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Detroit’s attempt to avoid bankruptcy will hit a critical stage next week as emergency manager Kevyn Orr brings together dozens of creditors to present a stark offer: less than 10 cents on the dollar for the loans, bonds, retiree obligations and other debts that have been strangling the city for years.
A solid majority of Americans opposes a broad national right to same-sex marriage, saying the power to legalize gay unions should rest with the states — even as most support marriage equality for gay people, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
President Barack Obama is openning a lengthy and high-profile series of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California Friday.
In some cases, offenders are being returned from parole or community supervision and some offenders are being notified of longer prison sentences.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday announced he will appoint state Attorney General Jeff Chiesa to the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg. A new senator will be elected Oct. 16.
Wealthy venture capitalist Bruce Rauner has formally entered the Republican governor's race, saying state government is broken and portraying himself as a down-to-earth businessman who can fix it.
As the popularity of short-term rental websites like Airbnb, FlipKey and HomeAway grow states and localities are struggling with how much regulation is needed.
Gov. Rick Scott has signed a bill into law requiring that doctors performing an abortion offer emergency medical care if the baby is somehow born alive. Florida becomes the 29th state to enact this kind of legislation.
With insurers on the health exchanges no longer allowed to use underwriting rules like policyholder's weight, blood pressure, medical history and physical fitness, geography will now be the primary factor used to set prices.
View and compare bridge inspection data by state.
Maps shows state-based, partnership and federally-facilitated health exchanges
The Iowa City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance to ban drones, automated traffic cameras and license-plate readers. That comes after thousands of local residents signed a petition calling for such a ban.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) seemed to be spoiling for his next big fight with the federal government, announcing Wednesday morning that the Internal Revenue Service was refusing to pay $125 million owed to Virginia, possibly in retaliation for his legal battles with the Obama administration.
Authorities had no easy answers yesterday about what caused the collapse that killed six.
Women in Pennsylvania will have the right to choose insurance through the state health exchange, but it won’t extend to abortion.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker has started the process to run in a special August primary to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, who died Monday.
Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a new law aimed at making sure dead and imprisoned people are taken off the eligibility list for the state’s Bridge Card food assistance program.
Gov. John Hickenlooper didn't use his veto pen on any of the 441 bills sent to him by the legislature, but he said that had nothing to do with the fact that his fellow Democrats in 2012 won control of both the Senate and the House.
Del. Ronald A. George (R-Anne Arundel) on Wednesday became the latest Maryland gubernatorial hopeful to make his 2014 bid official, promising supporters he would roll back a gas-tax increase, cut business taxes and focus on job creation.
Public school students take too many tests, Gov. Pat McCrory told education leaders Wednesday, and the state needs to figure out how to lighten the load.
A report published today examines projected retiree costs for three large school districts, evaluating cost savings of recent pension reforms.
In the last few months, lawmakers in four states have voted to increase speed limits. Studies show doing so doesn't cause more accidents, but critics say it makes them more severe.
When people leave a struggling city for its suburbs, they leave behind the costs of public services that were delivered in the past. Regional solutions are needed.
All the public-sector management news you need to know.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is suing the city of Nelson, Ga., over its new ordinance requiring residents to own firearms. The lawsuit's outcome could impact other places with gun mandates.
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday vetoed a bill that would have allowed children of undocumented immigrants to get temporary Florida driver’s licenses, a decision that may bolster his standing among immigration hard-liners but could hurt him among Hispanic voters.
Some education reformers say mandated teacher evaluations infringe on the independence of charter schools.
California officials have launched a new program called Parks Forward to analyze and overhaul the state parks system. It will be led by a volunteer commission.
A former leader at the Office of Management and Budget hopes to use her new position to restore public confidence in government. Here's how she plans to do it.
The state Senate and House, after short debates, voted overwhelmingly early Wednesday to approve a bill blocking public disclosure of photos of homicide victims and some other records in reaction to the Newtown school massacre.
Jefferson County, Alabama, reached an agreement to pay its largest creditors $1.84 billion, or 60 percent of what they’re owed.
On Tuesday, Sen. Tom Harkin, the retiring chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released a new 1,150-page bill to update No Child Left Behind Act.
Minneapolis, where 94 percent of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, has the U.S.' best park system, according to new rankings by a national nonprofit conservation group.
Violent crime rose in the United States in 2012 for the first time in six years, led by an increase in major crimes in large cities, according to preliminary data released Monday by the F.B.I.
Black Americans were nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession in 2010, even though the two groups used the drug at similar rates, according to new federal data.
Gov. Chris Christie called for a special election in October to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Frank Lautenberg, spurring an all-out sprint for the office and drawing fire from Democrats.
Gov. Sam Brownback signed legislation Friday to restrict the use of state tax dollars to promote or oppose gun control policies, a measure championed by gun-rights supporters but seen by critics as endangering free-speech rights.
Gov. John Kitzhaber on Tuesday signed a bill expanding state's foreclosure mediation program, which had been largely bypassed by mortgage lenders.
Transportation stakeholders have become increasingly vocal in recent years over the disconnect between the president's lofty rhetoric about the need to invest and his lack of serious policy proposals on the matter.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder declared a financial emergency Monday in Hamtramck, a step that could lead to the appointment of an emergency manager.
The key to performance is information that makes work accountable, provides guidance, coordinates over distance and seeks out innovation.
Despite the still uncertain long-term fate of the wind energy tax credit, the industry has plans to develop more turbines in states like Iowa and Nebraska.
Stronger-than-expected tax collections have left the state with an extra $300 million which the state will use to fully replenish its reserves and pay down money it still owes local school districts.
EMTs and paramedics are governed by a haphazard patchwork of rules that vary widely by city and state and in tough economic times, emergency services often are on the chopping block.
Monday's ruling protected California's right to collect DNA during arrests, but civil libertarians said they would continue to challenge the California program as overly broad. Challenges of the California program are pending in the California Supreme Court and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Fitch Ratings further lowered Illinois' worst-in-the-nation credit rating following lawmakers' inability to agree on money-saving reforms to the public employee pension system.
Gov. Brian Sandoval signed into law Friday a bill that allows people in the country illegally to legally drive in Nevada starting in January.
The death of Frank R. Lautenberg on Monday has left Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey with the kind of opportunity that politicians usually covet: the chance to give away a seat in the United States Senate. But the decision is fraught with pitfalls, none bigger than having to choose between improving his party’s fortunes in Washington and furthering his own political ambitions at home.
Legislation requiring special labels on food sold in Connecticut that contains genetically modified ingredients, so long as other states pass similar legislation, is heading to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's desk for his signature.
The newest drug-sniffing dog on a police force in Washington state is one of a few that are not trained to point out pot during searches. Other police departments are considering or in the midst of re-training their dogs to ignore pot as well, part of the new reality in a state where voters last fall legalized marijuana use.
The city accused CareFirst -- the city’s dominant private health insurer -- of drastically cutting the number of small-business plans it will offer on the insurance exchange.
Gov. Terry Branstad called the education reform bill he signed into law Monday “a turning point in Iowa history,” but it lacks many of the provisions included in the administration’s initial pitch for improved schools.
The measure was created in reaction to a legal opinion by a county prosecutor who said a private 2011 meeting between Jerry Brown and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors violated the public's right to see government business being conducted.
The California Assembly quashed a bill that would have created a state agency to tax and regulate the state's overgrown medical marijuana landscape.
Death penalty supporters want Gov. Brown to challenge a court decision that lethal-injection protocol was not properly reviewed, but other technical hurdles remain.
Despite Florida having no major hurricanes in the last seven years, one-third of the insurance companies that have taken over policies previously held by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. have gone belly up -- and cost taxpayers $400 million.
Three lieutenant governors -- in Florida, Massachusetts and Nebraska -- have resigned in the last four months.
More than half of the states now require a DNA mouth swab when people are charged with a serious crime, and many of the others were awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the practice.
Because of its geographic location, there's little that policymakers can do to prevent the severe natural disasters that hit Oklahoma year after year. The best they can do is prepare for them -- but not everyone agrees how.
Steve Abraira has come under fire from his underlings after he refused to take charge at the Boston Marathon bombing scene.
Bridges localities own are more than twice as likely to be considered structurally deficient as those on state roads. View detailed bridge inspection data for your state.
All the government technology news you should know.
Two pieces of new, high-profile legislation approved by the Iowa Legislature last month could result in downgraded credit ratings and higher borrowing costs in the years to come for the state’s cities and universities, the credit-rating agency Moody’s warned last week.
Patrol cars are fast and convenient, but in some cases pedal power is more discreet and economical, Iowa law enforcement officials say.
State Treasurer Dan Rutherford kicked off a campaign for the 2014 Republican governor nomination Sunday, touting himself as the only statewide officeholder among the GOP field.
Gov. Brian Sandoval on Wednesday signed Senate Bill 506, which removes archaic language from a 1950s law passed during the Cold War era that allowed Nevada employees to fire anyone they expected might be a communist.
Education officials from all over the state are saying they don’t anticipate using the law, and many are adamant that the proposal won’t come up in their community.
A new system for evaluating educators, announced by the state on Saturday, will reshape how teachers are hired and fired in the city. It will also have a profound effect on students, who will take part in a series of new exams designed to help administrators grade teachers in specialized subjects.
The checks are flying into the Republican governor’s war chest from all sorts of unlikely places.
There’s not much controversy among advocates when it comes to restoring funding that states had slashed during the economic lean years. But changing policies on involuntary commitment, or requiring therapists to report potentially dangerous patients, are stirring fears that well-intentioned policies could increase stigma and deter the very people who most need treatment from getting it.
But lawmakers did pass measures to expand Medicaid, make Illinois the last state to allow concealed carry, and legalize medical marijuana.
Some police and firefighters are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in pension payouts, draining the city's finances and helping to shrink the public-safety workforce. Pension benefits need to be tied to contributions.
States and localities are considering having their retired workers buy health coverage through Obamacare's insurance exchanges instead. The move would likely save employers money but not necessarily employees.
This weekend 95 affiliated events across the country will be a part of National Day of Civic Hacking, which is aimed at advancing the principles of transparency, participation and collaboration with regards to government and its use of technology.
Gov. Rick Scott signed into law two bills aimed at helping victims of sex trafficking clear their names for crimes like drug use or prostitution that are tied to their forced servitude.
The California Assembly passed a bill to raise California's minimum wage from $8 to $9.25 an hour over the next three years. The bill also requires future increases to keep pace with inflation
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed a lawsuit against federal regulators, alleging that new rules reducing the number of ground-feeding fish that can be caught for the rest of the year will be a “death sentence” for the industry.
The legislative session's outcome so far has delighted animal rights activists but left hunters and ruralites feeling frustrated and disenfranchised.
Gov. Rick Scott has signed HB 999, a bill so detested by a host of environmental groups that they brought in former Sen. Bob Graham to try in vain to stop it.
The state official, yet to be named by the governor, will be tasked with studying the impacts of climate change in Colorado. The czar will make recommendations on how to prepare for everything from larger wildfires to shorter ski seasons.
A state appeals court on Thursday overturned a Dane County judge's decision that found Wisconsin's voter ID law violated the state constitution, but the ID requirement remains blocked because of a ruling in a separate case.
Embattled Boston Fire Chief Steve E. Abraira, facing sharp criticism from his command staff over his management style and response to the Boston Marathon bombings, is threatening to sue his deputy chiefs if they continue launching what his lawyer claims are “defamatory” attacks.
Moody’s Investor Service downgraded the university’s bond rating, saying it had concerns about the impact of the merger on the school’s finances.
A former Microsoft executive plans to create the first U.S. national marijuana brand and said he was kicking off his business by acquiring medical pot dispensaries in three U.S. states.
Organizers fell short Thursday in gathering the required number of valid signatures to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was recently found guilty by the courts of engaging in racial profiling.
Performance measures are a key management tool -- but not for everything.
Mobile technology is creating new ways for officials to violate public records laws. Orange County, Fla., learned that the hard way.
States and localities both save for unseen emergencies and hard times. But when it comes to using the funds, their approach couldn't be more different.
From same-sex marriage to marijuana, millennials are changing our culture as their proportion of the population increases.
In the immediate aftermath of the blasts, several fundamental lessons were relearned.
It’s the best time in probably the last 75 years to overhaul and upgrade our infrastructure, but city halls and statehouses are letting the moment slip away.
Despite awarding nearly $2 billion in tax incentives, New Jersey's job growth trails other states.
Without strong federal policies, states have become more active and divergent.
New leaders at both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board may have big changes in store for the municipal bond market and its issuers.
Meet ten people who will play a critical role in rebuilding the Motor City, a place abandoned by its residents, plagued with high crime, stuck with the nation’s highest unemployment rate, and under the state’s control.
Fusion centers were created in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks to improve information gathering and intelligence surveillance among law enforcement agencies. But their effectiveness and legality has been questioned ever since.
Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak gave his cost estimate Thursday for the tornado, which killed 24 people and destroyed 15,000 homes on May 20.
The county executive has been key to helping Cuyahoga County, Ohio bounce back after a massive corruption scandal. Now he’d like to lead the whole state.
Stephanie Miner, the mayor of Syracuse and co-chair of the state’s Democratic Party thanks to Andrew Cuomo himself, refuses to abide by the governor’s newly enacted law affecting local pension plans.
Several high-profile government officials were killed this year. Standing in the public light has always had its risks, but they’re higher than ever as tracking an official’s whereabouts can be as simple as following their Twitter feed.
The nation may be 260,000 nurses short by 2025, and the proposed solutions to address the future drought don’t look promising.
Civic leaders say the automakers will continue to play a major role in the local economy, but Detroit must diversify.
Foreclosure sales accounted for 35 percent of all home sales in Georgia, the highest percentage in the nation.
Cities across the country require commercial buildings to track and publicize their energy and water use in an effort to reduce it. A recent report, however, suggests it may not be working.
Though the number of rail lines has jumped, the number of people riding them has fallen. The solution, as New York City found, is bumping up service.
A new federal report questions whether the insurance marketplaces will be ready in time for Oct. 1.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office human-smuggling unit no longer patrols county highways looking for undocumented immigrants, and any plans for work-site enforcement operations have been put on hold following a federal judge’s ruling that found the agency discriminated against Latinos.
California lawmakers Wednesday advanced a dozen gun-control measures, including background checks for ammunition buyers, and gave early approval to a tax penalty on the Boy Scouts for barring openly gay leaders.
The Oregon Corrections Enterprises is a semi-independent state agency separate from the Corrections Department. Inmates work in furniture, metal fabrication and clothing factories. They also staff call centers handling customer service and telemarketing for private companies.
The law is referred to as "Brianna's Law."
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said Wednesday that he is waiving the waiting period and automatically restoring the voting rights of non-violent felons who have completed their sentences and satisfied certain conditions.
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead takes the lead, while Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee trails all of his other counterparts.
At least 20,000 inmates in New Jersey’s jails and prisons were improperly paid nearly $24 million in benefits by government programs over a two-year period, according to an audit by the state comptroller’s office.
Two letters that contained threats to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — one addressed to him, the other to a lobbyist who works on his gun control campaign — have tested positive for the deadly poison ricin, the authorities said on Wednesday.
Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee is set to join the Democratic Party — a switch the former Republican-turned-independent has said could boost his chances of winning a second term.
Dauphin County's program is the first county infrastructure bank in Pennsylvania, and one of the first in the country.
States and localities have $3 trillion in debt, but the purpose and use of debt differs significantly from the federal government.
As transportation advocates push for bridge upgrades in response to the collapse in Washington state last week, it’s clear that some states have far more work to do than others.
A team at the Washington state lottery found a way to better adapt to retailers' needs. The result was a big boost in sales.
The state that pioneered sober high schools, and once was home to a dozen, will be down to four next month following financial woes and an inability to establish a working model for success.
Officials from the seven states dependent on water from the river express a cautious willingness to join the U.S. in a complex, possibly contentious effort to save water as drought fears grow.
After a ruling by the 11th Court of Appeals in favor of landowners seeking to block construction of a reservoir, the state's water plan may be subject to an increasing number of legal challenges.
A handful of Democratic state lawmakers in Colorado face recall petition efforts in what looks to be the first wave of fallout over legislative votes to limit gun rights.
A Democratic state lawmaker called on Arizona officials to denounce Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the wake last week’s ruling that his agency racially profiled Latinos.
The Colorado Supreme Court's reversal of the Lobato school finance lawsuit, which handed a stinging defeat Tuesday to plaintiffs who for eight years sought greater and more equitable education funding, shifted even more attention to the recently passed bill that will seek financial help for schools from voters rather than the courts.
States aiming to restrict abortion access were dealt a setback Tuesday when the US Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal of a lower court decision blocking an Indiana measure that would have prohibited Medicaid funding for health providers that perform abortion services.
A state audit found Massachusetts has handed out $18 million in “questionable public assistance benefits” over the past few years, including welfare to more than 1,160 people who were either dead or using a deceased person’s Social Security number.
The rules, the product of more than two years of work by a group that included judges, court officials, and constables, are a critical step toward reining in a system that detractors say has long lacked standards in such areas as qualifications and professionalism.
The Twin Cities are the healthiest, fittest cities in the USA for the third year in a row, according to an analysis of the 50 most populous metropolitan areas.
A Virginia committee announced options Tuesday for streamlining the restoration of former felons’ voting rights, including actions the governor and legislature could take now to advance the process.
A freight train smacked into a truck carrying garbage and careened off the tracks in Rosedale Tuesday afternoon, triggering an explosion felt throughout the region and sending up a plume of black smoke visible for miles.
Drug use by youth varies by geography, gender age and race, and it changes over time. Many of our school-based prevention programs don't reflect those realities.
Former Democratic congressman Mark Schauer made it official Tuesday that he's running for Michigan governor in 2014.
As New York City rolls out its bike-share program, Hoboken, N.J., is debuting its own that could offer a new way cities -- both large and small -- can encourage bicycling.
More than a quarter-million veterans who lack health insurance will miss out on Medicaid coverage because they live in states that have declined to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act.
Gov. Rick Perry on Monday called lawmakers back into an immediate special session to consider redistricting measures for the Legislature and the Texans who serve in the U.S. Congress.
Florida's Rick Scott, Arizona's Jan Brewer and Ohio's John Kasich developed three very distinct strategies to try to convince their Republican legislatures to adopt a key component of Obamacare.
The four-lane bridge north of Seattle that collapsed and send several cars into the Skagit River Friday was rated by the Federal Highway Administration as "functionally obsolete" and was in far better shape than many bridges around the country.
Officers are being trained to arrive on calls equipped with contacts for community, church, philanthropic and government agencies to which they can refer residents in crisis or professionals they can call on the spot.
Three U.S. states and three countries have approved same-sex unions just in the two months since the Supreme Court heard arguments over gay marriage, raising questions about how the developments might affect the justices' consideration of the issue.
While proponents say the new standards will better prepare students, critics worry they'll set a national curriculum for public schools rather than letting states decide what is best for their students.
With the evolving gender spectrum ranging those who are transgender to those who see themselves as the opposite gender, schools are having to figure out how to accommodate them.
The fire broke out about Monday afternoon in Los Padres National Forest about 15 miles north of Santa Barbara, and hours later had grown to 1,000 acres — or 1.5 square miles — amid winds of about 20 mph, U.S. Forest Service officials said. It was 5 percent contained.
The resignations occurred the same day it was reported that Toronto homicide police interviewed a member of the mayor’s office about the whereabouts of the alleged video that shows the mayor smoking crack cocaine.
Illinois has put a one-year moratorium on new online charter schools outside Chicago at the urging of a handful of west suburban school districts.
President Barack Obama and Gov. Chris Christie will reunite in a tour of the coastline Tuesday, seven months after a similar meeting resulted in the shunning of Christie by conservatives across the nation.
After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans started over. A far better school system has emerged from the floodwaters.
A pilot program, which could soon spread to other states, uses software to automatically verify a person's identity when they apply for Medicaid, welfare or food stamps.
The Washington bridge that collapsed and sent two cars into the river may have been too small for today's traffic, but experts say it wasn't an investment issue.
California's newly created health exchange announced the bottom line on its insurance policies and rates Thursday, bringing sharper focus to family impacts of next year's health care overhaul. Thirteen companies were selected to participate.
