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.
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.
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.
Cleveland wants to send clinicians to some calls. Here’s how some other cities have done something similar.
Their minority contracting programs and others are under federal attack, and the consequences reach into the tens of billions of dollars. The souls of our communities should not be for sale.
About 338 of every 100,000 women are behind bars in the state. Officials say the new facility could finally curb the nation’s worst record on female incarceration.
With more residents required to work to qualify for SNAP and funding shifting to states, Missouri’s system shows what may await programs across the country.
Over 2,100 schools in 26 states have adopted shorter weeks, mostly in rural districts seeking teacher retention and budget relief.
Higher education battles around the country are beginning to look like a sports competition.
A statewide shift follows new laws restricting intense simulations and growing recognition that realistic drills can confuse young children and trigger unnecessary anxiety.
The only viable path to a national standard is one built on the foundation that our laboratories of democracy are laying. Congressional efforts to freeze state oversight over AI companies would leave Americans exposed.
A near-empty mobile vaccine clinic reveals a growing mistrust of vaccines and public health experts.
A committee of judges and attorneys recommends piloting a program allowing non-attorneys to provide legal support.
After decades of bipartisan reforms that prioritized rehabilitation over punishment, states are moving back toward prosecuting younger teens as adults. It contradicts decades of research, and it doesn’t make communities safer.
States are having doubts about whether their sports betting programs — legalized in a rush of legislation over the last several years — are generating the promised benefits.
