State and Local Politics and Policy
It’s especially hard to get low-income Americans living in multifamily buildings across the digital divide. But states and nonprofits are finding ways to do it.
Children with disabilities are central to a fierce debate in the state legislature over any school voucher program. Roughly 13 percent of Texas public school students receive special education services.
More than 6,000 migrants have come to the city since last fall, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began sending busloads of migrants to Chicago to protest the influx in his state.
An after-action analysis of the nation’s pandemic response would go a long way toward better preparing us for the public health challenges and other emergencies to come.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has promised to try and override many of Kelly’s vetoes, which cover a variety of issues including transgender rights and income tax rates. The governor sees her re-election as a mandate to check legislative excesses.
The program was among the more than 100 bills that Wes Moore signed into law, including approval for the $63.1 billion Maryland budget, fixes to the 529 college savings program and agencies for racetracks and water systems.
The scrubbed rail extension illustrates the financial crisis at Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and at other transit agencies around the country. Still, some advocates say it’s an opportunity, too.
We’ve long known that its roots aren’t biological or genetic. It’s time for Americans to discuss it rationally and speak out against efforts to turn us against each other.
Of the 12,910 guns recovered from crimes from 2017 to 2023, 93 percent were linked to an initial sale outside of the state, three times higher than the national average and far exceeding second-ranked Baltimore.
A state lawmaker has proposed legislation that would permanently extend the ban on willful defiance suspensions from middle and high schools across the state after 2025. But not all educators support the bill.
So far, there have been 292 assaults at the University of Kansas Health System for the 2023 fiscal year. Advocates are pushing to increase penalties for attacks against health-care workers, but legislation remains in limbo.
Will the massive tranche of money be used to help the people who suffered the most and for programs shown to be effective in curbing the epidemic? Or will elected officials use the money for politically infused projects?
The Ohio native and former TV host has captured the attention of Florida residents, making her an especially powerful asset to her husband’s 2024 presidential campaign. But some wonder if the couple will be enough to sway an entire nation.
The U.S. Forest Service has used fire retardant for six decades, including about 14 million more gallons in 2021 than the 10-year average. Some experts wonder if retardant is effective, and safe, enough for continued use.
As the 53rd Earth Day approaches, leaders with a wide range of responsibilities describe big problems — and big possibilities — that lie ahead.
Many communities in the state’s San Joaquin Valley continue to struggle for water as a result of the ag industry’s overpumping of groundwater. Experts estimate that groundwater losses since 1961 have totaled 93 million acre-feet.
Republican attorney general Jeff Landry seems the likely successor to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. Also, Michigan Democrats utilize their full control of state government while election officials across the nation feel forced out.
Everyone likes getting something for nothing, but history shows why the math behind free public transit doesn’t add up.
Layoffs, buyouts, closures and mergers have resulted in spreading news deserts. There are a few scattered bright signs, efforts to revive local journalism in some form.
The death rate of children 19 years and younger increased by 11 percent between 2019 and 2020 and by 8 percent between 2020 and 2021, the biggest increase in U.S. child mortality in more than 50 years.
Many in the state argue that the state’s lax gun control laws have contributed to an environment in which residents are too comfortable pulling the trigger. The Republican-majority state Legislature has not signaled they will change the laws.
Lancaster County election officials reported that thousands of mail-in ballots sent to voters last week were printed with an error, requiring them to be voided and replaced. Already, 15,000 ballots have been recovered.
None of the 17 candidates on the April 4 ballot received more than 50 percent of the vote, triggering a runoff election on June 6. Advocates argue that ranked-choice voting would make the process quicker and more streamlined.
The winning combination these days is Black and Hispanic voters aligned with white progressives with college degrees.
More than 10 percent of statehouse reporters are university students, and in some states they are a significant presence in the statehouse media corps. They have stepped up coverage at a time when newspapers are pulling back.
More than 100 million people, or nearly one-third of the nation, have trouble accessing primary care. The problem is more acute in rural areas, which have long struggled to recruit and retain doctors and other medical professionals.
The two former Pinellas County educators have challenged seven books, including The Bible and “Danny and the Dinosaur,” in an effort to “highlight the slippery slope” of removing books in response to parental complaints.
Black Americans are still being incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of whites. There’s much that state lawmakers can do to reduce inequities and make legal processes fairer.
Jay Ashcroft was elected secretary of state in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. He has assured the state’s elections are safe and secure while also uplifting and supporting conspiracy theories about voter fraud.
Pandemic expansion of Medicaid benefits ended on March 31. A former Medicaid deputy director offers thoughts on what lies ahead.
Some conservatives want to rein in journalists’ protections established long ago by the Supreme Court. That would be a blow to the news coverage that aims to keep state and local governments accountable.
