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Carl Smith

Senior Staff Writer

Carl Smith is a senior staff writer for Governing and covers a broad range of issues affecting states and localities. For the past 30 years, Carl has written about education and the environment for peer-reviewed papers, magazines and online publications, with a special focus on conservation and sustainability. He has guest-edited special issues of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health focused on the Precautionary Principle and the human rights dimensions of environmental degradation. Carl attended the University of Texas and the University of Georgia. He can be reached at carl.smith@governing.com or on Twitter at @governingwriter.

Carl Sedoryk, CEO of Monterey-Salinas Transit, explains how his agency went from moving not just people, but also food and medical services, while providing Internet service for families as the pandemic upended bus service.
With the highest incarceration rate in the developed world, America’s overcrowded prisons have become hotbeds for COVID-19. Now, the virus has accelerated efforts already underway by lawmakers to reform prison policies.
Outdoor learning can slash the odds that in-person classes will put staff or students at risk of contracting the coronavirus. A national coalition is developing guidelines and resources to help schools in any climate.
Massachusetts, Nebraska and Minnesota are among numerous states where legislation has recently been introduced to address the affordable housing deficit. Some bills are more concrete than others.
It’s never been more apparent that schools don’t just educate; they also buoy the stability and emotional health of communities. Since July, state legislatures have introduced numerous bills to keep things afloat.
What’s it like to be a front-line government official in the COVID era? The mayor of Hattiesburg, Miss., talks candidly about "awful moments,” as he navigates a pandemic, an economic meltdown and racial tensions.
Voting by mail may have started during the Civil War, but the template for the 2020 general election is being created in real time. Legislators are working to bring clarity to vital details.
COVID-19 cases are on the rise, and citizens can't shelter in place if they're evicted. Legislators in some states are proposing moratoriums on evictions for as long as a year after the end of the health emergency.
Federal money and innovative housing-first programs have provided much needed support for the nation’s half-million homeless. But with the pandemic continuing, helping this vulnerable population will remain a challenge.
Gov. Chris Sununu has signed a bill making the Granite State the first in the U.S. to allow flying cars onto its public roads. Pilots will be allowed to drive from airports to their final terrestrial destination.