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The state-run company Citizens has warned it may impose a “hurricane tax” this year if another big, expensive storm, or a series of little ones, hit the state. The company now insures 1.2 million homeowners, a 50 percent increase.
Barry Black, the U.S. Senate chaplain, regarding the deadly school shooting in Nashville, Tenn., this week. Black implored lawmakers to take action as he opened the legislative session on Tuesday, but some lawmakers are opposed to legislation that would restrict gun control. The shooting in Nashville was the 130th mass shooting incident so far this year. (NPR — March 28, 2023)
Green energy may one day depend on the state’s vast reserves of lignite and oil drilling waste, and the rare earth minerals they contain.
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning is preparing a series of recommendations to address the transit fiscal cliff and governance challenges. State lawmakers told them to "be bold."
Gov. Greg Abbott sees a statewide school voucher program as a way for educational freedom while others argue that it would have detrimental impacts on rural communities.
Some states have encouraged or required labor peace agreements when establishing legal cannabis marketplaces. But employers don’t always adhere to them and penalties for misbehavior are weak. So far, 21 states allow recreational marijuana use.
The project will focus mostly on digitizing items from the colonial and Revolutionary era, though documents from other time periods will be stored as well. The state’s Historical Society has amassed 3 million documents since 1838.
Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus Chair London Lamar, regarding the shooting deaths of three children and three employees at a church-run school in Nashville on Monday. Republican lawmakers just last week voted down a bill, proposed by Lamar, that would have enacted more gun control in the state. (Chattanooga Times Free Press — March 28, 2023)
They have to maintain finances as they try to avoid damaging service cuts and, at the same time, push for new bus and train lines. That will require new ideas, because the old ways aren’t going to work.
Local-government officials are sometimes overwhelmed by new and improved digital tools. But they need to be open to technology that can help residents and public employees deliver critical services.
Letting all depositors off the hook creates a moral hazard, but taxpayer money should be protected. If Congress won’t extend full insurance to states and localities, banks should be required to protect those deposits with their own collateral.
The state’s latest proposal would create a flat income tax rate of 2.75 percent and would cut corporate property taxes and increase residential/agricultural property taxes. But experts say benefits of Ohio’s tax cuts are unclear.
Since Jan. 31, 10 bills have been signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and several more are awaiting her signature. Though the speed was breakneck, the process wasn’t always pretty and most new laws had little public vetting.
A proposed bill would allow all police and firefighters enrolled in the state’s pension system an option to retire early with a reduced pension after 20 years of service. Opponents warn it could burden taxpayers.
Nearly 10 percent of the state can’t participate in elections because they have been convicted of a felony. Restoring the right to vote to those who have completed their time is complicated and frustrating, advocates say.
Jeff Bernauer, a resident of Huntsville, Ala., on why he does not support reparation movements across the U.S. Bernauer is among a large swath of Americans, about three-quarters or more of white adults and a majority of Latinos and Asian Americans, who oppose reparations. Overall, two-thirds of Americans are against cash payments to the descendants of slaves. Bernauer believes racism is a sin and says of course slavery was wrong. (NPR — March 27, 2023)
Climate change and other factors put growing pressure on critical watersheds.
A cloud of misinformation has led a half-dozen states to abandon the most powerful tool available to combat voter fraud across state lines.
State and local leaders will face implementation challenges of scale, complexity and accountability. To mitigate those and maximize the benefits of new federal programs, they need to have the right strategies in place.
The forgotten legacy of President Benjamin Harrison, who paved the way for Teddy Roosevelt. His tenure was marked by a mix of contributions to civil rights and conservation even while making a naked grab on Indigenous land.
But practitioners must remember there's a high bar and rigor required to making human-centric design work correctly. Simply saying a product was created using the practice won’t cut it.
The 2022 stock market plunge has taken a toll on some of the nation’s largest state and municipal pension funds, making it harder to pay for future retirement benefits to millions of K-12 teachers and other public employees.
State lawmakers would spend some of The Education Trust Fund’s money on the Mobile Airport Authority, the Port of Alabama, hydroelectric and EV workforce training and more.
The two bills come as the centerpiece of the state’s efforts to crack down on progressive criminal justice policies in Texas’ big cities. The bill would go after officials who won’t prosecute cases related to abortion or gender-affirming care.
The new $20 million bridge is similar to the Florida International University pedestrian bridge that collapsed in 2018 and killed six people. Officials are confident that critical design changes will prevent another catastrophe.
About 10 percent of union workers reported being homeless at some point while working for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Nearly 30 percent reported being at high risk of homelessness. The strike ended on March 23.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, accepting the resignation of Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom after a $3.5 billion error in the year-end financial report he oversaw. Eckstrom has held the position for 20 years; his resignation will be effective April 30. (NPR — March 23, 2023)
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