Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Wage theft, which can include not paying workers minimum wage, misclassifying workers to avoid paying overtime and taking tips meant for employees, is a $50 billion problem in the U.S.
A freshman Virginia delegate has jump-started the Legislature’s technology and innovation caucus. Her inclusive way of dealing with AI and facial recognition policies has drawn positive attention from both sides of the aisle.
The city's Regional Transit Authority has ambitious plans to improve service for some of the city’s most disadvantaged communities. The agency’s new CEO says it’s mostly about the basics.
In developing nations, rules written by governments and corporations alike are understood as a tool for extortion.
A new edition of a book by a former government official argues that human-centered steps taken before technology implementation are the key to success.
California legislators agreed to provide additional operating support for transit agencies facing big budget gaps. San Francisco area lawmakers are looking to raise bridge tolls to make up some of the difference.
"Nonstandard" workers keep growing as a percentage of the workforce, but the technology we use to determine benefits eligibility is decades behind. It’s about designing systems around the recipients themselves, and the tools are available.
Elias Fretwell, a 14-year-old self-taught coder, has discovered that government data, together with APIs, can be a fun and useful way to make bureaucracy more accessible.
A year ago, six jurisdictions were selected as the first participants in an incubator project designed to help them harness the economic power of publicly owned land and buildings. Atlanta is ready to use what it learned.
The response to COVID-19 led to problems in schools, mental health and urban life. That doesn't mean it was all a mistake.
Putting the First Amendment, national security and America’s most (in)famous leakers — Daniel Ellsberg, Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning — in context.
Networks of thousands of home-based batteries could be key to a cleaner, more reliable electricity system.
A legal scholar explains why federal agencies are purchasing so much of the data on the open market and what it means for privacy in the age of AI.
California leads the country in electrifying its transportation sector, according to a new scorecard from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. States can pursue a range of strategies to support greater adoption of electric vehicles.
After a decade, the state’s open, nonpartisan primaries still have their critics, but it’s clear that they have steadily reduced polarization. The system could do the same for other states.
It's one thing to try to impose discipline within the party; punishing members of the other party involves a different set of dynamics. Plus, can you fire a non-appointee?
More than 7,500 people were killed last year, the highest number of fatalities in 40 years. The epidemic of deaths has been blamed on bad driving behavior, oversized vehicles and flaws in the design of highways and roads.
Over 2,000 square miles of land have been lost in the past 100 years due to natural and manmade causes. The state intends to spend $1 billion annually for the next several decades to protect what remains of its coastal areas.
In The Three Ages of Water, Peter Gleick traces the history of a resource humans can’t do without. While there’s enough water to go around, he says, state and local leaders from both sides of the aisle need to act now on what we know.
Allowing greater building height hasn’t proved consistently successful for cities, and it's a fantasy that Washington's city center could ever resemble Paris’ stately boulevards. But perhaps it’s time to try some experimentation.
States have information that counties need to better target their resources and services to reduce overdose risk and save lives. Improving data sharing is a good use of opioid settlement funds.
Kim Reynolds was relatively unknown when she served as lieutenant governor and even after becoming governor. She's since emerged as a powerhouse.
The costs of treating cancer are soaring, just at a time when some states are moving to save money by cutting Medicaid enrollment. It’s sure to worsen health-care inequality.
The city's transit agency is implementing a fare-capping system to prevent daily riders from paying more than weekly passholders. It's a trend that's slowly catching on.
Coastal preservation expert Simone Maloz weighs in on the 50-year plan to reverse decades of damage to the Mississippi Delta.
First appearing in leading newspapers more than a half-century ago, the leaked documents became the 47-volume Pentagon Papers. The handling of secret documents attract headlines and larger-than-life figures then and now.
The rollout of facial recognition technology in cities and states nationwide — as well as some overturned bans — could offer lessons on how to regulate other technologies that haven’t yet reached broad adoption.
Law enforcement officials agree that 911 response merits a more nuanced approach. But powerful police unions are against proposals that might reduce their control over 911 operations, and the budget and staff that go with them.
Americans turned to parks for physical and mental relief during the pandemic. New research by the Trust for Public Land explores connections between urban parks and health.
A trip to the birthplace of the blues is also a visit to a region soaked in the history of bigotry and the struggle for civil rights. It’s a past that we need to acknowledge and that today’s students need to learn about.
