Archive
Lawmakers passed a law in 2009 that limits public scrutiny of the child-welfare system. With an increased number of children dying while under the care of the state, many are questioning whether the law is good policy.
The names of hundreds of thousands of current and former New Jersey residents who have been involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities have been added to an FBI database used to bar firearms purchases by people with criminal records or a history of mental illness.
The wireless crashes that law enforcement experienced in the aftermath of the deadly bombing reinforced the need for a dedicated national public safety broadband network that's now in its planning stage.
After struggling to sway both state and federal lawmakers, proponents of expanding background checks for gun sales are now exploring whether they will have more success by taking the issue directly to voters.
New York’s high cost was driven largely by how far the city had to transport its waste — and what it took to get it to a landfill in the Finger Lakes region west of Syracuse, according to Col. John Pilot, who headed the city’s cleanup efforts.
Tennessee is plunging ahead with a plan to drug test some welfare applicants even though a Florida judge stopped a similar program over constitutional issues and Arizona authorities caught only one welfare-receiving drug abuser in three years.
America’s blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the white turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many whites stayed home.
North Carolina had one of the best pre-kindergarten programs in the country in 2011-12, but it also experienced one of the nation’s biggest drops in enrollment, according to a report released Monday.
Utah’s 2012 health data breach — a security slip that exposed the personal information of three-quarters of a million residents to hackers — has costt he state about $9 million on security audits, upgrades and credit monitoring for victims — and that’s just the beginning.
Gov. Bullock and women’s health advocates said they believe the measure, which would require girls younger than 18 to obtain parental consent before getting access to abortions, violates the privacy and protection rights of young women, and they’re confident the law will be struck down in courts.
Lawmakers and hunting advocates in North Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts and West Virginia are working to change "blue laws" that ban hunting on Sunday.
The nomination of Foxx -- which President Barack Obama will announce Monday, according to a White House official -- would make him the only African-American selected for a Cabinet opening in Obama’s second term.
Map shows changes in county population between 2010 and 2012.
Some governors have proposed prioritizing funding for high-demand degrees in science and technology fields.
The world needs water. Milwaukee not only has lots of it, but it also has transformed itself into a hub for water research and technology.
As health care for the poor expands, so does the potential for Medicaid abuse. Three states’ experiences with fraud prevention give insight into its value.
Nobody knows exactly what the Affordable Care Act will do to the insurance industry. But many in the private sector, including Aetna’s CEO, are saying it’s time for the industry to change.
Overshadowed by baby boomers on one side and millennials on the other, it’s Generation X that’s actually shaping the way government and citizens interact.
Washington used to know how to listen to the states; there was even a commission for intergovernmental relations. Can Washington overcome politics and partisanship to work together again?
The historic tax credit, which has helped preserve thousands of old buildings in cities across the country, is at risk of being eliminated.
Thanks to a little bit of luck and a lot of preparation, the state’s important computer systems and network withstood the storm.
Looking to reduce the economic and human cost of arson, the state is creating an arsonist registry to make catching repeat offenders easier.
Detroit's Dave Bing has taken the first steps towards exploring a bid for reelection. An already crowded field will mean an uphill battle for the unpopular mayor, who has taken blame for the city's financial meltdown that led to a state-takeover.
A new report says 488 states, counties and cities now have a plan that calls for streets that are "safe for all users of all ages and abilities."
As Congress considers immigration reform, Gov. Nathan Deal signed sweeping legislation that bars undocumented immigrants from obtaining state driver's licenses, grants, public housing and retirement benefits.
Federal health officials dealt a blow to opponents of Medicaid expansion, saying they’re unlikely to fund a slimmed-down version of the state’s indigent-health-care program as the political battle over the issue intensified.
Washington state appears to be the first major government to seriously explore the possibility of pushing public employees into the exchange, but it probably won't be the last.
Medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but employers in the state can lawfully fire workers who test positive for the drug, even if it was used off duty, according to a court ruling.
In a move that the LGBT community called "historic," City Council approved a bill yesterday that would require the city's health plan to pay for transgender city workers to complete "gender-confirmation surgery."
Senate President Stephen Sweeney’s push to stiffen the state’s gun laws got off to a rocky start as the Assembly majority leader warned the package of measures was dead on arrival because it wasn’t tough enough, and a national group of mayors abruptly put off its endorsement.
As Rhode Island is set to become the 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, gay marriage supporters are shifting their focus to other states.
Maryland lawmakers called for a sweeping inquiry into the state prison system, amid allegations that a gang effectively took over the Baltimore City Detention Center, orchestrating crimes from behind bars and impregnating female correctional officers who helped smuggle in contraband.
A final vote was delayed until May after senators return from a weeklong vacation.
Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill requiring oversight of billions of dollars in federal aid for Hurricane Sandy, despite Democratic objections, calling the measure redundant and wasteful.
After months of arm-twisting and campaigning, Gov. Mike Pence will get half the tax cut he wanted from the Indiana General Assembly — a 5 percent reduction in the individual income tax that he’s calling a great victory.
The challenges that lie ahead can be expected to produce plenty of innovation, but they will test the leadership capacity of elected and appointed officials.
The long-anticipated launch of the Chicago program appears to be set for June. Initially the program will be federally funded, but officials say eventually it will pay for itself as it expands.
Some Democratic and Republican states are pushing more ideological policies, but not all.
A decision in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court could unleash a flood of litigation asking courts to crack open some of the more than 30 compacts that determine how states share water.
The accused Boston bomber may face the death penalty as a result of federal charges filed against him, even though his crimes were committed in a state where the death penalty is outlawed.
The state House gave bipartisan support to a bill that would block insurance plans offered through the state’s new health insurance exchanges from covering abortions.
The Republican-controlled state House wants to eliminate tax incentives for making movies in Michigan so the money can be shifted to repairing roads.
Businessman Scott Honour became the first high-profile Republican to challenge DFL Gov. Mark Dayton’s bid for re-election.
Brown is seeking to give local school districts greater flexibility in how they spend state money by eliminating most of California's "categorical" funding – pots of money that can be used only for certain purposes.
Legal marijuana in Colorado may not bring in enough money to cover the societal costs of legalization, a new study from a Colorado State University think tank concludes.
Prosecutors and crime-lab scientists say a little-noticed provision in Washington’s new law legalizing recreational marijuana has jeopardized their ability to go after any pot crimes at all, and they’re calling for an immediate fix in the Legislature.
How a fire caused the ammonium nitrate to detonate is the focus of federal and state investigations into the explosion.
Maryland’s biggest health insurer proposed raising premiums for individual policies by an average of 25 percent next year, saying that President Obama’s health law would require it to accept even the sickest applicants, driving up costs.
Ditching dollars for gold has become a popular notion among some conservative leaders and pundits (perhaps most notably Glenn Beck) in recent years.
The Los Angeles City Council approved a plan to begin moving away from coal-fired energy, despite warnings from a Department of Water and Power watchdog that the shift could cost more than $650 million.
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office warns that Congress will have to dramatically cut transportation spending or raise the gas tax.
In connection to the ongoing debate about drug-testing welfare recipients, lawmakers in Minnesota, Alabama, Illinois and Texas are considering requiring it of state legislators too.
Cash-strapped states are questioning the tax exemptions they offer the elderly.
The number of motorcyclists killed in traffic accidents jumped 9 percent in 2012 and have gone up in 14 of the last 15 years. Experts say more states should enact universal helmet laws to reverse that trend.
Amid the legal battles over Voter ID laws and the Voting Rights Act, legislation to expand voter access and decrease election day lines is active in 21 states.
Students on the technical track need solid academics, not just job training. It's important to spend these public-education dollars wisely.
Amazon is now fighting eBay in an all-out civil war in the U.S. Senate, where a bill to set national sales tax standards for online retailers is up for debate.
Citing the need to ensure equal treatment for indigent Californians, lawmakers advanced a homeless rights bill that they said has been narrowed to assuage the concerns of businesses and city governments.
The new, tiny unites aren’t required to provide any parking and avoid design and environmental review as well as notice to neighbors that usually is required for big, multifamily projects.
A Berkeley municipal staff member mistakenly disclosed the social security numbers of everyone who works for the city while responding to a public records request, and the city recently sent a letter to staff informing them of the error.
No one knows if Florida is going to be the next frontier for the new generation of oil and gas drilling known as fracking, but state legislators say — just in case — it’s time to write rules to require disclosure of the controversial technology.
The U.S. Supreme Court says video games are a form of speech protected by the First Amendment, and experts say the governor’s proposal would likely be zapped in court.
Now that veteran Sen. Max Baucus (D), the two-term governor who left office in January is the prospect national Democrats are hanging their hopes on in the now-open Montana Senate race.
Gov. Rick Scott signed a sweeping education bill that will revamp the state's high school graduation requirements and place new emphasis on coursework that prepares students for high-tech careers.
The California Air Resources Board has linked its program for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and curbing climate change with one in the Canadian province of Quebec.
The legislation, which would allow states to collect sales taxes from Internet retailers, now has the White House's backing.
The soft drink giant will pay for 50,000 blue recycling carts for Chicago homes and in return gets to put images of Coke products on the lids of the familiar bins. The city will save $2.59 million thanks to the partnership.
Following more than an hour of riveting and personal floor speeches -- during which one state senator publicly announced for the first time he is gay -- the Nevada Senate voted 12-9 to begin the process of repealing the gay marriage ban from the state constitution.
Should welfare benefits be tethered to a students' performance in school? One Tennessee legislator thinks so, but he's gotten national backlash for his proposal.
Red states are trying to convince businesses to leave Illinois as the state struggles economically and fiscally.
A bill would require people convicted of felony crimes to wait five years upon the completion of their sentence, probation or parole before they could attempt to re-register to vote. First, though, they would have to get affidavits from two registered voters attesting to their “upstanding moral character” and get the unanimous approval of their local board of elections.
Three months after she stunned political observers and made her case for expanding Medicaid coverage in Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer is no closer to reaching agreement with Republican legislative leaders on the issue.
There are stirrings of a renewed effort by a handful of GOP candidates and activists to edge the party into being more competitive in America’s cities.
The Republican said his campaign will focus largely on two issues: school vouchers and limits on jury verdicts.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has ordered his administration to review its medical plan to deal with mass injuries in light of the Boston Marathon bombing.
The proposal would make the age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products the same as for purchasing liquor, but it would not prohibit people under 21 from possessing or even smoking cigarettes.
A marijuana blood limit for drivers was rejected for a fourth time in the Colorado Senate, where bipartisan skepticism on the pot analogy to blood-alcohol limits helped sink the measure even in a weaker form.
After years of talk, Congress is moving toward possibly ending a loophole that has prevented states from collecting sales taxes on many Internet purchases.
Attacking a problem with a single masterstroke is appealing. But sometimes the best approach is swarming it from all directions.
In a move that’s expected to stir up staunch resistance from public pension managers, some Capitol Hill lawmakers have proposed new pension transparency regulations for local and state governments.
Legislation that has been proposed would limit the ability of employers, landlords and universities to request access to the private social media accounts of applicants, tenants and students.
Nobody knows for sure, as critical deadlines approach.
After years of study and debate, San Francisco has formally adopted a new law requiring owners to retrofit thousands of buildings, marking the most sweeping seismic regulations in California in years.
The Texas governor has said he won't lay out his political plans until June. Whether he decides to run for a fourth term in office may affect races across the state.
Saturday's rally — an annual event called 4/20 that celebrates a holiday for marijuana enthusiasts — was the first since Colorado voters legalized use of marijuana for people over 21.
A bill would allow people to ban themselves for five years or life. If, after the initial five-year ban, people wanted to return to gambling, they could.
A deal has rankled farmers and ranchers on an Indian reservation in Montana who fear they could lose half the water they need to grow wheat and hay and to water their cattle.
Two big initiatives were proposed during the 108th Tennessee General Assembly: an administrative proposal to create a school voucher program, and a so-called parent trigger measure that would allow parents to decide the fate of a struggling school.
The federal government's failure to pass comprehensive federal immigration reform has put the onus on state lawmakers to tackle legislation on matters they can control such as granting in-state tuition and driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.
California was declared to be out of compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act because it is sitting on $455 million that should be spent to improve local drinking water systems.
Gov. Chris Christie unveiled a plan to reduce gun violence by strengthening background checks and making it easier to commit the mentally ill.
Managing tragedies or natural disasters are some of the toughest, most complex jobs that confront governors, who must reassure the public while coordinating and executing a response effort in an unforgiving media glare. It’s a moment that can make or break a career.
The rising cost of health care for retirees may force states and localities to make wholesale changes to their pension health plans.
In the wake of failed firearms legislation in the U.S. Senate, Gov. Scott Walker and a top Republican lawmaker made clear Thursday that GOP officials will also block similar legislation in Wisconsin to expand background checks on gun sales.
State high-speed rail officials acknowledged Thursday that they changed their rules for selecting a builder for the bullet train's first phase in the Central Valley.
Most of the job losses last month were concentrated in Midwestern states. View employment data for each state.
Several states have recently passed laws limiting drone use within their borders and 29 other states are still considering legislation.
Bills to regulate and prohibit physician-assisted suicide failed this session in Montana, but the debate continues nationwide.
Some board members argued that any tuition increase was too much during difficult economic times, while U-Va. President Teresa A. Sullivan and her staff advocated for tuition increases to offset declining state funding.
As New York this week became one of the first states to unveil a set of exams grounded in new curricular standards, education leaders are finding that rallying the public behind tougher tests may be more difficult than they expected.
A bill seeking to ask voters to repeal Oregon's death penalty died in committee.
California ranks first in the United States with 43,700 solar energy-related jobs, according to a new report by the Solar Foundation.
As many as 375 stream gauges nationwide may be shut down as a result of the so-called sequestration.
Fertilizer plants generally don’t get inspected unless there is a complaint.
The measure would let teachers who have worked as police officers in the past carry their guns with them at school.
A massive manhunt underway this morning has led to the sudden shutdown of the MBTA’s entire network and state authorities have asked people to stay home and businesses to stay closed while they search for the second suspect in the Boston Marathon attacks. The first is dead.
Public approval of state governments is at its highest since 2008, while views of Washington have plummeted to an all-time low, according to a new survey.
An engineering feat more than a century ago created a host of problems for communities that depend on Lake Michigan for their water. But those problems also present opportunities.
A bill to bar millions of Californians from smoking inside their own homes was rejected Wednesday by an Assembly committee.
Under an unusual arrangement dating back to 1948, information about the Boston-area transit agency's pension system doesn't have to be made public. That may soon change, and it ought to.
The company announced Wednesday, April 17th that Provo, Utah, will be the third city to have it's ultra-high-speed fiber network installed.
Most states rely on federal crews to fight fires from the air. But with those resources often stretched, Colorado wants to become the second state to respond to such emergencies on their own.
Western Governors Association wants the U.S. Forest Service to do more to protect millions of acres of federal forests ravaged in recent years by invasive pests and wildfires by expanding its use of public-private partnerships.
Since 9/11, law enforcement agencies have used federal grants to buy surveillance cameras for areas across the country plagued by crime or potentially targeted for terrorism.
Days after two bombs killed three and injured many more at the Boston Marathon, the state Assembly approved a bill that requires hosts of events expected to garner crowds over 2,500 to take certain medical precautions.
Critics of public charter schools have long suggested that they have an economic advantage over traditional public schools because they have attracted financial support from philanthropies.
Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy ordered the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services to provide media outlets with redacted case files of the 50 most recent cases involving 2012 fatalities or near-fatalities of children under their watch.
Non-violent felons will now be able to vote immediately after discharging their criminal sentences according to an amendment passed by the Senate removing a constitutional provision barring felons from voting for five years after the fulfillment of their punishments.
More than 30 other states and the Obama administration had joined Missouri in asking justices to give officers almost complete discretion in drawing blood samples without a warrant.
The medical prowess on display in Boston would not necessarily be duplicated if the bombings after the marathon occurred in another U.S. city.
Authorities say there's no indication the blast was anything other than an industrial accident, but they'll be investigating.
This year marks the second time the New Jersey governor made Time’s list of the world’s most influential people.
President Obama’s ambitious effort to overhaul the nation’s gun laws in response to December’s school massacre in Connecticut suffered a resounding defeat Wednesday, when every major proposal he championed fell apart on the Senate floor.
The sprawl of jobs outward from downtown areas slowed during the recession. View data for 100 metro areas.
It's conventional wisdom in Washington that voters won't support a gas tax hike or a vehicle miles traveled fee. A new study suggests that long-held belief is wrong.
Moody’s Investors Service announced its highly anticipated new ratings rules, which could result in downgrades for dozens of cities and school districts.
Faced with growing pension gaps, states and localities in recent years have reacted with sweeping reforms.
A new report by the Congressional Research Service finds that the Federal government may face an uphill legal battle if it wishes to enforce Federal laws banning Marijuana in states that have legalized it.
One of dozens of legislatures considering such bills this year, Kansas has joined the few states that require some recipients of public aid to take drug tests. Florida's law, meanwhile, has been halted by the court.
Pot backers took the first step toward getting the measure on the August 2014 primary ballot, presenting draft language and 100 signatures to the Alaska lieutenant governor's office.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg will appear with 19 state attorneys general in a public education campaign to encourage safer teen behavior online.
Nevada's approach to dispatching mentally ill patients has come under scrutiny since one of their clients turned up suicidal and confused at a Sacramento homeless services complex.
With no requirements for background checks on most private transactions, sites selling guns function as unregulated bazaars, where the essential anonymity of the Internet allows unlicensed sellers to advertise and people legally barred from gun ownership to buy.
The lawsuit — backed by local teachers unions and their parent organization, the National Education Association — marks the first time teachers have brought a legal challenge to new evaluation systems that base compensation and job security on student scores.
Sharp partisan disagreement over the cause of last fall’s meningitis outbreak became apparent as House Republicans accused the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of ignoring numerous warning signs about compounding pharmacies.
GOP lawmakers in both chambers said they felt forced to vote to expand Medicaid because of the added to costs residents if they didn't.
The issue is one of the most controversial issues remaining before the Legislature this year, and could affect whether tens of thousands of poor Iowans have insurance next year.
Anthony Weiner, the former U.S. congressman who resigned in 2011 after engaging in lewd online behavior, is running second among Democratic candidates for mayor of New York even though he hasn’t entered the race, a Marist College poll showed.
A little more than a month after the state’s Legislature made history by passing the earliest abortion ban in the nation, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed suit in federal court against the ban — arguing it flies in the face of Roe v. Wade.
Gov. Jay Inslee and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers want to stiffen drunken-driving penalties, charge suspects more quickly and even ban third-time offenders from buying alcohol for 10 years.
Plus: the misconception about failure and more management news
A tax-related research body took a look at how prominently states featured key tax data on their websites.
A new report shows that reducing penalties for prostitution and sending more defendants to diversion programs would decrease the practice and save the state money. A bill that would follow that recommendation is under consideration by the legislature.
Four of the biggest stakeholders in untapped deposits known as the Utica Shale have put up all or part of their acreage for sale, as prices fall by a third in some cases.
Gov. Jan Brewer’s budget proposal would permanently end state aid to indigent defendants while keeping the prosecutors’ portion of the program in place.
The governor wants to find out where the public thinks the tax code is broken and tailor a new one to fix it.
A specialized court for veterans struggling with addiction and mental illness in Hennepin County is largely considered a success in its first two years and should continue, according to a study.
A bill headed to the governor's desk would let Tennessee cities once again set up their own districts, provided they meet size requirements and have been approved by local voters.
The ruling prevents the state from closing the clinic while it has a federal lawsuit pending to challenge a 2012 law requiring the clinic’s physicians to have hospital privileges.
The Minnesota Senate is set to approve salary increases for legislators and the governor, who have had their pay frozen since 1999.
