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A Detroit-to-Canada bridge envisioned to make Michigan a hub of commerce and create thousands of jobs will be built with no cash investment by Michigan under an agreement. Canada will be responsible for the design, construction, finance, operation and maintenance of the New International Trade Crossing — but Michigan will retain significant control.
The bill allowed community colleges to opt out of a federal loan program. Democrats, who opposed the bill, objected to the override vote, calling it unconstitutional.
The high court is expected to take up the cases on an expedited basis. According to one estimate, as many as 33 candidates around the state could be affected by the result.
Lack of money is hampering some local governments’ efforts to demolish many abandoned housing units.
Indiana State Fair Commission officials say they have developed an emergency management plan that's among the best in the nation and addresses the chief concern raised about the Aug. 13 stage collapse at the State Fair: the lack of a clear chain of command.
How many housing units have been added in your county? View 2011 estimates released Thursday.
A year ago, states were discussing tax increases and spending cuts. This year, more states are debating the benefits of restoring services that were cut as a result of the recession.
A new study blames GASB policy for spurring state and local governments to make riskier investments.
Four states have already considered eliminating income or property taxes this year.
Nationwide, states spend $16 billion in taxpayer funds per year to incarcerate 246,600 prisoners over age 50, according to the report, "At America's Expense: The Mass Incarceration of the Elderly."
Federal prosecutors are pressuring landlords to shut down the shops or face possible loss of the real estate. While some states, including California, have legalized medical marijuana businesses, the federal government does not recognize their authority to do so.
It will be Maryland’s first referendum on a state law in 20 years. Under the state’s Dream Act, undocumented immigrants who can prove that they have attended Maryland high schools for at least three years and whose parents or guardians have filed taxes would be allowed to begin courses at community colleges at in-state rates.
Anticipating at least a partial Supreme Court victory, Gov. Jan Brewer updated her directive on how police in Arizona must be trained to implement the 2010 state law aimed at illegal immigrants.
In February, Washington became the seventh state (plus the District of Columbia) where marriage equality is the law. Under the state’s referendum law, however, the law is put on hold until voters decide its fate.
The portion of the bill striking "mentally retarded" would apply to the Social Security Act, which includes Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The new care option under Medicaid would mean better access to home- or community-based treatments for many young people with mental health needs.
Gov. Chris Christie to Democrats: No tax cut, no deal.
Spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said Gov. Rick Snyder won't use Michigan taxpayer money for the new public bridge to Canada that's expected to be formally announced Friday.
The state Department of Workforce Services has proposed a rule change that could penalize all household members of welfare recipients who refuse to take drug tests or get drug treatment if they test positive.
A GOVERNING data analysis finds metro areas with more walkers or cyclists are strongly correlated with healthier weights. View our detailed data for each community.
Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William Collette dismissed a legal challenge to the consent agreement brought by city of Detroit Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon.
For the second straight year, a national survey finds Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh hold an unflattering national distinction: Their tuition and fees are highest and second-highest respectively among public four-year schools.
Results for Governing's analysis correlating commuting habits with obesity rates.
The state's voters shied away from several controversies at the polls Tuesday, including bids to end property taxes and to prevent the University of North Dakota from dropping its “Fighting Sioux” mascot, Stateline reports.
50 percent of the state's voters have a favorable view of the governor -- a 4 percent increase since March and the first time a majority like Christie, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll.
Colorful former Lt. Gov. André Bauer and Horry County Council Chairman Tom Rice are headed to a runoff in the GOP primary in South Carolina’s new 7th district.
The two will go on to face the race frontrunner, Independent former Gov. Angus King, in the contest to replace retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe.
The win means the former senator will battle former governor Tim Kaine in November.
A proposal to require mandatory labeling on foods that contain genetically modified ingredients has collected enough signatures to qualify, along with a proposal to modify California's strict three-strikes sentencing law.
Legislation to allow a technology called microstamping has been opposed in several states, but proponents say it would aid identification of firearms used in crimes.
North Dakota voters were also set to allow the University of North Dakota to rename its controversial mascot, which critics say denigrates Native Americans.
Doctors will be barred from performing abortions 20 weeks after conception under a bill signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Veterans Affairs will add positions to its national workforce, including Miami, to help returning veterans facing mental challenges.
Synthetic marijuana, outlawed by state legislators in April but made available again after manufacturers altered its molecular structure, is once again illegal following an emergency ruling by the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy.
Georgia has rejected a Ku Klux Klan group's application to adopt a one-mile stretch of highway in North Georgia, setting up a likely First Amendment court fight.
Congress ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to create a plan for drones to fly in general airspace by September 2015, and states are competing to become one of six locations to help develop that plan.
More than a year after the nation's attention was focused on critically injured then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and those killed and wounded alongside her, the spotlight returned to southern Arizona as her former aide Ron Barber won the special election to serve out her remaining term.
Colorado and Massachusetts are moving quickly to repair and rebuild their deteriorating bridges. But there are lessons in the different ways they're paying for the work.
Projects that improved safety for drivers and pedestrians, eliminated major traffic snarls, and helped communities rebuild and recover from natural disasters were all recipients of top honors in the regional America’s Transportation Awards competition.
Voters approve moves that could save the city nearly $1 billion in the next 30 years, but labor groups question the mayor's role in the process.
Medicaid spending is expected to grow faster than any other health sector in the next 10 years, according to new federal projections.
But growing Medicaid costs remains a concern.
Arizona, Colorado and Tennessee have made major changes to the personnel policies that govern the public workforce.
Two decisions by the South Carolina Supreme Court — one in May and another earlier this month — removed more than 200 challengers for state legislature and local offices from today’s contests.
After the face-eating attack on a homeless man in Miami last month, law enforcement officials are calling for Florida to make it harder for manufacturers to circumvent existing bans on manmade drugs, including "bath salts."
Democrats and Republicans nationwide will be closely watching Tuesday's runoff election to decide who will finish the term of injured Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords -- a seat that is crucial for the Democrats' campaign to regain control of the House in November.
The Republican contenders for the seat are Rick Bennett, Scott D'Amboise, Debra Plowman, Bruce Poliquin, William Schneider and Charlie Summers. Democrats Cynthia Dill, Matthew Dunlap, Jon Hinck and Benjamin Pollard will appear on their party's primary ballot for U.S. Sen. Snowe's seat.
But it's too soon to tell how much money the retirements will save the university and what departments may be most affected.
With water bills on the rise even as consumers are being urged to use less, more than 70 percent of water companies either lack the funds to maintain aging infrastructure or have just enough to meet requirements, a new industry survey reports.
Campaigns and political groups can now receive donations through text messaging, thanks to a new ruling by federal election regulators that creates a new cash-gathering tool in this election year's race to raise unprecedented amounts.
Officials insist the proposal was not intended to censor casual or private conversations, but instead to crack down on loud, profanity-laden language used by teens and other young people in the downtown area and public parks.
Voters are set to decide Tuesday whether to make North Dakota the first state to eliminate local property taxes, but a businessman who helped put the constitutional amendment on the ballot conceded it could be walloped at the polls.
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell vetoed part of the General Assembly’s state spending plan and declared another section unconstitutional as an especially contentious budget process finally drew to a close.
City officials are preparing to dismantle the police department in Camden, which is routinely ranked as one of the most violent cities in the country, and contract with a planned county force that has the backing of Gov. Christie and Mayor Dana L. Redd.
The governor and the secretary of state say the Department of Homeland Security has refused to give the state a list of immigrants who have become citizens so the state can update its list to purge non-citizens from voter rolls.
In the last year, DOT workers have painted over nearly 23,000 square yards of graffiti and picked up nearly 6 million pounds of litter, often with the help of inmates, state transportation officials said. The state also has revived its Adopt-A-Highway program.
Chicago teachers countered Mayor Rahm Emanuel's aggressive approach to school reform with the most powerful weapon in their arsenal, giving overwhelming authorization for a strike if contract talks continue to flounder.
Human services officials have a lot of work to do to prepare for the return of war vets from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gov. Rick Scott says he’s determined to preserve the integrity of the voting process by eliminating noncitizens from the rolls, but a Herald/Times review of voter information from Florida’s largest counties has identified only six noncitizens as having voted so far.
The California bullet train is promoted as an important environmental investment for the future, but the heavy construction project would potentially harm air quality, aquatic life and endangered species.
Check the GOVERNING Data interactive for individual state trends in computer and television use by high school students.
A bill that cleared the New Jersey Senate last week would allow gun dealers to display actual firearms -- as opposed to photos -- at non-profit fundraising events, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel will name the members of a new board that will focus on getting the private sector to invest in public projects in Chicago.
Use of the stop and frisk program - in which police stop and question people they suspect of unlawful activity and frisk those they suspect of carrying a weapon - has risen dramatically during the Bloomberg administration, to 685,724 in 2011 from 160,851 in 2003.
The University of Virginia’s first female president, Teresa Sullivan, will step down this summer after just two years on the job because of an apparently abrupt rift between her and the school’s governing board over the direction of one of the nation’s premier public universities.
An outbreak of a less-common form of E. coli has sickened at least 14 people across six states and killed a 21-month old girl in New Orleans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. No source of the infection has been identified.
First responders and residents who were stricken with cancer after being exposed to the toxic ash that exploded over Manhattan when the World Trade Center collapsed would qualify for free treatment of the disease and potentially hefty compensation payments under a rule proposed by federal health officials.
President Barack Obama told voters to send Republicans to the principal’s office in his weekly radio address, calling on Congress to pass a measure to stop teacher layoffs that he first proposed last September.
Philadelphia property-tax delinquents piled up an additional $43.8 million in new debt over the last year, an increase of 9.3 percent in a single year, city records show. About 18 percent of all parcels in the city are in arrears -- no other big city in the nation approaches that level of property-tax delinquency.
The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to hear a case, effectively endorsing the decision of the Colorado Court of Appeals, which decided last year that medical-marijuana patients have no right to use cannabis.
States generally don’t measure whether the billions of dollars in tax breaks they hand out for economic development are working. But there are some worthwhile efforts under way.
Backed by $24 million in foundation funds, five cities are creating dedicated teams in their mayors’ offices to look for ways to fundamentally restructure how the cities do what they do. There is much to be learned from this ambitious effort.
The Minnesota Supreme Court plans to move quickly in determining whether to change or quash a constitutional amendment on voter ID before it appears on the November ballot.
Gov. Rick Snyder discusses the state's workforce, as well as his ideas for economic development.
Be it resentment toward the big city or the liberal-leaning urban electorate, mayors can't always connect with voters statewide. Just ask Tom Barrett.
Arizona has one of the country’s strictest set of requirements governing the sale of medical marijuana.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office plans to provide funding to the Mohave County sheriff to provide law enforcement patrols in a northern Arizona community with a polygamist enclave.
This week's failure of an effort to recall another Republican governor, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, was a factor in Michigan Rising's decision to halt its drive to collect signatures, spokesman Bruce Fealk said.
Despite the state’s decision to fight the feds over Florida’s noncitizen voter purge, elections supervisors say they won’t resume the program.
Anyone convicted of a felony loses his or her right to vote. But most can petition to have that right restored once their sentence is complete. Already this year, at least 238 felons in Tennessee have gotten their voting rights restored, according to the Tennessee Department of State. That number is expected to explode as the November election nears.
City officials were slapped with a stern warning from Lansing: Drop a lawsuit alleging that the consent agreement is illegal or face losing millions in revenue-sharing payments.
Counting the $80 million or more spent in the governor's recall race along with the $44 million dropped on state Senate recalls last summer and the additional money spent on the four Senate recall races and a lieutenant governor's recall contest this week, $125 million to $130 million was spent in 2011 and 2012 on recalls, says the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation that sets rules for public review of voted ballots — a bill supporters say is necessary to prevent chaos in the November election, but critics call a blow to open government.
Tuition and fees for in-state undergraduates at the University of Washington will go up to $12,401 for next year, a 16 percent increase.
A change intended to trim California's budget shortfall has meant a more than sixfold increase in ex-convicts who are off supervision.
A study of homeless adults housed by L.A. County's Project 50 suggests providing permanent housing to vulnerable populations saves local governments money.
Some cities are home to many stairways, often hidden from public view. We list some of the longest.
New medical image archive will reduce costs and make health care more efficient
Forty people signed up to run as third-party candidates in New Jersey’s Congressional race by the deadline on Tuesday
Families in the Midwest were most likely to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act's provision, while those in the South were the least likely, according to a new report.
Gov. Rick Scott’s election’s chief defiantly refused a federal demand to stop purging non-citizens from Florida’s voter rolls, intensifying an election-year confrontation with President Barack Obama’s administration as each side accuses the other of breaking federal law.
Washington's gay marriage law was blocked from taking effect, as opponents filed more than 200,000 signatures seeking a public vote on the issue in November.
The League of Women Voters said they are ready to resume their interrupted registration efforts just days after winning a federal injunction against Florida.
The City Council overwhelmingly voted in favor of the tanning bed ban in a move the sponsoring alderman said is aimed at protecting children from cancer.
California's partisan divide will probably remain after Tuesday's primary, when few centrists saw electoral success amid extremely low turnout.
Money's tight. So why don't governments work to determine how to get the best bang for their transportation buck?
Other states are pursuing similar actions, as the case reaches federal court.
Here are 7 things to consider before cutting retirees' cost-of-living allowances.
Californians on Tuesday were split over whether to raise tobacco taxes for the first time in nearly two decades, early returns showed.
Democrats appeared to have assumed control of the state Senate with results posted early Wednesday showing former Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) defeating incumbent Van Wanggaard in a tight race.
In the first recall in U.S. history in which an incumbent governor retained office, Wisconsin chose to keep Gov. Scott Walker, who sparked the election by eliminating most collective bargaining for most public employees.
Turnout was heavy throughout the state as Wisconsin voters packed the polls to decide the historic gubernatorial recall election.
Californians approved a change to term limits for state lawmakers, but a measure to raise tobacco taxes for the first time in nearly two decades was in trouble, voting returns showed late Tuesday.
A Republican city councilman who championed a ballot measure to cut pensions for city workers advanced to a November runoff against a liberal Democratic congressman to become the next mayor of San Diego.
The cost of New York City’s program has nearly doubled in six years, and there governmental oversight of the contractors running it has often been lax.
The results aren't surprising because the presidential candidate, who spent the day stumping for Latino support in Texas, has effectively claimed the nomination.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the vast majority of states participating in its National School Lunch Program have opted to order ground beef that doesn't contain the product, known in the industry as lean finely textured beef. Only three states — Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota— chose to order ground beef that may contain the product.
It's a time-honored ritual for high-school students: flouting authority one last time before graduation. But this year, the senior prank has been no laughing matter at schools around the country.
Rep. Bill Pascrell crushed Rep. Steve Rothman in a member vs. member primary in New Jersey on Tuesday, ending his longtime friend’s eight-term run in the House.
Scott Walker on Tuesday became the first governor in the country's history to survive a recall election that was a rematch of the 2010 race, when Walker beat Tom Barrett by nearly 6 percentage points. Turnout Tuesday was higher than it had been 19 months earlier, and Walker was leading by 7 percentage points with 96% of the vote counted.
Voters and public officials are reporting long lines at many Wisconsin polling places Tuesday -- with Dane County Clerk Karen Peters calling the local turnout "just wild" so far.
Utah's former CIO Steve Fletcher says cybersecurity is everyone's job.
Due to an extreme rise in the prescription of powerful psychiatric drugs for adolescents, Minnesota will start requiring doctors to seek psychiatrists' help before prescribing such medication for children.
To win reelection, the president almost certainly will have to carry Wisconsin again this fall.
The feds want cities to stop dumping sewage into lakes and rivers -- but the work will cost local governments billions of dollars.
Fatality statistics show which states have the highest injury risk
Minority children population totals show demographic shifts in states
But with so few undecided voters left, the biggest question mark remaining is the composition of the electorate.
Even before supporters of Rep. Ron Paul grabbed headlines by winning control of the Nevada GOP, top Silver State Republicans had moved to build a separate organization to boost down-ballot candidates.
Whether to legalize marijuana will be on the Colorado ballot in November. President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney have identical stances on pot legalization -- they oppose it.
The New York Police Department, the mayor and the city’s top prosecutors endorsed a proposal to decriminalize the open possession of small amounts of marijuana, giving an unexpected lift to an effort by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to cut down on the number of people arrested as a result of police stops.
Pain patients and many doctors say they are feeling the backlash from a recent crackdown against pill abuse, which they fear lumps legitimate patients in with drug-seeking addicts, and legitimate prescribers with pill-pushing doctors.
Four have been sold to private operators in the last 18 months, and some within the industry suspect that the remaining 16 aren’t far behind.
Oregon's state schools Superintendent Susan Castillo announced that she'll be quitting at the end of the month to take a job at a national education nonprofit, giving Gov. John Kitzhaber unprecedented control over education in Oregon because of a 2011 law that eliminated the statewide elected school superintendent at the end of Castillo's current, third term or at her resignation.
New rules call for the top two finishers in nearly all state and federal races to face off in November regardless of party. Voters will decide on a tobacco tax hike and changes in term limits.
Transit ridership is up 5 percent compared to this period a year ago.
Colorado will test ways to lower the cost of Medicaid under a new law signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
A nonprofit hopes to turn an abandoned, underground streetcar station into a new type of development in Washington, D.C.
Learn who won Tuesday's historic elections, why Gov. Scott Walker was almost ousted, how the outcome could have a nationwide impact, and more.
PPP's final poll on the Wisconsin recall finds Scott Walker ahead, but also a race that's tightening.
Missouri data warehouse unites taxpayer data to maximize yields for state coffers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced a $25 million grant to help states improve and develop more Aging and Disability Resource Centers, which help low-income adults remain in their communities by using local home health care services.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo plans to ask legislators for a change in New York State law that would drastically reduce the number of people who could be arrested for marijuana possession as a result of police stops.
Some of the nation’s top public universities are prodding dallying students toward the graduation stage, trying to change a campus culture that assumes four-year completion is the exception rather than the rule.
State Senator Thomas K. Duane, who first burst onto the political scene two decades ago, when he disclosed during a successful bid for City Council that he was H.I.V. positive, and later made his mark as the first openly gay member of the Senate, has decided not to seek re-election.
A ballot initiative to impose a new $1-a-pack cigarette tax to finance cancer research has provoked a $47 million storm of advertisements, overwhelmingly financed by the tobacco industry, which is outspending proponents by nearly four to one to defeat the biggest threat it has faced in California in more than a decade.
Among the leading ideas: Taxing drivers for how many miles they travel rather than how much gasoline they buy.
A gruesome and bizarre incident in which one man chewed off most of another man’s face in Miami last month is spurring Congressional action to federally ban a powerful synthetic drug police say might have incited the cannibalistic crime.
On the eve of Tuesday’s Wisconsin gubernatorial recall vote that has become a proxy for the national election, labor organizers and Democrats remain plagued by missteps, internal squabbles and money woes that could reverberate into November.
The first six months of the casino era in Massachusetts have been hampered by controversies and false starts, proving that little is easy when it comes to launching a new industry with billions of dollars at stake.
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald will submit legislation to county council seeking approval for construction of a mock oil-and-gas production facility.
The city has established an office that is dedicated to finding real savings, and it’s is paying for itself in the process.
Global forces are pushing governments to work together as never before, and especially to take advantage of IT-enabled economies. There is much to be gained.
Stronger vetting and enrollment reductions are two likely outcomes, analysts say, while the fallout for early state adoption efforts is unclear.
Budget belt-tightening has put the cost of 311 calls under a microscope. And while few cities would contemplate pulling the plug on these popular systems, many are looking for ways to rein in expenses.
As North Carolina lawmakers consider opening up the state to hydraulic fracturing, the controversial method used to extract natural gas from shale deposits, a good government group says that natural gas-related industries are unduly influencing the debate.
Employers added few jobs, while government employment remained mostly unchanged last month.
Tourism and budget cuts have dictated, and in some cases shortened, the school year in a number of states. But a growing movement thinks students need more time in school, according to Stateline.org.
For the first time since 1980, property tax revenue and state aid to cities across the United States are shrinking simultaneously, the Pew Charitable Trusts said in a report.
A federal judge temporarily blocked parts of Florida's new election law that places restrictions on voter registration drives, saying the provisions were harsh and impractical and imposed requirements that served little - if any - purpose.
Reaction to the proposed ban — the first in the nation — to prohibit the sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces came from many fronts, falling along two general tracks. The idea was either sound health policy rooted in research, or a perfect illustration of a supersize government gone too far.
