Archive
After several years of growth, the amount states are socking away in rainy day funds has slowed.
The Justice Department has sued several municipalities for blocking mosques and Islamic schools from being built. But the future of those lawsuits under a Trump administration is unclear.
Detroit's bus system is making significant improvements, enough that the U.S. government is lifting financial restrictions on how the agency can access federal funding.
Both of New Jersey’s top Democratic elected officials endorsed Phil Murphy, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany and ex-Goldman Sachs executive, for governor on Monday, attempting to add even more momentum to a campaign that has already won the support of the state’s 21 Democratic county chairmen.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a legal challenge Monday to a new law that requires women to have an ultrasound before receiving an abortion in Kentucky.
Left with unanswered questions, state and local election officials are worried about the Department of Homeland Security's latest attempt to stop hackers. DHS' response? Calm down. We're here to help.
Uber provides over 1 million rides per day in more than 450 cities around the world, constantly collecting data en route to the destination.
Gov. Butch Otter’s State of the State address Monday focused heavily on education funding, tax relief and creating a secured facility for mentally ill people committed to a state hospital.
In his third State of the State address, Gov. Doug Ducey laid out an ambitious and potentially pricey agenda that left lawmakers on both sides of the aisle nodding in approval and asking the same question: How is the state going to pay for all this?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo made it official Monday, saying that the 2,000-megawatt Indian Point nuclear power plant will close by April 2021, with his office saying it will have "little to no effect on New Yorkers' electricity bills."
A transgender California prison inmate who was born male but identifies as female underwent gender-reassignment surgery paid for by the state this week in what is believed to be the first such case in the United States, her attorneys said Friday.
Gov. Rick Snyder visited Flint Friday and signed legislation that will require Michigan communities to be notified much more quickly than Flint was about elevated lead levels in their drinking water.
Gov. John Kasich today signed another bill targeting Ohio's opiate and heroin epidemic.
As gloomy government budget news stacks up in Austin, a state appeals court ruling issued Friday appears to erase a huge worry about the state’s business franchise tax.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Thursday signed an executive order requiring future contractors that do business with the Executive Branch to adhere to a non-discrimination policy that includes bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The most powerful in a series of winter storms lashed Northern California and Nevada on Sunday with heavy rains and strong winds, causing widespread flooding, downing trees and unleashing mudslides.
State Rep. Lela Alston has difficulty hearing. Despite wearing hearing aids, she has struggled to follow bill debates on the House floor, and even been reluctant to participate.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met Sunday in Houston with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, adding to tensions with China after President-elect Donald Trump broke diplomatic protocol by talking to her on the phone.
Governments are good at a lot of things, but innovation isn't one of them. That's where partners come in.
Wage growth reached its highest level in seven years. But increases aren't being enjoyed by all segments of the economy.
North Texas was freezing during a three-day stretch last month, but Mary Garcia refused to turn on the heat in her cramped apartment.
Donald Trump's hesitation in hiring immigration hard-liner Kris Kobach reflects the next president's indecision on how to approach the biggest issue of his presidential campaign.
The “Kansas experiment” of eliminating the income tax is a failure that Arizona would be wise to avoid, participants at the launch of a new economic-policy think tank were told Thursday.
The proxy battle between Ohio Gov. John Kasich and President-elect Donald Trump over the Ohio Republican chairman's job took a new twist Wednesday with a missive from 38 county GOP chairmen that backs Trump's favorite.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced today that he will make a run to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee, ending weeks of local and national speculation.
Boosted by a failed effort in North Carolina to topple an anti-transgender “bathroom bill”, conservative lawmakers in other states are redoubling their efforts to make restrooms and locker-rooms the next political and cultural battleground.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
Libraries are frequently forced to deal with people's health problems. That's why some are adding medical professionals to their staff.
In a unanimous decision, the Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that outgoing Gov. Peter Shumlin lacks the authority to act this week to replace a justice who will retire at the end of March.
People in this city had their pick of four health insurers last year when they shopped for policies during the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment.
The latest LIRR train accident -- the second in less than three months -- has raised new concerns about the railroad's safety practices.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's former campaign manager, Bill Stepien, who a prosecution witness testified knew in advance of the politically motivated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, will serve as White House political director in the Trump administration.
Gov. Roy Cooper announced plans to expand Medicaid by executive action during an address to the business community here on Wednesday -- an action that is against a current state law and will likely face opposition from the Republican-led legislature.
As Chicago braces for the results of a federal civil rights probe into its police practices, the commander hired just six months ago from outside the department to guide reforms abruptly left to become police chief of Oakland, Calif.
A federal appeals court in St. Louis has declared that Minnesota's sex offender treatment program is constitutional -- handing a major victory to the state but potentially derailing long-awaited reforms to its system of indefinite detention for sex offenders.
The Pennsylvania House on Tuesday made it possible to more quickly expel members who are convicted of certain crimes.
Texas on Tuesday sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for what it says is an "unreasonable delay" in deciding whether to allow the delivery of execution drugs from India.
Nearly 200 people had minor marijuana convictions wiped from their records Tuesday when Gov. Peter Shumlin issued pardons to those whom he said were still facing stigma and “very real struggles” that often accompany drug convictions.
Gov. John Kasich has vetoed a bill that would weaken the state's clean-energy standards, saying that the measure "amounts to self-inflicted damage to both our state's near- and long-term economic competitiveness."
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday proposed free state college tuition assistance to ease the burden of paying for higher education for hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income students.
A Delaware Superior Court judge upheld a ban on carrying firearms in state parks and forests for purposes other than hunting.
Girding for four years of potential battles with President-elect Donald J. Trump, Democratic leaders of the California Legislature announced Wednesday that they had hired Eric H. Holder Jr., who was attorney general under President Obama, to represent them in any legal fights against the new Republican White House.
Montana State Senator Ed Buttrey is a no-nonsense businessman from Great Falls. Like a lot of Republicans, he’s not a fan of the Affordable Care Act, nor its expansion of Medicaid, the health insurance for the poor and disabled.
Eric Garcetti has big plans for Los Angeles, and he's not letting the new administration get in the way.
With elections in dozens of states, the leading parties have reason to worry in almost half of them.
A federal judge in Texas has blocked national regulations aimed at protecting transgender people from discrimination in health care, a move that opponents of the measures are celebrating as protecting doctors' religious beliefs.
A Muslim congregation that has waged a five-year battle against a New Jersey town for the right to build a mosque has moved "one step closer" to finally having a place to pray.
The New York Police Department will allow officers to begin wearing beards and turbans for religious reasons, in a policy shift intended to help diversify the nation's largest police force.
President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday to again draw attention to Chicago's struggles with surging violent crime, this time suggesting that perhaps Mayor Rahm Emanuel should seek help from the federal government.
Gov.-elect Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the North Carolina General Assembly's special session law that revamps the state elections board.
Democrats around the country are demanding change from a national committee they say has focused too heavily on the White House at the expense of governorships, legislatures and state party operations.
The city has an unusually high number of women in leadership positions, even in male-dominated departments like police and fire. Why is that?
Government compensation systems are out of touch with the modern economy.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, nearly two years away from Election Day 2018, deposited $50 million into his campaign account this week in what party operatives billed as a "first installment" in the effort to win a second term for the wealthy former venture capitalist.
The state of Illinois cannot, for now, force a group of clinics that refuse to perform abortions to direct patients to doctors who will do the procedure, a state judge has ruled.
Uber is moving its self-driving pilot project to Arizona, one day after the California Department of Motor Vehicles ordered the autonomous vehicles off the roads in San Francisco.
The “Year of the Bible” will apparently last 24 months in Kentucky.
Gov. Paul LePage has a history of interpreting the state’s constitution in ways that are later discredited, but that didn’t stop him from lobbing more dubious claims this week.
The seven lucky balls that popped out of the Arizona Department of Health Services lottery machine in October produced big winners — not in the state’s Powerball game, but in the competition to make money in the medical marijuana industry.
Contrary to popular belief, a new study shows there's been almost no progress over the last 70 years.
The Ohio Supreme Court leveled the playing field for DNA testing in murder cases today by ruling part of state law unconstitutional.
Jeffery Beasley, who was accused of covering up and thwarting investigations into human rights abuses in the Florida prison system, has resigned, the Miami Herald has learned.
Uber pulled its self-driving Volvos off the roads in San Francisco on Wednesday, a week after they began picking up passengers, as the Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the cars' registrations.
Brett Parker, an elementary school teacher and rookie politician, was a Democrat running against a Republican incumbent in a Republican state that the Republican presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump, clinched by 20 percentage points.
Under pressure from a pair of open records lawsuits, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that he has used personal email accounts to conduct public business, a practice that allowed him to hide some of his government correspondence from the public since he took office.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday signed a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients.
The North Carolina Senate voted down a repeal of House Bill 2 and adjourned Wednesday after a day of increasingly partisan rancor that pitted conservative Republicans against the Charlotte they so distrust.
There's a lot of capital out there waiting to be deployed, but outdated regulations are standing in the way.
In what could be a tumultuous year for state and local finances, these five issues are likely to take center stage.
The latest charges bring the total to 13.
The benefits are among the most generous in the nation.
But voters still support capital punishment laws.
The president says the ban, which also includes parts of the Atlantic, cannot easily be lifted by a successor.
The lethal injection drug remains involved in other legal battles around the country.
Tax cuts and declining oil revenues are to blame.
The decision could affect thousands of low-income women in the state.
The change is designed to reflect the reality of lower recent returns. But it means billions more in contributions from taxpayers and state employees.
A group of states experienced strong gains, while much of the Midwest and Northeast lost residents via migration.
With less people and money, small towns are prone to making big and expensive errors. One company wants to change that.
According to union officials and HR executives around the country.
The Arizona State Board of Education voted to adopt revisions to its Common Core-based K-12 math and reading learning standards Monday.
Hullabaloo about whether any of Maine's four Electoral College electors would defy the will of Election Day voters fizzled Monday afternoon at the State House when three electors voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton and one for President-elect Donald Trump.
A rare uprising took hold of the State House on Monday as rank-and-file lawmakers from both parties killed a controversial bill that would have allowed Governor Christie to cash in on a book-publishing deal and give hefty raises to his Cabinet officers, judges and legislative aides.
In a dramatic response to the expected crackdown on illegal immigration by Donald Trump, Los Angeles leaders on Monday will announce a new $10 million fund to provide legal assistance for immigrants facing deportation.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Monday formally announced $13.3 million settlements reached over the past month with family members and surviving victims in a pair of police shootings that left three people dead after Hurricane Katrina, as well as a settlement last summer over a third police killing a month before the storm.
In an unprecedented break with party and tradition, four members of the Electoral College in Washington passed over the state's popular vote winner, Democrat Hillary Clinton, on Monday to pick a candidate who wasn't on the November ballot.
Republicans at the federal and state levels want to defund universities that protect undocumented students from deportation. It's making some schools think twice about their policies, but should they?
Like much of the president's policies, his most recent rule on funding for abortion providers may not matter once Donald Trump takes the White House.
A congressional committee investigating the Flint water crisis today issued letters finding repeated failures in which state environmental officials "remained indifferent" about the danger of lead levels in the city's water and federal regulators "ignored multiple demands" to intervene.
A federal judge has delayed Texas' fetal remains burial rule until Jan. 6.
Four days into a water contamination emergency, city leaders acknowledge they don't know how much of a toxic chemical leaked into the public water system and people are reporting they are getting sick.
In a push to limit greenhouse-gas emissions from a fast-evolving industry, California regulators approved the nation's first energy-efficiency standards for computers Wednesday.
North Carolina legislators wrapped up their work Friday on a pair of proposals that would deprive the incoming governor of a substantial part of his authority to make appointments and reduce Democrats' power over election regulation. Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law the bill dealing with elections a short time later.
We've just begun to tap the potential. What does 2017 have in store?
There are no easy answers for a career public manager ordered to cut spending with no consideration of its impact.
In the wake of reports exposing a culture of harassment and retaliation in Missouri's prisons, the director of the agency sent a resignation letter to agency employees Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the city of Sterling Heights claiming the Detroit suburb was biased against Muslims when it shot down a plan to build a mosque there last year.
President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration Thursday, ordering federal funds be made available to victims of the fires that killed 14 and damaged or destroyed more than 2,400 structures in Gatlinburg and the surrounding Sevier County communities.
Current and historical rainy day fund balances for each state.
They’re into more than showmanship. They’re struggling to turn the gambling mecca into a thriving 21st century urban place.
More than half the states have passed laws to protect victims, but the laws aren’t always enforced and often produce new challenges.
As the new administration likely backs away from Obama's commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, mayors are stepping up their efforts.
Particularly in rural areas, governments are increasingly turning to them to ease the shortage of providers, blurring the line between religion and medicine.
In 1970, an architect began building a self-sustaining town of the future. Now it stands as a lab for environmentally conscious urban planners.
Former Milwaukee police officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown was charged Thursday with first-degree reckless homicide in the fatal on-duty shooting of Sylville Smith, which sparked riots in Sherman Park in August.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
In late-October, before a restless crowd in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Republican-elect Donald Trump laid out the closing argument of his campaign.
One attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, is already investigating Donald J. Trump over possible violations of New York State law at his charity foundation.
Gov. John Bel Edwards overstepped his authority in an order requiring state agencies and private companies contracting for state work to not discriminate against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people in the workplace, a district judge in Baton Rouge ruled Wednesday morning.
No honeymoon, then.
Uber is acting illegally by operating self-driving cars in San Francisco and "must cease" until it gets a permit, according to a strongly worded letter sent by California's Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert Wednesday urging pregnant women to consider postponing any travels to Brownsville because five people there have become infected with the Zika virus through mosquito bites.
A judge has ordered the city of Chicago to hold off on implementing new restrictions on Airbnb and other home-sharing platforms after a group of homeowners sued the city last month.
A federal judge in Seattle on Wednesday rejected a request by two Washington state electors to pre-empt a state law that could fine them up to $1,000 each if they disregard the state's presidential popular vote.
An entire Indiana town has no police officers after every single one walked off the job. The officers blame the Bunker Hill Town Council for the situation.
A small rural Colorado school district elected to allow teachers and staff members to carry guns on campus on Wednesday evening. The decision came on the fourth anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adult staff members, inspiring a wave of proposals to allow weapons in schools.
The Obama administration is trying to protect Planned Parenthood's federal funding before the president turns over the reins of government to Republicans who have historically been hostile to the family planning group.
They're bringing in new investors, big and small, to disperse the power and lower interest rates. It's already paying off for some governments.
The controversial oil and gas extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing can contaminate drinking water under certain circumstances, according to a long-anticipated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report released Tuesday.
As he said farewell to the Texas Legislature in January 2015, Rick Perry couldn’t help but reflect on how energy technology and policy had transformed the state’s landscape — and fueled its economy — during his record 14 years as governor.
Governors on both sides of the political divide expressed uncertainty on Tuesday about what lies ahead under President-elect Donald Trump, whose stances on issues from immigration to healthcare have shifted over the last year.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is testing the waters on a run for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, according to a published report.
Civil rights activists are meeting with the police chief of Eastpointe after they issued a travel warning against the city for conditions described as too dangerous for Black Americans.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a state law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital near their clinic, saying the measure "places an undue burden on a women's access to abortion."
While describing himself as a champion for the sanctity of life, Gov. John Kasich vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have forbidden abortions once a fetal heartbeat could be detected.
With the most power over U.S. government that any party has had in decades, Republicans have hit the jackpot. The new administration will embolden states’ rights, but it could also create problems for them.
These are the biggest policies and problems legislatures will confront this year.
The first lady's signature initiative helped more than 500 municipalities address obesity. Now that she's leaving the White House, the future of the program is uncertain.
Young people rarely vote in presidential races -- and even less often in mayoral contests. See which cities have the biggest generation gap in turnout.
With Republicans in full control in half the states, climate change skeptics have more power to target environmental programs.
Pedestrian-friendly cities are healthier cities, which is why many are making it easier for residents to ditch their cars.
An overwhelming share of their voters live in metropolitan areas. Will their appeal ever expand beyond?
Once every 20 years, the state’s citizens get the opportunity to overhaul government. Voters rejected the idea again on Tuesday.
Observers say Kansas is trying to “end bad economic news by not reporting it.” It’s not the only state being accused of hindering transparency.
In a Minnesota suburb, libertarians are making a lot of changes people might expect. But not everyone is happy.
As more cities start taxing sugary beverages, the industry may turn to new allies to block them.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Energy Department, according to news reports early Tuesday.
The director of a West Virginia nonprofit who was put on leave for referring to first lady Michelle Obama as "an ape in heels" will be back at work next week.
The U.S. Justice Department will investigate the Hampton Roads Regional Jail, looking into potential violations of the constitutional rights of inmates who have mental or physical illness.
In a move that some experts see as a growing trend in the news media, a conservative think tank in Kansas with close ties to billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch has announced it is launching its own news service to combat what it sees as bias in traditional news outlets.
In a loss for local governments, the California Supreme Court decided Monday that online travel companies such as Expedia Inc. are exempt from paying hotel occupancy taxes.
The Democratic Governors Association is laying out the priorities it would like to see from the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Death came knocking at the Supreme Court's door twice last week, as it has done most weeks since the justices took the bench in early October.
Wisconsin's historic presidential recount ended Monday resulting in a net gain of 131 votes for President-elect Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said.
A federal judge dealt a severe setback Monday to a longshot plan to deny Donald Trump the presidency through the Electoral College, refusing to suspend a Colorado law requiring the state's nine electors to vote for the presidential candidate who won the state in November.
Almost half the states cut their budgets this year, and that trend is likely to continue into 2017.
Gov. Christie may have picked a winner, but he isn't acting like one lately.
Rick Perry is a leading finalist to become secretary of energy in President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet, sources close to the former Texas governor said Sunday.
During the tough financial times of 2011, Marcy Willis, a single mother who raised five children in Atlanta, used her credit card to rent a car for an acquaintance in exchange for cash. But the man — and the car — disappeared, she said. Four months later, when Ms. Willis finally recovered the car and returned it, she was charged with felony theft.
Arkansas' highest court has thrown out a judge's ruling that could have allowed married same-sex couples to get the names of both spouses on their children's birth certificates without a court order.
