Archive
The Bing administration proposed cutting the department's budget from $17.2 million to $8.6 million. The council voted 7-0 to put the department's budget to $15.5 million.
Under a new rule that may be the toughest in the nation, at least 15 Oregon schools must get rid of their Native American-themed mascots by 2017 or risk losing state funding. Supporters of mascot bans have long held that the names are racist and encourage students to develop stereotypes. Opponents say a ban will destroy traditions and waste money on purging the mascots from schools in times of tight budgets.
State and local governments have joined the fight against a House plan to stop collecting demographic data.
Minorities now account for the majority of babies in the U.S. View new estimates of minority children for each state.
Gov. Rick Perry has announced a string of endorsements in the upcoming elections, but he hasn't publicly supported the current House speaker, Joe Straus, who has been criticized in some quarters for not being conservative enough.
L.A. County Department of Public Social Services rings up $6.8 million in cost avoidance through the use of a detailed data mining and networking system.
Nearly 1,400 deceased individuals and more than 100 prisoners voted in MIchigan elections from October 2008 to June 2011, according to a report released by the Michigan state auditor's office this month.
The sheriff of Josephine County got ready to hand out pink slips for deputies and draw up release forms for jail inmates after voters rejected a property tax hike to make up for the loss of federal timber subsidies. Josephine County is among several Oregon counties trying to plug gaping budget holes after the expiration last year of a federal law that sent billions of dollars to rural counties across the country for a decade to compensate for losses in timber revenue on federal lands.
Maryland’s General Assembly passed the state’s first income-tax hike in five years, targeting six-figure earners to allow continued record spending on education and other Democratic party priorities.
For the first time in U.S. history, whites of European ancestry account for less than half of newborn children, marking a demographic tipping point that is already changing the nation's politics, economy and workforce.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who lost a March primary to fellow Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, had been considering whether to wage a bid in Washington, where the veteran Democratic congressman has a following and where there are three vacant House seats.
Chicago Public Schools plans to create 60 more charter schools over five years, which would increase the share of privately run charters to about a quarter of all schools in the district. The plan for charter growth, part of a larger proposal for 100 new schools over the same five years, is laid out in an application seeking $20 million for charter schools from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Georgia's General Assembly could abolish the state's income tax, but two local legislators said that isn't going to happen soon.
Who says public officials don't have a sense of humor? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (a Republican) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker (a Democrat) teamed up for a video presented at the New Jersey Press Association's Legislative Correspondents Club Show.
After more than two decades heading pension systems in Colorado and Kansas, Meredith Williams tells Stateline that Americans are woefully underprepared for retirement.
A Miami-Dade fire captain has been demoted down to firefighter as punishment for a rant, posted on his personal Facebook page, about the Trayvon Martin case, county officials said Monday.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's "Jersey Comeback" will need a comeback of its own now that a shortfall in state tax revenue threatens to upend his bold predictions that the economy will grow enough to pay for across-the-board income tax cuts next year.
Gov. Mary Fallin on Tuesday signed a measure allowing those with a concealed-carry permit to openly carry weapons. Senate Bill 1733 prohibits carrying firearms on properties owned or leased by the city, state or federal government, at corrections facilities, in schools or college campuses, liquor stores and at sports arenas during sporting events.
Personal income tax collections in states in April might have grown an average of more than 7 percent, but for some the increase may not be enough to ease budget crises.
Retired state appeals court judge Ellen Rosenblum defeated Dwight Holton, a former U.S. attorney who has criticized the state’s medical marijuana law, Tuesday in a Democratic primary race for attorney general.
Nebraska state Sen. Deb Fischer's stunning come-from-behind performance amounts to a warning flare about the volatility of the primary season and the unintended impact of outside groups.
The chairman of the New York Democratic Party said that he would resign next week, clearing the way for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to install his own leader atop the state organization.
Hundreds of millions of dollars meant to provide a little relief to the nation’s struggling homeowners is being diverted to plug state budget gaps.
With almost nothing at stake, Mitt Romney easily won primary contests Tuesday in Nebraska and Oregon, edging closer to formally clinching the GOP presidential nomination.
More than a year after Mayor Dave Bing launched a campaign to lure police and firefighters back to the city by selling rehabbed homes on the cheap, the program has sold six houses. Skeptics say it's a questionable use of $5 million in federal grant money that could be spent elsewhere.
Idaho’s new law makes a voter’s choice of a Republican or Democratic ballot a public record and requires an oral statement to pollworkers in front of other voters.
Legislation would require banks seeking city business to submit detailed local lending data.
In New York State, public entities and private, profit-driven financial firms hope to lead the charge into the future of digital health care.
The United States may lag behind in Web speeds, but Americans use the Internet far more than those in other countries.
Vendors must outline how they will complete nine specific tasks to construct the marketplace's digital infrastructure. The third story in Governing's ongoing series.
Plus: Life in the 'burbs, and more management news
A co-founder of Facebook who is the editor-in-chief of the liberal magazine The New Republic has offered a $100,000 matching gift to the state's campaign supporting same-sex marriage.
George Hooks, the dean of the Georgia State Senate whose district includes the home of President Jimmy Carter, announced he would not seek re-election after a 32-year legislative career.
Gov. Susana Martinez’s political organization raked in more than $77,000 during a five-week period, readying for a key election cycle in which Republicans hope to make gains in the Legislature.
Recent abuses in the GSA, the Secret Service and the ICE are reprehensible. But they're no reason to overhaul government policies.
Pedro Espada Jr. was convicted of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the nonprofit health care network he founded.
The school board approved a plan to cut up to 475 jobs, including about 230 teachers, 90 custodians and 14 bus drivers and transportation staffers. Some of the layoffs are a result of a recent school redistricting, others because of declining revenue.
Michigan's seven State Police crime labs could lose their accreditation this summer, potentially casting doubt on forensic evidence used statewide in prosecutions ranging from drunken driving to homicides.
Chicago Democratic leaders are forming an alternative party to put up a candidate in the November election against indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith, a Democrat who won the primary and has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of taking a $7,000 cash bribe.
Mayor Mike McGinn asserted that the scope of the federal plan for the Seattle Police Department could saddle the city with a "shadow mayor" and cost $41 million a year.
State and local governments are finding ways to cut spending while improving services. There are signs that the federal government is beginning to take notice.
Compare state spending for grants and need-based student aid.
See how much use tax states collect from income returns, along with the larger amount that goes uncollected.
Labor force participation rates have steadily declined in recent years. View totals for each state.
Infamy, or threat of it, proves effective revenue generator for many states.
"Eye in the Sky" is fast becoming a reality for many states and municipalities as they turn to unmanned vehicles -- or drones -- for a variety of uses.
Robert Duvall, Darren Jernigan, Bo Mitchell and Jason Potts are running for seats in the state House of Representatives this year after winning their council positions just nine months ago. If elected, each would face the choice of serving at least two years in both roles or giving up his council seat before the four-year term is halfway over.
The Department of Transportation has a message for California: Use your federal high-speed rail money or lose it. And if California can’t decide fast enough, any other state interested in claiming those funds might be out of luck — since the money will no longer be available after Sept. 30, according to a DOT official on Friday.
The Maryland legislature returns Monday for a three-day special session to approve a budget deal that includes income tax hikes on people making more than $100,000.
Traffic fatalities are hitting record lows for all drivers, but the drop among teen drivers is especially important, given that traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for teens.
Gov. Chris Christie wants New Jersey to be the first state to force nonviolent drug-addicted offenders into treatment instead of prison. But treatment providers question the fairness of giving criminals, especially those who don't want treatment, priority.
Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law a measure allowing some religious employers to opt out of covering prescription contraceptives as part of their health-care plans.
Faced with a financial crisis, the Alpine Town Council recently decided to eliminate the town's one-man Police Department. With no police force, the town will depend on the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department and the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
The U.S. Postal Service will never have a bright fiscal outlook, but it’s going to be vital to our communities and our economy for a long time to come. Should we just keep cutting, or is it time to rethink the mail from scratch?
Many states have experienced large drops in labor force participation since the recession began. View historical data for each state.
Weston, Fla., relies almost entirely on contractors to perform city work.
Rhode Island and its capital city of Providence face crushing pension-funding issues. They are stepping up big-time.
States are seeking to protect workers from discrimination for their family duties.
State and local officials are joining a broad coalition, spearheaded by the National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL) and the Ford Foundation, to push for a cultural shift toward extended school schedules for schools in low-income areas.
As technology improves, more and more businesses are using tax zappers to skim sales taxes.
Led by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the online primer aims to boost students’ knowledge of county government.
Many Americans are so mad that North Carolina passed a ban on gay marriage that they're calling for the Democratic National Convention to be yanked out of Charlotte.
James S. Alesi, one of four Republican state senators in New York who voted in favor of same-sex marriage last year, said that he would not seek re-election because he did not want to go through a difficult primary campaign and put Republican control of the State Senate at risk in November.
The state has found thousands of potential non-U.S. citizens on voting rolls and an analysis indicates a third could have voted in previous elections. But some of the voters say they’re lawful citizens who legally cast ballots.
The series of bills, centered around a bill called the Unemployment Insurance Accountability Act, makes it more difficult for individuals fired with cause to receive benefits. It also requires unemployment recipients to apply for at least three jobs every week or go to a local career center and then submit detailed information to verify these applications.
After years of defeat, a bill that would require parental consent before anyone 17 or younger could use a tanning bed could be headed to the legislative finish line in Missouri after a Senate committee gave its blessing to a House-passed bill.
Cities cannot regulate interest rates for payday lenders, but cities can restrict the growth of the businesses through zoning laws, which is what Ames has done. The new ordinance requires that payday lenders be more than 1,000 feet from schools, child care centers, other payday lenders, any land zoned for residential uses or any arterial street.
The underfunded College Illinois savings program was plagued by weak financial controls and conflicts of interest between top administrators and companies hired to invest millions from the prepaid tuition fund, according to a report issued by the state auditor general's office.
On the eve of the U.S. Justice Department's anticipated filing of a lawsuit alleging racial profiling by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Joe Arpaio unveiled the most public effort to overhaul the office since he took the job nearly 20 years ago.
President Barack Obama told ABC News Wednesday that he personally supports same-sex marriage. Within minutes, state and local officials and political candidates took to Twitter to stake out their positions on the president's first formal declaration of support for gay marriage.
Ohio voters back Gov. John Kasich's proposal to raise taxes on shale fracking and use the revenue for an across-the-board state income tax cut, a new poll indicates.
A much-needed study will evaluate the merits of transitional living programs.
Need-based state grant programs could increase college completion. Check out our map to see how much of your state's aid is based on fiscal circumstances.
The Milwaukee mayor won Tuesday's Democratic primary, setting up a June 5 rematch of his unsuccessful 2010 race against Gov. Scott Walker in a historic recall election.
The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles spent the last several months developing a new set of regulations to govern the operation and testing of "autonomous" vehicles and they've just awarded the first official driver's license based on those regulations to Google. That means the company can now test drive its cars on any public state roads.
The Senate bill seeks to peg increases in health care spending to the growth in the state economy. To help rein in spending, the Senate bill creates a Health Care Quality and Finance Authority, to set annual health care cost goals.
North Carolina has become the 31st state to add an amendment on marriage to its constitution, with voters banning same-sex marriage and barring legal recognition of unmarried couples by state and local governments. Incomplete returns show the amendment up 61.05 percent to 38.95 percent.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial recall election, dealing a blow to organized labor and setting up the June 5 race against Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
Sen. Richard Lugar was defeated in the Republican primary election by Treasurer Richard Mourdock, ending his bid for a seventh term in the U.S. Senate.
Ohio lawmakers repealed a controversial election bill that was supposed to go before voters on Nov. 6 -- the first known case in Ohio history in which legislators repealed a bill up for referendum.
The announcement came one week after Quinn's office told more than 40,000 child care providers that the state had run out of money and couldn't pay for their services for the final three months of the budget year, which ends June 30.
A bill to allow same-sex couples to form civil unions died, taking down more than 30 other measures with it in a dramatic game of political chicken in which no one would blink.
All 25 of the medical-marijuana stores in Colorado that received warning letters for being within 1,000 feet of schools have heeded the threat from the U.S. Attorney's Office and closed.
SB1172 would make it illegal for therapists and psychologists to provide so-called sexual orientation change therapy - also known as conversion or reorientation therapy - to minors and require them to obtain written consent from adults who wish to undergo the counseling.
Republican rivals in the race to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison showed some differences on taxes and immigration while bickering over attack ads that have dominated the contest.
A decade's worth of Florida vote counting has been tripped up by technology of all makes and models, despite a state certification process designed to guard against such problems.
U.S. traffic deaths dropped last year to their lowest level since record-keeping began in 1949, according to an estimate from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The National School Boards Association is organizing a national call-in day for school board members and other local officials to call their Congressional representatives and urge them to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Annual financial reports filed with the Labor Department by national and local unions show they gave nearly $16 million in contributions to more than a half-dozen umbrella groups, according to a review by The Hill.
With just seven weeks to go in the legislative session, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that he was determined to win passage of legislation overhauling the state’s response to the abuse and neglect of vulnerable residents. There was reason for him to be both optimistic and cautious
Rick Santorum endorsed presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney in an email to supporters, writing "the primary campaign certainly made it clear that Gov. Romney and I have some differences. But there are many significant areas in which we agree."
The amendment banning civil unions and same-sex marriage has spurred grass-roots action throughout the state and has helped drive early voters to the polls in record numbers. It has also revealed generational and urban-rural divisions.
Authorities last week charged a Nutley woman — her face looking scorched — with taking her 6-year-old daughter inside a salon booth. Meanwhile, lawmakers and health experts said they’re now trying to channel Patricia Krentcil’s notoriety into another cause: jump-starting a stalled bill that would ban anyone under 18 from using a tanning salon.
Gov. Jan Brewer has signed into law an $8.6 billion budget for next fiscal year that includes increases for certain education, public-safety and health programs but also puts $450 million into a "rainy-day fund."
A new locavore index ranked Vermont as the top state in its commitment to raising and eating locally grown food based on the number of farmers markets and community supported agriculture farms.
An intensive course over two weekends aims to provide townships and cities statewide with better protection.
For the third time since Californians embraced some of the strictest term limits in the nation 22 years ago, opponents are imploring voters to loosen them.
View an interactive map of more than 600 city halls throughout the country.
Fed up with tuition increases and frustrated by rejection at packed California universities, more high school graduates than ever are leaving the state to attend college.
District-wide initiatives in Kansas City, Mo., and Tulsa, Okla., have aimed to turn abandoned school sites into financial opportunities that will simultaneously improve the surrounding neighborhoods. Click to view our slideshow.
Tireless collaboration led to a revamped development process that promises to help revitalize Philadelphia.
Connecticut is poised to become the 17th state to permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes following final legislative approval in the Senate. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he intends to sign the measure, which would take effect Oct. 1.
Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law a bill that bans the state or any local government from using public money to contract with an organization that includes abortions in its services
Organized marijuana growers are shifting to the suburbs from rural and commercial areas, helped by a housing crisis that created a glut of affordable, spacious houses and a stream of new residents to previously more stable communities. Houses that sold for $1 million before the crisis have been turned into grow houses, equipped with the high-intensity lights, water and air-filtering systems necessary to produce potent, high-quality marijuana.
With Mitt Romney’s GOP presidential nomination all but decided, Ron Paul supporters took control of the Maine Republican Convention and elected a majority slate supporting the Texas congressman to the GOP national convention, party officials said. The results gave the Texas congressman a late state victory.
Vice President Joseph Biden's voicing of support for same-sex marriage on a talk show made him the highest-ranking government official to endorse same-sex marriage. But it may have put President Barack Obama, who does not support it, in an uncomfortable position.
With voting already underway for Tuesday's primary in this moderate Southern state, the discourse has been dominated not by candidates, but by a bitterly contested measure known as Amendment 1. If approved, it would be among the most restrictive of the marriage amendments passed in 30 states.
Precise figures on firearms sales don't exist. But based on the number of calls made to the FBI and Wisconsin Department of Justice for background checks related to firearms purchases, more guns are being sold this year than ever.
Local, state and federal authorities coordinated to collect a record number of used medications last Saturday. How much did your state collect?
The U.S. Justice Department released a letter saying Alabama's controversial immigration law had "significant and measurable" impacts on schoolchildren.
California bullet train officials Thursday approved the environmental impact studies for an initial section of high-speed track to be built from Merced to Fresno, a decision that sets the stage for possible legal challenges from powerful Central Valley farming interests.
The Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce and The Dickinson Press sponsored a measure to abolish property taxes in North Dakota.
Previous employment estimates showed local government cuts subsiding, but new figures tell a different story.
The state House and Senate gave final approval to an $11.2 billion budget and a $3.2 billion outlay for capital improvement projects, taking measured steps to restore money cut from programs during the recession while investing in construction intended to prod economic recovery.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld announced Thursday night that he will retire after 31 years with the police force, reports the Baltimore Sun.
A Colorado bill that would facilitate the prosecution of drivers operating under the influence of marijuana passed through a House committee Thursda, the Denver Post reports.
State and local governments say without federal funding, a bill working its way through Congress threatens to greatly increase the costs of reporting.
State officials shared insights on effective program evaluation at Governing's North Carolina leadership forum.
Newt Gingrich’s turbulent bid for the Republican presidential nomination ended Wednesday, closing a raucous chapter in the GOP race that saw the outspoken, often outrageous former speaker of the House of Representatives tumble rapidly from front-runner to also-ran.
Would a mandatory program for treating drug-addicted nonviolent offenders help or ensnare more people in the criminal justice system?
The banner that hung briefly from "Bank of Coal" stadium where the Democratic National Convention will be held in four months will test the local police's expanded powers to stop and search people in or near protests.
Local officials are urging Gov. Jan Brewer to veto a bill currently on her desk that would require local municipalities to hold their regular and special elections every two years to save money and increase voter turnout.
The scare caused by the release of dozens of exotic animals from an Ohio backyard menagerie last year is spurring a drive in Washington to put restrictions on the private possession of dangerous big cats.
A Nebraska city official has been charged with felony theft for allegedly taking nearly $1,000 from a fund for senior citizen meals and spending it at Victoria Secret and a liquor store, among other places, the Omaha World-Herald reports.
The campaign trail with Romney has felt like a series of tryouts lately as he tests the chemistry and optics of potential vice presidential picks.
If next year's enrollment projections for four soon-to-be-former Indianapolis Public Schools hold, the State Board of Education at its meeting guaranteed that the outside groups coming in to manage them will have that very dream scenario -- up to $6 million in extra cash.
Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett are locked in a dead-even race for governor, according to a poll released by Marquette University Law School.
Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield's office certified the Wyoming Country Party as the sixth recognized party in the state -- a new record. The other five currently recognized political parties in Wyoming are the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Americans Elect and Constitution parties.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon endorsed Rep. William Lacy Clay in his Democratic primary fight against Rep. Russ Carnahan.
UC San Diego student Daniel Chong, swept up in a raid with eight others, says he went without food, water and access to a toilet while in the cell. He spent five days in the hospital recovering from his ordeal.
Los Angeles has decided not to impound unlicensed drivers’ cars automatically. Checkpoints aimed at drunken drivers often turn up illegal migrants.
According to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, Zach Wyatt is now the only openly gay Republican currently serving in a state legislature in the United States.
Oklahoma, which executes more prisoners per capita than any other state, said on Wednesday it has only one remaining dose of pentobarbital, a key drug used to kill condemned prisoners. Oklahoma is the first state to publicly admit it has nearly exhausted supplies of the drug but other states may follow because of the European Union's ban on the sale of the drug.
A corrections agency’s effort to use data on what works to inform its professionals’ decisions promises better outcomes for those in its care.
Cities are pursuing "responsible banking ordinances" that encourage banks to lend more in order to compete for contracts.
Two Adams County residents received enough write-in votes in the primary to appear on the November general election ballot as Democratic candidates for the state General Assembly.
The Senate has redrawn its members’ districts, including an amendment that sets up a primary election showdown between two popular Wichita Republicans, Sen. Jean Schodorf and Rep. Brenda Landwehr.
Officials with the Ohio Department of Education recommended to the state auditor's office that the Monroe school district be placed into fiscal emergency, which would be a first for any Butler County school system.
West Virginia residents are “fed up” with rampant drug abuse, and proof came when they surrendered more than 2 tons of unwanted, unused or expired prescription medications across the state last weekend.
Balancing patient privacy rights and law enforcement’s access to prescription drug databases proves a difficult task, reports Stateline.org.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law two pieces of legislation to restrict late-term abortions and outlaw assisted suicide in the state. The first law makes Georgia the eighth U.S. state to outlaw most late-term abortions based on controversial research that a fetus can feel pain by that stage of development.
The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe into allegations that up to 80 complaints of sexual assault were not investigated thoroughly in a college town in Montana.
New York City public schoolteachers may not contact students through personal pages on Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, but can communicate via pages set up for classroom use, the city’s Education Department said after it released its first list of guidelines governing the use of social media by employees.
The online retail company last week inked deals with Texas and Nevada to begin collecting sales taxes on purchases. The company has brokered seven such agreements in recent months while bills to standardize collection of Internet sales taxes nationwide are mired in politics on Capitol Hill.
Thousands of protesters in New York demanded an end to income inequality and housing foreclosures. Police fired tear gas to disperse marchers in Oakland, Calif. And black-clad demonstrators smashed windows in Seattle.
Members of the state House of Representatives voted 73-17 for Senate Bill 2580, which calls for testing welfare recipients who fail a psychiatric screening meant to find indicators of drug use. The measure now goes to Gov. Bill Haslam for his signature.
Gov. Chris Christie told voters that if they support Gov. Scott Walker’s fight to stay in office amid a recall effort, their state can follow what he described as New Jersey’s path toward economic recovery.
If re-elected, U.S. Rep. John Dingell would become the longest-serving member of Congress in June 2013, surpassing former Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who died in 2010.
