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Approximately 1 million Texans submitted their ballots by mail for the 2020 presidential election and about 8,000 of those were discounted for administrative errors. Now the state will allow voters to fix errors and track ballots online.
State lawmakers have proposed seven ways to fix the state’s unemployment system and help claimants receive better aid. But some of the proposals aren’t feasible and others could be too expensive.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education planned on thanking the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for finding a recent data vulnerability but the Parson administration did not use the note of gratitude.
Alex Askew, the Democratic incumbent in Virginia’s 85th District, commenting on his recent loss to Republican challenger Karen Greenhalgh. A recount of the November general election awarded Askew 12 more votes. However, it was still not enough to overcome Greenhalgh. (Associated Press — December 3, 2021)
The proportion of voters in the 2020 presidential election who believed the Supreme Court should overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, while 69 percent said the Court should leave it intact.
More frequent service in low-income neighborhoods, fewer buses to affluent areas, even fare-free transit, are all on the table as transit agencies try to figure out the future, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.
The federal government is sending billions to cities and counties to overcome pandemic setbacks. Plans from 150 local governments offer a preview of how these dollars might be spent.
Voters in several states created redistricting commissions. Some have had their work overridden by the legislature or they’ve failed to produce maps entirely.
The White House is showing the way. Building on that, state and local policymakers have the opportunity to improve well-being for women — and for everyone.
Gov. Dan McKee said the state will soon allow residents to prove their vaccination status with an app, which will be voluntary and businesses will still decide if they want to require proof of vaccination.
Three candidates’ 2020 campaigns were funded by dark money and one received funds illegally from a former state senator to help skew the election for the Republican candidates, yet no official penalty has been served.
Labor data suggests that Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to cut the extra $300 of federal funds from unemployment benefits 10 weeks ahead of the federal deadline had little effect on moving people back into the workforce.
A report has found that low-income households in Detroit spend at least 25 percent of their disposable incomes on water and sewer bills. With inflation, water costs in Detroit have tripled between 1980 and 2018.
Dr. Lee Norman, Kansas’s former top health officer, regarding the criticism and pushback from the governor and state Legislature. Norman led Kansas through the coronavirus pandemic until he abruptly resigned last month after he was asked to step down. (Associated Press — December 2, 2021)
The number of U.S.-based employer layoffs that occurred in November, a decrease of 34.8 percent, the fewest since May 1993.
Against all odds, election officials delivered a safe and secure election during a public health crisis. But a year later, they are looking for innovative ways to restore public trust in their work.
When cities reject new projects because they don’t fit an ideal notion of “affordability,” they further worsen the housing shortage.
St. Louis County’s proposed 2022 budget is $43 million larger than this year’s, amounting to $463 million. The increase is projected to cause a 1.9 percent bump in property taxes.
Pembroke Park is determined to separate from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office even though the department building project is stalled and costs have increased. Now the town may not have its own force until 2023.
The state’s transportation section is not on track to meet its aggressive climate goals of reducing emissions by 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2035. By the end of 2020, the state had just 32,000 registered zero-emission vehicles.
The state’s 2007 repeal of the requirement to obtain a permit to purchase a handgun is connected to an increase in the number of stolen firearms, firearm deaths and further gun deregulation.
Former California Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, regarding the legal challenges to the state’s law that requires women on boards of publicly traded companies. When it was enacted, California’s law was the first of its kind in the nation and, since then, several other states have made similar laws of their own. Jackson authored the legislation. (Associated Press — December 1, 2021)
The amount in pounds of plastic that is produced by the U.S. each year and ends up in the world’s oceans. In total, the U.S. produces more than 46 million tons of plastic annually, making it the world’s top plastic waste producer.
Smart cities’ focus on technology has made the digital divide worse, not better. The new infrastructure law could change that.
For rural communities like St. Helena, the billions the state will receive from the infrastructure bill for Internet and road repairs could have a massive impact. The community sits about 34 percent below the national income average.
Prior to COVID, San Antonio had allowed as many as 16,000 scooters to operate on city streets but now the allowance has dropped to just 2,000. The scooter industry may be here to stay, but not without change.
Last spring, a majority of lawmakers approved removing some supplies from the list of banned drug equipment but it wasn’t a large enough margin to overturn the veto from Gov. Hogan. Efforts to overturn the veto continue.
To deal with a multimillion-dollar deficit, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department cut $99.9 million in overtime. But as crime and homicides increase across the county, officials say that’s not feasible this year.
Oakland, Calif., Mayor Libby Schaaf, regarding her plans to reverse budget cuts to the city’s police department. She wants to hire more officers as violence and homicides have increased. There have been 127 homicides so far this year. (Associated Press — November 29, 2021)
The number of years by which California’s Sierra Nevada mountains could experience a snowless future, according to a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
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