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Shortly after President Donald Trump's inauguration, the administration made waves by revoking President Barack Obama's guidance for transgender students.
Illinois lawmakers are about to find out if a 10-day special session will accomplish what three years of regular session days have failed to do -- produce a full budget for the state that is balanced with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
If elected mayor of St. Paul, Tom Goldstein said he'll advocate for changes that could help prevent "injustice" like the "not guilty" verdict reached Friday in the trial of former St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez.
Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. has withdrawn his name for an assistant secretary position at the Department of Homeland Security — a job he said a month ago he had accepted.
They have pledged to carry out the landmark accord on behalf of America. We asked environmental experts for the most effective and politically practical ways they can help do that.
As public works director for Phoenix, Ginger Spencer is trying to make her city the most sustainable in the world.
With three days left for him to sign or veto bills passed during the regular session, Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law legislation that would give faith-based adoption agencies legal protection to reject gay parents, let voters decide the fate of Dallas County Schools and create a law named after a woman who died in custody after a controversial arrest.
Oregon became the first U.S. state to allow residents to identify as "nonbinary," neither male nor female, on their driver licenses and identification cards Thursday in a decision by The Oregon Transportation Commission.
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general announced on Thursday that they are jointly investigating the marketing and sales practices of drug companies that manufacture opioid painkillers at the center of a national addiction epidemic.
Delaware Gov. John Carney, a Democrat, has signed a new law prohibiting prospective employers from asking job applicants about their salary history.
Governor Rick Scott signed a controversial, 278-page education bill Thursday that most school districts and superintendents fought against but pro-charter advocates pushed.
A federal court struck down regulations intended to cap the price of some calls to prison inmates, which can cost families thousands of dollars a year.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
While Congress is gridlocked on health care, the state's GOP governor and Democratic legislature have been busy finding common ground -- til now.
Two years after Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas would build the country's first state-run gold depository, the project took a major step forward Wednesday.
Old models for managing urban transportation are insufficient. New options demand that we think in terms of mobility.
A proposed "millionaire tax" constitutional amendment is heading to the 2018 ballot after Massachusetts lawmakers voted 134-55 Wednesday to place the measure before voters.
California, 10 other states and New York City sued the Trump administration in San Francisco on Tuesday for halting action on new federal energy-efficiency standards for portable air conditioners, building heaters and other appliances, saying the delays are illegal and are harming consumers and the environment.
A panel of judges has upheld Philadelphia's beverage tax, dismissing complaints from the American Beverage Association and local retailers that the levy is unlawful.
More than a month after the Trump administration purged data tracking climate change from the Environmental Protection Agency's website, the numbers are going back online in some unexpected places.
Rep. Paul Thissen, the Minneapolis DFLer who was speaker of the Minnesota House during a brief but intense period of progressive legislative victories a few years ago, said Wednesday that he is running for governor.
A project dubbed by one senior Oregon manager as "the most important information technology effort in the state" has been plagued by escalating costs, a bureaucratic turf battle and technical misfires.
Days after Mayor Rahm Emanuel backed away from a pledge to have a judge monitor efforts to reform the Chicago Police Department, a host of civil rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit seeking to spur sweeping changes in the troubled department that would be enforced by the courts.
Medical marijuana cards will now cost as low as $50 for Nevada patients, edible products will come in opaque, child-proof packages and a 10 percent excise tax on sales of recreational weed estimated to generate $70 million will be designated for Nevada's rainy day fund after three of four remaining marijuana bills passed by the Nevada Legislature were signed into law Monday by Gov. Brian Sandoval.
The Legislature sued Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday, as a fight between two branches of Minnesota government spilled into the third branch.
In a dramatic turnaround, a federal judge has ruled that permits to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline must be reconsidered, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has demanded the flow of oil through the pipeline be stopped.
They can effectively smooth economic bumps. But it's important to have clear rules for how and when to use the money.
When a gunman allegedly shot five people at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., his actions also impacted his hometown in Illinois.
Wednesday's shooting during a congressional baseball practice is the latest example of the increased violence -- both threatened and real -- that is seeping into America's political process.
The number of Maine children without health insurance is climbing after years of declines, even though fewer live in poverty, a new report found.
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced a budget deal Tuesday that strips University of California President Janet Napolitano's office of some of its financial autonomy, limits the authority of the embattled Board of Equalization, increases tax credits for the poor and saves the Middle Class Scholarship program at public universities.
Taxes on marijuana would hit to 28 percent under the bill Massachusetts House lawmakers plan to propose and take up this week. A legalization advocacy group called the tax hike "irrational" and a boost to the black market.
Iowa wants help from the federal government to bail out the state's individual health insurance market, which has emerged as a leading example of troubles with the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA).
A proposed ban on private prisons in Nevada will not move forward after Gov. Brian Sandoval’s veto.
The head of the Michigan health department was charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter, the highest-ranking member of Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration to be snagged in a criminal investigation of Flint’s lead-contaminated water.
Louisiana and other Southern states have the highest rates of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses, the largest percentage of people living with the disease, and the most people dying from it.
Gov. John Hickenlooper on Friday signed into law a controversial bill that changes how state law enforcement seize money and property suspected of being linked to crimes, despite pressure from Colorado sheriffs and police chiefs who say the measure will hurt investigations.
More than half of voters said the special election is more important than typical campaigns.
Low-level offenders who have been arrested and can't come up with enough money to get out of jail can get a rehearing of their bail amount, under a plan signed into law Friday by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Florida Governor Rick Scott signed amended "stand your ground" legislation on Friday, making it easier for defendants in the state to successfully claim they were protecting themselves when they commit violence.
Delaware's governor has signed into law a bill ensuring abortion remains legal in the state, the first such move in the United States since President Donald Trump was elected on a pledge to overturn a landmark ruling that legalized abortion nationally.
Child advocates say the state is taking encouraging first steps in turning around an underfunded and overburdened agency -- but it has a long way to go.
Minority patients face a double whammy: Not only are they more likely to miss out on effective medical treatments than white patients, but, according to a new study, they’re also more likely to receive an abundance of ineffective services.
In Texas each year, about 35,000 young women get pregnant before they turn 20. Traditionally, the two variables most commonly associated with high teen birth rates are education and poverty, but a new study, co-authored by Dr. Julie DeCesare, shows that there’s more at play.
Voters in San Antonio ousted incumbent Mayor Ivy Taylor on Saturday and elected Ron Nirenberg. In El Paso, former Republican state Rep. Dee Margo will take the helm of the state's largest border city.
Recent economic downturns, soaring health-care and prescription-drug costs, and the increased longevity of retirees have taken a toll on Ohio's pension funds.
Attorneys general for the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland say they will sue President Trump on Monday, alleging that he has violated anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution by accepting millions in payments and benefits from foreign governments since moving into the White House.
Five years after the last plebiscite on the same issue, Puerto Ricans overwhelmingly voted for US statehood for their island in a non-binding referendum on Sunday.
Immigrants use Washington state to sneak into Canada for asylum. Here's how, and why.
The legal judgments underscore the importance of local governments maintaining a healthy reserve fund balance to absorb unforeseen expenses.
For some patients, finding a doctor willing to prescribe life-ending drugs can be difficult
A high school in Portland, Maine, is believed to be the first secondary school in the United States to offer its Muslim student athletes performance hijabs, the Associated Press reports.
California’s attorney general argued Thursday that President Trump has no legal authority to revoke or modify national monuments created by previous administrations.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday announced he was calling the Legislature back for a special session to address must-pass “sunset” legislation and 19 other measures. Here’s what Texans can expect ahead of July 18.
The American Civil Liberties Union and another civil rights group filed suit Thursday seeking to stop implementation of Missouri's new photo ID voting law in advance of a July 11 St. Louis special election, claiming the law is an attempt to disenfranchise voters.
It's essential for organizational success. And despite the public sector's unique challenges, it can be done.
Ohio and Missouri now have dozens of counties without an insurer. Other states are trying to prevent a similar situation, but their actions can only go so far.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
With a bottom-up approach, Detroit is making surprising progress toward turning around its neighborhoods.
Despite the advancing calendar, North Carolina voters could return to the polls this year to elect new state lawmakers after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling that the current districts are illegal.
Pennsylvania's two chief fiscal watchdogs warned legislators on Wednesday that the state might have to borrow as much as $3 billion to run the government in 2017-18 if structural budget problems are not addressed.
Doctors prescribing powerful pain pills, such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, in South Carolina will now have to check a state database before prescribing the highly-addictive medication.
A bill aimed at preventing the disruption of campus speakers won final legislative approval Tuesday.
Twice as many people have been fatally shot by Maine police so far this year as in all of 2016 and 2015 combined.
Dallas is joining some other Texas cities, including Austin and San Antonio, in taking on the state's so-called "sanctuary city" law.
While it seems far-fetched, the danger is real for small governments.
Residents of a California farm community have come up with a model solution for an all-too-common transportation problem.
The option is catching on among public-sector employers as a way to attract and retain employees.
Lawmakers rolled back Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature tax policy over his objections Tuesday night, forcing into law tax increases to fix a budget shortfall and provide more money for schools.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, an effort to stem the state’s spiraling death toll from overdoses of prescription painkillers and heroin. The Republican governor’s declaration follows similar announcements in at least five other states: Alaska, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia.
Hawaii has passed a law to document sea level rise and set strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The bill signed by Gov. David Ige Tuesday aligns the state's goals with the Paris climate accord.
City leaders on Tuesday saw much of Gov. Greg Abbott's call for a special session as part of a continuing attack on Austin that rose from angry rhetoric about the left-leaning city to an all-out "war on cities," as Austin Mayor Steve Adler put it Tuesday.
The Trump administration will extend by one year a deadline for states to comply with a major Obama-era regulation on emissions of a smog-causing pollutant that spews from tailpipes and smokestacks.
California Governor Jerry Brown met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday as part of a trip to push the US state's commitment to climate action.
Phil Murphy, the wealthy former ambassador who plowed $16 million on his own money into his campaign, brushed aside his five Democratic rivals and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno prevailed after a tougher-than-expected challenge from a three-term assemblyman Tuesday night as they claimed their party's nominations for New Jersey governor.
Metro areas around the country have been adding jobs. But some regional economies have seen especially sharp gains in recent months.
The number of commuters who travel 90 minutes or more to get to work increased sharply between 2010 and 2015.
Arresting or denying someone services based on their immigration status will be against the law in Columbus.
Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval has signed legislation that will require new school buses to be equipped with seat belts.
Oakland police officers tend to speak less respectfully to black people than to white people during traffic stops, using language in these everyday interactions that can erode community faith in the police.
Any insurers that leave New York's health insurance exchange will be banned from participating in the state's Medicaid program or contracting with any state agencies under regulations Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from North Carolina lawmakers to review a lower court's ruling that struck down the 2011 state legislative districts, but sent the case back for reconsideration of whether elections should be held in 2017 as the lower court ordered.
The new mayor of Jackson, Miss., may offer striking evidence of a nationwide trend.
Joining the ranks of comedians, radio hosts and millennials with microphones, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has started a podcast.
Convening a second year in Augusta, the state Republican party on Saturday elected John Watson, a lobbyist who helped turn Georgia red, as new chairman of the state party.
A man angered that he didn't qualify for assistance took his revenge, slamming a cup on the counter of a municipal office and releasing an estimated 100 bedbugs, reports say.
Gov. Chris Christie has signed Executive Order No. 225, which directs New Jersey's chief technology officer to oversee the centralization of IT for more than 70 executive branch agencies.
The fatal stabbing of two good Samaritans who intervened when a man on a commuter train shouted slurs at two women — both African-American, one in Muslim dress — has reawakened bitter memories of this state’s past and revived a debate over what people here call the “two Oregons,” where islands of tolerance abut places awash in frustration and rage.
Democrat Stacey Abrams entered the campaign for Georgia governor on Saturday with a pledge to expand pre-kindergarten programs and make technical college education free, promising she’d bring a “bold and ambitious approach” to state government that will invigorate the economy.
Politicians sometimes demand it, but it has nothing to do with ability. It doesn't serve them or the governments they run.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a new voter ID bill into law Thursday, loosening identification requirements from a 2011 law that a federal judge said was enacted by Republicans to intentionally discriminate against minority voters, who tend to vote for Democrats.
Florida will become the first state to issue what’s essentially a birth certificate to women who’ve had miscarriages, an idea that received broad support among Democrats and Republicans despite concerns from the National Organization for Women that it was an attempt to define life for fetuses that couldn’t survive outside the womb.
If you’re thinking about developing an autonomous vehicle in Colorado, go ahead. It’s now legal, as long as you obey all of the existing rules of the road, according to legislation that Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law Thursday.
The Vision Zero traffic-safety campaign depends on using data to identify dangerous conditions. Now that data is getting even better.
Tobacco and soda companies disproportionately target minority citizens and lawmakers with advertising and lobbying. One city is fed up.
The cities of San Antonio and Austin announced on Thursday they have joined the fight to stop the state's new immigration enforcement law, Senate Bill 4, in federal court.
After remaining quiet on the issue during the recent legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law Thursday that will eliminate the straight-ticket voting option starting in 2020.
Gov. Paul LePage is suggesting that prison inmates granted "conditional commutations" could help fill vacancies in Maine's tourism industry as businesses struggle to find workers with summer looming.
Mayor John Labrosse, a former Republican, rejoined the Democratic Party on Thursday.
Following President Donald Trump's decision Thursday to pull the United States out of the historic Paris climate accord, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo encouraged him to reconsider what she called a "short-sighted" move.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he took personal offense to President Donald Trump's reference to the Steel City in announcing the United States' departure from the Paris climate agreement.
Delaware is trying something completely new in the fight against opioid and heroin addiction, but it could be a long time before it sees any results.
Moving quickly to fill a climate leadership vacuum opened by President Trump, the governors of California, New York and Washington on Thursday announced a new alliance of states dedicated to fighting global warming and urged others to join them.
A group of grad students has won national recognition for their solution to a problem that plagues lower-income people across America.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday called on states to forge an alliance to support the Paris climate deal following reports that President Trump plans to withdraw the United States from the landmark international accord.
Jacquelyn Orton says her late husband — former Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Orton — likely would shake his head in disbelief that she's finally running for office, after turning down encouragement from him and others to do so for years.
A 17-year-old transgender Kenosha high school student can continue using the boy's restroom, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, rejecting school district arguments against the practice.
Republicans in the state of Washington didn't wait long in the spring of 1995 to fulfill their pledge to roll back a sweeping law expanding health coverage in the state.
Spring session ended with another thud Wednesday, as Democratic fear of blowback from raising taxes trumped a desire by some to put a spending plan on Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's desk.
The one-two punch of massive cuts to Medicaid that are proposed in both the new budget and the House Republicans' revised American Healthcare Act would result in cuts of close to $1 trillion over 10 years, analysis shows.
The city of Cleveland on Tuesday fired the rookie police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, more than two and a half years after the boy's death.
In a case reminiscent of the battle against tobacco, the state of Ohio on Wednesday sued five major drug manufacturers, blaming their marketing practices for fueling a painkiller addiction crisis that claims thousands of lives a year.
St. Louis and Baltimore have joined the ranks of cities thinking about taking them down. Meanwhile, a countermovement is growing in state legislatures.
Low-income public, parochial and charter high school students in Boston who graduate in 2017 will be able to earn a bachelor's degree without having to pay tuition and mandatory fees under a pilot program announced yesterday.
In some states, if you’re under 18 and you break the law, you’ll be treated as an adult, no matter how slight the crime — even if it’s just jumping a subway turnstile or shoplifting.
Gov. Kay Ivey Friday signed a bill that would shorten the death penalty appeals process in Alabama.
The law, signed by Gov. Pete Ricketts, will require that any person who fails to pay a fine in time appear before a judge instead of automatically sitting out the fine in jail.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear a case on whether Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted was correct in his decision to cancel the voting registrations of those who had failed to vote during a two-year period.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler drew criticism Tuesday from free speech advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union and local conservative leaders for calling on the federal government to revoke the permit for a pro-Trump free speech rally Sunday.
The Supreme Court made it harder to sue police for barging into a home and provoking a shooting, setting aside a $4 million verdict against two Los Angeles County deputies on Tuesday.
Public-sector organizations aren't designed for it, but some are finding ways to make it part of their culture.
He was first elected as a 21-year-old. More than a decade later, he has put himself and his border community at the center of the national immigration debate over "sanctuary cities."
Apparently very. Missouri’s Botanical Gardens just got its first power-washing since it was built in 1988.
The Circular Economy, Part 3/4: People have a vested interest in public infrastructure, but because it's invisible day to day, it can be hard to develop a relationship with the citizens it serves. Here's why a utility system that contributes to the circular economy is poised to attract and educate the students and homeowners who will increasingly support these operations in the near future.
Suburban counties are once again gaining population at the expense of the cities around them. What does that mean for urban areas?
Republicans currently enjoy a 2-to-1 lead among governors, but Democrats hope to start chipping away at that advantage this fall.
If his current proposals succeed, his supporters are in for a rude awakening.
Kentucky's failed attempt this year illustrates a problem that many states face: Some judges are severely overworked while others don't have enough to do. But fixing that can be politically impossible.
To survive and prosper, local recycling efforts are forging ways to update, upgrade and educate.
For the first time, the Wisconsin Department of Justice has formalized its guidelines for independently investigating police shootings -- the latest step in the state's efforts to be a national leader on the issue.
Following a spike in deadly attacks on police, more than a dozen states have responded this year with “Blue Lives Matter” laws that come down even harder on crimes against law enforcement officers, raising concern among some civil rights activists of a potential setback in police-community relations.
A brief but intense scuffle broke out on the Texas House floor just before the close of the legislative session Monday after a Dallas-area Republican enraged Democrats by telling them he called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he saw signs from protesters that read, "I am illegal and here to stay."
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday signed a $180 million tax cut package that will eliminate taxes charged on tampons and will create two sales tax holidays that will be held over the next three months.
In a whitewashed cinderblock room here at the Frederick County Detention Center, each new inmate answers two questions: “What country were you born in?” and “Of what country are you a citizen?”
As U.S. children flock to virtual charter schools, states are struggling to catch up and develop rules to make sure the students get a real education and schools get the right funding.
There’s disagreement over who bears the biggest burden: the poor or the wealthy.
Florida wants to cut its technology costs. But is the state going about it all wrong?
Purchasing has become more complex, which is why managers want critical thinking to lead the process.
Low pay and long, pricey commutes often go hand in hand.
Are we doing enough for the people left behind in cities?
Uber and Lyft will relaunch services in Austin on Monday, now that Texas lawmakers have passed a bill overriding local regulations on ride-hailing companies.
After weeks of deliberation — and a bit of hesitation — Provo Mayor John Curtis decided to add his name Thursday to the mounting list of candidates dashing to fill Rep. Jason Chaffetz's soon-to-be-vacated congressional seat.
Chicago was the only city among the nation's 20 largest to lose population in 2016 _ and it lost nearly double the number of residents as the year before, according to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Postcards, robocalls and other low-tech outreach tools can be as effective as personalized enrollment assistance at encouraging eligible people to sign up for Medicaid, a new study found.
Students at Nebraska's for-profit colleges will be protected financially if those schools suddenly close, thanks to a change adopted this year by state lawmakers.
Gov. Kay Ivey this week signed a bill preventing cities from removing most monuments 20 years and older.
The state’s cities and counties embarked on a rare kind of collaboration.
Some schools are using telemedicine to provide health care to students in underserved districts. But few think it’s a cure for their ailments.
The city is on the brink of making a speedy turnaround. Many worry that the tough financial decisions it took to get there could reverse some of its political progress.
