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.
An investigation found that suicides in 2025 were tied to isolation, substance use and inconsistent clinical care.
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.
The new rules will require employers to develop plans for medical attention and take action at certain levels of air quality. The change comes after two years of temporary protections.
Proposed legislation would require political ads created with artificial intelligence to include a disclaimer. Another bill would create a new avenue for people to sue for defamation if AI-generated content harms their reputation.
Our federalism expert makes predictions about climate and the culture wars and how states will take the lead in policy in 2024. He also owns up to what he got right — and wrong — over the past year.
Supporters of a proposed ballot initiative have collected nearly 425,000 signatures. The measure would ensure parents have access to the materials their children are taught in K-12 classrooms.
Starting Jan. 1, police officers across the state will be required to tell drivers why they’ve been stopped before they can start asking questions. Agencies will be required to track whether officers are complying.
Kate Cox sued for permission to end her 20-week pregnancy after receiving a genetic diagnosis that made the baby’s survival unlikely. A judge’s ruling has given legal and medical experts little clarity about when an abortion may be administered.
The 2021 law will erase nonviolent crimes from public records in hopes of improving employment and housing opportunities for formerly incarcerated people. Technological upgrades required $8 million for implementation.
Law enforcement across the state have violated Fourth Amendment rights numerous times over the last decade. That has called into question the training and experience requirements for officers.
The state’s Supreme Court has issued a ruling in an eight-year-old school desegregation case, overturning a finding from an appellate court that only “intentional segregation” could violate the state Constitution.
For five decades, Idaho has been putting mental health patients into prisons, despite receiving 14 notices that it needs a secure mental health unit that is not a prison.
Arlington has been using May Mobility to run its Rideshare, Automation and Payment Integration Demonstration program since 2021, which utilizes a fleet of four self-driving vehicles to transport 150 to 200 riders daily.
