Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Joe Biden’s letter announcing his departure from the presidential race is just the latest example of a form of discourse that’s been shaping our politics and society since before our revolution. It still can.
A year after the controversial project’s completion, the Douglas County Youth Center remains empty. Even with that, there are more kids in custody than beds in the county’s controversial detention center.
Few states have laws and guidelines for such an apparent conflict of interest. A new report provides a framework for decision-making and legislation.
The movement to protect historic buildings seemed unbeatable for decades, but it has spawned sophisticated, well-funded critics — and critics of the critics. Is it really “a good idea that has gone too far”?
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.
Budgeting sets the course for what government will and will not do. An initiative from the Government Finance Officers Association is designed to help long-term planning and foster public trust in a “new normal” of uncertainty.
Audits in a number of states have found that tax incentive programs for film and TV end up as money losers. Although some states are considering capping their programs, more are expanding theirs.
Florida’s once crime-ridden metropolis has forged a new identity in the 21st century.
Red states are leaving the long-established Electronic Registration Information Center for a new system launched by Alabama. It’s about voter suppression, not election integrity.
After President Biden's withdrawal over the weekend, the vice president may tap a state executive as her vice presidential pick.
The proposal would increase property taxes to fund new sidewalks, bike lanes, and other transportation infrastructure. It would replace a $930 million levy expiring this year.
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.
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.
When it comes to public-sector jobs and elective office, age discrimination is real. Governments would do well to tap into the experience and the particular type of intelligence that people of a certain age can bring to bear.
Larger departments struggle to hire, despite big salaries and bonuses, while smaller agencies are seeing their incentives yield more hires.
If a presidential nominee drops out, there are wildly different answers to what happens across the nation. Experts say it’s likely the Supreme Court would settle the resulting mess.
The national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is two years old. Americans know it’s there, but not many know what it does.
The top 10 percent of drivers in the U.S. consume more than a third of the gasoline. Some lawmakers hope targeting them with EV incentives will help reduce emissions more quickly.
Regardless of the continuing partisan debates about climate change, Republican-led states are benefiting economically from clean energy investments.
The major public funds have almost doubled their investments in high-fee, nontraditional vehicles, and important new research shows how costly it’s been. It’s a wake-up call for greater scrutiny of fee structures and consultants' assumptions.
On the first day of the Republican National Convention, Trump announced Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice president running mate. Vance was once a sharp critic of Trump but then rode the president’s support to the Senate in 2020.
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."
No rainmaker, aqueduct or prayer can save the Ogallala Aquifer from depletion. The battle over its decline pits good policy against powerful agricultural and political interests.
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.
The weekend was not a time of healing or even shared shock. Instead, partisans found ways to snipe at each other in all-too-familiar ways, despite the circumstances.
College enrollment levels were already projected to decline due to lower birthrates. Recent difficulties with federal financial aid and teens’ growing concerns about cost haven’t helped.
There are reasons Congress writes vague laws. Giving courts more latitude to strike them down will ultimately limit the power of Congress, not just the agencies that interpret those laws.
Name recognition is central in the GOP primary. Also, California lawmakers find compromises to head off ballot initiatives. Plus, the reasons governors make good running mates.
There are penal provisions in every state’s election codes. Most officers don’t know that they exist.
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.
