State legislatures will have a lot on their plates. They’ll deal with issues in wildly differing ways. We set the context for the 2021 session with an overview of everything from abortion to redistricting.
A confluence of social and political pressures is making a comprehensive federal privacy law seem inevitable. The incoming Biden administration could help ensure legislation heads in the right direction.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Public officials are nervous about the presence of new strains of the coronavirus and the potential to have yet another spike in case contractions and deaths. But without the proper detection tools, the state can’t do much.
The Austin-based software company at the center of the data breach that impacted hundreds of companies, including several government agencies, continues to find pieces of malware that may have led to the hack.
THE FUTURE OF Community Design
Four researchers will focus on the future of food, energy and water in a new project that could help rural communities capitalize on wind energy opportunities.
THE FUTURE OF Community Design
Council members authorized the city manager to move ahead with a “transformational” transit and mobility plan. But concerns have been raised that the project will strain a community that’s already been ravaged by COVID-19.
The stimulus package would include funding for production and distribution of COVID vaccines, $1,400 checks for Americans and expanded unemployment benefits. Many are eager for the relief, despite the large price tag.
Working together to create their own alternative to Bitcoin and its copycats could be a way to generate value, at no initial cost, for struggling pension funds. Madisons, anyone?
The state’s progressive tax structure is reaping billions from the wealthiest to fund the state’s safety net. But it also reveals how the pandemic has widened the economic gulf for millions of Californians — more than the rest of the country.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Just under 10 percent of the nearly 7,500 legislators serving in America’s state houses are Black, and only 13 are Republicans.
THE FUTURE OF What’s Happening Now
Children and teenagers need particularly specialized treatment, but what residential programs that exist help only a tiny fraction of victims. Interstate cooperation could make a difference.
