Archive
The feds are dumping piles of stimulus dollars on all 50 states, but when you look behind the 11-digit numbers, some interesting disparities emerge. Through subtle...
It's like one of those thrillers where one thing blows up after another.
Trying to patch big holes in the state budget earlier this year,...
A three-quarters majority is required to raise taxes in Arkansas, but the legislature has done it twice in the past year. How did that happen?...
The gas tax is, as you may have heard, about to run out of gas. It's not hard to see why this is happening. Motorists...
Ron Stollings believes in electronic health records, as both a family physician and a state legislator. Two years ago, he and the three doctors he...
The idea of the Katrina cottage was always bigger than the house itself. It started with New Urbanist architects, who began drawing pictures of colorful...
Eliot Spitzer of New York styled himself a steamroller, an uncompromising politician who preferred intimidation over negotiation. Mike Beebe of Arkansas is a behind-the-scenes dealmaker...
It's boom time for grant writers. Cities across the country are lining up to collect their share of the $787 billion federal stimulus package, and they're...
The current buzzword among MBA grads is "disruptive innovation." It may sound like a term to use when all hell is breaking loose. But what...
For the past 40 years, through the Great Society initiatives of Lyndon Johnson, the Enterprise Zone programs of HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, and the Hope VI...
On September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike was hurtling toward Galveston. Water was expected to rise 12 to 16 feet on the Texas island. The incoming surge would inundate communities....
Congress passed the Adam Walsh Act in 2006 to create uniform national tracking standards for sex offenders. President Bush signed it amid White House fanfare. But...
Everybody in the Texas House of Representatives knew Joe Straus was one of its brightest newcomers, but nobody expected him to become speaker this year...
As superintendent of schools in Washington, D.C., Michelle Rhee has become the most celebrated - and controversial - schools chief in the country. Her...
North Carolina has built a coordinated medical system for the poor that includes old-style house calls. And it's making a big difference.
The patient-centered medical...
Dr. Jugta Kahai had a problem. One of her patients, a 9-month-old boy with asthma, kept showing up in the emergency room. He was struggling...
As the legislature tangles with Governor Paterson's budget, it will be keeping a close eye on a crucial event 20 months away. This is the 2010 election,...
I talked with Steve Heminger, head of the Bay Area's regional transportation agency and a member of a bipartisan commission that recommended overhauling the federal...
It seemed, at the time, like an auspicious moment. On a slushy winter's day at the New York State Capitol, David Paterson entered the Assembly...
John Chiglo is looking up from the banks of the Mississippi River at a huge ivory monolith. It's the new I-35W bridge, built on...
After a painful period of price inflation, the cost of concrete, steel and asphalt is dropping. So as states begin spending their stimulus checks from...
In the late 1990s, Hickory, North Carolina, was flunking Pothole Patching 101. "Pothole patching is a big deal to citizens," says Karen Hurley, a city budget...
If the physical condition of a neighborhood is a significant indicator of its overall health, then few cities in the country are taking the measure...
In Rich Siegel's view, there isn't a more over-rated document in state and local government than the comprehensive annual financial report -- "CAFR" in public...
With the city of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, facing a quarter of a million dollar revenue shortfall, as well as a continuing and contentious political dispute...
In the ongoing debate over which came first, government opacity or citizen apathy, there are two basic schools of thought: One side argues that citizens...
In the late 1990s, as an alderman in Somerville, Massachusetts, Joseph Curtatone was perpetually frustrated by the budgets his local legislature was supposed to be...
You get lied to a lot out there," says Brian Joseph Tierney, a burly beat cop with the Chicago Police Department. Tierney is referring to...
When it comes to public-sector performance measures, collecting and verifying data are hard enough. Then comes the challenge of trying to actually get the attention...
When Oregon launched its statewide performance measurement initiative called "Oregon Benchmarks" back in 1989, the whole effort took a considerable amount of explaining. At the time,...
By the time Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell left office in 2000 -- riding a bribery and tax-evasion scandal out the door and into federal prison --...
It takes a single-minded sense of purpose for a government worker to rack up 349,170 Web-site visits during work hours over five months. That sense of...
As state and local revenue sources go, the property tax always has been the steady one. Its cousins -- the income and sales taxes --...
It's a gray Friday morning in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Kristin Nocco is in the parking lot of Primary Care Associates, putting on her game face. She's...
Nothing looks particularly avant-garde about the historic building at the corner of Lincoln and Beach streets in Boston's Leather District. Built in 1899, the five-story Beaux-Arts...
When Steve Gendler retired 16 years ago from a career as an Arizona law enforcement officer, he figured he'd spend a lot of his time doing...
Martin O'Malley, the governor of Maryland, thought his question was reasonably straightforward. He was meeting with state parole and probation managers, and O'Malley wanted to...
Nobody knows for sure how many people will descend on Washington, D.C., this month to witness Barack Obama's presidential inauguration. Mayor Adrian Fenty has...
Then and Now
As the largest newspaper in Connecticut and the paper of record for the state's capital city, the Hartford Courant has long held...
It seems everyone wants a piece of John Conley -- even if it's virtual. As Colorado's deputy chief information officer, he's been asked to help...
One of the more interesting experiments in maintaining newspapers' traditional capacity to cover state government was announced in November by the St. Petersburg Times and...
If you want to know what the dying days of a journalistic era look like, mount the marble steps to the fourth floor of Connecticut's...
In his first job out of graduate school, Will Barnow practices performance measurement every day. Barnow works in the Maricopa County Office of Justice Systems...
The nation's political map has turned blue, but state budgets have gone decidedly into the red.
The Democrats enjoy a more than 850-seat edge in...
If you want to understand how Joe Hackney operates as speaker of the North Carolina House, it's worth thinking about the other things that he...
Immigration has emerged as a pervasive issue in this year's politics, a part of seemingly every state and local campaign and presidential debate. The lesson...
On a cold, gray day in Flint, Michigan, Dan Kildee is walking down Stone Street. Like a lot of residential blocks in Flint, it looks...
For several months last fall, the St. Louis media had a field day with Missouri Governor Matt Blunt's office for doing the equivalent of crumpling...
Indiana likes to fashion itself as "the crossroads of America," with 14 interstate highways moving people into and through the state. As in so many other...
Anaheim's mayor found a unique way to reap the benefits of competition to improve city services.
Gov. Gary Herbert wants to sign a bill exempting Utah-made guns sold in the state from federal regulations, but he also wants to avoid a...
Could U.S. pension plans reduce risk by importing an idea from Europe?
Plus: Planning for the end of the stimulus, the D.A.R.E. problem, and more
A new book takes the mystery out of what separates top performers from everybody else, and reveals the keys to high performance.
The Obama administration supports extending them. But if Congress fails to act, we may see a blizzard of BABs this December.
Transparency isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes, it does actual damage to the public at large.
Pension-exchanges for IRAs and 401(k)s would strengthen President Obama's initiatives.
Inaccurate information on death certificates impacts how states allocate health-care funds.
An innovative technology deal turns political for the Los Angeles City Council president.
Are four-day workweeks the beginning of a permanent trend or a passing phenomenon?
As the decade ends, there's little to cheer save a notable exception: infrastructure.
Michigan's massive new data center is the right technology for these tough economic times.
The case for a taxable 'benefits bonds' rebate
More evidence of influence-peddling in the Golden State's pension fund
More often than not, the federal government punishes rather than rewards states for innovative solutions to national problems.
Critics call Chicago's privatization of parking meters an epic failure, but could it be it's an epic success?
The new subsidized taxable bond option has been highly successful.
The more an agency can make information transparent, the more it will breed change into an organization.
For the coming year, here are some strategies - both 'inside the box' and 'outside the box.'
Plus: The stimulus vs. productivity, the "anchoring effect," and more
Promising social programs can fail. A simple framework can vet the ones doomed to failure and primed for success.
A pharmaceutical giant bugs out, leaving a struggling town without any of the touted tax benefits or job creation.
Mayor Oscar Goodman sees a new city hall as the catalyst that will set off a wave of development downtown.
They are supposed to give you solid information about program demand. Instead, they mislead the public.
Utah allows employees to use social media on the job, but lays down the rules.
State borrowing takes on so many forms that it's hard to figure out what the total is.
States, localities and the private sector are already confronting climate change. Washington has just scratched the surface.
How the Obama administration's Open Government Directive can unlock government and open it up to citizens as never before.
Should full pensions be allowed if you keep working?
Plus: The phantom toll road, red-light camera accidents, and more
Police, fire and teachers could use Medicare at 55, cutting localities' costs.
Squirrelly insurance deals are too good to be true.
How one sleepy bedroom community is using its existing assets to build a greener borough.
But we are different. We do not have a Canadian health care system because we are not Canadian. The Canadian credo is "peace, order, and...
Forget incremental improvement, create a team focused solely on change.
Plus: The jargon divide, even more questionable stimulus spending, and more
The first in a series of key lessons on reforming internal support services.
Public employers can no longer afford to pay employees' share of pension costs.
Layoffs and furloughs are taking a toll on those who are still on the job.
The texting generation needs help adjusting to a government's online ethos.
Even in a post-recession economy, leaders must learn to say no.
It's the untold chapter of America's love affair with its cars.
When it comes to roads, practicality and economics are important. But so is emotion.
There's no more cash for state and local governments in the latest round of federal spending to prop up the economy.
Why the double-yellow stripe is making a comeback in downtowns.
There really is no place in the pension boardroom for mercenaries.
Successful public-sector initiatives follow a predictable path.
For years, government's greatest collaborator has been its greatest competitor. Can government and business ever realize a happy ending?
How the Golden State "borrows" money from taxpayers -- interest free.
In the wake of a scandal, a ballot initiative to reform the state's pension system gains new fuel.
Plus: The final word on flowers, the perils of bad data, and more
Is it ever okay to buy get-well-soon flowers with taxpayer money?
Sudoku and the Sunday crossword can teach us a lot about leadership.
Can you get an appointment with your doctor tomorrow morning? How about in a month? Do you think this is because doctors like to make...
There can be unpleasant consequences, but sometimes it's the only way to get something important done.
Governments need to apply the science of analytics to the vast amount of data they collect.
Build America Bonds are like the cash-for-clunkers program: They bring buyers in.
This year may set a record for gimmicks they used to balance their books.
A majority of people want to 'own' their health data and choose who can access it.
Academics still matter, but technical knowledge may matter more.
Can Tysons Corner break with its auto-choked past?
In this state and local fiscal mess, realism may be the only option.
The economic crisis has ushered in permanent changes by empowering managers to challenge assumptions.
Realistic income-replacement ratios in the 'new normal' economy
Overstated savings, underestimated budgets, and more
Don't underestimate the strength of a good one to persuade people and move them to action.
Resentment is building among younger workers, and Boomer unionists face a backlash.
Plus: The problem with school vending machines, a technology reality check, and more
Transparency and accountability are more important than ever. There are steps managers should take to achieve those goals.
They will produce better outcomes. But building this 'network of networks' will be complicated.
We consumers buy all kinds of things. We read Consumer Reports, read the instructions about how to use things, and we make choices. In medical...
As governments turn to Facebook and its ilk, they aren't paying enough attention to the needs of the visually or hearing-impaired.
Obstacles to coming up with solid, accurate numbers to measure program performance are all over the place.
Inflation, rising interest rates and company defaults are among the perils.
The most important question is not whether private investment in roads and other public infrastructure will revive, but the degree to which it should.
Robbing pensions to pay Paul, making customers happy while they wait, and more
The stimulus law's transparency requirements won't shed much light on the achievement of objectives.
Bill baby boomers for their retirement costs -- before they get away.
As Obama seeks to bring transparency to the federal government, he has plenty of examples to draw from in the states.
Is your attitude toward risk penny-wise and pound foolish?
Inflation-indexed bonds are good for retirement plans as well as the U.S. dollar.
Plus: Useless news bulletins, the tweeting-texting-traffic conundrum, and more.
How a nonprofit start-up turned a process full of vertical hurdles into a client-centric safety net.
