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.
Better data and messaging would help. So would improved education.
State lawmakers have introduced bills to limit SNAP benefits, change vaccine policies and ban fluoride in public water.
It’s a battle of state vs. state and calls for the federal government to restrict Democratic state policies.
We should hold students to higher expectations and give them the support they need, and we need to give teachers the resources to do their job well. Two state lawmakers who started out as teachers have some insights.
Local officials should go on the offense to protect important initiatives that have benefited all of us. In particular, they can enlist businesses that see the benefits of their own diversity initiatives.
The lawsuit was filed by 22 states known for being powerhouses of biomedical research, including Massachusetts, California, Maryland and New York.
Most red states are looking to reduce property tax burdens, which have increased along with home values. Finding ways of replacing lost revenues for locals remains a challenge.
Demand for their services is expected to rise, but local clinics worry about the potential impact of Medicaid cuts at the federal level that could cause people to lose access to health care.
Five states allow firing squads but Idaho could become the first to use it as the primary method of execution.
GOP state Rep. Rachelle Smit, a former local clerk, continues to spout false claims about the 2020 election. She’s now the chair of the Michigan House’s newly renamed Election Integrity Committee.
A reentry program near Waco, Texas, has proven successful. Not only does every participant come out with a job, but their recidivism rate is 73 percent lower than incarcerated women throughout the state as a whole.
At stake in a case from Oklahoma is whether the court will expand the boundaries of government aid to faith-based institutions. It would be a sea change in education law.
It’s an opportunity for state lawmakers. The public hates these surprise charges, and they put businesses that price their services transparently at a disadvantage.
“The removal of critical health information from governmental public health sites is chilling and puts the health of the public at risk,” said Richard Besser, a former acting director of the CDC.
Red states are in sync with the Trump administration’s efforts, but some Democratic governors are reminding districts to protect immigrants’ legal rights.
State and local public health departments rely on federal funding to operate. With those dollars at risk amid the Trump administration’s federal funding freezes, they’re bracing for the future.
By empowering them to bargain and providing other protections, policymakers can address frustration over flat wages and inflation, while strengthening local economies.
For years, states strictly limited the amount of time people could be institutionalized. With homelessness rising, some policymakers want to do more.
Pregnant women who are incarcerated will move into the facility next week. For now, only women with 18 months or less to serve can participate but the program may expand over time.
Last year, legislators approved funding to fill a coverage gap. The law, however, was overridden by a ballot measure involving pay increases for doctors.
Gloria Sachdev has spent years taking on the health-care establishment in Indiana, working to pull down high hospital prices and make information public to patients. Now, in a newly created position in the governor’s Cabinet, she’s no longer fighting from the outside.
The Department of Education denied an application from a cyber charter school that would have been part of a multistate network. Classes would have been led by AI tutors with humans serving as “guides.”
The education committees in both the House and Senate approved a $450 million bill, a top priority for Gov. Bill Lee. Legislators are expected to pass it quickly during a special session this week.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed a bill overturning the state’s work requirements, which had previously been blocked in court. The bill passed in December while Democrats still controlled the Legislature, with Republicans complaining it sent the wrong message to recipients.
The White House ordered a pause on all federal grants, partly intending to target diversity, equity and inclusion and other "woke" programs. A third of states' budgets comes from federal grants.
Health officials are calling the outbreak of the highly contagious disease “unprecedented,” but the numbers remain small, with 67 active infections centered in the Kansas City suburbs.
Enjoying momentum thanks to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as federal health secretary, vaccine skeptics are pushing state-level bills to block mandates and give parents and workers greater latitude to opt out.
Maryland took historic steps to improve its education system. It shouldn't back away from them now, even amid budget shortfalls.
The Trump White House has ordered a pause on infrastructure spending approved during the last administration, and is promoting new spending on digital infrastructure to support artificial intelligence.
The city is launching “neighborhood wellness courts,” a diversion program designed to issue citations and offer addiction treatment and other services in lieu of misdemeanor sentences.
Lone wolf attackers can be harder to detect than those who work in a group. But strategies involving police, the public and mental health professionals can help.
