of northeast Phoenix filed paperwork on Tuesday to run for governor in 2014.
Gov. Pat Quinn said Illinois joins at least 20 states that set a younger age limit for primary voters, citing a national voting advocacy group.
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg will host a fundraiser for New Jersey Democratic Senate hopeful Cory Booker, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO.
U.S. employers added 195,000 jobs in June, a sign of the solid improvements in the labor market that the Federal Reserve has said it is looking for before it begins to wind down its bond-buying program.
Many of the most generous donors to past Virginia Republican campaigns are holding back in the heated race for governor, underscoring Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s challenge as he tries to keep financial pace with opponent Terry McAuliffe.
The bill, which passed unanimously and is expected to be signed this month by Gov. John Kitzhaber, directs the state’s Higher Education Coordination Commission to develop a Pay It Forward pilot project for consideration by the 2015 Legislature.
BART trains will be running again beginning Friday afternoon after the transit district and its striking unions agreed to a 30-day extension of the current contract.
Because of a tight schedule, a number of state-based marketplaces will still be finalizing their payment functions after the Oct. 1 launch.
California's considering a bill to create a statewide system to alert people when earthquakes are coming. Scientists say the East Coast has just as much to gain from it as the Golden State.
State and local governments aren’t likely to have a big reaction to the news that the White House would delay Obamacare’s employer mandate for one year.
Orchestras, large and small, are struggling financially, and that’s bad news for cities.
The Miami child abuse investigator who resigned under pressure last May after an infant she declared “safe” was later baked to death in a sweltering car had been working for two years without required certification — a violation of state law.
America's largest commercial ports have failed to shore up defenses against potential cyber attacks, a new study contends, raising concerns about the vulnerability of computer networks that help move energy, foodstuff and other goods to market.
Sin taxes include tax revenue from tobacco, alcohol and pari-mutuels (or betting, usually on horse racing, dog racing and jai-alai) provided by the State Government Tax Collections survey of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Democrats and Republicans sparred over far-reaching legislation to restrict abortions in Texas as a GOP-dominated House committee approved the bill early Wednesday and sent it to the full chamber to take up early next week.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Tuesday there are initial talks with Western governors about sharing a regional aerial fleet to fight fires, although the idea is far from reality at the moment.
Federal fire investigators were arriving on the scene of the Yarnell Hill Fire on Tuesday to try to figure out how and why 19 firefighters died battling the still-uncontrolled central Arizona wildfire.
Therese Stewart, chief deputy in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, said that Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion last week striking down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act provides a roadmap for gay rights groups and same-sex couples to pursue the next phase of litigation to achieve full marriage equality in the US.
In New Jersey, gay couples may only enter civil unions and not marriages. The word choice needs to be corrected immediately so that residents can reap the new benefits granted by the Supreme Court, Democrats said.
The White House on Tuesday delayed for one year a requirement under the Affordable Care Act that businesses provide health insurance to employees, a fresh setback for President Obama’s landmark health-care overhaul as it enters a critical phase.
State governments from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic seaboard are attempting to blunt the influence of free-spending super PACs and nonprofits by allowing people to contribute more money to political candidates.
Some cities are finding ways to create the urgency and political will to produce permanent pipelines of innovation.
Brunswick County, N.C., introduced “Vote & Vax” last election season in an effort to fight the flu by reaching at-risk residents at the polls.
The package of bills signed by Gov. Rick Snyder create a commission to set minimum standards for attorneys who provide legal work for indigent defendants and make available more state funds to fill budget gaps at the county level.
The University of California system has adopted a number of measures to work around a statewide ban on using affirmative action in recruiting and admissions that passed in 1996. Despite those efforts, enrollment numbers for blacks and Latinos have not recovered to pre-1996 levels.
After a bloody 2012 with more than 500 slayings, police Superintendent Garry McCarthy delivered some encouraging news about the homicide number: It's at its lowest total in nearly half a century. The city reported 184 homicides for the first half of 2013.
The Colorado Springs resident is a former prosecutor who was first elected to the legislature in 2008.
A scheduled cut in payments for Tennesseans collecting unemployment benefits has been delayed indefinitely, after state officials were warned the action could trigger a loss of federal funding for other benefits.
Thousands of small businesses in North Carolina must now use an Internet-based system to verify that new hires are eligible to work in the United States.
As a result, almost everyone agrees that the plan that sits on the governor’s desk is too broad in what it allows and will require a legislative fix in the next few months.
With the help of state lawmakers, Gov. Corbett slapped together a $140 million plan to help fund the distressed school district, but the deal did not include Mayor Nutter's $2 per-pack-tax on cigarettes.
One of Virginia’s leading abortion rights groups says about 70 percent of the state’s crisis pregnancy centers told patients that the procedure leads to psychological damage, alcoholism, drug addiction or eating disorders.
Los Angeles voters approved measure D, which limits the city's dispensaries to the 135 or so that were in business when the council began trying to regulate them in 2007.
The retail industry reported the greatest number of breaches, followed by financial institutions and insurance providers.
As U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood leaves office Tuesday, he sees a path forward for solving transportation's biggest problems.
The move will mean more money for infrastructure, but could also frustrate drivers traveling on Independence Day.
In signing the $68 billion state budget bill into law, the Republican governor used his substantial partial veto power to strip out a number of laws and programs he did not want.
Small and midsize cities are behind in harnessing data to make a city run smarter. Dubuque, Iowa, is bucking that trend.
Four U.S. senators are hoping to answer a question states have long been asking: where will the country permanently deposit the thousands of tons of nuclear waste piling up at sites ill-suited to handle the load?
Parent trigger laws are a controversial and drastic step when schools are failing, but are being increasingly talked about. Bills to either create new parent trigger laws or modify existing ones – in some cases expanding them to potentially include more struggling schools -- are still alive in about a dozen states.
Gov. John Kasich last night vetoed language attempting to block him from moving forward with Medicaid expansion, but did not touch any of the anti-abortion language before signing the new two-year, $62 billion state budget.
A review of the governor’s budget vetoes shows the first-term Republican has vetoed $110 million worth of public education programs and services since 2011, vetoes that account for more than a quarter of the $419 million she has vetoed in state spending since 2011.
For the first time, the Republican governor withheld his veto pen and signed exactly what lawmakers passed Monday.
The ruling is the latest legal setback for Gov. Bobby Jindal, who backed the pension changes, after seeing his education overhaul struck down earlier this year.
Nineteen elite firefighters who died battling a fast-moving wildfire here Sunday in the country's worst wildfire disaster in at least 30 years have been hailed by President Obama as "heroes."
Gov. Jay Inslee signed a new two-year budget on Sunday, averting a government shutdown that state officials had been planning for in case the new spending plan wasn't in place by the end of the weekend.
Trains will not run for the Monday morning commute, which could be a nightmare of gridlock and longer travel times.
Gov. Perry had signaled that he would make his decision about the 2014 governor’s race known by July 1. But that turned out to be the day the next 30-day special session begins.
Around the nation, July 1 marks the start of new fiscal years and the date recently passed legislation goes into effect, although states often mark their independence by enacting new regulations on their own calendars.
The state is making an unprecedented effort to cut health costs by instituting performance pay into its health-care industry and paying doctors based on quality instead of quantity.
Schwinn bikes first appeared on streets in the 19th century and were built in such a unique way that decades-old Schwinns can still be seen in Chicago and other bike-friendly cities.
A new study that looked at 36 U.S. cities found that Philadelphia has the fifth-highest rate of tax delinquency, with 9 percent of same-year taxes going unpaid in 2011, the most recent year with comparable data.
Citing the need for "authentic conservative leadership" in Texas, state Sen. Dan Patrick announced on Thursday that he would run for lieutenant governor against incumbent David Dewhurst.
A recent report by the Government Accountability Office finds a widening gap between projected revenues and expenses for years to come. Rising health and pension costs and less federal funding are just a few of the reasons.
While Republicans inside the Beltway continue to stumble and fumble their way to irrelevancy, Ohio Gov. John Kasich — and other conservative heartland governors — are quietly offering a blueprint for success: competence, consistency and actually creating jobs rather than just talking about it.
The company behind the plan to place as many as 4,000 rental bikes around the city delays the launch after learning it can't sell advertising on its kiosks.
Officials potentially could risk running afoul of the law if they remove critical posts from an official Facebook page with too heavy of a hand.
Flanked by fellow Democrats and other political allies, Gov. Jerry Brown approved California's new budget Thursday, changing very little of the $96.3-billion spending plan before signing it into law.
With changes to its unemployment law taking effect this weekend, North Carolina not only is cutting benefits for those who file new claims, it will become the first state disqualified from a federal compensation program for the long-term jobless.
The City Council president had mysteriously disappeared from the public eye just before allegations surfaced about a potentially inappropriate relationship with a teenage high school student Pugh had been mentoring.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday slammed the woman who this week led a filibuster in the state legislature, derailing sweeping abortion legislation.
In the wake of its decision to strike a section of the Voting Rights Act earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out two Texas cases on voter ID and redistricting.
Local government associations support the basic principles for immigration reform that are in the Senate bill.
Although not every city and state is eager to form inspector general offices -- New York City leaders, for example, are currently debating the benefits of one for the police department -- the trend toward more of them has been steady.
One of the surest ways to crush innovation is to run it through the typical government procurement process. Government purchasers have to act faster.
Health reform may bend the cost curve for services well beyond health care.
A new building in Virginia symbolizes a radical shift in economic development.
The problems associated with climate change can’t improve without collaboration between federal, state and local governments.
Shield laws provide predictability, say media advocates. But some worry that championing such laws puts journalists in the same arena with those they cover.
Quite often, fighting breaks out within the parties -- not just between them.
Somebody forgot to tell Mississippi’s attorney general that his party doesn’t win in the Deep South anymore.
For the first time ever, a majority of the island's voters favor statehood. But while many think it's the answer to the territory's economic woes, others disagree.
Facing higher prices and limited access to e-books from the major publishers, one man has inspired a national movement to promote smaller, digitally based presses and self-published authors.
The Florida governor came into office with no political experience and promising to overturn Obamacare. But his switch to support Medicaid expansion suggests he’s learning on the job.
After eight years in office, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has put an indelible mark on the city's transportation network.
After gun control measures failed in Washington, states are taking matters into their own hands.
July 1 is the beginning of the fiscal year in most states, and the preferred start date for new or updated taxes. This year, legislatures changed tax rates on significant parts of the economy, including gasoline or fuel levies, sales taxes and property taxes.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Thursday that they would offer up to $12 million in funding for states to develop ombudsmen programs for their efforts to better coordinate care between Medicare and Medicaid.
Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, which Governing previously named a legislator to watch, entered the national spotlight this week when she successfully led a rare and possibly temporary victory to kill a restrictive abortion bill.
Pennsylvania, already criticized for lagging in processing unemployment checks and home energy assistance claims, has been ordered by the federal government to speed up processing of food stamp applications, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The city follows Washington, D.C., and New York City in offering such a program.
The New York City Council approved two bills to protect minorities from overzealous police, setting up a clash with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who says the laws would make it more difficult to fight crime and terrorism.
New York City is becoming the most populous place in the United States to make businesses provide workers with paid sick time, after lawmakers overrode a mayoral veto early Thursday to pass a law expected to affect more than 1 million workers.
Elaine Greenberg, head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement unit that polices the $4 trillion municipal securities market, is leaving the agency for the private industry.
More than half of all U.S. metro areas won't regain the jobs lost in the recession until the second half of 2015 or later, an analysis for the U.S. Conference of Mayors says.
Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling today striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, Gov. Chris Christie maintained his opposition to same-sex marriage and lambasted the high court.
With the justices' ruling on the Proposition 8 gay-marriage ban concerning only California, the path forward nationally on the issue remains winding—and may eventually lead back to the Supreme Court.
Gov. Rick Perry also put transportation funding and a juvenile justice measure on the agenda for the session, which is set to begin July 1.
Denver’s newest development will promote healthy living, mass transit and energy efficiency. It also happens to be public housing.
Massachusetts was the first state to offer so-called green bonds to fund environmentally friendly projects. The only thing new about the bonds, though, is the word ‘green’ -- a small addition that may be making the state big bucks.
According to recent studies, hospice care saves states millions of dollars every year -- yet some states are cutting the service from their Medicaid benefits.
In creating regulations for its now-legal pot industry, Colorado referred to the rules already in place for its medical marijuana system – so much so that it can be hard to distinguish between the two.
How well-connected Americans are varies greatly across regions, racial groups and income levels. View data for each state.
The state will help pay for about 1,000 children to attend preschool in 2014 under legislation Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed into law earlier this week establishing a statewide school readiness program.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has announced that the number of homeless people in the state has declined by 16 percent in the past three years.
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, now confirmed as the nation's transportation secretary, could bring a unique mindset to Washington.
President Obama has proposed changing how the Consumer Price Index is calculated in a way that could help states cap some costs.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that private citizens can't defend a state law in federal court -- a decision with potentially widespread implications for cases involving voter-approved laws.
Saying it makes Arizona a friendlier place to do business, Gov. Jan Brewer signed a major overhaul Tuesday of how the state and cities collect sales taxes and audit businesses to ensure compliance.
The reason? School officials say as of July 5, the district will have about $2,000 in the bank and won't receive state aid payments until October.
For the fourth time in six weeks, the state Department of Children & Families is investigating the death of a Florida child who, only weeks or months earlier, had drawn the attention of agency administrators.
A Republican who lost his state Senate seat in a recall election last year plans to announce Wednesday he will be running for the seat in 2014.
Voters in the small town of Pacific dumped controversial Mayor Cy Sun on Tuesday night, according to initial results in a rare recall election.
Republican senators made a last-ditch effort to approve SB 5, voting 19-10, but by then the clock had ticked past midnight. Under the terms of the state Constitution, the special session had ended, and the bill could not be signed, enrolled or sent to the governor.
Even though most states are required to balance their budgets, in practice they don't do it, and "years of irresponsible budgeting" have led to the current crisis, Bill Clinton said Tuesday at a symposium in Philadelphia designed to bring attention to the eroding financial condition of state governments.
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Voting Rights Act means Texas can begin issuing voter ID cards.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II filed an appeal Tuesday to the U.S. Supreme Court aimed at preserving Virginia’s anti-sodomy law.
More than 300,000 Californians are caring for grandchildren and a new UCLA report says these caregivers are not receiving adequate support from public aid programs, making them among the state's most vulnerable residents due to the high cost of living.
The governor has asked for $450 million over the next two years to lease up to 4,100 beds in county jails and private prisons and to continue shipping 8,500 inmates to other states. He has also proposed changes to credit programs that lead to early release.
More than three-fourths of Florida's children covered by Medicaid do not get regular dental care -- the worst rate of any state, according to a report released today by the Pew Children's Dental Campaign.
Agencies' tendency to add more rules (and thus work) every time something bad happens prevents child protection workers from doing everything they can to keep kids safe.
Noting that last year was the warmest ever for most states, President Obama released a plan to combat climate change that builds on states' actions around renewable energy development and energy efficiency.
The Maryland suburbs have more of a notoriously problematic stock of pipe than almost any major U.S. water utility.
An unpublicized decision this year by City Solicitor Shelley R. Smith threatens to shut off public access to the detailed explanations for millions of dollars in city legal settlements - records considered public for the last 30 years at least.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Monday limiting the public's access to meetings in which he discusses certain security issues with local officials.
Concerned it could be politically damaging, Assembly leaders have quietly put on hold a controversial bill that would allow students living in the United States illegally to pay in-state tuition at New Jersey’s public colleges and universities.
A surprisingly tame budget season ended as New Jersey lawmakers approved Gov. Chris Christie’s $33 billion spending plan with only a few minor changes.
Results from the study of 25 states and the District of Columbia represent a turnabout from a 2009 report that had shown charter schools children faring worse.
Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, known for her state’s tough immigration laws, is praising the Senate’s immigration compromise on border security, saying it’s a “victory” for her state.
Gov. Gary Herbert has thrown his support behind clean-vehicle and clean-fuel standards that are expected to have a bigger impact in Utah than anywhere else in the nation.
While Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action has no immediate impact on Michigan's voter-approved ban on the practice, it offers hope to those who want the nation's high court to reinstate the ban when it hears its second affirmative-action case since last year.
It rarely works, but that doesn't stop public officials from trying. In two New England states, the lesson is being learned once again.
The 2013 Kids Count data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation had some unexpected surprises.
One Congressman hopes to solve the problem of overseas tax havens and failing infrastructure with one piece of legislation.
Attacking Gov. Mark Dayton for "super-sizing" government, former Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers said Sunday he will challenge the incumbent Democrat in next year's election.
Voters in the King-Pierce County border town of Pacific will decide whether to retain Cy Sun, an 83-year-old Korean War veteran who took office as a write-in candidate last year and immediately turned everything upside down.
Transportation advocates want Congress to OK tolling on interstates, allowing states and cities to generate their own revenue.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the key provision that provided a formula for deciding which states must ask for permission before making changes to its elections procedures.
No state this year repealed its renewable energy requirement, lowered its percentage mandate or extended utilities’ deadlines for meeting it, though several lobby groups pushed state legislatures to repeal them.
The district's largest shedding of jobs in decades is wiping out entire categories, including school secretaries (307) and noontime aides (1,202), and nearly every assistant principal (127) and itinerant instrumental teacher (76).
A program meant to beef up competition on Obamacare exchanges may not add much to the mix of insurance options after all.
Weld County commissioners want to create a new state to allow northeast Colorado's robust agriculture and oil and gas industries to thrive under regulations of their own design — rules different than those created through the influence of the state's urban lawmakers.
The Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council will focus on voting records, and not on political labels, as it evaluates candidates in coming state races.
Allegations of inmate abuse at Alabama’s female prison and an inmate being beaten to death at a male prison have pointed to a lack of security cameras in state prisons.
Opponents to a new Tennessee rule that will reward teachers based on student outcomes or what subjects they teach instead of degrees and experience say they’ll fight back next legislative session.
The measure would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, require doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and limit abortions to surgical centers.
Georgia and Utah have passed laws making it easier to remove arrest photos from the sites without charge or otherwise curb the sites.
Gov. Chris Christie has ordered all state buildings to fly flags at half staff Monday to honor the late actor James Gandolfini.
Public leaders who want to create high-performing organizations can learn a lot from the way successful businesses are launched.
View totals for firearms reported lost or stolen.
Gov. Corbett's administration is attempting to get new funding for Philly schools by convincing the federal government to let the state off the hook for a $108 million debt, according to city, state and federal sources.
In a sharp rebuke of Gov. Jerry Brown, a panel of three Federal judges said the state must take immediate steps to release inmates toward compliance with their 2009 order that the prison population be reduced to 137.5 percent of capacity.
As college students across the country are watch anxiously to see if Congress will prevent an interest rate hike on federal student loans on July 1, several states are looking at ways to ease the financial burden of college costs.
Unless more companies sign up or the existing companies expand their plans, consumers in the remaining counties won’t be able to buy health insurance through the online exchange.
The law creates a new public health care program for individuals making up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level and fully subsidizes the purchase of private insurance for those making up to 138 percent.
An uncharacteristically angry Gov. Rick Snyder, who cut his trip to Israel short to lobby lawmakers on the Medicaid expansion -- which he supports, demanded an up-or-down vote.
However, at the same time the governor’s staff was detailing the effects of a shutdown, budget negotiators in the House and Senate said they were getting closer to a deal.
Her action angered Latinos and Democrats who say that, with one stroke of her pen, the Republican governor wiped out the goodwill of last week’s bipartisan accord on the state budget and Medicaid expansion by enshrining in law practices they view as voter suppression.