Governing: State and local government news and analysis
The Great Depression crushed the economy. The New Deal saved it. Can an analogy be made with today’s economic situation? Professor Jason Scott Smith talks about what happened in the 1930s and what might happen today.
The research is clear: The creative and cultural sectors are a powerful force for helping communities large and small turn the corner on the pandemic’s economic shocks.
The author of a new book on the pioneers of the civil rights movement says, as different as the two were from each other, they were also each other’s alter egos in the struggle against racism.
The U.S. could have done much better in battling COVID-19, preventing hundreds of thousands of deaths. But its decentralized system of governance failed to rise to the challenge.
Its growth will provide more and more high-demand, high-wage jobs. Our education system is key to training that workforce of the future, with a particular focus on marginalized communities.
Half the states have passed legislation to address policing, sometimes in ambitious fashion. But rising crime and discomfort with a racial reckoning have slowed momentum in many places.
The battle over Route 17, a rural highway in upstate New York and a popular route to the Catskills, is a microcosm of national divisions and choices in transportation policy.
Much depends on their tax structures, particularly if Prop. 13-style tax caps are in place. But inflation-driven pressure for wage increases could squeeze budgets and crush pension funds.
They need to leverage public spending and build partnerships to create and nurture sustainable-wage employment and training for local residents, particularly those from underserved communities.
As the economy reopens, there’s increased demand for Uber and Lyft, which are still short on riders. That may push some riders back to transit, but systems are still well under capacity.
A new book the author calls “an owner’s manual for American citizens” recovers a lost language that Americans need to talk with each other about things that matter.
Digital equity advocates, state broadband offices and local government staffers are encouraged by the president’s emphasis on their work, but what do they need at the federal level to fully solve this challenge?
An online lending platform called Kabbage sent 378 pandemic loans worth $7 million to fake companies (mostly farms) with names like “Deely Nuts” and “Beefy King.”
A new Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report argues that any U.S. infrastructure plan should bank on digital infrastructure because it offers the greatest long-term social and economic gains.
With most of the state gripped by extreme dryness, some conditions are better, some worse, than the last record-breaking drought. Over-pumping of wells hasn’t stopped. But urban residents haven’t lapsed back into water-wasting lifestyles.
America doesn’t hear about ‘shovel-ready’ or ‘New Deal’ work projects anymore because the Biden administration knows infrastructure spending doesn’t generate jobs in the short term. But it does create long-term economic development.
The pandemic and all the frustrations it's brought to parents have increased support for charter schools and vouchers. States that had resisted such ideas have ambitious new programs.
The pandemic has significantly increased the number of students who don’t attend class. Solutions aren’t easy, but school districts can recover the chronically absent by digging deeper into data.
In 1972, the city and King County were determined to build a giant multipurpose, domed stadium in Seattle’s International District. Just as determined to stop it were the Asian Americans who lived there.
A new state board in New Hampshire offers a speedy, non-judicial way to challenge onerous local land-use decisions. It’s a way to prevent a hot housing market from overheating.
Social sentiment analysis is helping local officials understand the views and concerns of their residents about COVID-19 vaccinations, giving them information they need to shape effective messaging strategies.
The pandemic has broken commuter rail’s business model, which relies on boutique services for white collar workers. Fixing it means more trains, better platforms, high-tech fare systems and fewer workers. Can it be done?
Some legislatures are moving to restrict what health departments can do. This ill-advised political interference can cost lives now and aggravate inequities in the post-pandemic era.
During the COVID-19 health crisis, states suspended limitations on telemedicine and scope of practice. A number are now making those changes permanent.
It's been with us for nearly four decades, but we still can't definitively answer the question of whether it prevents crime in our cities.
We've priced parking too low for decades. As competition for the curb heats up, here's what needs to change.
As a divided country wrestles with its future, it may be a good time to think about how we constitute a more perfect Union.
In most states and nationwide, collections overcome early pandemic losses.
States are announcing incentive programs to encourage residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19. What started as small benefits, free doughnuts and beer has grown into significant prizes, such as five chances to win $1 million.
The U.S. was once king of semiconductor manufacturing. Today, not so much. In an interview, Skanda Amarnath discusses what went wrong with our chip-making prowess and if government intervention is needed.
