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 effort follows earlier battles over social studies and could spread to other states reviewing academic standards.
Bills addressing retail theft and car break-ins represented an attempt by Democrats to sway voters ahead of a ballot initiative that would stiffen penalties further. Some progressives objected.
The FDA has approved a test that can help identify pre-eclampsia, a leading cause of maternal mortality that also threatens the health of the fetus. Georgia has increased Medicaid funding to allow access.
As many states move to dismantle their diversity, equity and inclusion programs and politicians turn the term into an insult, we need to keep sight of these efforts’ potential for good.
Gov. Brian Kemp warned that the tort reform rewrite will spill into next year, but it remains atop his list of priorities. The package pits corporate leaders, medical organizations and the insurance industry against trial lawyers who oppose the changes.
Monica Márquez is the first Latina and openly gay chief justice in the state. She inherits a system rocked by various scandals, high turnover among judges and continuing growing pains from the switch to virtual court.
JusticeText aims to improve the efficiency of legal defense by using automated transcription services and case management tools to streamline case evidence organization. The software is only available to public defenders.
A June 2023 audit found tens of thousands of potentially fraudulent or inaccurate ticket records within the state police system. Federal investigators found most mistakes were unintentional, though some officers may face discipline.
A study found that Chicago’s white families have the highest median net wealth ($210,000), while typical Black families report no wealth and U.S.-born Mexican families have just 19 percent of a typical white family’s wealth.
In the 1970s, Black students organized protests and a boycott that cost local white businesses money. Today, many families who could afford private school still choose Thomasville’s public schools.
Long Beach, Calif., has launched a digital rights platform that consists of data privacy notices for city-deployed technologies. Residents can find out what personal data is taken, how long it’s stored and whether it's shared or encrypted.
Approximately 8,500 fewer students were evaluated for a disability than during an earlier two-year period. That means thousands of students may not be getting the accommodations they need.
Legislators enacted more than a dozen new laws related to education, including changes to testing curriculum and classroom behavior.
It’s a combination of factors ranging from corruption to unbalanced taxation to unfunded liabilities to lack of an entrepreneurial tradition. But the state also has many strengths it could build on.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Chevron case empowers the levels of government most trusted by Americans to have more impact on issues that directly impact their economies and communities.
Between 2018 and 2022, the Sunshine State saw more than 26,000 emergency room visits and 5,000 hospitalizations for heat-related illnesses. In Miami, there were 46 days of heat index temperatures above 100 last summer.
Lawmakers are proposing hundreds of measures to micromanage and control this emergent technology. A complicated regulatory framework could devastate America’s technology businesses and global competitiveness.
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.
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.
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 federal government has deployed the National Guard to Texas’ border with Mexico for years, but a number of states have dug into their own budgets to send more military and law enforcement personnel. Some states have spent millions.
A lack of awareness, limited hours and a shortage of teachers are among the hurdles.
The pandemic led to a spike in violent crime that brought the issue back to the political fore. However, homicides are dropping by double digits in many major cities.
The Maryland county’s Board of Education unanimously approved the updated coursework this week following hours of public comments. The elective course will be offered next year to juniors and seniors at six schools.
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.”
