Governing: State and local government news and analysis
One of the hallmarks of effective homeless response is coordinated effort. Mayors met in Los Angeles, the nation's homeless capital, to figure out how they can work together to reduce the entrenched problem.
Tight labor markets can be hard on corporations. But they can help marginal workers find jobs.
Voters backed the sale of Cincinnati Southern Railway, the only city-owned interstate railroad in the country. The city plans to put $1.6 billion from the sale into a trust fund for infrastructure maintenance.
One scholar thinks we have carried our penchant for urban tree-worship a bit too far, giving nature too much credit for city-dwellers’ mental health.
Latinos accounted for more than half of U.S. population growth in the last two decades. Understanding of this community hasn’t kept pace, but a new resource from the Latino Policy and Politics Institute could help change that.
States are passing new laws to combat retail theft, though government data doesn’t show that it is actually increasing. None of the new laws are likely to reduce crime and could disproportionately impact marginalized groups.
New Jersey becomes the latest state to sign a bill centering media literacy in schools, raising further awareness of the need for widespread media literacy policies. But more needs to be done, say experts.
Swinging between drought and flooding, the river needs coordinated oversight. But nobody is setting priorities or getting scores of federal agencies, states, towns, tribal nations and NGOs to sing from the same hymnal.
Getting everybody housed requires multiple systems to work together, tapping the collective power of state, local and federal policymakers supported by the faith community, the business sector and philanthropy.
The Safe Streets for All program is awarding millions of dollars directly to cities and counties to improve roadways for all users. Many are applying multiple times.
The question is whether this is a one-year blip or part of a more concerning shift, but it reflects hard truths about the state of our infant and maternal health care.
Rapidly developing AI-powered technology is making it easier to appropriate the public sector's financial information for proprietary uses. Businesses that slice and dice this data should be renters, not owners.
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.
