Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Two transportation-focused think tanks held back-to-back events last week, bringing transit advocates, scholars and industry leaders together to discuss solutions for the fiscal cliff many agencies are facing.
Massachusetts is showing the way by going to the end users of the products and services governments buy. It’s good for suppliers as well, and produces better results for everyone.
In recent years, the public perception of police culture has been defined by acts of violence against citizens. A group of chiefs and sheriffs are working to change the narrative by emphasizing a mission of service.
Federal officials say 16 states have shortchanged their Black land grant colleges by billions of dollars. Equitable funding would benefit not only students at these vital institutions but their states’ economies as well.
Democrat Andy Beshear wins re-election in a state that otherwise elects only Republicans to statewide office, the particular challenges facing Black women mayors and other election fallout.
Dealing with undeserved hostility and threats may be the most unexpected new task for election officials, but the skills their jobs require have been expanding for years.
The growing green economy is creating millions of jobs, but demand is outpacing the number of workers prepared to fill them. Promising new programs provide an opportunity to create a more equitable workforce.
In a busy year for ballot initiatives, Ohio voters approved abortion rights and marijuana legalization, while voters elsewhere were wary about taxes, public ownership of major assets and participatory budgeting.
The tilt of major cities to the left continued, with progressives winning key races in Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and other cities. The few bright spots for the GOP were in the Northeast.
This time next year, Americans will be casting votes in the 2024 general election. State and local races (and issues) will take place in the long shadow of a carefully watched presidential rematch.
New research suggests that transit agencies see ridership gains when they adopt monthly fare-capping policies, which are primarily intended to make fares more equitable.
Ohio voters approved an abortion rights measure while Virginia Democrats won control of the legislature, guaranteeing rights there will be preserved.
Virginia Democrats have made abortion central to their campaign for legislative control. Gov. Glenn Youngkin and other Republicans believe they've come up with a rejoinder.
Dissident counties are joining quixotic efforts to secede from their states in much of the country. They’re a manifestation of real political resentments and a way to attract some attention.
Lack of human connection is bad for your health. Responding to an advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General that a loneliness epidemic is affecting half of all Americans, San Antonio has been pushing out resources to help build bonds between community members.
Concerns about crime and homelessness have made urban voters more open to centrist appeals, even in liberal strongholds such as Seattle and Boston.
The technology has great potential in the future of data analysis and policymaking. But it will only happen if the right guardrails are in place and best practices are developed and followed early on.
There’s no sensible reason to keep doing it. States could opt out, but most do not. Congress should act, and there’s a 30-minute solution.
Many see next year's election as a historic test of American democracy. What does a national survey say about how “democratic” the attitudes of the voters themselves are?
Focusing on prevention doesn’t stop us from preparing for disasters, it just makes them less likely. We can and should do the same for mass shootings.
More public transit agencies are offering low-fare, on-demand shuttle service as a way to connect people to existing transit services and serve far-flung communities. But many transit advocates are wary of the trend.
Halloween seems an apt metaphor for what state and local financiers will encounter over the next year and beyond: plenty of tricks but a modest supply of treats.
The great dams of the early 20th century have outlasted their questionable usefulness, declining in their power output, providing unpredictable sources of water and doing massive environmental damage.
The Carter Center is leading an effort to turn down anti-democratic noise around elections, neighbor by neighbor. Arizona is one of the first stops for their campaign.
They make up the smallest percentage of workers in state and local government. Despite being sought after, efforts to hire and retain them aren’t increasing those numbers.
Three state-level officials demonstrate the characteristics of good governance, without the chaos playing out in the nation’s capital.
Election officials brace for surge in AI-generated misinformation, and lawmakers face complex challenges in containing it.
Fifty years ago, Atlanta’s Maynard Jackson was elected as the first Black mayor of a major city in the Deep South. His legacy is one that today’s mayors and other public officials would serve themselves well to know about.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear looks more likely than not to win re-election. Meanwhile, Louisiana Democrats failed to field candidates in many districts for state House and Senate, Oklahoma's Republican attorney general files a lawsuit to block a publicly funded religious charter school and more.
A new report from the Urban Institute tracks how a year of infrastructure and housing grants align with federal priorities for equitable spending.
