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Gov. Scott Walker has proposed cutting the Farm to School office, which advocates say has become the gold standard for the farm-to-school movement nationally. The move that would save $132,800 over the biennium.
Portland and Multnomah County's top elected leaders committed Monday to transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy sources by 2050. But the announcement was light on financial details.
The Tennessee legislature passed a bill that could make it easier for rural areas to get access to the Internet. The bill, named the Broadband Accessibility Act of 2017, was pushed by Gov. Bill Haslam as a way to help the economy in rural Tennessee.
Oregon state lawmakers who fear heightened marijuana enforcement by federal agents overwhelmingly approved a proposal to protect pot users from having their identities or cannabis-buying habits from being divulged by the dispensary shops that make buying pre-rolled joints and "magic" brownies as easy as grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the liquor store.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is suspending a recently adopted practice of reporting cities that don’t cooperate with federal detention efforts after the first few reports were plagued by errors.
The state’s inspector general is investigating complaints that Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, a longtime political player from Philadelphia, and his wife, Tonya, verbally abused members of their state police security detail and household staff at their official residence near Harrisburg. The investigation is said to be at the behest of Gov. Tom Wolf.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the Environmental Protection Agency’s request Tuesday to delay oral argument in a case over its 2015 smog standard, allowing the agency time to reconsider the Obama-era rule.
Republican Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania will be President Trump's drug czar, according to a report from CBS News. Marino's congressional voting record is that of a hard-liner on marijuana issues, and he recently said that he'd like to put nonviolent drug offenders in some sort of “hospital-slash-prison.”
A lack of serious gubernatorial candidates could be a problem for Democrats not just in Wisconsin but other states where the party is hoping to make gains next year.
New Mexico is the first state to ban the practice. Now the rest have till the end of the school year to adopt an official policy for what happens when parents miss meal payments.
One of the most far-reaching elements of the late state budget passed Sunday will give Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo unprecedented power to cut the spending plan if the State Legislature fails to agree on how to address potential federal aid cuts.
There's a new sheriff in town, and he is out with a stern videotaped message for Lake County heroin dealers: "We are coming for you. Run."
Donald Trump Jr., rumored to be eyeing a move to follow his father's footsteps into politics, will not be a candidate for governor of New York next year but is not ruling out a possible run for office in the future.
Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey became the 54th governor of Alabama on Monday evening, after Robert Bentley pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes and resigned.
A federal judge ruled Monday for the second time that Texas' 2011 voter identification law was filed with discriminatory intent -- another blow to the state in a six-year legal battle over the legislation.
The news of Robert Bentley's affair with one of his aides broke more than a year ago. But both the governor and his party had reasons for him to stay in office.
Startlingly green hills, surging rivers and the snow-wrapped Sierra Nevada had already signaled what Gov. Jerry Brown made official Friday: The long California drought is over.
The gavel fell, and Alabama's government Monday went to a place it hasn't visited in 102 years.
This map tracks the status of Medicaid expansion across states.
When the Bakken oil boom peaked, and substance abuse spiked along with it, Jim Novelli wished he could have offered substance abuse treatment out of his clinic’s offices near the North Dakota border.
In just the last two months, hackers may have obtained the personal data of millions of job seekers in 10 states that outsource job-search services. In Pennsylvania, Democratic state senators were locked out of their computers for two weeks after a malware attack.
Dallas officials blame computer hacking for setting off emergency sirens throughout the city early Saturday.
What is “lunch shaming?” It happens when a child can’t pay a school lunch bill.
The governor's office estimates that nearly 940,000 families in New York State will be eligible for free public college tuition when the plan is fully phased in.
Ashley Hardin dreamed of being a professional photographer — glamorous shoots, perhaps some exotic travel.
Facing the possible end of his political career and potential criminal charges, Gov. Robert Bentley went to God Friday. His attorneys went to court.
New Mexico on Thursday became the first US state to require all local and state law enforcement agencies to provide officers with antidote kits as the state works to curb deaths from opioid and heroin overdoses.
A federal judge approved Friday the proposed consent decree between Baltimore and the U.S. Department of Justice, turning the police reform agreement into an order of the court.
New research offers a first look at how migration patterns are influencing diversity.
As the demands on fire departments have grown in recent years, modern firehouses have had to change with them.
It hasn't worked that well in business. In the public sector, it has sometimes been disastrous.
Late Thursday night, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law an expansion of the state's Empowerment Scholarship Account program, his spokesman said, which will allow any student to use taxpayer dollars to pay private-school tuition or for other educational expenses.
An attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice said in federal court in Baltimore on Thursday that the department has "grave concerns" about its proposed consent decree with the city and whether it will improve public safety, and needs more time to assess it.
Billionaire entrepreneur and investor J.B. Pritzker launched his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor Thursday, framing his candidacy as one about progressive values rather than personal fortune and calling Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner a "failure."
A 46-year-old Kent man sued Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Thursday, claiming Murray "raped and molested" him over several years, beginning in 1986 when the man was a 15-year-old high school dropout.
Five years after the U.S. Justice Department found Seattle police officers too often resorted to excessive force, the federal monitor overseeing court-ordered reforms issued a glowing report Thursday concluding the department has carried out a dramatic turnaround.
Gov. Larry Hogan avoided a confrontation with Democratic lawmakers on Thursday by allowing more than a dozen bills to become law without his signature -- including measures that give money to the attorney general to sue the federal government and require the state to fund Planned Parenthood if it loses federal funding.
New green certification programs give communities the flexibility to set their own goals and targets.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
Anthony Green says he woke up one morning in January and decided to quit drinking. “I said to myself, ‘If I want something better, I’ve got to do better.’ ” That’s what landed him at Gaudenzia, a residential drug and alcohol treatment center here in North Baltimore.
Legislative Republicans again turned away Medicaid expansion in Virginia Wednesday during a one-day reconvene session that also saw all of Gov. Terry McAuliffe's vetoes upheld, but many of his attempted bill amendments undone.
States and localities are wary of the president's support for the Build America Bonds program.
After more than nine hours of testimony and deliberations Wednesday -- and over a year after the filing of the first complaint -- the Alabama Ethics Commission found "probable cause" that Gov. Robert Bentley violated the state's ethics and campaign finance laws.
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio routinely pointed to the notorious, outdoor Tent City Jail he opened in the 1990s as a symbol of his "tough on crime" stance. Inmates live in tents through the sweltering Arizona summer heat and are issued old-fashioned striped prison jumpsuits and pink underwear.
Ten North Dakota state agencies are offering buyouts to their employees due to continued budget cuts.
Environmentalists cheered Tuesday as Gov. Larry Hogan followed through on his promise to sign a statewide fracking ban -- and some predicted that Maryland's action could bolster efforts in other states to prohibit the controversial method of drilling for natural gas.
Hospitals in Missouri are grappling with a new state rule that forces them to choose between providing abortions for women in high-risk situations or receiving family planning funds for low-income women.
A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked the city's first-in-the-nation law that attempts to allow Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers to unionize.
Seema Verma, the former health policy consultant now overseeing Medicare and Medicaid for the Trump administration, will not take part in one of her agency’s most anticipated decisions because of a conflict of interest.
Black pedestrians in Baltimore stopped without reasonable suspicion. Black drivers in Ferguson, Mo., searched much more frequently than whites. Cleveland residents punched and kicked by officers and subjected to stun guns, without posing any threat.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has endorsed Tom Perriello in the Virginia governor's race, the first major national endorsement for the former congressman ahead of his Democratic primary against Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam.
The man who led Ferguson through the protests following the shooting death of Michael Brown was re-elected Tuesday.
For those who are counting, the number is now five: State Rep. Tina Liebling of Rochester on Sunday added her name to the list of DFLers vying to be Minnesota's next governor in 2018.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected New Hampshire's bid to revive a state law barring voters from taking "selfie" photos with their ballots during elections that a lower court struck down as a violation of free speech rights.
Alaska and three other western states on Monday asked the Trump administration not to scrap federal policies that have served as the foundation for state cannabis industries.
Ten states led by Democrats and a handful of national environmental groups sued the Trump administration, claiming it's violating federal law by delaying energy-efficiency standards intended to save Americans almost $24 billion.
The state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature has filed a lawsuit claiming that the Christie administration overstepped its authority when it eased a state regulation last month to allow more people to carry handguns.
The effort to expand Medicaid in Kansas fell apart Monday as the House failed to override Gov. Sam Brownback's veto of a bill that would have expanded the health care program to thousands of low-income people in the state.
A California law giving immigrants here illegally the ability to get driver's licenses appears to have helped decrease hit-and-run accidents, according to a Stanford University study released Monday.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Monday took away 21 more first-degree murder cases from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala because she refuses to seek the death penalty.
A federal judge has prohibited Indiana from forcing women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours prior to an abortion procedure — a decision hailed as a "major victory" for abortion rights advocates.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered Justice Department officials to review reform agreements with troubled police forces nationwide.
Gov. Greg Abbott, an outspoken critic of federal overreach, recently suggested that his state should adopt a "ban across the board" on local regulations.
From promises of pay raises to warnings of cutbacks, State of the State speeches offer a peek into their priorities for the year.
A Houston police sergeant who shot and killed himself Friday morning in his west Houston patrol station was a "great guy, a great personality, a great human being," Chief Art Acevedo said.
Federal disaster relief will be available for 42 California counties to help repair hundreds of millions of dollars in damage incurred by February's flooding, storms and mudslides, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Sunday.
Cameron Credle was barely more than a toddler when he was diagnosed with abnormally high cholesterol. And over the years, despite being an avid runner and bicyclist and a careful eater, Credle has seen his numbers climb high into the 400s. Even the cholesterol medications he was taking didn’t get him into the healthy range of under 200.
With the GOP's repeal of Obamacare stymied in Congress, Gov. Scott Walker is still rejecting the federal law and instead asking the Trump administration to let Wisconsin drug test applicants for state coverage.
Patricia Washington sees a simple calculus: If you take someone's life, you better be prepared to lose your own.
Dozens of families remained at a lead-contaminated public housing complex in northwest Indiana despite a Friday target date to move them out so the city could tear down the buildings.
Only half of 16- to 24-year-olds had a job last year, and youth employment has rebounded in just a handful of states. Is the recession all to blame?
The Trump administration on Friday fired back at California's top judge, disputing her characterization that federal immigration agents were "stalking" courthouses to make arrests.
Without debate, the Republican-led General Assembly overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to override all four of Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's vetoes, including one veto that would have doomed a popular bill meant to assist the mentally ill with outpatient treatment.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency Thursday night after fire officials extinguished a massive fire on I-85 in Atlanta that led to the collapse of a bridge on the interstate.
For the past two years, the search for Donald Trump’s unseen tax returns has been something of a quest for the Holy Grail, an elusive trophy that could unlock the mysteries of our political universe.
Senate Republicans needed Vice President Mike Pence to dash to the Capitol twice on Thursday to cast tie-breaking votes to pass legislation that will make it easier for states to restrict federal funds for Planned Parenthood and other providers of family planning services.
North Carolina's General Assembly on Thursday approved a compromise bill that repeals House Bill 2 but restricts anti-discrimination ordinances in cities and counties.
Lots of cities use social science data to help make decisions. But the District of Columbia is going a lot further.
A continuing education program for teachers has the power to reduce attrition rates, but it's having trouble catching on.
Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed legislation that would have expanded Medicaid to cover 150,000 low-income Kansans, setting up another showdown between the Republican governor and a state legislature that shifted toward the political center in the last election.
The state Supreme Court's message Wednesday to murderers condemned to die was simple: It doesn't have to be pain-free or quick and you don't get a second shot at life if the first attempt doesn't do the job.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday signed into law a measure that would impose fines and prison time on doctors who perform abortions that are based solely on whether the mother wants to have a boy or girl.
The judge in the securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has ruled that the trial should be moved out of Collin County and delayed.
Since taking office more than a decade ago, Toni Carter has made her mark on Ramsey County.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
St. Louis is looking at a public-private partnership. If the issues are properly addressed, it's an idea well worth considering.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, the cowboy hat-wearing Republican who often draws attention for posting controversial messages on social media.
Seattle is suing President Donald Trump over his executive order cracking down on so-called "sanctuary cities" for how they handle people living in the United States illegally.
North Carolina lawmakers could repeal House Bill 2 on Thursday under a deal struck late Wednesday night by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders.
Former Chief Justice Robert Young, Jr. announced Wednesday he is retiring from the Michigan Supreme Court and will step down by the end of April to return to his former law firm, Dickinson Wright in Detroit.
Two one-time aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were sentenced to prison Wednesday for their roles in a conspiracy to close down access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in a brazen and bizarre scheme that used the bridge as a means of political payback against a small-town mayor who refused to endorse Christie for re-election in 2013.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie didn't get tapped for the dream jobs of vice president, attorney general or chief of staff, but he has at last joined the Trump administration to work on a nightmare issue close to his heart.
President Donald Trump was barred Wednesday from enforcing his revised travel ban on six mostly Muslim nations while he defends it in a court battle that will stretch for months, perhaps years.
Some members of Congress are having rough experiences at town hall meetings. For local officials, it's all in a day's work.
In the days since Republicans killed their health-care plan, support for one of Obamacare's central policies has grown in states where the GOP has stunted it for years.
Miami Beach's new minimum wage law, which aims to raise the mandatory citywide wage to $13.31 by 2021, was struck down in Miami-Dade circuit court Tuesday, setting the stage for an escalation in the legal showdown between Tallahassee and City Hall.
Vermont pushed back against President Donald Trump’s immigration orders with a new law Tuesday that limits police involvement with the federal government and gives the governor the power to sign off on agreements for officers to do federal immigration duties.
It was the calm Gov. Chris Christie who showed up Monday to a Laborers' International Union of North America hall to sign a supplemental bill releasing $400 million for immediate funding to the Department of Transportation for work on New Jersey's roads, bridges and transit.
Three year's after Flint's water supply became contaminated with lead in a crisis that made international headlines, a federal judge today approved a settlement in which the state will pay $87 million for the City of Flint to identify and replace at least 18,000 unsafe water lines by 2020.
Donald Trump's plan to bring an abrupt halt to America's crusade against climate change will test California and other states like never before as they seek to wrest control of the nation's energy future from a hostile White House.
Personal incomes rose overall last year -- but not as much as the year before and not at all in certain parts of the country.
The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Texas' method for evaluating mental disability in death-row inmates was a violation of the Constitution's prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment."
A new initiative aims to identify and codify approaches that make cities more effective.
Despite Republican assurances that North Carolina's "bathroom bill" isn't hurting the economy, the law limiting LGBT protections will cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over a dozen years.
Wall Street has downgraded New Jersey's credit rating once again, renewing warnings about the state's poorly managed budget and ailing pension system for public workers.
Attorney General Ken Paxton joined Republicans officials from 12 other states to throw their weight behind the Trump administration Monday, filing an amicus brief supporting the president's revised travel ban.
President Donald Trump signed bills Monday overturning two Obama-era education regulations, continuing the Republican majority's effort to undo key pieces of the previous administration's legacy.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned governments in places like Sacramento, Calif., and Miami Monday that the Justice Department will punish sanctuary communities that do not cooperate with federal immigration laws.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday will order the Environmental Protection Agency to dismantle his predecessor's landmark climate effort, backing away from an aggressive plan to cut emissions at power plants that had been the foundation of America's leadership on confronting global warming.
President Trump railed against sanctuary cities -- including San Francisco, a favorite target -- during his campaign, and once in office he demanded the release of public reports listing regions that limit their cooperation with immigration officials.
Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] suspended its pilot program for driverless cars on Saturday after a vehicle equipped with the nascent technology crashed on an Arizona roadway, the ride-hailing company and local police said.
A recent rash of disruptions in antiquated 911 emergency-response systems points up the urgent need for new technology to save lives in the wireless age.
In its most direct statement yet, the NCAA on Thursday warned North Carolina to repeal House Bill 2 soon or lose championship events through 2022.
A Cook County judge on Thursday ruled against the "no budget, no pay" policy backed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic Comptroller Susana Mendoza, finding that the comptroller can't delay lawmaker paychecks even in the midst of a historic state budget stalemate and Illinois' pile of more than $12.8 billion in unpaid bills.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a bill into law Friday aimed at resurrecting many of the requirements of a voter-identification law that was struck down by the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2014.
The legislation undoes an Obama-era regulation about who can be drug tested. States will likely get more say over the matter, but not just yet.
Current trends and statistics showing numbers of graduates for criminal justice, education, public administration, political science, public health and other degree fields.
Older workers have a lot to offer. Government needs their contributions more than ever.
Many public-sector management challenges are unique, but there are plenty of private-sector techniques that government can profit from.
California air quality officials have approved what are widely considered to be the most rigorous and comprehensive regulations in the country for controlling methane emissions, a move that helps cement the state's status as a standard-bearer for environmental protection.
Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has signed legislation that will allow most adults to carry a hidden firearm without a permit, making North Dakota one of about a dozen "constitutional carry" states.
The moment felt historic enough that some lawmakers in Nevada's Capitol autographed paper copies of the resolution.
Gov. Sam Brownback endorsed the federal health care legislation backed by House GOP leaders in a letter his office released Thursday after a planned vote on the bill was called off.
After heavy lobbying by all sides, Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday signed a controversial bill to make Utah's laws on drunken driving the toughest in the nation — but anticipates tweaks before it takes effect late next year.
State Rep. Beth Fukumoto, who was ousted as House minority leader by Republican colleagues last month over her criticism of President Donald Trump, announced Wednesday that she is leaving the Republican Party, citing its failure to condemn elements of racism and sexism within its base. She will seek membership in the Democratic Party.
The president's budget proposal has many in the industry worried that he might break his promise to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure.
Former New York state Sen. George Maziarz and his hand-picked successor, current state Sen. Robert Ortt, did not back down from proclaiming their innocence in a State Supreme Court courtroom in Albany on Thursday.
Non-white pedestrians die at significantly higher rates than their white counterparts. Recent studies suggest drivers' prejudices may be to blame.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
Population estimates and migration data for U.S. counties.
For all its populist design, the House GOP’s latest proposal to overhaul federal Medicaid funding creates financial risks for states and could leave some enrollees worse off.
Nine months after the Maine Department of Labor outsourced its federally mandated job-matching service to an out-of-state vendor, that vendor has suffered a data breach that resulted in the theft of an unknown number of Mainers' sensitive personal information.
The final day of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee got off to an awkward start Wednesday when the Supreme Court unanimously overruled the foundation of one of his opinions in a case involving the rights of children with disabilities.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday signed into law a bill that will allow Arkansans with concealed-carry permits to take firearms onto public college campuses and many other public places, including into the state Capitol, if they get up to eight hours of training.
Gov. Matt Bevin has signed a controversial "Blue Lives Matter" bill into law that makes it a hate crime to target police officers, putting Kentucky at the forefront of a new political trend.
Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky was unrestrained in his praise for President Trump: Opening for him at a rally on Monday, Mr. Bevin, a conservative Republican, echoed Mr. Trump’s “America First” slogan and only gently noted the nagging divisions in their party.
The latest Census estimates show urban counties in the Northern U.S. and Midwest, in particular, are losing residents to the suburbs and Sun Belt.
Many cities and states have made commitments to support and promote farm-to-table food. But few have fraud protections in place to make sure people are eating truly "local."
The state wants to expand an already hated highway in an impoverished Denver neighborhood. The neighbors are fighting back.
The billionaire philanthropist has vowed to secure retirement for public employees. So why do so many public employees despise him?
Using data to measure government performance has caught on in much of the country. But the tactic is in trouble in Maryland.
Cities and counties across the country recently elected reform-minded DAs who are taking a more strategic approach to prosecutors' typical tough-on-crime policies.
A tunnel-boring machine recently dug a two-and-a-half-mile-hole beneath the surface of the nation's capital. It only took 366 days.
Arizona’s Department of Child Safety says it has dropped a 3-month-old policy that let investigators secretly record interviews with parents or caregivers suspected of crimes using a controversial and questionable technology meant to detect lying.
Before nursing home patient Carmencita Misa became bedridden, she was a veritable “dancing queen,” says her daughter, Charlotte Altieri.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday signed into a law a bill ending the state's 32-year-old dual holiday in January honoring both the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert E. Lee and making the day a holiday celebrating King only.
Congressional Republicans have "declared war on New York," an angry Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday, referring to a proposed amendment to a federal health care bill that would shift New York's Medicaid costs from its counties to state government.
Describing himself as "merely a thankful beggar," Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from deep-pocketed donors seeking his help with their legal woes, federal authorities said Tuesday as they unveiled a 23-count indictment charging the two-term Democrat in a sprawling corruption case.
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The Circular Economy, Part 1/4: GreenBiz's "State of the Green Business 2017" recently addressed the effect expanding cities and changing seasons have on our environment's water supply. And with water outranking food shortages and cyberattacks as global crises, according to the World Economic Forum, it's time to talk about it: What does it mean for a community to effectively "recycle" the flow of clean water? How do new types of circular infrastructure now repurpose water beyond the potable?
D.C. and more than a dozen states are shunning paperless refunds to avoid being conned out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
