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A bipartisan group of lawmakers rejected two of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nominees to the state’s Prisoner Review Board last month, highlighting how crime and politics have changed over the last several years.
A new report found that just more than one-third of the California county’s 190,000 total jobs were “quality jobs.” But a public-private initiative wants to upgrade the region’s employment by about 20 percent.
A study found the Pennsylvania county had the most homes and businesses, primarily in rural areas, with the slowest Internet connections in a 10-county region. The poor quality of broadband has become an equity issue.
Enforcement of the ban, which includes menthol cigarettes, won’t begin until January. Californians will vote on a possible statewide ban of flavored tobacco in the November elections.
Florida activist Chaz Stevens, in his petition sent to public school superintendents across the state requesting the removal of the Bible from schools. Stevens, who is known for his tongue and cheek petitions to local governments, sent the petition in response to state lawmakers’ decision to ban 54 math books and to highlight the hypocrisy of the policy. (NPR — April 26, 2022)
The proportion of students at both four-year and two-year universities who had experienced homelessness in the last year, according to an annual survey by The Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University. Across the U.S., students are struggling to find university housing, with 43 percent of students at four-year universities having experienced housing insecurity in 2020, an increase of 8 percent from the year prior.
A new Urban Institute study finds tax rebates are a better solution, while efforts that discourage driving would have the most significant long-term impact on the inflation problem.
With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, the yields on money market funds, state investment pools and bank accounts lag the payouts on safe securities. Staff needs to do its upside/downside homework.
We’re used to thinking of it as a waterfall of policies and fights flowing down from Washington. But increasingly it’s about ideas and movements that are erupting from the states.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the “Clean Green Schools” initiative, which will improve air quality, advance clean energy and reduce carbon emissions in public schools across the state.
The Louisiana city’s police department wants to deploy nine license plate readers to help identify stolen cars and drivers with outstanding warrants. But critics worry about the tech’s infringement on privacy rights.
Advocates are pushing for “clean slate” legislation, which would expunge criminal records for people with low-level or non-violent crimes. But until reform happens, these groups are helping to secure second chances.
The tax was imposed in 1994 to raise revenue for the Bay Area city’s library services. If the measure doesn’t pass in the June primary, the library system will have to cut 40 percent of its expenditures.
Alex Linser, deputy director of the Hamilton County, Ohio, election board, regarding the impact that the 2020 presidential election had on election misinformation. Now, mis- and disinformation spreads across social media and other Internet sites and sows distrust in secure and fair election systems that have worked for decades. (Associated Press — April 23, 2022)
The number of square miles that a wildfire in southwestern Nebraska had burned as of Sunday evening. The Road 702 Fire is spread over 78 square miles of Red Willow, Furnas and Frontier counties, and has killed one person, injured at least 15 firefighters and destroyed at least six homes.
Rising costs are starting to put pressure on budgets and may increase pension risk. Still, government balance sheets are in good shape and the economy remains in growth mode.
Advocates argue that cities and their connecting swaths of territory make an economic unit, despite the absence of real cultural affinities between distant metros.
As the 50th anniversary of the break-in approaches, a recent book charts the transformation of the Nixon administration’s bungled burglary to a redefinition of America’s relationship with its leaders and institutions.
Florida and Texas have passed social media censorship legislation, but both face legal pushback from advocacy groups. If their cases move forward, it could set a precedent for other states to propose similar legislation.
“Teach-ins” were inspired the first Earth Day. Andra Yeghoian of the San Mateo County Office of Education is leading efforts to make environmental and climate literacy top priorities throughout K-12 systems.
To work around the state’s immigration enforcement laws, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has worked with private data brokers to receive real-time alerts about when people are being released from jail.
Despite the national push towards electric vehicles, the Massachusetts regional transit authority has no immediate plans to transition its 69 buses to electric alternatives. One EV bus is almost double the price of a diesel bus.
State lawmakers discussed the possibility of curbing property taxes by using surplus state funds and restricting the annual growth of a home’s taxable value. But some worry it would shift the burden onto taxpayers.
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A cooperative contract is an agreement between a local, state, regional, or federal government and businesses. The contract secures affordable rates and establishes delivery terms on goods that many agencies or offices need to have.
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Board of Health, regarding the city’s decision to end its indoor mask mandate just days after reimposing the order. (Reuters — April 21, 2022)
The number of tons of carbon emissions that Gov. Tom Wolf predicts Pennsylvania will emit by 2030, a reduction of 97 million tons. The state will join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate consortium that sets a price and declining limits on power plant emissions. The cap-and-trade program requires owners of fossil-fuel power plants with a capacity of 25 or more megawatts must buy a credit for every ton of CO2 they emit.
A number of states are seeing dozens of lawmakers retire all at once. Reasons differ, but there’s wide agreement partisanship has poisoned the atmosphere.
Failing to invest in the emergency response communication workforce and infrastructure is taking a toll. One important way to bolster call center employee morale and retention is to reclassify these professionals as first responders.
From regulation to restoration, the work of environmental stewardship falls largely on the shoulders of those in government. For Earth Day 2022, Governing asked public-sector leaders how they see the path forward.
The bottom half of Americans saw their wealth grow by 301 percent in 2020, in part boosted by unemployment benefits and stimulus payments. Despite that growth, the wealth gap also increased.
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