Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Georgia’s prison system sees a spike in violent deaths and severe staffing shortages, prompting urgent calls for reform and funding to address the escalating crisis.
Governor Josh Shapiro pushes for recreational marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, estimating over $1 billion in revenue within five years to help address the state's budget shortfall.
Mandatory processes and detailed rules have increasingly constrained officials’ discretion, leading to endless lawsuits, decadeslong project delays and multibillion-dollar cost overruns. There’s a better way.
Abbott is in Washington this week to lobby Congress for $11 billion to compensate Texas for money spent on immigration enforcement.
GOP legislators and governors around the country are borrowing Trump's ideas and language on a host of issues. Separately, red states are looking to put up barriers against ballot initiatives.
Tools are available to not only count people experiencing homelessness more accurately but also to provide them with individualized services. More municipalities should use them.
Rep. Dustin Burrows is looking to change the dynamic among the "Big Three" – the governor, Lt. governor, and the House speaker – this session.
State lawmakers have introduced bills to limit SNAP benefits, change vaccine policies and ban fluoride in public water.
If it remains in place, the president’s order will add deep uncertainty to the future of a nascent industry that could provide tens of thousands of jobs and significant clean energy that the grid requires.
It’s a battle of state vs. state and calls for the federal government to restrict Democratic state policies.
Mike Madigan, a former state Democratic Party chair, had been the longest-serving chamber leader in U.S. history. A jury has found him guilty of multiple counts in a wide-ranging bribery scandal.
We should hold students to higher expectations and give them the support they need, and we need to give teachers the resources to do their job well. Two state lawmakers who started out as teachers have some insights.
Local officials should go on the offense to protect important initiatives that have benefited all of us. In particular, they can enlist businesses that see the benefits of their own diversity initiatives.
Gov. Landry’s office says he made the move because the state is having trouble finding and keeping qualified employees.
Most red states are looking to reduce property tax burdens, which have increased along with home values. Finding ways of replacing lost revenues for locals remains a challenge.
This outbreak feels different from any other, farmers say. Egg producers and industry groups are begging for a new prevention strategy.
Policing can be reimagined without compromising public safety, argues Minneapolis’ chief of police.
New Mexico stands out as an exception, leading to skyrocketing rents and home prices.
Trump repealed a Biden order calling for protection against bias. While companies welcome deregulation, some are concerned about the administration's six-month timeline to reshape guidelines.
A tense fight over party control of the Minnesota House ended with a power-sharing agreement this week. But hard feelings could remain.
GOP state Rep. Rachelle Smit, a former local clerk, continues to spout false claims about the 2020 election. She’s now the chair of the Michigan House’s newly renamed Election Integrity Committee.
A reentry program near Waco, Texas, has proven successful. Not only does every participant come out with a job, but their recidivism rate is 73 percent lower than incarcerated women throughout the state as a whole.
Solutions include funding the federal agency properly, requiring states to share a larger burden of the responsibility and removing barriers to resilience.
At stake in a case from Oklahoma is whether the court will expand the boundaries of government aid to faith-based institutions. It would be a sea change in education law.
The city was already in the grip of an affordability crisis — last month’s massive fires just made everything worse. What can L.A. learn from other disaster recovery efforts?
A visa program created under NAFTA allows Canadian and Mexican professionals to work in the U.S. with minimal red tape. But to take advantage of it, states need to look at the Catch-22 situation created by their occupational licensing requirements.
It’s an opportunity for state lawmakers. The public hates these surprise charges, and they put businesses that price their services transparently at a disadvantage.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has proposed a new refundable child tax credit and increases in child care and children’s health funding, along with full funding for public schools.
Fremont is set to pass an anti-encampment ordinance. Its broad language could penalize nonprofit groups that provide services to homeless populations.
Red states are in sync with the Trump administration’s efforts, but some Democratic governors are reminding districts to protect immigrants’ legal rights.
