Archive
California's campaign finance watchdog sued an Arizona nonprofit group, escalating the battle over a controversial $11-million political donation.
Denver's crime-mapping website, which allows residents to see what crimes have occurred on their street as recently as 24 hours previous, has been missing more than 12,000 crimes because of a computer error.
Republican Mike Pence and Democrat John Gregg clashed over their visions for Indiana and their records.
In another win for the Christie administration in its battle to hold down school spending, a state appeals court panel said Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf has the right to impose salary caps on New Jersey’s public school superintendents.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld the state’s new voter identification requirement, but it also agreed to let voters in Memphis use new library cards at the polls.
Texas authorities have threatened to arrest international election observers, prompting a furious response from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
After a string of court victories for voter ID foes, those laws are now likely to have minimal impact on the presidential race.
Geographic analysis measures compactness of each congressional district.
Governments aren't very good at picking business winners with grants, loan guarantees or tax breaks. They'd do better if they realized their limitations.
Instead of simply preselecting private- or public-sector employees, managed competition means projects can be put out for bid with both groups competing for work.
New York has been reluctant to embrace technology when it comes to counting votes. Could the state’s hesitation be the source for its recent election debacles? For full election coverage, go to Governing's null
Cleveland has started a yearlong series of forums on race relations to educate citizens and city leaders.
Companies view the new state health exchanges as a viable alternative to employer-based support, according to a new report.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal doesn’t even bother working with the state Legislature. Does it matter?
Seven years after federal courts took control of California's prison healthcare system, they will start the long process Friday of turning operations back over to the state.
McDowell County may be the first rural community to build housing to attract young teachers. It could be a model for other counties facing waning populations and crumbling infrastructure.
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the State System of Higher Education's long-term credit rating, citing challenges from declining enrollment and slumping state support to its limited ability to curb labor costs and its escalating construction debt.
A comprehensive solution to replenish municipal coffers has yet to emerge.
An audit of the U.S. Department of Education’s division overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars in charter-school funding has criticized the office for failing to properly monitor how Arizona and other states spend the money.
The three-year contract will cost the district an average of $74 million per year.To accommodate that, the district plans a number of financial moves, including refinancing bonds and selling buildings and vacant land.
The candidates for North Carolina governor concluded their third and final televised debate with more subdued disagreements over taxes, education, health care and mental health.
The Department of State has launched a new website for voters to report allegations of voter fraud and other election improprieties (which will be forwarded to Pa counties for investigation).
A separate error has resulted in Maryland elections officials mailing to absentee voters in the Washington area at least 15 ballots missing a page to vote on the state’s high-profile ballot measures, including same-sex marriage, an expansion of gambling and in-state tuition breaks for illegal immigrants.
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is hoping to help arm issuers with more information before they borrow money.
Nearly every state has a program to track prescription drugs, but most lack the technology to keep up. Pilot programs in Indiana and Ohio may change that.
The battle between the states and the U.S. House of Representatives over the definition of marriage could signal federalism’s future.
An internship program in Georgia is hoping to open young minds to a career in public service.
Millions of millennials will soon be putting down roots. Cities and suburbs that are less attractive to them have a limited window to turn things around.
The latest market for gaming isn’t in the suburbs anymore; it’s downtown, where developers are retrofitting existing buildings and changing the casino as we know it.
Elections and governance have become so intertwined that it’s hard to know when campaigns begin or end. We do know we need big ideas.
Changes in its political system may point the way for it to meet financial challenges.
Washington, D.C., one of the most congested cities in the country, is testing technology that could ease traffic gridlock.
A decade after a federal court judge ordered New Jersey to stop enforcing a controversial residency requirement for state legislative candidates, Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa is fighting to reinstitute it.
State taxes, which are closely tied to the federal tax code, could change dramatically depending on the outcome of the election.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed adding 60 charter schools over five years, which would increase the share of charters to about a quarter of all public schools in Chicago.
The election was the state's first vote for a charter school under the law, which gave parents the power to petition for such charter conversions, staff overhauls or other sweeping changes at low-performing schools.
The third disclosure of errors in election materials in less than two weeks by the Maricopa County Recorder's Office has built into a whirlwind of local and national controversy, with some critics alleging the two most recent mistakes could suppress Hispanic-voter turnout.
Raul Ramirez knows he will lose money, but offering free taxicab fares to voters who otherwise can’t get to a polling place is, in his view, a small price to pay for democracy.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have donated $500,000 to the campaign to legalize gay marriage in Washington state.
Gov. Terry Branstad suggested letting Iowa taxpayers decide whether they want to pay a flat tax rate or deduct federal taxes under the existing tax system.
The pharmacy linked to a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak repeatedly failed to follow standard safety and quality procedures, including waiting for results of sterility tests on its injectable steroid before shipping them to doctors and maintaining sterile conditions.
College tuition went up again this year, but two reports released today by the College Board show that institutions are not increasing tuition at the same rates they were in recent years.
Indiana was the first state to deny Planned Parenthood the Medicaid funds for general health services including cancer screenings.
As Kansas lawmakers consider making it easier to open a casino, public health advocates are assessing the residual health effects.
Will the 2012 elections lead to big power changes in the state legislatures?
A new report examines redrawn Congressional districts, highlighting ones with unusual boundaries.
It will soon be illegal for a student to bully a teacher online in North Carolina, under an expansion of the state's cyberbullying law that may be the first of its kind in the country.
But if a write-in files to run in the general election, the primary remains closed.
Thirteen states choose their top education official in a partisan campaign. Some people think that makes little sense, but it’s very hard to change.
Heavy hitters in Minnesota are bundling massive amounts of cash for President Obama's re-election battle, with a handful of well-known names raising more than $100,000 apiece, much of it to be spent elsewhere in the campaign's crucial final weeks.
Labor unions long legendary for their powerful get-out-the-vote machines face an unprecedented test this year, as unfettered conservative groups spend record sums on campaign ads and newly minted ground operations.
The remark stakes new ground for the president, who has said he wants to avert the sequester cuts by taking a "balanced" approach to solving the budget debacle — meaning he will not sign off on a deal that cuts spending, but doesn't increase revenues.
Kansans pay more sales tax on groceries than everyone in the country except residents of Mississippi.
Unions are shifting more of their political resources to state and local races this year as they try to head off passage of laws that could undermine bargaining rights, make it harder to organize or reduce their political muscle.
Ken Cuccinelli called for the upcoming General Assembly to consider legislation that would provide investigative authority to the Attorney General’s Office in relation to vote tampering and voter fraud.
A convicted child killer's application for an absentee ballot in Rhode Island has led to the resignation of two city officials in Cranston who refused to approve his request.
Whether food is locally or nationally distributed, public health officials face a growing challenge to ensure the safety of what you eat.
The role of government is rapidly evolving. Building the workforce that will be needed requires new approaches.
Massachusetts, the first state to get approval to coordinate care between Medicaid and Medicare, based its plan on two existing programs that have shown positive results.
The report cards reflect the raised bar for proficiency the state has adopted to be in line with a respected national exam.
Next year, when a new county police force starts patrolling Camden, replacing an embattled city department, residents will see many new faces beyond the armed officers.
Local governments have placed more than 230 revenue-raising proposals on the ballot -- a number that's consistent with past elections, but this time, they need the money for essentials rather than extras.
A closely watched fight over how Texas funds its public schools heads to court, where rich schools, poor schools and charter schools will try to convince a judge to declare the system unconstitutional.
Arizona already bars public funding for most abortions, but the new law would go beyond that by barring public funding for general health care services provided by abortion clinics and doctors.
While single-sex schools are usually private schools, the concept is gaining steam among public schools.
The federal judicial district that includes metro Atlanta now ranks among the top districts in the country in corruption convictions.
Florida Republicans are feeling increasingly optimistic that Mitt Romney will carry the biggest of swing-state prizes and for good reason – he’s narrowly leading in most every poll here and President Barack Obama is under 50 percent in the same surveys.
Immigration, the sheriff’s signature issue, is responsible for attracting much of the national money pouring in on both sides of the race.
An Obama administration plan to install new cameras and improved ground sensors along the Southwest border has stalled, potentially creating unnecessary dangers for agents there.
Evaluating teachers based on students' test scores isn't a perfect way to identify the best and the worst. But test scores should be part of the process.
A recent EPA assessment found that Illinois has the fourth-highest need in the country for drinking water infrastructure improvements and the sixth-highest in the need for wastewater infrastructure improvements.
A proposal to revamp the way California handles its budget and web of state regulations is running into opposition from politicians, unions and various activists who say it would only worsen Sacramento's dysfunction.
The late Texas state Sen. Mario Gallegos' name will still appear on the ballot in November, and if he wins, Gov. Rick Perry will call a special election to fill his seat.
Jobless rates dropped in most swing states last month. View updated data for all 50 states.
A San Bernardino County judge ordered Adelanto's school board to stop stalling and grant the charter school petition of parents in the Desert Trails Elementary School.
While advocates for early childhood education applauded the announcement, a legislative budget writer said Perdue was undermining the legislature’s ability to pay future Medicaid bills.
The new rules also explicitly state what Texas officials have long claimed — that the Women’s Health Program will be canceled if a court compels Texas to include Planned Parenthood or any organization that provides abortions or promotes the procedure.
The case of the Bangladeshi man who has been charged with attempting to blow up the New York Federal Reserve Bank raises some troubling questions related to the international-student process.
Virginia’s health commissioner abruptly stepped down over new regulations requiring abortion facilities to meet strict, hospital-style building standards that many clinics contend they cannot afford.
Andrew Cuomo said that nothing he did on President Barack Obama’s behalf should be viewed as evidence that he was laying the groundwork for a presidential run of his own.
By using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software the city has overhauled a time-consuming process to save time and money while making the city safer.
The Pennsylvania Legislature has sent a bill to the governor that would dramatically reduce sentences for juveniles convicted of murder, seeking to bring the state in line with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a request from Alabama to revisit its decision in U.S. v. Alabama, which invalidated several areas of the state's immigration law
The debate raises moral and ethical questions that lie at the heart of end-of-life care, including what constitutes living, what medical care is normal and what is extraordinary, and who decides how and when life should end.
Jefferson County, Alabama, the biggest U.S. municipality in bankruptcy, does not have to immediately face a lawsuit over its decision to close the emergency room of its money-losing hospital for the poor, a judge ruled.
Federal authorities running a sting operation arrested a 21-year-old Bangladeshi man, who came to the U.S. on a student visa and was allegedly planning to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with what he believed was a 1,000-pound bomb.
As Chicago struggles to quell gang violence that has contributed to a jump in homicides,
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle wants to tax the sale of every bullet and firearm — an effort even she acknowledges could spark a legal challenge.
When the Florida Board of Education voted this month to set different goals for student achievement in reading and math by race and ethnicity, among other guidelines, the move was widely criticized as discriminatory and harmful to blacks and Hispanics.
The violent crime rate went up 17% last year, ending a general decline in violence that began nearly 20 years ago.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is forming a super-PAC will spend at least $10 million promoting his top priorities — gun control, education policy and gay marriage — while helping centrists get elected to Congress.
The Newark Teachers Union has reached a historic deal with the state that will make the district the first in New Jersey to offer bonuses based on how teachers perform in the classroom.
The U.S. Department of Justice last month urged the bureau to adopt reforms after its extensive inquiry found it engaged in a "pattern and practice" of excessive force against people with mental illness.
A Governing survey finds most state and local officials believe the president's policies support their government, but far fewer feel the same way about Congress.
Lots of people get elected by voters who didn't look at their names but instead voted by choosing all candidates from one party or another.
Montana’s next governor must capitalize on the current oil boom, build infrastructure to keep it going and develop industries that will make Montana less susceptible to market highs and lows.
The U.S. Supreme Court handed President Obama another victory in the critical battleground state of Ohio by refusing to block a lower federal court ruling requiring the state to keep its doors open during the last three days before the Nov. 6 election for in-person early voting.
Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson is legally entitled to be the court's next leader and the state's first black chief justice.
A voting rights group and some of the nation’s leading researchers on election technology are urging Maryland voters to check the accuracy of their online voter registration files after warning that the data had been left vulnerable to tampering.
Jennifer Granholm was among liberal pundits who expressed disappointment in Obama for not mentioning the assistance that was given to the auto industry in his first debate with Romney.
The North Carolina candidates for governor held a sharp-edged debate, clashing over ethics, race, taxes and education before a statewide television audience.
A plan to provide official photo identification cards for illegal immigrants moved easily through a Los Angeles City Council committee with an array of supporters lauding it as a practical way to incorporate into civic life the area's large undocumented population.
Democrat Jay Inslee and Republican Rob McKenna sparred over education funding, immigration and transportation in their last debate of the governor's race.
Recent census data indicates bicycle commuting has jumped in some cities far more than others. View interactive data maps for more than 400 localities.
Interactive map shows changes in bicycle commuting for more than 400 communities
The resistance is forcing state and local governments that have embraced wind, with strong Obama administration backing, to pay closer attention to where wind farms are located and how they impact surroundings.
When lawmakers decided to charge inmates $100 a year for medical treatments, they expected it to help plug holes in the prison budget. But critics of the new policy say the result is less health care for sick inmates.
New Jersey's first medical marijuana dispensary has been cleared to begin selling the drug to patients who register with the state Department of Health.
Baldwin Hills residents challenge study that found no significant environmental impact from method used to extract oil trapped in rock formations.
Interactive map shows prevalence of riding bicycles to work in U.S. cities.
Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and the Obama administration's top transportation official said that they want to see progress on stalled legislation to overhaul mass transit in metro Detroit by the end of the year.
The District’s chief tax appraiser resigned amid controversy over reductions in the proposed assessments of hundreds of commercial properties that cut the city’s tax base by $2.6 billion.
Teachers in North Shore School District 112 have called a strike after a seven-hour negotiating session failed to produce a contract settlement.
Pennsylvania State University had its credit outlook revised to negative by Standard & Poor’s, which cited financial liabilities tied to Jerry Sandusky, the former coach sentenced Oct. 10 for sexually abusing minors.
A San Francisco suburb banned smoking in duplexes, condominiums and other multi-family homes, with city leaders saying they hoped to lead a wave of such regulations across California and ultimately the country.
Fueled in part by efforts to qualify for the Obama administration’s Race to the Top federal grant program or waivers from the toughest conditions of No Child Left Behind, the Bush-era education law, 36 states and the District of Columbia have introduced new teacher evaluation policies in the past three years.
Massachusetts, the first state to get approval to coordinate care between Medicaid and Medicare, based its plan on two existing programs that have shown positive results.
The health crisis, which has led to more than 200 infections, could lead to shift from state to federal oversight of compounding pharmacies.
Cuts to federal criminal justice grants will mean that substance abuse programs, victims’ advocates, drug task forces and other law enforcement programs could be eliminated now or in the near future.
After the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas' chief scientist announced his resignation in May, the agency's eight principal scientific reviewers all followed suit last week.
A ballot measure to legalize limited possession of marijuana in Colorado continues to lead in the latest Denver Post poll on the question, but it has dropped below 50 percent support.
Universities can proceed with their efforts to scan books, not just because of the ability to search, but because of the huge benefits to blind students.
Online registration systems have dramatically boosted voter sign-ups in the dozen states that allow citizens to register to vote over the Internet.
Companies with a stake in Question 7, which would allow a casino in Prince George’s County, had reported ponying up more than $47 million. That’s on pace to exceed candidate spending in the state’s past two governor’s races combined.
U.S. states are stepping up scrutiny of the company at the center of a deadly meningitis scare, with two states accusing it of violating licensing rules and several others starting investigations of its activities.
Traditional approaches reward activities, not results. Some innovative new approaches aim to turn that around through creative financing.
If current trends hold, the Democrats could net one AG seat this year, which would be a small improvement from the 2010 elections.
A state Supreme Court ruling in the spring seems to give the city more power to challenge an organization's tax-exempt qualifications.
A new study found that 241,000 people in Washington were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession since 1986, costing $306 million in law-enforcement costs, adding fuel to a campaign seeking to make this state the first to legalize recreational marijuana sales.
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker have dropped their endorsements of a Wisconsin lawmaker who said that his father had told him "some girls, they rape so easy" as a way to warn him that women could consent to sex but then later claim they hadn't.
A federal appeals court decided it is unconstitutional to toss out ballots that are cast in the incorrect voting precinct due to poll-worker error.
New tests of water surrounding natural-gas-drilling sites near Pavillion, Wyo., have turned up results that are "generally consistent" with earlier findings showing a link between contamination and hydraulic fracturing.
As the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging race-conscious admission to public colleges, university officials across the country watched for clues to where the court might go while contemplating what steps schools might take if the court changed the state of the law.
With the city’s first teachers strike in 25 years in the rear view mirror and a new contract to be implemented, Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard is out by “mutual agreement” with City Hall after just 17 months on the job.
Auditor of State Dave Yost said the declaration was made because the city failed to submit a feasible fiscal recovery plan that was acceptable.
Data shows how jobs requiring high educational attainment lead to a state's economic prosperity.
Milwaukee County hopes that radar detection coupled with new signage will stop wrong-way drivers in their tracks.
Local governments are leading the way in engaging the public in decision-making. More and more, technology is the key.
When the elections are over, a new crop of leaders will face the same old challenges. Let's hope they will approach those challenges with new thinking.
Reforms are largely the result of a final subway crash in Washington, D.C.
The Minneapolis experiment, which started in 2008, could serve as a model for other cities.
Women's access to affordable health care will be reduced if the state follows through with its plan to eschew federal funding for the Women’s Health Program and create a state program instead, according to a new study from George Washington University.
The city of Oakland took the unusual step of filing a suit in an attempt to stop the federal government from seizing and closing down one of the largest medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
Only 745 people in Utah have applied for deferred action and temporary work permits under President Barack Obama’s directive aimed at illegal immigrants brought to the United States as young children.
On the campaign trail, Republican Congressman Mike Pence, Democrat John Gregg and Libertarian Rupert Boneham have found much to agree on, with the differences largely in the details.
Pittsburgh would lose its designation as a financially distressed city -- and shed one of its two oversight boards -- if the state concurs with the recommendations of Act 47 coordinators Jim Roberts and Dean Kaplan.
In the battle for control of the Senate, this state would seem to have everything Republicans could dream of: a shift to red up and down the ballot in 2010, a Republican governor who decisively survived a recall effort a few months ago, and a local son turned vice-presidential nominee.
South Carolina became the fourth state to be blocked from requiring voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot in the Nov. 6 election.
It means looking in four directions for creative solutions to pressing problems. Innovation delivery teams in several cities are pioneering the process.
The effect of higher federal taxes and sequestration cuts on state budgets and revenue.
Virginia and Maryland municipalities are likely to be hardest hit by defense spending cuts set to take effect in January.
