Policy
This coverage will look at how public leaders establish new policies in a range of crucial areas of government – health, education, public safety, for example – and how these policies impact people’s lives through better services, effective regulations and new programs. This will include stories examining how state and local government approaches policymaking around emerging areas, including artificial intelligence.
Small schools with minimal staff face hundreds of hours of work to satisfy the Education Department’s new reporting requirement tied to post-affirmative-action scrutiny.
The White House offered few details Wednesday on what Congress can expect from planned legislative recommendations for a national standard that would seek to preempt state laws.
Santa Fe has adopted a new law that ties the local minimum wage to inflation and housing costs. Backers say the measure will boost workers’ incomes while providing predictability to businesses.
New federal guidance calls for reducing the number of vaccines recommended for all children from 17 down to 11. At least 17 states have announced they’ll disregard it.
The state doesn’t currently allow for the voting method, but some legislators want to ban it from being an option in the future.
Officials hope the move helps them ease a doctor shortage.
The more flexible approach some doctors are taking clashes with traditional views of how to treat people with addiction.
Those just joining governing bodies shouldn’t just hang back and observe. They need to stay in touch with their constituents, work with colleagues who don’t share all their views, and commit themselves to high ethical standards.
Worker-owned cooperatives and direct-connect registries are reducing turnover and reshaping how older adults get care at home.
Nineteen states raised their minimum wage in January. Almost as many are keeping it at the federal level of $7.25 set in 2009.
The fatal shooting of a woman by a federal ICE agent has renewed scrutiny of long-standing rules that sharply limit when officers may fire at moving vehicles.
A first-of-its-kind lawsuit from the city of San Francisco seeks to end advertising that misleads consumers about the health impacts of highly processed foods. The city attorney spoke with Governing about the suit.
Vermont’s plan to redraw districts to cope with declining enrollment highlights mixed research and fierce community resistance.
The city plans to provide $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 a month after birth as part of an effort to reduce infant mortality and child poverty.
Applied behavior analysis has become one of Medicaid’s fastest-growing costs, prompting cuts that families say threaten progress.
An onerous 1970 law remains an open invitation for lawsuits. And reforms should make it easier to build the kind of housing most Californians want.
A custom app blocks TikTok, Instagram and games during school hours — and alerts administrators when students try to get around it.
The governor’s plan will require expansion beneficiaries to work 80 hours a month or be enrolled in school half time to retain coverage.
As high schools rethink graduation requirements, a growing number are moving away from requiring all students to pass a comprehensive test.
The conventional wisdom gets it wrong, relying on stereotypes. That’s an issue for public debates, policies and resources.
With federal support diminishing, local governments are on the forefront. They have plenty of effective approaches to draw on to direct resources toward proven ideas — and away from ineffective ones.
The state’s minimal oversight draws families who value autonomy, even as some lawmakers warn it lacks safeguards for quality and child welfare.
The new CalRx insulin will hit the market in January at $55 a month, part of a broader state effort to rein in drug costs.
Universal access to transitional kindergarten in Los Angeles County coincided with more than 150 pre-K centers shutting their doors.
Legislation states passed or enacted in the past 30 days.
New federal funding policy pits minority-serving technical and community colleges against other institutions that serve the nation's most vulnerable learners. State and local leaders must do what they can to limit the damage.
They argue the devices infringe on the privacy of drivers who have not violated any laws.
Over the past decade, nearly 40,000 people have died and more than 2 million have been injured on California roads. Many of those crashes were caused by repeat drunk drivers, chronic speeders and motorists with well-documented histories of recklessness behind the wheel.
Mississippi is hoping IT upgrades, new trainings and other efforts can reduce its SNAP “error rate” — or how often it over- or underpays benefits — before new federal penalties come into effect.
Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their health coverage if Congress does not renew ACA subsidies.
At Stillwater, corrections officials are testing an “earned living unit” that trades privileges for accountability and has gone two months without a lockdown.
