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.
The state will spend $75 million moving more people with mental illness from jails to treatment facilities. “You’re not coming out better after three years at our jail,” said one sheriff.
Culture-war conflicts obscure our neglect of a responsibility for holistic, constructive legislative oversight of public higher education. Lawmakers should hold governing boards accountable for meeting the needs of their students.
Legislatures and governors are not afraid of undermining — or even downright repealing — citizen initiatives that win at the ballot box.
Public universities are under siege in too many places as elected officials move to install new leaders and limit what can be taught. Educational institutions should be safe for learning and as incubators for democracy.
State Sen. Scott Wiener has proposed legislation that would require new car models to come equipped with technology to prevent drivers from exceeding a road’s speed limit by more than 10 miles an hour.
Nationally, K-12 schools enacted 3,362 book bans during the 2022-2023 school year as part of a growing surge in censorship. Florida school districts accounted for more than 40 percent of those bans.
The Maryland county has handed out more than 200 Chromebook laptops as part of a program that aims to bridge digital and Internet access gaps. In total, the county will give out 7,000 laptops from 16 public library locations.
Fifteen states are not participating in a program to provide meals to school-age children over the summer, due to administrative costs or ideological opposition.
The county district attorney’s office will pay $5 million to Konnech, a tiny Michigan software company that sued District Attorney George Gascón last September for civil rights violations and negligence.
Changes in state laws are making it easier for drug users and responders to test drugs for additives that can prove fatal.
A court long known for its landmark decisions expanding civil rights is now known for conservative rulings reining in government power.
More and more, policymakers are recognizing the need to help students learn to navigate a chaotic media environment. There are three main elements to effectively implementing these mandates in classrooms.
The state’s first-in-the-nation approach to decriminalization has left deaths and overdoses surging. Criminalization needn’t be equated with incarceration. The spectrum of penalties can include fines, community service and treatment.
Future in Context
A discussion about the near future and the legislative issues to keep an eye on this year. Technology, budget and transportation top the list.
Most states set repayment periods for criminal fines, fees and restitution far longer than they do for consumer and civil debt — in some cases for decades. The consequences are severe.
Legislation draws objections from abortion rights proponents and opponents.
Artificial intelligence platforms have flaws with serious class, gender and race implications. Public officials need to pay more attention to those biases and do what they can to prevent harm.
In a time of disinvestment and other budget pressures, these programs are too often the first to be cut. But they are where students learn to have difficult conversations in an atmosphere of free inquiry and expression.
The state House voted 65-28 to override the governor’s veto of a bill that aims to restrict both medical care for trans youth and transgender athletes. The bill will now move to the Senate, where it will need a three-fifths majority to complete the override.
State lawmakers approved their own salary increases, including for future governors, and expanded the voting age to include some 17-year-olds. But they deferred a casino smoking ban, expanded family leave, book bans and more.
“Severe repetitive loss properties” are homes that have flooded twice, with damage totaling the property, or flooded four times with at least $5,000 in damages each time. But residents aren’t allowed to know where those properties are exactly.
Income-targeted programs deliver quality education to marginalized student groups. But all parents need to be able to choose how their children are taught, and more states are going universal.
Supporters see the legislation as a way to expand space for new housing.
New rules would bring back silencing provisions and create a new system to limit the debate time on certain pieces of legislation.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education finds little to no learning loss after the switch to a four-day week.
The people least prepared to teach are education majors. K-12 schools should be freed to hire based on subject-matter expertise.
We’re now experiencing the second-biggest wave of infections since omicron. Yet we cling to complacency and the false belief that the virus will burn out and go away.
According to unofficial numbers released by the state, organizers have collected 910,946 signatures, nearly 20,000 more than necessary to reach the signature threshold. The measure’s language still must be approved by the state supreme court. If it passes, abortion rights would be enshrined in the state’s constitution.
Alcohol killed 1,547 residents last year, not much fewer than the 1,799 who died from drug overdoses. While the state increased penalties for fentanyl possessions, voters expanded access to alcohol in grocery stores.
State Rep. Dan Frankel has proposed a measure that would revoke the concealed carry permits of anyone who is caught with a firearm at a TSA checkpoint. State TSA agents seized 44 guns this year, nine more than the previous record year.
The state has not yet signed up for a federal program that would help feed 2 million children who receive free or reduced-cost school lunches over the summer. State officials expect their own funds to be sufficient.
