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.
Alabama’s central data repository enables coordinated action across health, law enforcement and governmental agencies.
Parents say inconsistent and confusing local attendance policies undermine efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism and erode confidence in districts’ accountability.
Rising use of force by federal agents is testing the limits of state authority and civil rights protections.
A statewide strike aims to halt normal economic activity in response to recent enforcement actions and a fatal shooting.
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.
With about 86 percent of its transportation fuel imported from California and refinery closures looming, state leaders launched a Fuel Resiliency Committee to address supply vulnerabilities.
For-profit programs proliferated as oversight lagged and exam pass rates sank.
A national repository of personal information the federal government is seeking poses serious dangers. Americans should be free to speak out without fear that their data will be used to target them for retaliation.
This isn’t the first time the president has threatened to invoke the act giving him broad power to deploy the military on U.S. soil.
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.
