Archive
The Government Finance Officers Association has issued a list of best practices for public pensions. These measures should be adopted nationwide.
After Hurricane Katrina, it was collaborative leadership that returned order to New Orleans and improved rescue and recovery efforts.
Water power from Holyoke, Mass.'s surrounding canals will eventually power an $80 million high performance computing center.
A small Texas town has turned civic participation into an online game, complete with virtual currency.
During layoffs, the effect of 'bumping rights' on the workplace is more than demoralizing.
Nationwide, public officials scramble to change new-hire benefits formulas.
Big city airports need federal regulations to help weather airline instability.
Financial, policy and political problems are hurting efforts to fix our infrastructure.
Tax season is a good time to examine how citizens interact with government.
State and local leaders face a severe challenge in dealing with the short-term recession while at the same time planning for future fiscal burdens.
Here's a sampling of some courses and publications designed to educate young citizens about how government works.
Government doesn't have the capacity to do all the good that is required. The solution: "increasing capacity."
Reviews of the way public pensions measure their ROI and account for liabilities could have a major impact on state and local budgets.
Are you ready to tell your constituents that their government created more than 46 billion pounds of global warming-causing greenhouse gases?
Plus: Overworked Officers, Unanticipated Outcomes, And More
As Congress debates extending BABs, it's time to weigh in with letters and phone calls.
The road to fiscal sanity requires the kind of big changes that our current democratic system makes difficult.
California's pension-limitation ballot initiative hits a wall with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and prominent gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.
Obvious but rarely used strategies to good governance and future decision-making.
Contingency fee contracts are becoming hot, but have their limits.
The experiment could help states cut the cost of protecting sensitive government information.
Economic recovery will be slow, subduing any ambitions state and local governments may harbor to play a role in shaping national policy.
Assumptions about return rates and risky investments foreshadow big problems.
Environmental regulations have transformed California's economy but it's not always clear if the result was positive.
Across the nation, governors are slashing and consolidating boards, commissions and agencies as part of a larger effort at reforming government.
Plus: The magic of checklists, the non-jobs effects of the stimulus, and more
Savings, improved services can be realized by discarding old, erroneous ways of thinking for new ways of thinking.
Though troubling, the recently leaked video of a Springfield, Mass., police officer beating an apparently helpless suspect with a metal flashlight while three other officers...
In this era of instant climate information from The Weather Channel, Weatherunderground.com and Accuweather.com, the United States' 49 state climatologists might seem like dinosaurs....
Tax collectors might not be the most popular government officials, but as Arizona recently discovered, they might be the very worst to cut in a...
Sexting is a source of angst for parents and public schools. But should it be a crime?
That's the question that, almost overnight, state after...
For years, California cities have debated whether their city treasurers should be elected or appointed officials. Now a new paper provides empirical evidence as to...
Did you know smoking costs the U.S. economy more than $193 billion each year? This includes $96 billion in health-care costs and $97 billion in lost productivity,...
Green-minded consumers looking for certified energy-saving alternatives can find the Energy Star logo on products such as refrigerators, freezers, light bulbs, TVs and windows, to...
In a year when Republicans are expected to make gains, the best hopes for Kansas Democrats are two unlikely candidates: Though Dennis McKinney is the...
After the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy and in the wake of the recent University of Alabama in Huntsville shooting, people who study or work on a...
Jim Wayne is getting an earful from Kentucky hot air balloon operators these days, and it's easy to understand why. Wayne, a Kentucky state representative,...
Call it City 2.0: a metropolis where officials instantly monitor all of the urban environment's constantly changing dynamics--the outside temperature; snow or rainfall; traffic; and perhaps...
It was as if, Detective Phil Stanford sometimes thought, Washington Park was being burglarized by ghosts.
Most burglaries follow a pattern. Typically they occur during...
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is an urban legend - the closest thing the East Coast has to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. So when Menino stood...
Philadelphia residents owe the city a backlog of more than $1 billion in unpaid taxes. Now a city official has found a strange place to recover...
When Alaska state Rep. Peggy Wilson wants to visit her constituents, she goes by boat. Wilson represents seven Alaska towns, most of which are on...
Bill Ritter became Colorado's governor in 2007, promising to be a pragmatic, pro-business Democrat. That political niche seemed like a good fit for a moderate state....
Wind energy is blowing hot right now. Nationwide, wind farms are bringing in renewable energy and jobs, such as in Montana, as detailed in "Propelling...
Thirty-one years ago this month, residents in Dauphin County, Pa., awoke to news that a reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant was reportedly...
John Hoeven may be something close to the perfect candidate for the U.S. Senate. The Republican governor is North Dakota's most popular politician and,...
Call it the great intergovernmental camera caper. Although it might not have involved millions of dollars in spending, it did illustrate the sometimes absurd consequences...
If you receive a water bill in Phoenix, you'll get a note about the census. If you spend time in a classroom, you're likely to...
In this 5-minute video, Professor Jerry Mechling of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government looks at the future of technical innovation. He argues that what we've...
In researching our book, The Power of Social Innovation, one of the more interesting figures we met was Bo Menkiti, the CEO of the Menkiti...
In a unique collaboration, The Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service produce The Federal Coach, a leadership column and blog hosted by Tom...
More and more states across the country are adopting tobacco bans in their prisons. In fact, half of the states in the U.S. have ...
In my April feature story, I said that the question of why sales taxes generally apply to goods but not services is "one of ...
Well, you can drink with impunity in Texas again. Okay, maybe not impunity, but you don't have to worry about getting arrested in a sting ...
With barely a peep of dissension, Alabama has finally decided to make reforms to its uniquely regressive tax code. Legislation signed by Governor Bob Riley ...
I wrote a lovely feature in this month's Governing about how states are struggling with pension and retiree health costs. One of the states I ...
Remember when you used to check in at the airport, and the airline employee would ask you if anyone had asked you to carry anything ...
I was aware that Michael D. Brown, that is, Brownie, the man who depending on your point of view either botched the feds' response to ...
Lobbying gift bans: Good for clean elections, bad for the local economy?
That's what restaurants in Tallahassee are reporting. Bars and eateries in the state ...
When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last week proposed hiring 1,000 new police officers over the next four years, most of the attention focused on the 155% ...
One floor of the newly renovated West Virginia governor's mansion "will have something of a sports-bar atmosphere, with a wet bar, game room area, ...
posted by Zach Patton
Clogging isn't a problem in Kentucky.
In fact, Bluegrass lawmakers are celebrating clogging by making it the official state dance of ...
So you're thinking of selling off a highway or two. But you saw how that whole Dubai ports thing shook out. Foreign ownership = bad politics, ...
So clogging is now the official dance of the state of Kentucky. Apparently it will be required of all visitors.
Actually, I suppose official state ...
Yesterday, we wrote (actually, a couple times) about Kentucky lawmakers' unflinching resolve in the face of the War on Clogging.
Now comes news that the ...
Write a caption for this Pollyannish sign I photographed last week at Sibley State Park in Minnesota.
&...
Wonkette has been chronicling the bizarre -- and hilarious! -- story of the header photo on the campaign website for New Orleans mayoral candidate Kimberly ...
Turkey is not the richest country in Europe, as we hear repeatedly as part of the debate about whether it should be offered entry into ...
UPDATE: Kimberly Williamson Butler has taken down the Disneyland photo from her website.
Disney: 1, Butler: 0.
Oh, also: Photoshop: 1.
Does Hollywood have a water cooler? If so, someone should put up this quote from Martin Sheen somewhere near it, for all the celebrity political ...
This morning, I saw a map showing the spread of the mumps in Iowa (815 people and counting) and beyond. So far, 350 additional cases have been ...
Burnt out on the Richard Florida wars yet? Wait! There's more! The Census Bureau just released some data on domestic migration. By this gauge, the ...
Are you afraid of catching the mumps? How about bird flu? If so, you're obviously not alone.
But you might be cheered up by some ...
Now that the digital graveyard is overflowing with the dead, dormant and infrequently updated blogs of elected officials, many may be wondering whether they can ...
There's an interesting debate over political patronage going on at Illinois' Capitol Fax Blog. You'll want to check it out, especially if you're one of ...
Rounding out this week's stories on Official State Fish and Official State Dances That Sound Like Coronary Problems, the New Hampshire Senate has voted to ...
I'm not a great reader of obituaries, but I happened to see that Joe Freitas, the former district attorney of San Francisco, died last Wednesday.
...
I recently spent a couple of beautiful spring days in Chicago with my family. Like typical tourists, we enjoyed an afternoon walking around Millennium Park ...
Back when Bill Clinton was president, one of the things that drove his opponents nuts and gave pleasure to his fans was the fact that ...
Local governments always complain about states passing responsibilities (and costs) down to them. But this takes the cake.
NJ Guv Jon Corzine is proposing to ...
If you have a few million dollars lying around, and if you've always wanted your name attached to an unsightly, congested roadway, has Chicago got ...
We should note that Jane Jacobs, an important voice in urban planning and design, died on Tuesday, at age 89.
Alan Ehrenhalt, Governing's executive editor, wrote ...
Something inevitable is happening in California -- Steve Westly has taken the lead in the Democratic primary to pick a candidate to square off against ...
Here's a story you're definitely going to see repeated throughout the upcoming election season. So, as a helpful feature for the media, here's a stock ...
So much has been said already about Jane Jacobs in the short time since her death -- or will be said in the next few days -- that I'm wary of simply adding to the stack of encomiums.
Ernie Fletcher, the governor of Kentucky, has used his line-item veto authority to cancel $370 million worth of government projects. Naturally, this has caused consternation among ...
Yesterday's Wikipedia-tampering story is today's campaign-manager-resignation story.
After being accused of tampering with an opponent's Wikipedia bio, the campaign manager for Georgia Secretary of State ...
Studious Governing.com readers might have noticed the Daily Digit stating that only 1% of Oklahoma residents live in areas where 911 callers from cell phones can ...
This falls more under the pet peeve category than anything having to do with state or local government, but no doubt many of our readers ...
Out of curiosity, I went to a sex offender Web site this morning to see if any such people lived near my home. (This is ...
Here's some fun end-of-the-week irony. Civic leaders in Atlantic City, NJ, are organizing a petition drive to make sure their city's landmarks remain on the ...
There's a gas-up game people on the East Coast play, when driving from New York to Washington, or vice versa. Can you make it to ...
If you're like me, you're counting the days until the 2006 election, which is now little more than 6 months away. Undoubtedly, you've heard about the governors' ...
So, you're a really rich corporation just dying to put your name on something in Chicago, but renaming the Skyway isn't your thing.
Don't worry! ...
Amidst all the hoopla about the health insurance program just passed in Massachusetts , some people are recalling that policymakers in the state have gone down ...
[Alan reflects on the recent changes to Washington, DC's Gallery Place/Chinatown neighborhood. --Ed.]
The National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which ...
Voters in Northern Virginia are heading to the polls today for town and city council races.
In the town of Herndon, the mayoral race could ...
In contrast to all the hipster activity in downtown D.C., people who worry about areas where the population is aging and in decline will ...
Tourism officials in South Dakota and Iowa may have struck a goldmine: Free gasoline.
South Dakota announced its "Twenty Bucks for the Road" ...
Well, that was fast!
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has given up his week-old quest for self-serve gas. It was too controversial, he said. "...
New Lenox, IL, Mayor Mike Smith recently racked up a $1,500 charge in one visit to a Chicago strip club. It's deplorable, it's disgusting, blah blah ...
Voters in Herndon, VA, ousted the mayor and two town council members who supported the construction of a city-financed center for day laborers.
I don't ...
Proving that Iowa and South Dakota don't have a lock on gimmicky tourism ploys, Fairfax County, VA, is announcing plans to bury a car.
According ...
As a Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians fan, if there's one thing I don't understand, it's optimism. I often notice a strange, strange synchronicity between ...
Just how popular is South Dakota's "Twenty Bucks for the Road" program, in which residents of neighboring states are enticed to enter the ...
Maybe we post too much about tourism on the 13th Floor, but it's just too darn interesting to ignore.
Illinois has introduced its first slogan ...
Rejoice, college freshman co-eds! Rejoice, skaters and goth kids! Rejoice, bemuscled gym-goers!
It looks like tatoos will finally, officially be legal throughout these United States. (...
As previously stated, once you start writing about state slogans and tourism, you just can't stop. It's a story begging for a story teller, a ...
Kansas is putting an end to child brides -- kinda. The state passed a minimum age requirement for marriage. Previously, Kansas didn't have a minimum ...
It's been a tough year for political reformers in Florida. First, an attempt to take redistricting out of the hands of legislators got knocked off ...
Okay. Everyone take a deep breath. The made-for-TV movie that aired on ABC last night about the bird flu is just a movie. It's fictional. ...
Here's a startling statistic, courtesy of Terry Madonna and Michael Young, of Franklin & Marshall College:
"The number one reason leaders in the Pennsylvania ...
I've just spent an hour listening to various governors' podcasts. I wouldn't normally fill my mornings with such masochism. But ever since my optometrist squirted ...
Those who think government contracting can become too political -- and just ask John Rowland about that -- need to read this story in the ...
We really want you to share your opinions on what we write here on the 13th Floor. But we ask that you don't rant, rave ...
Here's my prediction for tomorrow's Austin mayoral election: Will Wynn will win.
Talk about variety. The Utah Senate has a blog that one day has pols and citizens squabbling over how to spend a $1 billion surplus, and ...
Add LAPD Chief and noted gang-buster Bill Bratton to the list of high-profile local bloggers. Bratton's opening post today calls the newly launched LAPD blog &...
We've written lots about state legislatures wasting time by designating official dances, fish, dirt and other inane bits of culture.
But I'd like to ...
Check out the 13th Floor the first part of next week, when resident political oddsmaker and horserace prognosticator Josh Goodman is going to update his ...
There are lots of state-specific blogs out there (as evidenced by our long and growing blogroll down on the left).
But blogs that cover state-level ...
Podcasts are so yesterday. Text messages are the new way for governors to communicate. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's reelection campaign is already signing up supporters ...
Sometimes you forget the crazy assortment of details a city mayor has to attend to. That is, until you read a headline such as, "$1.4 ...
The L.A. Times says a California sex offender program was criticized by state lawmakers who complained that 23 offenders had been housed within 11 miles of ...
When Massachusetts passed its breakthrough universal health insurance plan a few weeks ago, the scuttlebutt was, "Well, yes, but only in Massachusetts." The ...
In the final part of my update on governors' races, I'm looking at candidates whose chances haven't changed much over the past few months. Of ...
Slate takes a look at the arguments for and against governments' regulating tanning beds. It's a fairly conservative take on the issue. The author, William ...
For as long as states such as Arizona, California and Virginia have let drivers of hybrid-electric cars ride solo in highway carpool lanes, there's only ...
Google Maps are great. Love 'em. Super simple to use, and they make it easy to get around. (And hey, Yahoo Maps and MapQuest are ...
Irony-loving officials in Sedgwick County, Kansas, have found a way to implement the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) that almost certainly will make it ...
Sometimes it seems as if, for every piece of legislation, there is an equal and opposite loophole to render that legislation ineffective.
Today's loophole comes ...
Are Houston dog-owners not feeding their pets enough? Houston tops the list of cities with the most mail carriers bitten by dogs.
Houston was at ...
posted by Alan Greenblatt
Back in his days as a stand-up comedian, Woody Allen had a routine about how he'd learned to type. He simply ...
My biggest question regarding state responses to high gas prices is, "What took so long?"
USA Today reported last week that more than 20 ...
Eminent domain has become a hot topic this year, with virtually every state considering legislation to curb the practice in the light of last year's ...
I don't count myself among the pessimists who think that the U.S. economy will eventually falter to the point that we'll all be working ...
The power and the glory of the Massachusetts' new law that hopes to provide health coverage for everyone is that it's centrist. A Republican Governor--Mitt ...
Idaho gubernatorial candidate Dan Adamson -- who lost this week's GOP primary election to incumbent C.L. "Butch" Otter -- has an interesting ...
Civil servants, you wouldn't lie to your boss for a million dollars, would you? Well, okay, yes, probably you would. We all would.
But ...
As part of my rigorous prep work for writing a profile of Cory Booker, Newark's incoming mayor, I watched "Street Fight," a documentary ...
It's Summer 2006. Gas prices are soaring (!). People are complaining (!). The media is collapsing under the weight of the overused phrase "prices at the pump&...
From a washingtonpost.com chat:
Is it true that the thousand monkeys randomly typing at a thousand typewriters have given up on the collected works ...
Oh, New York Post. When I read this morning's news about the federal government cutting homeland security money for New York City and D.C., ...
When you think of mayoral hiring scandals, you think of, say, a cushy administration job for a political donor. Or maybe a sweet building contract ...
Here's a new one (as far as I know): The Los Angeles Economic County Economic Development Corporation is taking to the airwaves and the Web ...
