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.
Some experts believe that active shooter drills that aim to simulate a real-life situation can often traumatize participants. But the chief of the Miami-Dade Schools police says they’re helpful for officers to learn.
A new law extends the state’s sexual assault evidence protections to cover DNA samples. But getting justice in hundreds of cold cases will require more than just testing, survivors say.
Advocates say that artificial intelligence has the potential to streamline agriculture tasks and help make farming greener. But there are still concerns about wasting time sorting through data and protection of privacy.
The shooter in Saturday’s attack on former President Donald Trump used an “AR-style 556 rifle,” which is from the same family as the gun that was used at Sandy Hook in 2012.
Gov. Jim Pillen ordered state workers back in the office at the start of the year, but the employees union balked. A labor court said the union had "engaged in a pattern of willful, flagrant, aggravated, persistent and pervasive prohibited misconduct."
State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a petition with the court asking it to overturn an appellate court finding that the ban violated Title IX rights.
Peers who have been through the juvenile justice system can help put incarcerated young people on a path to rehabilitation and redemption, but these mentors need access. States should give it to them.
The nation suffers from a housing shortage of between 1.5 million and 5.5 million units. Renters occupy about 15.9 million single-family homes and corporate landlords own about 3 percent of them.
Several major bills went unresolved when the main legislative session ended in June. Now lawmakers have just a few days remaining in session each month.
The 4-3 decision ensures that the public is “guaranteed access to public records unless a law specifically and unequivocally provides otherwise.”
The bills, which passed with bipartisan support, would have made it easier for felons who’d served time to re-enter society successfully. But Gov. DeSantis said they would reward criminals.
Most abortions are now illegal in the state. A ban passed last year had been held up by a lower court’s injunction but justices ruled Friday, 4-3, that it can stand.
Breaking a years-long impasse, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to increase transparency for the governor and lawmakers. The bill still offers them some loopholes, however.
The new agency will combine programs that provide services for children under 6, which had primarily been divided among three different departments.
There are strong models for combating youthful disillusionment. San Francisco’s Youth Commission should be replicated across the country and a White House Office of Young Americans could address issues that affect everyone.
The city’s approach to cybersecurity risks is at best “informal,” according to Denver’s auditor. Mandatory training is often skipped and oversight of some facilities is lax.
Nearly two dozen states controlled by Republicans have prohibited or modified diversity, equity and inclusion programs, primarily in public university systems. One new law led the University of Texas system to eliminate 300 positions.
Reparations remains mostly unpopular with the public, but numerous states and localities continue to explore the idea of addressing both past and present harms affecting African Americans.
Instead of indulging in the sugar high of tough-on-crime legislation, lawmakers should provide the treatment solutions that dramatically reduce deaths, especially in correctional settings.
Monday’s action was one of the largest mass pardons in U.S. history. Maryland voters legalized marijuana two years ago.
The school board is expected to vote Tuesday to ban student use of phones throughout the school day, citing distraction. The policy would take effect next year.
Critics say recent changes will make corruption more likely. Transparency requirements were traded away in a deal that included a gas tax increase and updates to affordable housing rules.
We need to focus on the need to address the inequalities in our criminal justice system, especially as they impact people of color and the poor.
Aldermen are set to consider the city’s largest police misconduct settlement ever. Four men were imprisoned after allegedly being coerced by the police to give false confessions of a 1995 double murder.
The proposed rules would require indoor workplaces to be cooled below 87 degrees Fahrenheit when employees are present. They would require breaks and water and other cooling devices when 87 degrees cannot be met.
Colorado has passed the nation’s most ambitious AI regulatory law. In other states, lawmakers are regulating fake likenesses involving porn, politics and celebrities.
A draft plan for co-management of Bears Ears National Monument comes after years of advocacy from native organizations, but federal policies don’t go far enough. Co-stewardship of public lands is Indigenous peoples’ inherent right.
California schools are using more chatbots, and teachers are using them to grade papers and give students feedback. Educators are split on the technology’s efficacy.
Mayor Quinton Lucas alleges that Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft moved a ballot measure to force Kansas City to pay more for its police to a different date than the top state court ordered.
Last year, the state House fell a few votes short of advancing a constitutional amendment to allow the construction of eight destination resort casinos. It is unlikely that the state Senate will have enough votes to pass the measure next session.
The two are intertwined, yet too often they aren’t viewed that way. Aligning them is a strategy for creating strong rural and Native communities.
