Governing: State and local government news and analysis
An initiative in Orange County, Calif., is taking an innovative approach to reducing social determinants of poor health. Screenings are vital, but social and environmental factors set the stage for the problems they detect.
Our resident humanities scholar laments that we thought we were immune to the human condition. We were wrong.
The technique, which teaches how to identify guilt and deception from the word choice, cadence and grammar of those calling 911, relies on junk science. But law enforcement agencies continue to use it.
When it comes to transportation infrastructure, the street curb is increasingly viewed as a revenue source for cash-strapped public transit as it tries to recover from the lingering effects of pandemic ridership declines.
Even though no congressional Republican voted for the biggest climate bill in the country’s history, red states were among the leaders in green power generation last year.
Millions of Americans could lose essential health-care benefits — despite remaining eligible — as pandemic-related policies end. There are practical strategies to sustain enrollment.
Environmentalists are pushing back against a proposal to install 12 moveable gates in local waterways. They say the plan needs more local input and less focus on the storm surge problem.
Our regions may be entering a new era in which they simply try to maintain what they have, or manage their decline. It’s going be harder for urban and suburban leaders to rise to the top by attracting new major corporate tenants.
Missouri's Legislature has a plan to take over the police force in St. Louis. It's just one example of states taking direct control of public safety in their largest cities.
A tale of two trains: When something bad happens, local and state officials increasingly are shouldered aside. The people and the pundits now expect all solutions to come from Washington.
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority recently scaled back a voter-approved plan to add new transit lines, citing cost increases. Leaders worry that delays could further erode support for transit.
Twenty-seven states allow capital punishment, but public support for it has declined over the decades. Fifty-five percent of Americans support the death penalty for convicted murderers, the second-lowest support since 1972.
Remote work presents myriad fiscal challenges to cities as well as employers. Business tax incentives are also in peril. Are “15-minute cities” the ultimate remedy?
Pandemic assistance to families at risk of food insecurity has ended. As a “hunger cliff” looms, programs in public libraries can fill gaps.
Focusing just a small fraction of our economic development resources on supporting entrepreneurs can benefit all communities. And it’s good politics.
The idea of secession did not originate with Marjorie Taylor Greene. It has been tried before. The question we need to ask is whether we are really ready to see what a Red and Blue America would look and act like.
Before 2020, they seldom voted against certifying results. But in 2022, conservative officials in North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Mexico refused to do so.
The plans have a strong financial incentive to keep their members enrolled because states pay them per member, per month: The more people they cover, the more money they get.
Nearly a dozen counties in Oregon have voted to leave Salem behind and join Idaho. Local secession movements have sprung up in multiple states due to the urban-rural political divide.
Before COVID-19, just 1,400 city restaurants had outdoor permits. Today there are 13,000 of the structures scattered across the five boroughs, and many are showing wear and tear from life on the street.
Blue states have played key roles in all the recent GOP primaries. Plus, rejecting ranked-choice voting, the Pennsylvania House has already had two speakers this year, the seats for St. Louis Board of Aldermen are particularly competitive and Mississippi considers restoring its initiative process.
A new report from the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University examines the phenomenon of wholesale real estate investors targeting vulnerable homeowners in poor neighborhoods in Philadelphia.
It would be a dereliction of duty for public treasurers and other institutional investors to ignore climate change, environmental degradation, water shortages and poor company governance.
Lawmakers in some states are pushing to make it harder for defendants to avoid pretrial detention. There are better ways to protect public safety that don’t conflict with the presumption of innocence.
As an attorney, Elizabeth Tanner was frustrated by how hard it was to create and run businesses in Rhode Island. As the state’s commerce secretary, she’s leading a technology-driven program to change that.
When a police officer exhibits courtesy and empathy, it brings into focus the nuanced, complex relationship between law enforcement and the African American community.
With its residents upset by crime, homelessness and high taxes, it’s become a depressed and discouraging place. Can it once again be a shining exemplar of modern urbanist success?
Amid changing travel behavior, many transit agencies are projecting bus and rail passenger growth based on a range of best-case and worst-case scenarios.
More than 30 states have laws classifying assault on transit operators as a special category of misdemeanor. Incidents are increasing, and transit workers and their unions are pushing for action at all levels of government.
With a life-long love of government and politics, Sarah McBride is starting her second term in the Delaware Legislature.
