Internet Explorer 11 is not supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.
Smith_Carl_Headshot-400RGB

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.

Dramatic increases in suicide rates had attracted attention well before the unprecedented stresses of the pandemic. Legislators are proposing measures to keep a bad situation from getting worse.
To date, dozens of bills and resolutions have been introduced by legislators to address shortcomings with police training, qualified immunity and racial profiling, including the use of facial recognition technology.
Public health agencies have steadily lost workers since the 2008 recession. Tech can help address some of the biggest demands from the pandemic, but humans and better funding are still badly needed.
In a socially distanced world, citizens who most need online support and resources are least likely to be able to access them. Recent bills on the digital divide, including broadband, are addressing the problem.
The last recession pummeled the government workforce. Now, the pandemic has hit and once again, layoffs have become a fact of life. But not every state and local government is cutting jobs to stanch revenue losses.
Whether used for medical reasons or recreation, cannabis is a multibillion-dollar industry that could play a role in a post-pandemic recovery. Legislators have been addressing regulatory details.
Bills that address contact tracing take aim at the costs related to testing and tracking COVID-19 infections as states reopen. Others tackle privacy concerns and ensuring tracer workers reflect community diversity.
Public schools face a litany of problems relating to COVID-19 that include significant drops in funding, distribution issues for school lunch programs, lack of broadband access and bus driver protection.
Currently, the country has hired just a fraction of the contact tracers needed to contain the spread of the coronavirus and help the economy return to life. Experts say a national workforce is needed.
COVID-19 has accelerated demand for telemedicine services. Recently, state legislatures have introduced bills that provide remedies for issues such as reimbursement and credentialing that have slowed implementation.