Governing: State and local government news and analysis
The databases are fraught with problems from due process to privacy rights to racial and ethnic disparities, raising the question of whether they really make cities safer.
Groups of renters in five cities have formed a Tenant Union Federation to build power locally and advocate for changes to federal housing policy.
The pandemic wrought a nationwide crisis in school attendance. How did Governor Daniel McKee get Rhode Island students back in the classroom?
The continuing injustice of Flint should be a wakeup call. With billions flowing from Washington and millions of lead pipes still in place across the country, now is the time to establish access to clean water as a human right.
Voters would have to approve a $4.4 billion bond package in November, to be financed by property tax increases over 33 years. Including interest, the package would cost $11 billion.
Despite fires and floods, they keep coming in search of affordability and warm winters. But there are strong signs that the stampede is slowing.
Since COVID, there's been an increase in the number of parents not getting their kids vaccinated for diseases such as chicken pox, measles and polio.
States can compensate with vehicle and odometer taxes, but local governments can harness new data technologies — including GPS, 5G and AI — to meet the need for more than states’ hand-me-down dollars.
Many big-city departments are short of officers. It's not a new problem, but young people seem to be shying away from the field.
Zoning changes in cities such as Minneapolis have helped prompt new construction, but allowing more units on formerly single-family lots isn’t a panacea for housing shortages.
It's the power to convene players across a region, as Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has demonstrated. He's put together an effective coalition to tackle economic and workforce development.
They don't do much to generate economic activity, often hurt taxpayers they’re intended to help, inject instability into revenue streams, and create administrative and compliance costs for businesses, governments and consumers.
Gavin Newsom has been dealing with the issue since long before he became governor, working to undo a Reagan-era legacy of deinstitutionalization. It’s common-sense progress.
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.
Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long had been the favorite to win the Delaware governor's race but violated campaign finance law. In two other states, primaries on Tuesday probably determined who will be the new governors.
Out of order ever since Hurricane Katrina, Gulf Coast passenger rail service is expected to start up again next spring after a key City Council vote this week in Mobile, Ala.
It can help in a range of ways, from identifying competitive advantages to training the workforce that will be needed for success. But it can’t replace human judgment.
The Democrats’ new vice presidential pick has one of the most progressive records of any current governor. He also has some history that Republicans are likely to exploit.
From buckling roads to twisted rails, it’s under a lot of stress. Engineers have some ideas for minimizing the problems.
Big money is flowing to cities and states from infrastructure laws backed by the Biden-Harris administration. This barely rates mention, even from Democrats.
As billions flow from Washington to extend fast and reliable Internet to underserved areas, policymakers should rely on the experienced, established providers that already know how to get this difficult job done.
Something positive does seem to be happening in many of the places that have been losing jobs and people for a long time. The gains may be modest, but they’re worth paying attention to.
Fire authorities wish people would stop doing stupid stuff like burning toilet paper, igniting smoke bombs or tossing cigarette butts out of cars. People, not nature, are responsible for most wildfires.
A ballot measure that would have let voters decide the fate of a massive land development project in California has been called off.
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.
In the typical state, personnel costs represent 40 percent less of the overall budget than was true 30 years ago.
Philadelphia's mayor has ordered city workers back to the office. Unfortunately for them, the state is not providing the amount of funding that local transit needs.
Federal aid helped states and localities cope with the biggest costs of the pandemic. But good things don’t last forever, and this one didn’t.
Fearing a fishbowl political environment, too many public-sector organizations are reluctant to collect and use data on how they’re doing in hiring and retaining talent. But it’s better to know than not to know.
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.
