Alan Greenblatt -- Senior Staff Writer. Alan covers politics as well as policy issues for Governing. He is the coauthor of a standard textbook on state and local governments. He previously worked as a reporter for NPR and CQ and has written about politics and culture for many other outlets, print and online.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Lobbyists can't grab lawmakers outside of chambers and committee rooms anymore. They're doing their best to stay in the loop through calls and texts but complain the legislative process has become a lot less transparent.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Local governments wish state officials would do more to combat coronavirus. In a few states, they’re angry that governors have issued orders that preempt cities and counties from setting their own course.
The coronavirus crisis has made it clear that technology is essential to continuity of government. CIOs may see more of their wish lists fulfilled, but investing in IT will be tough with budgets heading south.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Nearly half the nation's legislatures have adjourned or canceled sessions. Where they're still meeting, lawmakers are improvising to keep a safe distance from one another.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
No handshaking or rallies are allowed. Politicians are scrambling to find ways of getting their messages in front of voters who are distracted and in many places barely leaving their homes.
No one knows how deep or long the pandemic-triggered recession will be. But nearly every type of government revenue, including income, sales and gas taxes, will take a hit. Well-funded rainy-day funds should help.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Millions of workers, including government employees, will experience remote work for the first time. There are strategies you can adopt to stay on task when away from the office and co-workers.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Cities, counties and states are trying to proceed as normal while the coronavirus spreads. However, some legislative sessions have ended early, and courts, senior centers, libraries and other services are starting to shut down.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Governors and mayors don't run for office with the intention of managing emergencies. But when a crisis strikes, they become the public face of government response and need to be ready to communicate accurately and calmly.
States have been twice as likely to block paid sick leave mandates at the local level as they've been to impose such requirements themselves. That may change.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
An effort to overturn a law requiring vaccines in Maine went down to resounding defeat on Tuesday. That doesn't mean the fight is over in other states.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
State and local governments have adapted plans for other pandemics and are putting them into action. They're hoping for better coordination and more funding from the feds. Officials insist that they’re up to the challenge.
Never before have policymakers faced such daunting questions on regulating and legislating the growing impact of digital technology. We pick the most important issues they will grapple with this year.
Study after study shows that tax incentives don't pay off in real economic gains and often fail to produce the jobs that were promised. When managed correctly, however, they can build on local strengths.
Four years ago, Oakland established an advisory commission to look at city policies through a privacy lens. Today, it remains the only body with such a wide scope and may become a model as the use of tech grows.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Once hailed for innovation and transformation, the tech industry is in the midst of a backlash. With growing public concern over privacy and the threat to existing jobs, expect to see more government regulation.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Growth is increasingly concentrated in a small number of cities. That creates problems within those metro areas and threatens to deprive most of the country of prosperity.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
For too long, tech has been someone else’s problem — something policymakers didn’t believe they needed to think about or even fully understand. It’s time to define what we want from a revolution that’s affecting everything.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
For more than a decade, the feds have been pushing states to modernize their Medicaid management information systems so they could report comparable data. The effort is starting to pay off.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Political attention this year will largely be focused on the presidential race, but at the start of a redistricting cycle both parties are pledging to spend record amounts on state elections.
State legislatures will have a lot on their plates. They’ll deal with issues in wildly differing ways. We set the context for the 2020 session with an overview of abortion, election security, housing, immigration, net neutrality, pensions, pre-emption, recession fears, redistricting, vaping, and workforce.
THE FUTURE OF Community Design
Democrats rely heavily on urban voters for support, but the states that hold the first caucuses and primaries don't have really big cities. That tends to leave them off the campaign agenda.
Why are some lawmakers calling each other ‘bastards’ and ‘bat shit crazy’? Because governors in a dozen states now face legislatures controlled by the other party. While some can reach compromises, policy fights and angry words are common.
Hacking isn't the only problem. Misinformation campaigns and the refusal of politicians to admit defeat all serve to undermine voter confidence. Now, states need to anticipate new threats.
Democrats scored gains in numerous once-Republican suburbs in state and local races Tuesday, most notably in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Republican strategists are nervous about that trend continuing into 2020.
Unlike other federal and state offices, there’s still ‘wiggle room’ for ticket-splitting in contests for governor. Tuesday’s result in Kentucky means there will be a dozen governors whose party lost the last presidential election in their state.
Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen is caught in a scandal of his own making. He's not the only state legislative leader across the country facing political peril.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves has been the frontrunner all year, but in Tuesday's primary, he fell just short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff.
A long-awaited transportation bill advanced in Congress this week. The National Governors Association isn't waiting on its passage to make road funding and safety its top priorities.
A booming population and new campaign finance options have brought out a record number of candidates.
The debate is playing out around the country but has been most controversial in Texas.
Eight years of state government atrophy may be coming to an end in Kansas. But it will take a long time, and quite a bit of pain.
Privatization and years of inadequate resources have left the incarcerated population with abysmal medical care.
Rural America lags behind metro areas in terms of population growth, business creation and workforce participation.
Most states have recently passed laws to combat trafficking. But they aren't always funded or enforced, and some activists say they could have the opposite intended effect.
Democratic socialist candidates have won seats this year in Chicago, Denver and Philadelphia. More are likely to join them.
The 5-4 ruling leaves no options for challenging maps perceived as unfairly partisan in federal court.
Supporters of the initiatives will have to wait at least two years before they go before voters.
The policy was intended to discourage government dependence. It didn’t seem to work.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson spearheaded the streamlining.
Cities are chucking the chalk.
More people are registering as Republicans than Democrats in states with gubernatorial elections this year and in some 2020 battleground states.
The administration is focusing on a level of government that past presidents have often neglected.
According to the most comprehensive report of its kind, states spend more than $9 billion a year incarcerating people who violate community supervision terms that even corrections officials admit are difficult to comply with.
The ruling, which united an unusual coalition of justices, could boost Democrats' chances in November.
The governors of Kentucky, New Jersey and West Virginia face different controversies, but they're all wealthy businessmen who had never before held elected office.
Half the city’s land mass is occupied by government entities and other tax-exempt institutions. Some city councilors say nonprofits are not paying their fair share.
A new study examines whether cities respond to complaints as quickly in poor neighborhoods as they do in rich ones.
Donna Arduin has made a career out of consulting with governors on budget cuts.
Lawmakers say they want to clear up confusion over plant-based meat substitutes.
Queens, N.Y., will soon join the list of places electing district attorneys who reject the tough-on-crime policies of the past. But their approach isn't always well-received by governors.
In Tuesday's GOP primary, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin won a bare majority of the vote.
In Colorado, Republicans are trying to oust a dozen Democratic state legislators. It's the latest example of a political party using once-rare recalls as a way to gain control.
Tim Storey, who will take over as NCSL's executive director, has pledged to maintain the organization's bipartisan approach.
All but one of America's presidents between 1976 and 2004 were governors. Since then, state leaders have barely stood a chance at the Oval Office.
In the face of widespread opposition and the guilty plea of a top supporter, proponents of a single metro government have put their plans on hold.
The debate is likely dead until next year.
One state tried to remove local governments' power to dictate things like paint colors.
The Republican governor of Indiana has quietly become one of the most effective and popular state leaders in the country.
Councilmembers in Chicago and Philadelphia, which give them unusual amounts of authority, are facing criminal charges.
About one in five Americans now lack regular access to local media coverage. Studies show this is bad for politics, municipal debt -- and even the environment.
Ross Garber is the man to call when state leaders are in political peril.
A generation ago, most Democrats and Republicans backed capital punishment. But in New Hampshire, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle just voted to abolish it, reflecting a nationwide trend.
From Kansas City, Mo., to Tampa, Fla., a record number of large cities could elect an openly gay woman as mayor this year.
No black woman or openly gay individual has led a city as large as Chicago. She will have to confront chronic budget shortfalls, population loss and a high murder rate.
Mayor Mike Duggan has pledged to spend $130 million to help revive neglected neighborhoods in the city.
Why are they breaking norms and eyeing city hall instead of Capitol Hill?
How will it achieve both goals when half of the property tax revenue goes to schools?
With the 2020 elections in sight, both parties are appealing to their bases, leaving voters in the middle uncertain which way to turn.
In one of his first moves as governor, Gavin Newsom is taking some cities to court for failing to address the affordable housing crisis.
After making racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic comments, elected officials often stay in office, either by apologizing or attacking their opponents. But public servants may have a harder time keeping their jobs.
In a decision that stunned both parties, Judge G. Bryan Collins ruled last Friday that the state's lawmakers don't have the power to pass constitutional amendments. His reasoning traces back to racial gerrymandering.
In New Jersey, dozens of localities have outlawed sales or possession of the drug even before the legislature legalizes it.
Democrats rarely win elections in the South. If anyone can do it, it's Jim Hood.
Republicans hold a small fraction of seats in two Democratic states, but they enjoy outsized power.
Some states are still purging voter rolls and requiring IDs. But most are now looking to expand access to the ballot box.
Three governors -- two Democrats and a Republican -- say the big tax hikes are needed to address their road and transportation problems.
Chicago will hold its first round of voting on Tuesday to pick Rahm Emanuel's replacement. Former Clinton administration official Bill Daley is among the frontrunners, but the huge field makes it uncertain who will proceed to the April runoff.
At the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington this weekend, many governors said the president's tariffs are hurting business in their states.
At the winter meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington this weekend, the lack of proper workforce training was an overarching concern.
After the blackface scandals involving Virginia politicians, expect more candidates to dig up dirt on themselves while keeping in mind the changing culture of America and the power of the internet.
If history is any indication, the current controversies will likely change how Ralph Northam governs. He's already made racial reconciliation a new priority.
With control of the legislature on the line in November, the party could pay a price for the blackface revelations by Virginia's governor and attorney general, and the sexual assault allegations against the lieutenant governor.
Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam is refusing to leave office after the resurfacing of his yearbook page, which shows one person dressed in blackface and another as a Ku Klux Klan member.
Voters aren’t satisfied with how Seattle is managing its growth, which has largely been driven by Amazon's presence.
After Democrats swept judicial elections last year, Harris County is set to become much less landlord-friendly.
There are lessons to be learned from New York and Pennsylvania.
The number of Hmong legislators, who came from Southeast Asia as refugees, tripled in the Minnesota state House this year.
Since the midterm elections, Republican legislators in California, Kansas and New Jersey have switched to the Democratic party.
Several new governors have signed anti-discrimination executive orders. So did Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, but his had no mention of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Legislators are seeking to roll back some of the high-profile ballot measures that voters approved in November. They also want to make it harder for initiatives to pass in the future.
Most of them led to a resignation or election loss.
Most of the students using Arizona’s vouchers are already in top-performing schools.
In practically every state, one party now holds all the legislative power. And once they get it, they’re keeping it.
“Putting somebody out there on the street who has very little training is not fair to the community and it’s not fair to the officer, but it happens all the time.”
Advocates say higher incomes help low-wage employees, but one new report suggests the reality is more complicated.
Incoming Gov. Mike Dunleavy is the sixth person to win the office in as many elections. The constant turnover has made it difficult for the state to solve its biggest problems.
Staunchly Republican rural counties voted for progressive policies at the ballot box this year, including minimum wage hikes and Medicaid expansion.
Republican Robin Vos, who engineered the lame-duck bills to strip power from the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general, maintains that the maneuver was a nonpartisan attempt to restore balance between the branches.
The state's Democrats sought to shift redistricting in their own favor, contradicting their national party's stance against gerrymandering.
In the states holding post-election, pre-inauguration sessions this year, Republican legislators are passing sweeping bills on a wide range of issues -- some that weaken laws just approved by voters.
"You see how easy it is to have what amounts to minority rule, to defy norms and take power that really isn't yours to take," says an expert on the state's politics.
Legislatures in recent years have increased, and intensified, their attempts to assert authority over other branches of government.
Georgia and New Hampshire will elect secretaries of state next week, in a year that has been plagued with claims of voter suppression across the country.
Springfield, Mass., is in the best shape it’s been in a generation.
Cities are eliminating requirements for new buildings to have parking.
Some cities are closing recycling plants. Others are ending curbside pickup. For recycling to be sustainable, consumers must learn to sort their trash better.
Seven states had never elected an openly gay or transgender legislator before this year. Three of them just did in an election that substantially increased the number of LGBT lawmakers overall.
It wouldn't be the first time lawmakers have attempted to strip a new governor of some power. But it is rare.
Of all the new governors, few will change the culture of their states as much as him.
With Democrats taking over the U.S. House, Congress may grind to a halt. Red and blue states, meanwhile, will go their separate ways on abortion, taxes, education, health and voting rights.
All but one passed.
A rundown of the most interesting and consequential local measures.
Most red states will stay red, and the blue states will remain the minority. But voters did reject several more ideological candidates in favor of politicians who presented themselves as more pragmatic.
The night's biggest voting rights measure was in Florida, where more than 1 million felons had their right to vote restored.
But the races in Phoenix and Little Rock, Ark., are headed for runoffs.
The state where lawmakers put every justice on trial this year is also the only state where the legislature has no control over the judicial budget. Voters changed that on Tuesday.
Supporters of so-called Marsy's Law hope eventually to amend the U.S. Constitution.
The state's GOP-controlled legislature hoped voters would approve measures to give them more say over judicial and ethics appointments, but both were defeated soundly.
Turnout has already exceeded the 2014 numbers -- especially among some Democratic-leaning demographics. But there are reasons for Republican optimism, too.
Democrats flipped six chambers, but Republicans still control nearly twice as many.
The state hasn't elected a Democratic governor since 1994, but the progressive nominee is consistently -- and narrowly -- ahead in the polls against Republican Ron DeSantis.
Uncertainties about resources, and a question about residents' citizenship status, are making localities more nervous than usual about not counting people.
While some homeowners are now paying nothing in property taxes, businesses and local governments are feeling the pinch.
Unlike most politicians, California's outgoing governor has made planning ahead a staple of his leadership -- even if it means going against his own party.
The list of prominent national Democrats being sent packages containing bombs is growing. Threats of violence have also become more common against, and sometimes from, state and local candidates and public officials.
Advocates say "approval voting," which has never been used in electoral politics, offers voters more flexibility.
Kemp faces allegations of using his position to suppress minority voters and gain unfair advantage in the governor's race, highlighting the office's increasing partisanship and potential for conflicts of interest.
An unpopular governor and a moderate candidate have given Republicans the chance for rare victories in Connecticut and Oregon.
Akron, Ohio, calls it the Innerbelt National Forest.
Since the U.S. started making anonymous homebuyers reveal their true identities, luxury prices in hot markets have dropped.
Long considered a conservative hero, Wisconsin’s governor is sounding kinder and gentler as he seeks a third term.
Only one Republican in the region looks like a certain winner. The rest are at some risk.
Four years ago, lawmakers snuck a term-limits extension onto the ballot. Now, thanks to recent statehouse scandals, voters may roll that back.
In an unusual trend, prominent politicians, including three sitting Republican governors, are refusing to endorse their own party's picks for governor.
Republicans, by comparison, saw 22 percent more people vote this season than in the 2014 midterms.
Almost all those running for promotion to governor lost their party's primaries.
The trial to impeach the entire West Virginia Supreme Court starts this week. It's just one example of a growing trend among unhappy lawmakers.
Bill Pound, the executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures since 1987, helped preserve bipartisanship among lawmakers.
While progressive candidates for Congress are being generously supported, gubernatorial hopefuls are being badly outraised by their GOP opponents.
Chicago's mayor shocked the city on Tuesday by announcing he will not seek a third term.
The Tallahassee mayor's win in the Democratic primary for governor is one of the year's biggest upsets. Can a progressive beat a Trump-endorsed candidate in this red state?
The beverage industry used a tactic that could become more common with other interest groups.
In the span of five months, the state says it tripled the amount it was saving by privatizing Medicaid.
Not everyone is happy about this trend.
Louisiana has "stopped the bleeding," but political observers point out that the financially strained state still has several major spending problems.
Courts have ruled that access to public figures on social media is a constitutional right.
Rather than going after voters in the middle, both the Democratic and Republican nominees are playing to their base.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey faces a tough fight for reelection.
With a month of primaries left, the record for the number of female nominees for governor has already been broken. Some of them are also the first black, Latina and Native American women nominated by a major party.
After the state sent out a false nuclear attack warning in January, Hawaii Gov. David Ige trailed in polls. Now he's favored to win reelection.
Any blue wave would have to be pretty big to threaten these popular Republican incumbent governors.
Bob McCulloch, who refused to indict the police officer involved in the teenager's death, faces a serious challenge in the Aug. 7 primary. His opponent represents a rise in candidates dedicated to criminal justice reform.
President Trump will stump for Ron DeSantis in the state on Tuesday. Regardless of who wins the primary, Democrats are hoping a blue wave will help them recapture the governor’s seat in November.
Controversial candidate Brian Kemp won the GOP runoff on Tuesday. He will face progressive Democrat Stacey Abrams in November, who could be the nation's first black female governor.
States are stepping up their election security but face many challenges: a president still skeptical of Russian interference, a lack of money, and reliance on private vendors for voting equipment and software, to name a few.
More people are casting primary ballots than four years ago. But that year, turnout was the lowest since World War II.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's upset is a warning for more moderate incumbents like New York's governor, who can't feel safe while the Democratic Party is shifting to the left.
All-payer health care, the idea of paying hospitals a flat rate, is making a comeback.
Critics say West Virginia, which is enjoying an explosion of natural gas production and jobs, is repeating the missteps it made with the coal industry.
The loss of jobs and the opioid epidemic are two of the biggest reasons.
Inside the $250,000 fight between Memphis and Tennessee.
Voters will weigh in this fall on voter registration, campaign finance and redistricting.
New York's congressional race wasn't the only one with an upset on Tuesday. An anti-incumbent wave hit two states' legislative elections.
The Texas case involves racial gerrymandering, while the North Carolina case deals with partisan gerrymandering -- something the justices have hinted is unconstitutional but have yet to rule against.
His executive order, signed on Wednesday, comes after days of governors and mayors escalating their words of opposition into actions attempting to block the immigration policy announced in April.
Both major parties in Minnesota are holding their endorsement conventions this weekend. Only one of the front-runners is seeking their party's approval.
Five months after a sex and blackmail scandal broke, Gov. Eric Greitens will resign facing potential criminal charges. His replacement, a conservative with good lawmaker relations, is likely to achieve what Greitens could not.
States are raising the age of consent to protect children from forced marriage. No state has gone as far as Delaware.
White residents are either moving back downtown -- or to farther-out exurbs.
Studies show they're ineffective and may unequally impact black and Hispanic communities.
The city's first chief design officer comes to the job from the Los Angeles Times.
Republicans are split over whether they should move to the middle or embrace their right-wing base.
When a neighborhood isn't rich -- and isn't poor -- government tends to forget about it.
Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little will now face state Rep. Paulette Jordan, who could be the first Native American elected governor of any state. He's the heavy favorite to win.
There may be no politics more local than a campaign for sheriff, but the charged national issue of immigration has become suddenly salient. The defeat of two prominent sheriffs in North Carolina may set a template for progressive challenges nationwide.
Domestic abuse is a different problem from financial corruption, but New York's political system seems to promote scandals of all kinds.
Garcetti, who won reelection as mayor of Los Angeles last year, has made no secret of his presidential ambitions. In an interview, he suggested a mayor would be more pragmatic and "decent" than President Trump.
In races for governor around the country, the Democrats' preferred candidates are having to fend off attacks from progressive insurgents.
Negative partisanship has reached new depths, with candidates increasingly willing to insult one another directly.
As states debate the purpose of public universities, some say politics is playing an outsized role.
As out-of-staters flock to New Hampshire to stock up on alcohol, its neighboring states think so.
In just one year, Rhode Island reduced the overdose death rate among former prisoners by 61 percent.
In some states, the minimal requirements are leading to inaccurate reports of homicides and suicides.
Some places are losing more lawyers and accountants than factory workers.
Recent election cycles have seen more than 40 percent of state legislative seats left uncontested. Not this year.
Florida has emerged as a battleground in the fight over the 6 million people, in and out of jail, who can't vote because they were convicted of a felony.
Law enforcement departments across the country use the marijuana holiday as a way to build their followers and soften their image on social media.
Political novices are running for office at all levels of government -- many driven by anger over their current representatives' policies and behavior.
The president remains popular among Republican voters, leading most GOP candidates to pledge their allegiance to him. But they may shift that strategy after the primaries.
Some cities want to make campaign donors identify themselves. But lawmakers and lawsuits are getting in their way.
The justices heard arguments on Wednesday in a Maryland case that could, for the first time, limit partisan gerrymandering. They didn't appear to have a consensus on how to address the problem.
In a handful of states, they can't. A lawsuit involving Burger King was supposed to settle the debate in Arkansas.
In a region that values open space, the idea of expanding the housing supply is a tough sell -- even after the disaster destroyed 5,000 homes.
In a job with tons of power and practically no oversight from voters, law enforcement or politicians, corruption can be easy to get away with.
After the Kansas City Star revealed a deep culture of secrecy in the state’s government, politicians have started to address the lack of transparency.
It’s the second highest-ranking job in state government, and yet, no one seems to want it.
"I can count on one hand the number of top [legislative] leaders who have successfully run for major statewide office."
Motivated by education cuts and a nationwide spirit of activism, dozens of teachers are running for legislative seats across the country.
In the GOP civil war between populists and centrists, populists gained ground in Tuesday's elections that kicked off the year's primary season.
Guns have suddenly emerged as a central issue in this year's races. Navigating the issue will be difficult for both parties.
More than a dozen alternative weeklies have shut down in the past 20 years, increasing the likelihood that local scandals will go unnoticed.
But renters may not want to celebrate just yet.
Some are increasing the amount of stolen goods that make theft a felony. But it can be a hard sell politically.
Four decades after the law spurred an anti-tax movement across the country, rival efforts to weaken or strengthen it have emerged.
Several experienced or well-funded independent candidates are running for governor. In some cases, leaving the Democratic or Republican party to do it.
Like a lot of other places, the California city is struggling to grow without leaving longtime residents behind.
Eric Greitens, who already faced calls from both parties to resign, was charged on Thursday with a felony in connection with an extramarital affair and an alleged blackmail scheme.
Since the Supreme Court raised prosecutors' burden of proof, several politicians have had their convictions thrown out. There are new questions about what exactly counts as corruption.
Federal intelligence officials warned Congress on Tuesday that Russia will again attempt to influence the elections through cyber-warfare. New reports shed light on the inadequacy of state and local security systems.
Florida's Rick Scott and Wisconsin's Scott Walker say it's about the money. Democrats -- emboldened after a series of wins, including on Tuesday -- say the Republicans are trying to avoid losing more legislative seats.
Democrats flipped a state House seat on Tuesday. Some say Eric Greitens, whose extramarital affair has prompted a criminal investigation, is the reason. But he shows no signs of quitting.
Ten states have special legislative elections this month -- several because politicians facing allegations have either left office or committed suicide.
At one point in his address, the president seemed to call for abolishing civil service protections for federal employees.
Hannes Zacharias helped his Kansas county win national recognition for a variety of programs. The county commissioners had nothing but praise for him. Then they fired him.
The state rolled back criminal justice reforms it had adopted only a year earlier. Other parts of the country are also reconsidering similar changes.
They largely serve minority students, but supporters say that’s not a problem -- it’s actually the point.
The president's "America First" message and his new trade barriers have caused anxiety in states where the economy depends on investment from abroad. It's pushing governors to hone their diplomatic skills.
The disease has claimed 13 veterans’ lives since 2015 and may effect the governor’s reelection chances this year.
The firings follow a long and ongoing saga between independent agencies and the GOP-controlled legislature.
At least three governors will be running this year after filling in for predecessors who resigned. None of them is getting a free ride.
The president has shifted the commission's voter fraud investigation to the Department of Homeland Security. Some see that as a boon to the cause, while others say it could be problematic, especially for immigrants.
The legislature must decide whether residents will keep being charged, possibly for decades, for the failed project.
In a new book, one of his supporters compares the New York City mayor with other liberal mayors, and says no.
California has the most people of any state, and yet it doesn't have the country's largest legislature. A ballot measure proposes to change that -- but it's complicated.
Service members are often targeted for financial scams and have a harder time defending themselves. Deanna Nelson is doing it for them.
The debate over who should use which bathrooms led to record turnout in at least two elections last year. Transgender advocates expect more competition this year.
Election results from November suggest they will have a big year. But with near record low representation in the states, Democrats need more than that to shift the balance of power.
Some want to take on the president's politics. Others simply hope to give back to the communities that have become home.
The president has emerged as a central issue in races all over the country, underscoring a shift toward partisanship that has intensified since his election.
Suburbs first gained popularity for being everything a big city wasn't. Now they want to be just like downtown.
Strapped for cash, Pennsylvania may finally grant the governor a victory and enact a severance tax. But it's an uphill battle.
"People are probably tired of their city being in the headlines," says former Snellville Mayor Kelly Kautz.
Studies suggest they're "too complex" for kids to understand, spurring some police departments to simplify the words they use when arresting them.
Wisconsin's Supreme Court justices refused to tighten the rules about when they should recuse themselves from cases. It has sparked a battle between old judges and new ones.
Depending on the outcome of a potential recount, Atlanta's election on Tuesday could either counter or worsen the nationwide decline in the number of big-city black mayors.
2018 will be the first big election year when attorneys general target their peers in other states. Will it hinder the history of bipartisanship among them?
Democrats gained seats in several states on Tuesday -- more in the Virginia House than they have in any single cycle since the 19th century.
Tax increases passed in most places they were on the ballot.
Voters largely opted to re-elect their mayors on Tuesday -- even those under ethical clouds. In several midsized cities, though, Republican incumbents lost to Democrats.
The party unexpectedly won Virginia with a comfortable margin and flipped the seat now held by Republican Chris Christie in New Jersey. But the question remains: What does that mean for 2018?
The teachers union in New Jersey is spending big to unseat the state Senate president.
Incumbent mayors are at risk of losing in several big cities. Meanwhile, some voters might elect their first woman or black woman to lead city hall.
Tulsa, Okla., a conservative oil town, serves as an example of how places can overcome politics to prevent damage and save lives.
Should Montana have to prove corruption to limit campaign contributions?
The state’s Republican party recently ousted its leader for working with Democrats. Is that hardline strategy effective?
Some local leaders are nervous about public-private partnerships.
Three of them must retire on the same day Gov. Rick Scott’s term ends. But no one knows who’s replacing them yet -- Scott or his successor?
Republicans are trying to get Democrats in California and Nevada thrown out of office. Most recall elections, though, are only successful at the local level.
Voters will weigh in on marijuana, pre-K and taxes next month.
The party will likely gain power in New Jersey next month, but holding onto the governor's office in Virginia is proving more challenging.
Things are looking up right now in the city. Well, at least part of it. That inequality will impact the city’s upcoming election and be the biggest issue facing its next leader.
Ed Murray’s resignation represents a trend: Unlike most big cities, mayors there tend to last one term -- or less.
Art Martinez de Vara created the first "defensive city." Today, there are a string of them.
Most states have outdated laws. In New Hampshire, a rule about which businesses can use red, white and blue paint has spurred a backlash against such red tape.
Ken Paxton is the state’s latest official to seemingly survive a political scandal.
It's an issue that's playing out right now in St. Louis County.
Stricter rules and penalties for protesting are being considered in nearly half the states.
Past rulings have "made politicians think there are no boundaries around what they can do." A Wisconsin case may lead to some limits.
Connecticut is home to many wealthy residents. Its state government, on the other hand, is feeling the consequences of what some call "two decades of bad decisions."
Several ban their employees from traveling to other states for work because of policies they deem discriminatory.
The city went almost a decade without a single corruption scandal. What's its secret?
Most U.S. cities abandoned it in the mid-20th century.
The state’s split legislature passed more than 400 bills, some of which address longstanding issues.
The 2016 election may have opened the door for third parties. This is most apparent in Utah.
The dream of eliminating the influence of large, private donors from the election equation is pretty much dead. Now campaign finance reformers are shifting their focus.
Twice as many Republicans can't run again for state legislative office. That could help Democrats, but how much?
It's now common, even for lower-paying jobs, to make employees pledge their loyalty to companies. Some states are stepping in to stop the corporate abuse.
In lawsuits involving high-profile partisan issues, some state AGs choose to sit out.
“The Trump dystopia is clearly motivating people to do something, and at the local level that means running for office, even against your own party.”
The Texas Supreme Court justice is witty and approachable, and he's huge on Twitter. He's also one of the most influential conservative jurists in the country right now.
Some negotiations have become so heated that legislatures have taken their fight to the courts.
Critics say laws that treat attacks against police officers as a hate crime are unnecessary and hard to enforce.
Secretaries of state are concerned about not just the federal government's request for voter information but also the information they're not getting about election security breaches.
The state has more tax agencies than most -- and one in particular is badly mismanaged.
Aldermen choose how to use infrastructure dollars from a preapproved list of projects. The result: A big spending gap between neighborhoods.
Among the places testing new ways to keep low-risk offenders out of jail, Charleston, S.C., stands out.
Mike Stack is under investigation by the state’s inspector general. The results could impact the 2018 election.
From education to gay rights, New York's governor has racked up a long list of liberal accomplishments.
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 new mayor of Jackson, Miss., may offer striking evidence of a nationwide trend.
St. Louis and Baltimore have joined the ranks of cities thinking about taking them down. Meanwhile, a countermovement is growing in state legislatures.
Their heroic image is a political asset -- one that makes changes to the profession difficult.
Between gag orders and secret funds, the governor isn't living up to his campaign promise of transparency.
The education secretary's complaints about the city's schools highlight one of her biggest priorities -- and one of her biggest battles.
Republicans currently enjoy a 2-to-1 lead among governors, but Democrats hope to start chipping away at that advantage this fall.
Apparently very. Missouri’s Botanical Gardens just got its first power-washing since it was built in 1988.
Plans to close an infamous plant were just announced. Such closures can be devastating for local economies -- even more so than when mining and manufacturing ceases to exist in a town.
Like the president, state politicians are playing by new rules and openly trying to undermine critics who threaten their power -- whether they're lawmakers, reporters or voters.
Parties learn from losing, not winning. The lesson many progressives have drawn from Democratic defeats in 2016 is that the party needs to more fully embrace liberal policies and candidates.
In what's expected to be a close election on Tuesday, major national figures have joined the campaign trail, sometimes bringing controversy over social issues with them.
The recent feud between the governor and the state's House speaker began over a tourism ad. But it goes much deeper than that.
In Portland, Ore., people were being locked up for the offense often -- African-Americans disproportionately so.
Facing bankruptcy, Grant County, Ky., invested in the park hoping for a new revenue source. But cash has yet to start flooding in.
Mike Pence tried first. Now Gov. Eric Holcomb is attempting to make the superintendent a gubernatorial appointment, leaving voters with little say over schools.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on racial gerrymandering Monday, but judges still can't agree on what partisan gerrymandering looks like. Social scientists may be able to help.
Students from abroad have become a rich revenue source for many state colleges and their towns. What happens if the Trump administration's anti-immigration sentiment and policies drive them away?
All those snaps can take a lot of time out of an elected official's busy schedule.
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.
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.
Every system has its own set of drawbacks.
States had a cheaper option for investing in infrastructure, but they didn't take it. Now, they must pay the price.
Republicans want to do with health care what they already did with cash assistance for the poor. There are lessons to be learned.
The city has created a huge problem for itself -- one so big that bankruptcy isn’t off the table.
When it comes to certain issues, they put pragmatism before politics.
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.
The party is hoping to regain seats it lost during the Obama years. Democrats say there are already signs of change, but Republicans argue there's no proof of that yet.
In his first joint address to Congress, the president talked a lot about improving infrastructure and health care but offered virtually no new details about how.
It’s time for a history lesson.
After fighting his own battle over where to house his Star Wars stuff, he let the cities duke it out.
But the days of having lawyers regulate their own conduct are numbered in California. The question now is whether that will prompt others to end the controversial practice.
Two new governors have surprised their states by keeping many of the previous administrations' cabinet members.
The state’s lawmakers have a history of ethics and legal problems -- yet their constituents don’t seem to care.
Arizona was the poster child for Tea Party politics. Now the state's Republican leaders are focusing instead on core establishment issues. The shift there could signal what's to come across the country.
As voters head to the polls in Connecticut, Delaware and Washington, Democrats are hoping to ride some voters' discontent with President Trump to victory.
Several states have already passed right-to-work laws this year -- and their reach may finally expand into the Northeast.
Republicans in one state are already gearing up for an NFL star to run for governor.
Almost every time localities attempt to regulate the oil industry, courts or legislatures stop them.
Several state legislators recently resigned, saying they want to spend more time with their families -- and they seem to mean it.
In state capitals around the country, lawmakers are trying to block voter-approved policies. Critics say it's "lawlessness" that represents the new political climate.
The president's war on progressive policies presents a dilemma for almost every big-city mayor in America. But attacking urban areas also carries big risks for the president.
It’s become a rare, bipartisan issue. But if the president's campaign rhetoric is any indication, the window of opportunity for change may have closed.
As Gov. Nikki Haley heads off to work in the Trump administration, South Carolina could see some real political change.
Democrats are preparing to fight the new administration's policies like Trump's pick to lead the EPA fought Obama's: with lawsuit after lawsuit. But can Democratic AGs make a difference with their diminished numbers?
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.
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.
Once every 20 years, the state’s citizens get the opportunity to overhaul government. Voters rejected the idea again on Tuesday.
An overwhelming share of their voters live in metropolitan areas. Will their appeal ever expand beyond?
As more cities start taxing sugary beverages, the industry may turn to new allies to block them.
In a Minnesota suburb, libertarians are making a lot of changes people might expect. But not everyone is happy.
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.
In the latest chapter of his feud with the state’s attorney general, Edwards is taking on the oil and gas industry -- but with some controversial allies.
Paul LePage’s abrupt decision left lawmakers and public health workers with unanswered questions as they struggle to battle a drug epidemic.
The decline of the mining industry started long before the Obama administration and will likely continue even with Trump in the White House. That's why local leaders are starting to diversify their economies and prepare their people for an uncertain future.
Whoever wins this month faces the tough job of uniting and rebuilding a community that’s still hurting from deadly police shootings and floods.
With the state's law in limbo and so many players at the table -- employers, unions, insurers, attorneys and lawmakers -- it will be hard to reach an agreement.
Their resignations, once rare, have seemingly become a frequent occurrence.
Author Bill Bishop, who has spent years studying America's urban-rural divide, discusses what it means for politics and progress.
Republicans in many states are now free to pursue their agendas on taxes, labor and social policies without Democrats standing in the way.
The GOP successfully defended its majorities in most chambers and also picked up chambers in Kentucky and Iowa, giving the party full control of those states.
Despite the Trump tide, voters at the local level approved new taxes on soda and bond measures for housing and transportation. They also ousted several tough-on-crime prosecutors, as well as Trump ally Joe Arpaio.
Alaska is the latest state to adopt a system in which residents will be automatically registered to vote.
Voters in the state approved ballot measures that would, among other things, let unaffiliated voters participate in primaries.
Democrats have lost control of 20 legislative chambers since Barack Obama took office. But with the president's help, they should gain some back on Tuesday.
New Hampshire and Vermont, one of Hillary Clinton's strongest states, are the GOP's best chances to increase their gubernatorial numbers this year.
It’s nearly impossible for incumbents to lose a primary. So when they do get the boot, what happened?
The federal government is closing them, but that doesn’t mean states will.
It’s part of a new philanthropic approach to improving neighborhoods.
The site of a long-gone but still-criticized public housing complex in St. Louis is being redeveloped. Will history repeat itself?
That age-old debate got a fresh hearing in Georgia.
Like most state legislators in America, Minnesota's were in charge of their own pay -- and yet, they haven't had a raise in 20 years.
Democrats have a chance at winning in five states that voted against Barack Obama in 2012.
They took steps to repeal the Citizens United ruling, limit campaign contribution limits and create publicly financed elections.
GOP lawmakers in the state have been trying to pass a voter ID law for a decade. They finally got their way.
Donald Trump has divided the GOP. Democrats are hoping to use that as an opportunity to rebuild their ranks in state legislatures.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Several governors are using nonprofits to get themselves elected and promote their agendas once in office -- without ever having to disclose where the money came from.
Rarely do politicians quarrel as openly as Kentucky’s governor and attorney general. Family ties may have something to do with it.
In just over a decade, officials want to cover a quarter of the city in shade.
It was once practically impossible to get a building inspected in the city. Now it’s easier than ever.
Voters generally agreed to raise the age limits -- but not do away with them altogether.
A constitutional tweak became embroiled in talk of impeachment, misuse of funds and an alleged affair by Gov. Robert Bentley.
Many lawmakers up for re-election are distancing themselves from their unpopular executive leader. But that may not be enough to win.
Poor criminal defendants rarely get an attorney who has time to adequately defend them. Some states, spurred by lawsuits, are starting to address the issue.
Unhappy with the results of their past elections, Mainers have opted for ranked-choice voting. It could lead to more civilized politics but lower voter turnout.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Several Republican governors have actively campaigned against lawmakers in their own party this year -- in most cases, only to see their efforts backfire.
The controversy surrounding Trump University showcases some of the sticky political situations that many attorneys general have been getting themselves in.
Even if Greg Abbott spurs a national constitutional convention, there are many unanswered questions surrounding such an event.
The plan to achieve statehood easily won voters' support on Tuesday. But will it win the support of Congress?
Exempting certain types of workers from raises is becoming a thing of the past.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
In one of the country's bluest states, a Republican may be the next governor.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
In one week, federal courts struck down such laws in four states, marking a significant shift in the legal battle over voting rules.
In an era of tight budgets and slow revenue growth, there’s pressure on legislators to be open and honest about what states can and can’t afford.
Conservatives and liberals are teaming up to restrict or ban the laws that let officers seize billions of dollars a year from people who haven’t been convicted or, sometimes, even charged with a crime.
The Atlanta mayor’s recent and abrupt termination of two agency leaders left many shocked.
The Major League Baseball team wants a big break on property taxes. Will they win?
Republicans have been losing the key demographics’ support since 2000. Democrats hope Donald Trump will keep that trend going.
The inability of most rural places to recover from the economic downturn is fueling political and social problems around the nation.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Governors are rarely VP picks, yet Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both selected one for the increasingly powerful office.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
There are implications not only for the presidential race but the Indiana governor's election as well.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
In recent years, more rural voters have flocked to the GOP -- a trend that will likely impact this year's governors races.
Whether Wisconsin's approach makes hiring for government jobs more efficient -- or simply politicizes it -- will influence if and how other states revisit their civil service systems.
Most states are low on cash, but they’re still willing to spend to attract top-shelf companies like Tesla.
Of all American towns, Baltimore gives its mayors some of the most control. Some hate that, yet attempts to change it have failed.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Donald Trump and this year’s bizarre presidential race will affect elections all over the country. What’s not clear is how.
Politicians can do a lot of favors for people, so long as they don't cross over the legal line. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision means that line has to be drawn quite clearly.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned former Gov. Bob McDonnell's corruption conviction on Monday. Before that, the case led Virginia lawmakers to set stricter ethics rules -- or so it seemed.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
In the GOP primary on Tuesday, a Donald Trump-supporting businessman has a chance of beating a career politician in the North Dakota governor's race.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Even with high approval ratings and a strong state economy, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has to fight hard to keep his job this year.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Taking a stance can not only benefit a cause but also a company.
Some say political parties are missing opportunities to boost their numbers. But others argue quality is more important than quantity.
After watching tax-slashing states struggle financially, some governors and legislators have stopped calling for cuts. But that doesn’t mean they won’t start again.
Despite $1 billion worth of investment, San Diego’s school buildings are still in disrepair.
In states across the country, conservatives are starting to question the cost and legality of capital punishment.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The real power lies with the state’s increasingly conservative legislature, which may be hurting Gov. Pat McCrory’s chances of re-election in November.
Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard is going on trial this week for corruption charges. He's just one of the state's many top government officials facing legal or ethics scandals.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Over the past decade, legislators in several states have sought to expand or reduce the number of justices on their highest courts. In some cases, they admit their intent to tilt the ideological balance.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
In Crystal City, nearly every public official is facing criminal charges. But it’s not the region’s only place plagued by corruption.
As the movement slows, policymakers have the opportunity to explore whether school choice has improved education overall.
A bipartisan group of public officials, called the 20/20 Club, is working to translate the energy of the movement into meaningful legislation on law enforcement and criminal justice.
To further their causes, Democrats are bypassing lawmakers and turning to voters.
Congress rejected the president's proposal for tuition-free community college, so his administration is instead helping regions launch the program themselves.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Debates over LGBT rights have helped define differences between red and blue states.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The justices unanimously rejected a challenge to the way Texas -- and every other state -- draws its legislative lines. They did, however, leave one question unsettled.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
It’s one of the few issues with bipartisan support in Washington. But for several reasons, the chances for change this year are dwindling.
Many of the governors with the highest approval ratings were elected on the other party’s turf.
North Carolina's fight over LGBT protections is part of a larger recent shift in political dynamics: States are thwarting local laws any chance they get -- while simultaneously complaining about federal intrusion on their own.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
His tenure was marked with disappointment, embarrassment and little to brag about. But his anti-tax stance helped him politically.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
With more qualified people in the position, the job is becoming more of a stepping stone to higher office.
New York governors and mayors have often squabbled, but no one can remember a time when relations were worse -- and costing New York City so much.
More than half a dozen governors are worth more than $100 million, worrying many about the influence of money on state politics.
Divided government is always challenging, but what's happening in Maine right now -- where Gov. Paul LePage and the legislature are barely on speaking terms -- is an exercise in extreme political hostility.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
With the recent addition of West Virginia, a majority of states now make it harder for unions to collect dues. More could soon be added to the list.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Just as proposals to increase gas taxes to pay for roads have failed in most states, Obama's latest pitch to tax oil companies is likely dead on arrival.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
Dozens of other countries force their citizens to participate in elections.
Despite their important-sounding titles, many of the growing number of “chiefs” in government don't have much actual authority.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most important election news and political dynamics impacting states and localities.
Most of the city's problems, the mayor argues, are out of his control. Will voters blame and oust him anyways?
The South Carolina governor has been selected to give the GOP's response to the State of the Union. Despite her popularity, she struggles to lead her own state.
Called Cards Against Urbanity, the game is a twist on the popular and politically incorrect Cards Against Humanity.
Republicans could strengthen their power in many states this year, but Democrats only have realistic chances in two.
Republicans have the governorship and the state House in Iowa, but Democrats have Mike Gronstal, who adheres to the old-fashioned sense that voters elect politicians to work on policy before retreating to their respective partisan corners.
From proposing Planned Parenthood mascots to silencing 10-year-old advocates, lawmakers weren't always on their best behavior around the children.
The conviction and incarceration of former Secretary of State Dianna Duran is the latest in a long history of scandals. Lawmakers are pushing ethics reforms, but some doubt change will come.
A few cities recently lowered the voting age to 16 for local elections. The idea has been debated for years but now appears to have some momentum.
The Iowa Republican, who's been in office through three economic downturns, surpasses the 18th-century governor who previously held the title.
Last month, voters in America's fourth biggest city rejected a gay rights law. This month, they elected a new mayor dedicated to expanding government services.
High-level officials around the country have recently been caught misusing their campaign funds.
Old houses are being torn down and replaced in suburbs all over the country. But not everyone, especially the people being priced out of once-affordable neighborhoods, is happy seeing the past obliterated.
They’re far from irrelevant, but campaign financing laws have hurt their influence.
The election has been less about issues and more about personalities -- but not always the candidates'.
The Kentucky governor's race is just the latest example of how election polls have become less accurate, more expensive and harder to gauge public opinion.
Social conservatives hailed the rejection of a gay rights measure in Houston. But progressives were able to claim victory elsewhere.
Most incumbents won re-election, while several cities elected their first female or openly gay mayors.
The Republican businessman will succeed term-limited Democrat Steve Beshear, weakening the Democrats' power in one of the last Southern states where they still have some.
Seattle is largely run by older white men, but changes in the city's election law will likely make its politicians more representative of the people.
Several states have decided the way to juice up economic development is to turn it over to a corporation outside the government bureaucracy. Is it working?
Oregon has long had more women in top political positions than practically any other state. There may be several reasons why.
Over the last decade, many have stopped funding it. Are the roads more dangerous?
As rights for transgender people are debated across the country, a surprising amount of attention is on where they can go to the bathroom.
Several states may soon follow California and Oregon's lead, but almost all of them are Democratic-led.
In Kentucky, one of the few Southern states where Democrats still hold power, it's a tossup between a Republican businessman appealing to religious conservatives and a Democratic AG distancing himself from Obama.
Giving up on the gridlock at the federal and state levels, progressives are turning their attention to local ballots to get their ideas passed. But policies that sell well in cities won't always work statewide.
Most incumbents are safe bets for re-election, but races remain unpredictable in several big cities.
One conservative billionaire wants to convince his fellow Republicans to believe in climate change. Can his money make a difference?
Rocked by heavy immigration and demographic change, Nevada must retool its government to cope with the new reality. It’s a sign of things to come in the rest of the country.
The truck driver who won the Democratic bid for Mississippi governor -- without spending a cent -- is the latest in a string of nominees for statewide office who lack any political experience.
If Republicans do win in every state this year, it could be a bad omen for Democrats in 2016.
Some are taking longer than they have in decades to pass a budget. Why can't the GOP work together?
Women have held less than 25 percent of all state legislative seats for years. But both parties are trying to recruit more female candidates.
Thursday's election will test the appeal of anti-government populism in a booming Democratic city.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage has become so unpopular with lawmakers that many Democrats and Republicans have united against him. What does that mean for the next three years?
The business community has a reputation for being skeptical about public spending and regulations. But on some issues, they're actually government’s strongest ally.
A rundown of the most important tax-related measures facing voters this November.
Turnout in local elections has gotten so low that some places might start practically paying people to vote. But there's a simpler, cheaper way to get more people to the polls.
Republicans may have a supermajority in the legislature, but they can't seem to win statewide offices.
Republicans want to make Kentucky the next Southern state with a GOP governor. It won't be easy.
In some of the country’s most expensive cities to live, economists worry increased incomes will put even more pressure on housing markets.
With so many governors running for president, new attention is being given to how out-of-state political trips are funded.
In several states, the Democratic party is dropping the name of slave-owning presidents from annual fundraising dinners.
For the first time in more than a decade, the House and Senate have passed bills to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law and give states more freedom in education.
Florida and Virginia (and possibly two other states) have to redraw their unconstitutional voting maps for the 2016 election. Similar legal challenges are only likely to increase in coming years.
After many places failed to enforce parts of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, the feds are trying again. But this time, they're offering agencies more help.
A striking number of current and former state AGs are facing criminal charges or investigations.
Hawaii recently became the first state to raise the legal age for buying cigarettes to 21.
Clementa Pinckney was killed in the Charleston church shooting, but his legislative legacies will live on.
Walker has proved to be an effective leader in one of the most polarized states. But how will the conservative governor’s record in Wisconsin translate to a presidential bid?
Former Democratic Congressman Artur Davis is hoping to beat the odds in his hometown.
As the Louisiana governor prepares to make his presidential run official on Wednesday, he's struggling to find support at home and nationally.
The increasingly large Republican field includes several governors (like Jim Gilmore) who are trying to make a comeback after being absent from politics for years.
In most states where Democrats and Republicans split control of the legislative chambers, getting anything done has been a struggle this year. But there is at least one exception.
A primary challenge this week sent a message to politicians nationwide about how much freedom they have to step outside party lines.
The role of attorney general in states has evolved from policy enforcer to policy creator.
Billionaire Rex Sinquefield's crusade to control Missouri politics sheds light on the power and limits of money in contemporary American politics.
A federal appeals court decided this week that states can only limit campaign contributions if they can somehow prove that they lead to corruption.
While other GOP presidential contenders will be touting their conservative policies, Ohio Gov. John Kasich would have to defend his.
Local governments are likely headed for legal trouble after taking a stand against the state's new law that blocks them from banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Baltimore's unrest has cast a negative spotlight on the probable presidential candidate's tough-on-crime policies as mayor. But as governor, he left a liberal legacy on nearly every front.
Mike Huckabee may be one of the more conservative presidential candidates, but as governor, he expanded government programs and increased taxes.
Once considered a "master of disaster" and frontrunner in the presidential race, the New Jersey governor is now neither.
Freddie Gray's death sparked the riots in Baltimore, but they reveal deep systemic problems that plague many American cities.
Republicans are attacking the state’s ethics board for engaging in partisan witch-hunts, particularly for its investigation of Gov. Scott Walker.
As the saga of Hillary Clinton’s emails has shown the world yet again, looking like you might have something to hide immediately arouses suspicion.
To the surprise of many, Lincoln Chafee, the Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat, joined the presidential race Wednesday.
Voters in a wealthy suburb of St. Louis rejected tax increases to fund schools last week.
After stumbling off the stage during his last presidential run and being indicted on criminal charges, Texas’ longest-serving and possibly most influential governor wants to redeem his political career.
The latest presidential candidate cut government's role and taxes every year he was governor.
History shows that large-scale protests are no guarantee for change.
From "houselets" to "regional play days," the Knight Foundation is giving $5 million to people or organizations around the country with new ideas to improve cities.
For the first time in more than a century, Arkansas is completely controlled by Republicans. But the new governor has slowly and deliberately built bipartisanship in the legislature.
The nationwide pushback against the education standards hasn't been very successful.
Adopted in 1913, it took the job of electing U.S. senators away from state legislatures.
At a time when Obama is calling for free community college and governors want better-educated workforces, some states are considering big cuts to higher education.
With confidence in Congress at an all-time low, governors' distance from D.C. politics could help them win over some voters in the presidential race.
Following Arizona's footsteps, states are starting to make students pass the U.S. citizenship test that immigrants take in an effort to create a better-informed citizenry.
The head of the White House Office of Governmental Affairs talks about his plans for the job and what to expect on the domestic front during Obama’s remaining time in office.
The lack of urban legislators in Republican states means cities will have their concerns largely ignored or challenged.
After succeeding embattled Gov. John Kitzhaber Wednesday, Democratic Secretary of State Kate Brown is expected to pursue policies in line with her predecessors.
Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber, who's now resigning, is just the latest politician in a controversy involving his significant other -- a phenomenon some say will grow in the era of dual-career households.
With about 400,000 untested rape kits nationwide, officials at the federal, state and local levels are devoting new attention and money to reducing the backlog.
Seattle is one place that’s trying to figure that out.
How it’s defined could impact state election laws from campaign finance to voter ID.
Sheldon Silver, who lost his job as one of the most powerful political posts in New York, is the fourth state house speaker to face legal trouble over the past year.
Despite making frequent calls for bipartisanship, President Obama delivered a State of the Union address that was clearly, and unsurprisingly, a call to arms in favor of Democratic priorities.
After winning majorities last fall, Republicans managed to lose leadership elections in New Hampshire and Washington state.
Gubernatorial pardons have been in decline since the 1980s, but that appears to be changing as views evolve on rehabilitation and drug offenses.
With the nation's share of Asians and Hispanics expected to double in 40 years, the changes these rising minority groups are making to politics and society are only beginning.
Republicans not only swept the states in the fall, they’ve been building up a team of candidates to climb the political ranks.
Republicans haven’t had this much power at the state level in almost a century. But budget constraints may temper their appetite for extreme policies in 2015.
In the last few years allegiance to political parties may have gotten stronger, making the work of governing much harder.
The price of oil has dropped by 40 percent over the past few months. Most oil states have money saved in permanent funds, but the drop in revenues is causing shortfalls already.
Unlike nearly every other state, California lacks a central board that oversees higher education, pitting political leaders against university administrators. At issue now is a 28 percent tuition hike.
Vermont's election was so close that the legislature must decide who wins when it convenes next year. If it's Gov. Shumlin as expected, many question what he can accomplish with so many unpopular programs.
A new study shows that when legislators make their stance on even controversial issues public, they convince people to join their side.
Candidates like Texas Sen. Wendy Davis and Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald are examples of the Peter Principle: They were both successful, but both lost their campaigns for higher office.
Most of the candidates public-sector unions spent time and money supporting this fall were defeated, prompting leaders to question the effectiveness of endorsing any candidates at all.
The ruling in two cases challenging Alabama's legislative maps could have an impact on congressional and legislative maps across the country.
Democrats hoped to have the upper hand when it came to races for governor. Instead, Republicans pulled off some unexpected victories.
Voters in a number of cities chose new mayors and supported ballot measures that were either green or worker-friendly.
Pennsylvania's Tom Wolf is sure to become the governor, but he's unlikely to get his way once he's in office.
Republican Sean Parnell expected to be easily re-elected, but the joined forces of Democrats and Independents and his slow response to recent challenges have put him in jeopardy.
An interactive show casts theatre-goers as participants in a city council meeting.
After years of decline, the city is making gains, and Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration represents a new brand of politics that’s moving into big cities across America.
It's likely that more incumbents will lose next week than at any time since 1990.
The race between Gov. Rick Scott and former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has been one of the year's most negative, dominated by personal attacks and enormous advertising budgets.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who carries clear liabilities on his record, has kept the contest a dead heat by attacking his opponent.
Even though a majority of voters don't want the Republican re-elected, he may become the first U.S. governor elected with less than 40 percent of the vote -- twice.
The Republican governor of Wisconsin survived a recall election two years ago, but recent ethics scandals and attacks on unions may have wrecked his chances for a second term.
A poor economy and tax increases in one of the wealthiest states have made the Democratic governor one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper's decisions that once seemed like triumphs or smart compromises have turned off many voters.
In the bluest of states, Democrat Martha Coakley, best known for failing to win Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat, is polling evenly in this year's race against Republican Charlie Baker.
The Kansas governor's policies are starting to look too conservative even for one of the reddest states, giving opponent Paul Davis a slight edge.
The Knight Foundation begins accepting applications for its new Cities Challenge program Wednesday. Unlike other competitive grant programs, anyone can apply.
Arkansas' outgoing Democratic governor is one of the most popular governors in the country, but his successor may be a Republican he's already beat.
The self-proclaimed nerdy governor of Michigan has made some mistakes in the past few months that have turned his re-election race into a dead heat.
The politician has long been a lightning rod for Democrats. This fall, they think they have a chance to beat him.
The New York governor is essentially guaranteed to win re-election but not by so much that he can secure his spot as a top contender for president.
How a lot of money and a little luck brought one of the nation’s most dangerous neighborhoods back to life.
The chaos that erupted after a police officer shot an unarmed black teen showcases the need for strong leadership and how law enforcement can lead best in communities where life is already a daily struggle.
Younger workers can bring a new energy to organized labor. But if unions want to attract millennials, they’ll have to change some of their ways.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is expanding its reach beyond the states to local governments.
Rural lawmakers are dwindling in number as people continue to migrate to metropolitan areas. But the battle between urban and rural politics is as big as ever -- and those out in the country may be winning.
Government officials are intensely aware of the political need to spread out resources equally but doing so means there probably won’t be enough to make a major impact anywhere.
The Attorney General is poised to beat Democrat Wendy Davis in the state's nationally watched and heated governor's race, but most Texans know very little about him.
Private-sector actors are reshaping the center of some cities in ways local governments no longer have the ability to do themselves.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Nineteen of the 20 fastest-growing cities in the world last year were in China. For more from Governing's first-ever International Issue, click here.
Thanks to term limits and anti-incumbent fervor, half the lawmakers across the country have less than two years’ experience.
For the first time in a long time, one party holds both the legislature and governorship in 37 states.
In the wake of the recession and the long, slow recovery from it, state and local governments have been even more eager to offer incentives to the few projects they have hopes of landing.
Education reform ideas that have generally received widespread support are experiencing pushback in the states, including some surprising places.
With fewer state lawmakers representing rural districts, issues important to rural areas may go unheard.
Governing interviewed Time correspondent Michael Grunwald, who argues in his new book that the stimulus has had more influence on domestic policy than any other piece of legislation in decades.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal doesn’t even bother working with the state Legislature. Does it matter?
Cleveland has started a yearlong series of forums on race relations to educate citizens and city leaders.
New York has been reluctant to embrace technology when it comes to counting votes. Could the state’s hesitation be the source for its recent election debacles? For full election coverage, go to Governing's Election Center.
Many state candidates are asked less about their stance on issues affecting the state and more about federal matters they can do little about.
Voters in the Atlanta region rejected a ballot measure to raise sales taxes by a penny to fund some $6 billion in transportation projects.
A dozen states are debating whether they should and how they could tax cloud computing services.
Recalls have been on the rise. But after Gov. Scott Walker survived his election, two other high-profile recall attempts failed in Michigan and California.
Voters aren't waiting until November to express their anger. With 14 states still to hold their primary contests, already 135 incumbent state legislators have lost their seats.
Lawmakers have become acutely familiar with the financial challenges caused by pension underfunding, and they're certainly aware of the political difficulties involved in trying to change pension formulas. But the legal hurdles involved in changing pension benefits can be formidable as well.
Hit harder by the economic downturn than either cities or states, counties are feeling pressure from all sides, leading many to reexamine county functions altogether.
Seven states have enacted drug testing for welfare applicants in an effort to cut costs and combat fraud -- but it’s not clear the move does either.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is asking voters to pay a half-cent sales tax longer so he can finish his plans to improve the highway and subway systems quicker.
Tennessee made a bid (again) to become the nation’s most socially conservative state by voting on bills regarding school prayer, sex education, climate change and abortion.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
After nearly a century of moving north, African-Americans are reshaping cities and suburbs in the South.
Now that private-sector groups are allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money in state elections, who’s really running for office?
Unlike many high-profile bankruptcies, Stockton’s financial woes are the result of many different factors that are not unusual for many localities.
In his new book, political scientist Alan Rosenthal professes that no one gets what they want more than governors. Find out why.
Several states were embarrassed by faulty counts in their caucuses, which are run by political parties rather than by public officials.
The recalls of Gov. Scott Walker, his lieutenant and four state senators could top $100 million, but that's just a prelude to the fall when the parties will fight for control of the state House.
Residents use geographic info systems to learn more about where they live.
A student group called “Fix UC” suggests colleges take a share of each student’s salary for the first 20 years after they graduate.
Kansas’ secretary of state is redefining immigration laws not only in his state, but in Arizona and elsewhere.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Only time will tell if Kansas City’s unusual and possibly risky move will pay off.
Some surprising political figures like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have started questioning how effective U.S. drug policy is.
Some liberal leaders are pursuing a conservative economic agenda.
With the ballooning cost of benefits, a poor job market and more lean-government advocates in power, states are cutting personnel more than they have in the past.
For years, there have been two kinds of Republicans in the Kansas statehouse: conservatives and moderates. This year, the conservatives want total control.
In the current 24/7 news cycle, scandals often lead to bills in several statehouses.
After Lexington, Ky., earned the award for least active city, residents and the mayor took to the streets to boast their win in a Sedentary Parade.
In the nineteenth century, some states took control of local police forces. Today, St. Louis is the last big city whose force is still under state control.
Most states and cities stopped requiring that recipients be fingerprinted because it was costly and slowed the application process. New York City and Arizona are the last jurisdictions that still do it.
If finding ways to save money for a cash-starved state wasn’t enough, California’s Auditor Elaine Howle is adding the task of setting up a new redistricting commission to her to-do list.
Several states increased taxes on the wealthy in recent years. The move brought in extra revenue but didn’t solve all of states’ budget problems.
The American Legislative Exchange Council’s conservative ideas are resonating in practically every area of state government. And its opponents aren’t happy about it.
New NCLB waivers may impact the classroom more than the old law they’re trying to escape did.
An evolutionary biologist adapts his theories to help local officials plan parks and improve schools.
At a time when people need it the most, states are tightening work requirements, lowering payments and setting time limits for welfare recipients.
Several states are setting up independent commissions in the hope of removing bias from the line-drawing process.
A new etiquette directive from Gov. Nikki Haley has state employees sounding more chipper.
The word "borrow" may be taboo still, but one economist says states and localities should take advantage of historic low interest rates.
Scandal and corruption have plagued Palmetto State politics for years. Some say it’s because it's virtually a one-party state.
As San Francisco County closes more than a third of its courts, local lawyers are trying to find ways to raise more revenue.
Bill Gates and other philanthropists are reshaping public education policy with private cash. Can they succeed at making schools perform to their liking?
States that are cutting their K-12 budgets by billions of dollars can expect more lawsuits, but they may not have an immediate impact.
Businesses are tired of jumping across state lines for wasted tax incentives.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Governors and mayors say their workers are demanding unsustainable benefits. Union rebuttals are not turning the tide.
The lack of money for bridge repairs is symptomatic of a larger problem: Transportation projects in general are going to slip behind.
Democrats complain that GOP legislators are seeking to disenfranchise vulnerable groups of voters. Republicans say they're merely protecting the sanctity of the ballot.
Massive teacher layoffs have led to concerns that young people will shy away from entering the suddenly less-than-secure profession.
Chicago's Richard M. Daley is a tough act to follow. But Rahm Emanuel is determined to make his own mark.
With the loss of 25 percent of its residents, Detroit could also lose its ability to levy higher income taxes.
While some states offer extra protection for statutes enacted by popular vote, legislatures can still overturn ballot initiatives in most states.
Unpopular governors have good chances of winning re-election -- as long as they push their most controversial policies early on.
States are asking cities to take charge of more programs, but they may not provide enough support.
States have cut mental health funding by more than $2 billion. Things may get worse this year.
Legislators are trying to pass laws requiring immigration checks, but they're running into resistance from the people who would enforce them.
Different circumstances and a favorable political climate make school vouchers more attractive than before.
Two Missouri cities may soon be facing a huge drop in tax collections.
Attorneys general in several states are seeking to overturn the federal health-care law.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is playing an extremely active role in local government affairs.
There are school superintendents who burst on the scene with a dramatic reform agenda, yet prove unable to bring the major constituencies along with them--the unions, the statehouse, the parents.
Attorneys in Illinois probably behave no worse than lawyers anywhere else. The state Supreme Court, though, thinks that they still could afford to learn some manners.
One of the classic pick-up lines for those who live near the New Jersey Turnpike is to ask, "What exit?" So perhaps it was inevitable that a city along that highway would try to build some brand recognition around its exit number.
In the San Francisco Bay area, law-breaking motorists have to worry not only about red-light cameras taking pictures of their illegal behavior but also about fellow drivers doing the same.
Strange things have been happening at governors' mansions all around the country. Last year, South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges fired the state's prison chief following a widely publicized guards-and-sex scandal that included inmates having sex at the governor's residence while he was away. In the aftermath of that episode, a pair of former South Carolina governors recalled other embarrassing incidents involving trusties and alcohol.
Introducing Our Public Officials of the Year
On A Roll
A growing number of states don't want to be part of free-trade pacts that block their purchasing preferences.
Child-abuse victims are given many years to press charges. They're saying they need more.
In this January 2010 feature from our archive: State legislatures may not be as partisan as Congress, but they're getting closer.
The printed agenda for meetings of the county board in Monroe County, Wisconsin, always reminds elected supervisors to wear name tags, because "it helps visitors."...
California has just enacted a huge and enormously complicated package of bills meant to put an end to the state's longstanding water wars. But the...
How well can Johnny add? Right now, states try to answer that question in troublingly disparate ways. According to one recent federal study, a fourth-grade...
Gambling interests seeking permission to move into a state like to tell voters that neighboring states are already profiting from casinos and lotteries, so they...
As the votes were counted in mayoral races across the country, the biggest shock of the night occurred in a race that turned out just...
Given the limited number of Native Americans, it would be natural to expect that today's tribes would welcome the recognition of any new group with...
In desperate budget times, more and more local governments are turning to their neighbors, hoping to save money by sharing services and equipment. This kind...
Bankers, barbers and doctors in Kansas, who pay a fee to support the state organizations that monitors their professions, might want to take a close...
Like governments everywhere, cities and counties in Kentucky seem to realize that the current budget environment requires them to keep a close watch on spending....
No one really thinks of Bobby Jindal and Barack Obama as personal or even political rivals these days. But it seems like at every turn,...
Justin McNaull grew up in a hurry. By the time he was 23, McNaull had graduated from college, married and gone to work for his local...
When federal officials let it be known that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson would not be indicted in the pay-to-play scandal that cost him a...
The mayor of Shelby County, Tennessee, is one of the relatively few local officials in America who regularly conducts business across state lines. As mayor...
Legislators in many states this year, faced with huge budget shortfalls and difficult choices, must have been tempted to just sign off on any plan...
New Jersey has just 21 counties, but it has more than 600 school districts. Although merging small districts is a problem everywhere, New Jersey's system is so...
South Carolina is one of the most Republican states in the country, but picking a successor to Governor Mark Sanford is going to be a...
San Diego just closed an $83 million hole in its budget and is looking at a shortfall conservatively estimated at $115 million next year. For a place...
Parking has gotten worse in Chicago, and many see Mayor Richard Daley's decision to privatize parking meters as the culprit. Daley has been a privatization...
People complained for decades that the New York State Senate was dysfunctional. But that was before it shut down altogether. In April, a special committee...
Given a climate of national recession, Maine's budget process went pretty smoothly in 2009. Despite some scary revenue shortfalls, the legislature passed a $5.8 billion budget bill...
Ron Dellums never really wanted to be mayor of Oakland. He expressed doubts when civic leaders recruited him to run in 2006, and ever since then,...
Transportation might seem like the one issue best suited for local, state and federal cooperation. No transit system is built without affecting the planning process...
With the census less than a year away, cities across the country are gearing up fast. Although the census is a constitutional responsibility of the...
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has something none of his predecessors have had: billions of dollars in discretionary funds. The question is whether they will be...
These days, even cops can't get immunity. Given state and local budget woes, governments are taking a serious look at cutting programs they'd rather hold...
Despite his abysmal poll ratings, it might be a mistake to rule out Governor Jon Corzine for reelection in New Jersey. This coming month may...
Things were starting to go sour for Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe. Earlier this year, both chambers of the state legislature quickly passed a new 3-cent...
With prison populations that have swelled by factors of six or eight over the last 25 years, many states, including California, are facing real problems regarding...
A couple of years ago, the state of California did something surprising. It changed the name of its Department of Corrections, tacking on the words "...
This year, lawmakers in Washington tried everything to extend health coverage to the uninsured. They earmarked money to cover more children, allowed small employers to...
It's hard to imagine an entertainer anywhere in America more despised by the Republican right than pop singer Sheryl Crow. She's a boisterous supporter of...
Anyone who shops online knows how one purchase can quickly lead to another. It's not just the ease of clicking on an item and having...
California is home to slightly more nurses than lawyers, but that's about to change. According to state projections, there will be a glut of attorneys...
After this month's elections, President Bush is likely to end up with a large memorial in San Francisco to visit during his retirement. It's neither "...
If you want to see how regional consolidation works when it really works, you might take a look at Stuttgart, the manufacturing capital of southwestern...
Randi Weingarten likes to brag a little about the reading and math test scores posted this year at two New York City charter schools she...
These are nervous days in Montgomery. Federal prosecutors, investigating corruption in Alabama's two-year college system, have subpoenaed legislators by the dozen -- in some cases...
Jeff Frederick won't give up. Ousted as chairman of the state Republican Party last month, he may seek the post again at the party convention...
Gambling proponents typically overstate the amount of revenue that lotteries and casinos will generate for state treasuries. But the numbers rarely fall as far short...
A flurry of gruesome shootings nearly always brings the issue of gun control back into public debate. That's happening again, in the wake of cop...
Last month, the Iowa Supreme Court threw out a state law banning gay marriages, while the Vermont legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto to allow same-sex...
Each branch of the federal government is housed in its own palace in Washington. The White House -- always surprisingly small to visitors -- is...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
As superintendent of schools in Washington, D.C., Michelle Rhee has become the most celebrated - and controversial - schools chief in the country. Her...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The tallest new structure to be built in Berkeley in 30 years opens in June. But it will be opening without meeting the zoning requirement that made its size possible.
Cities that host high-profile trials seek ways to mitigate the costs and local impact.
William Ruckelshaus has had lots of tough assignments. He's got another one now.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's affinity for Beefeater gin martinis is well known on the local scene. Soon, he may become even more famous for that fondness.
Many legislatures didn't get their work done in regulation time this year. Some aren't getting it done in overtime, either.
Under a new law, Maine state employees are allowed to retire, collect their full benefits and then be instantly rehired for the same job. The state saves $20,000 to $30,000 on each position, because health insurance and other benefits are funded through the separate retirement system.
Mark Funkhouser has to make the switch from pointing out problems to solving them.
The city famous for civil rights turmoil is arguing over race in schools again.
If you own stock in a company, you might want it to move to North Dakota.
With malpractice insurance rates spiking again, it's time to look at alternative solutions.
Can all the ethical problems of the Ohio GOP be laid at the governor's feet? Some Republicans hope so.
The idea of treating citizens like customers is a managerial touchstone in municipal governance. The city of Evanston, Illinois, is taking that idea literally, expecting its citizen-customers to pay their bills.
Should animal rights be extended to include choice of domicile? That issue is being hotly debated between two towns in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles.
Some close-in suburbs have found renewal strategies that work.
Lawmakers are weighing ideas to fight obesity in children.
The smart-growth movement isn't making much noise these days, but it's learning how to win.
That reverberating vroom-vroom sound they've been hearing up in Maine may soon be reduced to a purr.
At a time when Jesse Ventura's approval ratings have sunk below 50 percent for the first time since he was elected governor of Minnesota, and a thinly disguised novel about him by humorist Garrison Keillor languishes on remainder tables in bookstores, it's hard to say what the public's response will be to a Broadway musical called "The Body Ventura."
California's new finance director, Donna Arduin, is bringing tough- love budgeting to a deficit-addicted state.
As states slash aid to local governments, some localities are fighting back--in court.
The town of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, not only has a funny name but a funny way of electing its mayors. Voters pay $1 per vote--as many as they care to cast--and among the candidates in the November 2 election are a pot-bellied pig, a donkey and a labrador retriever.
Bill Richardson has been a fixture in New Mexico politics for 25 years, but the state is still getting used to him. New Mexico has always been, politically at least, a rather sleepy sort of place.
Most of the 24 governors who took office a year ago haven't made much headway on their agendas for change.
Florida has become the center of controversy over the right to die, following the legislature's decision to extend the life of a severely brain-damaged woman.
Southern politics is settling into a pattern of two parties--one black and one white. Republicans are reaping the benefits.
States are doing a better job of tracking the children in their care.
People who work in government don't expect their workplaces to be glamorous. But neither do they expect to find heaps of smelly garbage piling up in the lobby.
John Hickenlooper revived one of Denver's oldest neighborhoods. Can he do it again citywide?
Renovating a building is expensive. It becomes even more costly, as the Connecticut judiciary is learning, if you've already thrown out some of your best original features.
Whether they're ready for it or not, San Diego County's 18 municipalities and 135 separate jurisdictions are heading toward greater regional cooperation.
With the passage of an overtime law this summer, Maine has become the first state to cap the number of hours employers can demand of their employees.
Among the biggest legal developments of the past decade is the U.S. Supreme Court's weakening of federal power in favor of states' rights. And no politician has taken greater tactical advantage of this new federalism than Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general of New York State.
A growing number of municipalities are losing their zoning insurance, the result, in part, of property owners going to court to claim governments have lowered the value of their land through zoning decisions.
The duck carcasses that hang in many a Chinese restaurant window may not be an appetizing sight for all diners. But unlike most meat, Peking duck has been deemed safe to serve at room temperature.
States are finding that a few billion dollars in tobacco money can go a long way toward smoothing out differences.
A 52-pound "mountain of miscellaneous used hand tools" sold for about $150. A lot of 200 Swiss-style (but Chinese-made) knives went for a bit more--at slightly over $1 per knife. Bidding was just getting underway on a pile of 30 pounds of scissors (22 scissors per pound).
Seeking to rectify an embarrassing and expensive mistake, the Arizona legislature met in special session in October to call to a halt an alternative-fuel tax-incentive program it had approved only five months earlier.
Danielle Steel has just completed her 54th book, and more than 470 million copies of her romance novels have been sold worldwide.
Schools are being asked to consider ways to relieve the burden of heavy backpacks.
Stung by aggressive attorneys general, business is placing big bets on races it used to ignore.
Federal transportation authorities in May approved the use of a transparent sound barrier along part of the rebuilt Woodrow Wilson Bridge, a major section of the Interstate 95 system south of Washington, D.C.
The federal government is telling school systems exactly what they must accomplish. It isn't doing much to help them accomplish it.
Maine's reformers believe they are washing the special interest money out of state politics. But critics say they are just laundering it.
After a series of scandals, Connecticut is taking ethics seriously. Governor Jodi Rell has a mandate to push for change.
Getting reelected as a party outcast isn't easy, but Randy Kelly is trying.
Can you imagine John Wayne packing heat in a fanny pack? Some prosecutors in Illinois are warning that the Duke would get arrested if he tried to get away with such a thing there.
Having personal bodyguards isn't one of the perks of being the mayor of Albuquerque. Nevertheless, Jim Baca was understandably concerned when he activated the emergency alarm system in his City Hall office and it failed to bring any assistance.
Ed Rendell logged nearly 50,000 miles on a bus emblazoned with his image while campaigning for governor of Pennsylvania in 2002 ["The Gubernatorial Baby Boom," January 2003]. Once in office, he planned to use bus trips to make himself more accessible. Now dubbed "Commonwealth One," the latest bus was unveiled to much fanfare last May.
Two major drug companies agreed to pay $345 million in fines in the largest Medicaid fraud settlement ever. The federal government, 49 states and Washington, D.C., will split most of the settlement, with the states divvying up $147 million in amounts per state that will range from tens of milions to a few thousand. California, for instance, will receive $32.2 million; Maine, $2.5 million, and South Dakota, $260,000.
It's easy to boost school test scores--if you don't care how you do it.
Momentum has shifted in a hot area of insurance regulation. State approval of the conversion of Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans to for-profit status is no longer a foregone conclusion. Although a dozen or so states have approved such sales since 1995, regulators in two states recently said no.
As states and localities continue to struggle with budget problems, they are increasingly turning to a time-honored source for more dollars: out-of-towners. Tourism taxes are going up all over, with states taking their share from a traditionally local revenue stream.
Everybody loves a park. This past year, taxpayers and legislators voted to put up real money to show their affection.
Before entering the California Assembly last year, Fran Pavley taught civics at a junior high school. That experience left her ill prepared, though, for the political realities she encountered during the year and a half she spent pushing a landmark greenhouse-gas regulation bill through the legislature.
State-versus-local tension is getting worse. Locals fear state budgets will be balanced at their expense. They may be right.
The American people have a demonstrated tolerance for fiscal deceit, as long as it is carried off with a certain amount of style. When Governor Earl Long pushed through a tax increase in Louisiana, immediately after winning election on a no-new-tax platform, reporters asked him how he planned to explain his actions to the people.
Even in an age of high-tech hype, the Segway human transporter stands out. The launch of the device, which its makers insist shouldn't be called a motorized scooter, was a nationally televised event last December.
Indicting corrupt judges and exposing a shady judicial-selection system isn't winning Charles Hynes many friends.
Even if it's nailed down, thieves are stealing government property to sell for scrap.
This isn't the easiest time for localities to get money out of Washington. But they aren't about to quit asking.
Public interest in the Lewis and Clark bicentennial should benefit tourism in many states.
Tim Eyman has launched a number of successful anti-tax ballot initiatives in Washington State in recent years. Does that make Eyman a "horse's ass"?
In response to growing complaints over the No Child Left Behind school testing law, federal education officials have announced changes that will make it easier for some schools and teachers to meet requirements.
Illinois must beef up its Medicaid program.
California's Coastal Commission was down--but now it is not necessarily out. Despite state and federal court rulings that deemed the agency unconstitutional, the California legislature is reviving it.
An illinois court recently ruled against cigarette maker Philip Morris in a consumer fraud case. But the real losers may have been the states.
"Upright Form V" was not the most beloved piece of public art in Wichita. The city never displayed the sculpture and the local paper described it as "11 tons of ugliness." Still, city officials are angry that parts of the piece were bought at auction for a fraction of its value.
The feds are sending auditors to every state to scour Medicaid accounts.
Despite universally tough budget environments and the wait for Congress to reauthorize transportation spending, states are initiating new programs geared toward saving them money in road construction, repair and maintenance.
Prison inmates in Boscobel, Wisconsin, won't be able to read all about it. In response to requests from the city council, the local school district and the union representing prison guards, the weekly Boscobel Dial will not sell subscriptions to convicts at the super-maximum- security penitentiary there.
In Kansas politics, the Christian Right doesn't just pressure the establishment anymore. It is the establishment.
Arnold Schwarzenegger may have been elected as a political novice, but he's outsmarting the pros at every turn.
Combative and unpredictable, Steve Peace isn't your typical state budget director. But a $35 billion shortfall isn't your typical state budget problem.
Some say the words 'reform' and 'Rhode Island' don't belong in the same sentence. Phil West is proving them wrong.
This isn't the easiest time for localities to get money out of Washington. But they aren't about to quit asking.
Philadelphia's school superintendent is brimming with ideas about how to improve things, and he's trying all of them at once.
During the 1980s, Iowa was one of the earliest states to approve of casino gambling. And it pioneered a new idea for how to control the games: It required that its casinos be water-borne. In Iowa's case, they had to be actual riverboats offering no fewer than 100 excursion tours per year.
Unions are playing offense for the first time in quite a while.
Ever been riding in a taxi and gotten into a discussion about politics with the driver? Did he happen to be a politician himself? You could have that experience in Boston, where Phil Scapicchio, a member of the city council, has taken to driving a cab.
Residents of Los Angeles spend an average of 93 hours stuck in traffic per year, according to the Texas Transportation Institute--by far the highest degree of congestion in any American city. Frustrated drivers who turn to L.A.'s public transportation system--historically something of a joke--don't find the going much smoother, as the feature on p. 44 of this magazine shows.
Newly chartered cities can outsource almost anything--and some are doing it.
States are the main forum for debate on reproductive issues, and the trend is for greater restriction.
In a city that doesn't hand its mayors much power, Phil Gordon knows how to go out and get it.
Lead paint is a serious health problem. Will it become a hot litigation subject? Probably not.
Introducing Our Public Officials of the Year
A shared-sacrifice approach to expanding health coverage.
How do we keep kids in high school? One answer: Get them through freshman year.
Introducing Our Public Officials of the Year
Reassuring and rebuilding Mississippi after Katrina.
Drawing new political districts is always chaotic, but this round promises to be the wildest yet. Everyone at the table has an agenda.
Three years ago, Randall Gnant founded what he called the "Mushroom Coalition," a group of moderate Republicans in the Arizona Senate who thought their leadership kept them in the dark and covered with bull droppings. Now Gnant himself is the Senate president. He says his first order of business will be "embarking on a new course" of making the legislative process more open.
Nobody does constituent service better than Adrian Fenty. But as D.C.'s chief executive, he'll need a much bigger repertoire.
California's new institution for sex offenders is in such a remote place that it may never function efficiently.
For some functions of government, two Texarkanas may be one too many.
No-smoking ordinances have proved surprisingly resistant to challenge.
States all over the country are eager to privatize services in the worst way. That's just how some of them are doing it.
State politics is awash in fresh faces. Will that mean fresh ideas as well? Perhaps.
Governors are bent on reshaping and updating the way their governments work.
Exchange programs for local officials promote common ground rather than competition.
Illinois politicians admire John Filan's ability to balance a budget. Not all of them admire his way of doing it.
When it comes to education funding, only one word seems to count: more.
Some bureaucracies know how to solve human problems. Some don't.
The people who work in the North Carolina state capitol building ain't afraid of no ghosts. But that's not because they think the apparitions are a hoax.
The politics of staying safe is still politics, whatever you choose to call it.
Everybody agrees John Rowland made a mess managing Connecticut. What they don't agree on is how to fix it.
The drive for tax and spending limits is running out of steam.
Short of reaching the altar, the gay-rights campaign is making gains.
In fighting the nation's most insidious disease, states have long deferred to the feds. Georgia is changing that.
A number of states and cities are piloting a much-debated management tool to pay teachers.
State AGs have accumulated an enormous amount of power. Too much, some people think.
Two states that share a river can't agree on what to do with it.
Colorado's new "cooling-off" law is making legislators nervous.
Courts are trying to make their proceedings less baffling and more bearable to jurors.
The ever-changing state flag of Georgia may finally have a settled design. Voters in March overwhelmingly approved a flag proposed by the legislature last year, closing years of controversy over a Confederate emblem.
What flirts these mortals be! Humans have tried for millennia to lure ducks closer to them for hunting purposes. But today's high-tech devices are making the task so easy that the state of Washington recently banned the use of electronic decoys.
If you want to get a driver's license, you're going to have to show your face. In light of security concerns, states are ending their previous practices of allowing religious exemptions for some individuals who didn't want to have their photographs taken.
Kent Willever has taken on a job whose very title sounds to some like an oxymoron: He is the executive director of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. Not only does the state have a long history of corruption in its politics but the agency itself has suffered from apparent conflicts of interest in recent years.
In a term-limited legislature, there isn't much time available for learning the ropes.
Frustrations over small salary increases and big boosts in health costs are fueling a surge in union activities.
Private contractors who provide government services and depend largely on the government for their revenues are subject to state audit and must open their records under the state's Public Records Act.
Greater Louisville is about to be born. How much greater will it be?
Dave Heineman has done all sorts of jobs in Nebraska government. With his boss leaving for Washington, he's about to get the big one.
Despite skyrocketing home values and shrinking revenues, few governments are considering major property-tax hikes.
In the wake of California's attempt to recall Governor Gray Davis, it seems likely this tactic will be tried in other states.
There are some tough-sounding new lobby laws. It remains to be seen how much they amount to.
Joint-purchasing deals are a win-win proposition--except for those who lose.
Starting this year, Florida is making it possible for corporations to give donations to private scholarship-granting foundations in return for a dollar-for-dollar credit on their tax bills.
Is there anything new to try in fighting poverty? The mayor of New York thinks so.
It's repair time on a lot of urban interstates. Drivers fear the worst; DOTs are trying to calm them down.
Figuring out how much sales tax a customer owes is about to get easier for Colorado retailers, thanks to a new electronic system developed by the state Department of Revenue.
Talk about expanding the definition of taxable property. Los Angeles County Assessor Rick Auerbach wanted to tax eight satellites that hover 22,000 miles over the earth. Auerbach came across the satellites during a routine audit of Hughes Electronics. He figured they were fair game, since they were owned by a business based in the county and no other jurisdiction was taxing them.
Florida's hottest fashion item isn't to be found in the shops of Miami's trendy South Beach area. Instead, it can be observed along the turnpikes.
A new law gives the president broader authority to call out the National Guard.
For years, people saw San Diego as a model for good government. That's because they weren't looking very closely.
What's one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one? If you've lost count, you're in good company with the Wichita City Council.
States believe the new Congress will listen to them more than the old one did.
A decade ago, colleges were doing everything they could to attract more students. Now they've got more than they can handle.
Republicans may be suspicious of federal power, but they're imposing it on states and localities every chance they get.
Introducing Our Public Officials of the Year
Trim Waist, Hefty Record.
The NRA's list of agenda items was getting a bit thin--until it found some juicy new ones.
It's impractical to ban street vendors and difficult even to restrict them.
The 2006 campaign is being fought with digital weapons--and candidates aren't always at the controls.
One critic argues that state complaints about Washington are just posturing.
Suburbanites in Texas may soon have new ways to get around. The state legislature recently approved a bill that will allow suburban counties to create their own mass transit authorities.
When voters create a legislative deadlock, the legislators have to try extra hard to make things work. Often they don't succeed.
Fancy new voting machines work pretty well if everyone knows how to use them. In much of the country, that's still a big if.
If more school dollars went straight into teaching, maybe education would improve. Or maybe not.
Gun owners are pushing their constitutional liberties a big step further.
Boasting that he had a doctorate didn't help Omar Bradley in his bid for a third term as mayor of Compton, California. But then, he wasn't exactly an Ivy League graduate anyway.
States are using graphic advertising to discourage people from smoking.
Federal prosecutors are increasingly eager to invoke capital punishment--even in states that don't like it.
Reducing drug prices is an understandable goal, but it's hard to achieve by fiat.
The state of Missouri signed a contract in November with a consortium of health care professionals and other emergency responders to provide medical care in case of disaster. The team, known as MO-1 MDAT, was formed four years ago to address federally declared disasters.
Anyone who has felt a little wobbly in the late afternoon understands the value of grabbing a quick snack as an energy boost. Apparently, some public schools in Virginia are applying a similar principle in preparing students to take the statewide achievement exams.
Lots of juicy local plums won't be ripening this year.
Many states and localities collect performance measurement data but don't necessarily make good use if it. In Iowa, a group of cities has used the data to make real changes in policy as the result of a program that actively solicits input from citizens' panels.
The Illinois Department of Revenue has revoked the tax-exempt status of a hospital in Champaign, finding that it doesn't provide enough free care to justify that status. The move was unprecedented for a state agency but was just one salvo in the war Illinois regulators are waging against nonprofit hospitals.
New Jersey's budget has been built on illusion for a long time. This year, reality intruded.
Over the past 18 months, visitors to state capitols have noticed many structural changes designed to enhance safety. But one change they won't get a chance to see is an old dumbwaiter that Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has converted into an escape route.
Indiana Governor Joseph Kernan still insists he's going home at the end of next year. Democrats wish he wouldn't.
Who's got more clout in a state--the governor or the attorney general? In New York, that's not an easy question.
The old custom of starting class after Labor Day is gone in most of the country. Not everyone likes that.
When the term-limit clock starts ticking for legislators, state jobs begin to look more attractive.
While competition and turnover have just about disappeared at the state legislative level, they remain a fact of life for governors.
Florida state Representative Nancy Argenziano recently poo-pooed a nursing home bill she did not like. Literally.
Budgeting is not going to get easier for states anytime soon. In a Rockefeller Institute report released in August, fiscal analyst Nicholas W. Jenny concluded that "underlying state revenue trends in fiscal year 2003 were still down."
What do Botox injections and a box of crayons have in common? Answer: They're both taxable in New Jersey.
Fiscal shortfalls in the tens of billions of dollars are virtually an annual occurrence in California. But this year, the state's voters seem even more...
Miami built some reform momentum, then squandered it. Pete Hernandez will try to bring it back.
A few months after he took over as Maryland's Juvenile Justice secretary, Bishop Robinson asked an aide for some numbers on the budget and juveniles. The aide said he had the numbers in his office and offered to bring them right back. After the man had been gone an hour, Robinson wondered what the problem was.
Florida looks very close for president again this year. Perhaps not as close as in 2000, the year of the hanging chads and butterfly ballots, but competitive enough that President Bush and John Kerry will each have campaigned there numerous times before the contest ends.
New Jersey legislators hope that a new law providing public financing for their own campaigns will help clean up the corruption that is rife in their state.
Inventories of artwork in public schools reveal surprisingly valuable collections.
City seeks a means of managing access to health care services
Billy the Kid, the notorious Old West outlaw, was buried in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, about 150 miles southeast of Santa Fe. That is, unless he was buried in the middle of Texas. Or, possibly, northern Arizona.
Steve Beshear once hoped to be Kentucky's wonder-boy governor. Now, he's coming in as an elder statesman.
Telling people not to drink is usually futile. Telling them where to drink may serve a public purpose.
Disinvestment remains a powerful human-rights weapon--as long as it's done carefully.
Congress hates to raise taxes--unless it can force other levels of government to collect them.
Governments shouldn't consider it inevitable that they will get bad press.
The D.C. area's boomingest county is about to start booming even more.
As sprawl puts neighborhoods in close proximity to military bases, creating buffer zones of open space can ease conflicts.
Localities may soon feel pressure to boost--by more than 10 percent-- the number of fire fighters on their payrolls.
Many public management audits don't amount to much, but when they do find evidence of malfeasance or questionable practices, they can lead to some severe consequences and major management decisions.
Wisconsin politics used to be squeaky clean. Now "jaded" would be a better word.
When Blue Cross Blue Shield plans convert to for-profit status, states are entitled to big money. But they have to ask for it.
You might think that the recent release of Bill Clinton's memoirs would serve as a reminder to politicians of the perils of fooling around with interns. Apparently, however, legislators in New York State need a set of rules to discourage the practice.
National City, California, was only getting a paltry 6 percent collection rate on the tardy sewer bills it had turned over to a private collection agency. Then San Diego County's Office of Revenue and Recovery made the city an offer it couldn't refuse: The county promised to collect on at least 40 percent of the overdue bills.
State finances are looking better, but it's due more to luck than design.
Jon Corzine worked miracles at Goldman Sachs. Doing it in Trenton is a different story.
Schools still teach cursive writing. But hardly anyone uses it anymore.
How much is contending with a bad smell worth? Courts in San Francisco and Kentucky may soon decide.
Twice this year, Democrats in the Texas Legislature have scooted across state lines to block passage of a Republican redistricting plan. Although exerting such effort to prevent a quorum is unusual, it is not entirely without precedent.
Somewhere between last year and this year, Arnold Schwarzenegger forgot how to focus.
A Nevada ruling may open a way for other states to challenge their tax-vote restrictions.
Nobody knows more about Buffalo than Byron Brown, its new mayor. One thing he knows is that revival won't come easily.
Colorado has set up a voucher program for higher ed. The new law also creates the nation's first fee-for-service system, in which colleges will contract with the state to provide various academic programs.
File a civil suit these days, and you can actually get it heard without waiting years.
You don't hear too much about this right-leaning state pressure group. Maybe that's why it wins so often.
Raising taxes isn't proving fatal to most politicians who risked doing it.
It's not easy to look good in moments of crisis, but some public officials have a knack for it.
You never know what you're going to find when you clean out your closet. Robert Carney, the district attorney of Schenectady County, New York, found lots of interesting items in his evidence safe during a recent inventory--including an early 1970s print of the legendary porn film "Deep Throat."
The Dow's decline is racking up pension fund losses, but money managers aren't panicking--yet.
Legislators balk at giving up power.
Chicago's procurement process has been broken for years. Mary A. Dempsey has been given a mandate to repair it.
Dan Gerlach is a smart guy. That's what everybody says about the recently appointed senior policy adviser to North Carolina Governor Mike Easley. Gerlach is especially sharp when it comes to taxes.
In the closest elections, there are issues impossible to resolve.
Consolidating local governments is as difficult a political task as it ever was.
Cars have been pushing pedestrians around forever. Pedestrians are starting to push back.
Does that bother anybody? Not the voters, at least so far.
West Virginia Delegate Emily Yeager describes herself as "100 percent a Democrat." That doesn't make her unique in the legislature, where Democrats hold a 3-to-1 margin in the state House.
Like most married couples, Andy Dawkins and Ellen Anderson disagree about lots of things. What makes their domestic squabbles unusual is that they are as likely to revolve around the state of Minnesota's affairs as those of their own household.
In this prolonged fiscal crisis, every state has cut into social programs. But what is happening in Minnesota suggests a new direction entirely.
A California court's ruling this April could cost Orange County $285 million in property tax refunds.
Chicago is one of the great restaurant cities in America, but some suburban residents prefer to eat out closer to home. In fact, locals have become so enamored with the new dining options at tollway rest areas that the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority is working to ease pedestrian access and construct parking spaces along local access roads.
California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi approved the merger of Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies Anthem and WellPoint in November, allowing the creation of the nation's largest health insurer.
A public pension plan invests in private educators.
Officials in Orange County, California, are hoping that they've finally found a cure for the decade-long hangover stemming from the county's 1994 bankruptcy.
While competition and turnover have just about disappeared at the state legislative level, they remain a fact of life for governors.
In fiscal straits for three years in a row, states are hanging tough and tight.
Happy days are here again for tax collectors. The ongoing Streamlined Sales Tax Project went live in October, with 150 small to large Internet retailers signing up that month. With the backup of third- party service providers, they will collect sales taxes on online purchases in the 18 states that participated in the streamlining effort.
Nearly 6,000 state legislators will be elected next month. Most of them face little or no opposition.
The real estate lobby is under serious competitive challenge, but no pressure group is better at bending legislatures to its will.
It's an American tradition to walk into your child's classroom and find the walls plastered with reams of paper--self-portraits, trees and cows, and fingerpainted masterpieces of all kinds. It's a tradition--but is it also a fire hazard?
Florida Governor Jeb Bush may award a $701 million contract that would turn over the functions of determining eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps and other social service programs to a private company.
There's a lot that state political parties still don't know about the new campaign finance law. They need to learn fast.
West Virginia has long been the butt of jokes about backwoods ways and poor vocabulary. Residents roll their eyes when they hear references to their state bird being the satellite dish or a laptop being where the cat sleeps.
The Bush administration is pushing health providers to get up to speed on information technology, and it wants states to help. President Bush issued an executive order in August directing federal agencies to demand that health vendors step up their use of IT to make quality and price information more transparent, and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has been lobbying governors to do likewise.
Massachusetts tried universal health coverage once before.
Two drug-pricing initiatives are duking it out in California.
If more Hispanics voted, they could change American politics. But there are reasons why they don't.
Fabian Nunez doesn't think compromise is a dirty word. California's Assembly speaker has played a classic legislative leadership role as the bridge between a Republican governor and a strongly liberal majority Democratic caucus, helping to forge and shepherd through a long list of impressive legislation over the past couple of years.
Cory Booker's gifts are such that his political future seems limitless. But to move on, he has to make a record in Newark.
Sound Transit, a regional transportation agency in the Seattle area, is planning to break ground on a $2.1 billion light-rail project by mid-year.
Natwar Gandhi knows how to make red ink turn to black. This spring, he was approached by Amtrak, which hoped to lure him to erase an enormous deficit as he had already done as chief financial officer for Washington, D.C. City officials did everything they could think of to keep Gandhi in his current position, including boosting his salary by nearly $100,000. And this money maestro, who arrived in America from India 40 years ago with $7 in his pocket, chose to stay put.
When voters think legislators are living too well at public expense, they pounce.
A bumper crop of new state leaders will move in next January. Some may soon wonder why they wanted the job.
California is always trying to get its local water authorities to cooperate on a regional basis. The state recently put its money where its mouth is, awarding a grant of $22 million to Sacramento-area water agencies that will help them swap water.
Most states are debating new ways of handling eminent-domain cases, but Utah already has a means: a private-property ombudsman--the first (and still only) such ombudsman in the country.
An 11th-hour compromise shores up an overburdened state retirement system.
The demand for fiscal accountability is graduating to the college level.
Liability rather than serendipity is the focus of playground design. Some are trying to change that.
Diversity accomplishes many things--but it may not make us better citizens.
Republicans have most of the power in Mississippi. They'd like more.
Although Iowa failed in its efforts to make municipalities consolidate, collaboration is happening at the grassroots level.
In Michigan, as in many other states, citizens can get some public information they need quickly by calling 900 numbers. There are fees attached to such calls, however, and now Michigan is being sued over the issue.
Is the city's problem bad election choices--or something deeper?
Politicians and the media "do democracy a disservice" by resorting to cliches.
Current law prohibits it, but the SEC chairman is talking about reasons to regulate the municipal bond market.
For nearly 40 years, Ernie Chambers has made his colleagues mad--and made them listen.
When he owned a shoe repair and Western-wear shop in Hamilton, Montana, Alan Thompson believed there was always a right way to do things. "It was necessary if you worked for me," he says, "that you worked correctly."
Can mayors really help schools by running them? Perhaps.
New York's tough-talking governor tries easing up a bit.
Republicans and Democrats are more closely matched in state politics than they have been in a long time. They may stay that way for quite a while.
Standardized testing has become an article of faith for elected officials all over the country. Many teachers and parents aren't true believers yet.
For even the most popular officeholder, raising taxes is risky.
Campaign reform laws yield modest but tangible results.
Budget crunchers in Ohio must feel like they can't win. They've spent the past several years looking for billions of dollars in funding for school construction to meet mandates set by the state Supreme Court.
States step in to provide services for children with autism.
Term limit laws have created some clear winners and losers. Among the losers are the legislatures themselves.
Nobody likes John Leopold but the voters. They've put him in charge of one of Maryland's biggest jurisdictions.
Should doctors run EMS programs? Louisville thought so--that's how Neal Richmond got there.
Increasingly, state and local governments are expecting their workers to pay a greater share of their own health care and prescription drug costs.
Governors and other state leaders are launching major reorganization plans. They're achieving minor successes.
The nation's newest lottery may be more of a gamble than anybody thought.
A business-dominated commission may help Texas out of its school funding mess.
Bashing the legislature is one way to get elected governor. It's a lousy way to govern.
In many legislatures, suburbs have the votes to prevail--if they can find a way to work together.