Governing: State and local government news and analysis
This year's primary election season reached its conclusion in three Northeastern states on Tuesday and MAGA Republicans succeeded in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, state Supreme Court justices defend their own role and an intergovernmental feud heats up.
The pandemic overwhelmed a long-neglected public health system, pressuring many workers to leave. But a new program hopes to inspire AmeriCorps members to work in public health.
Private equity interests have lurked behind the skirts of public pensions to dodge higher income taxes. Now Big Tech moguls are trying to play public servants for patsies to fight stronger federal antitrust laws.
Efforts to improve the city’s streets for bikers and pedestrians are being held up by the Texas Department of Transportation, which has reasserted its ownership of state roads and is focused on prioritizing traffic flow for drivers.
They have a long history, and they have been our "public living room." Some cities and towns that have lost their central gathering places are trying to re-create them.
Our resident humanities scholar asks, what happens when the glue that holds our society together stops sticking?
Pilot projects using bidirectional charging equipment are turning electric vehicles into battery storage units, feeding energy back onto the grid when needed. Fleet vehicles are seen as prime opportunity for the tech.
Many Americans think they know much more about politics than they really do. It’s bad for democracy that they’re so often wrong.
Temperatures broke records in California over Labor Day weekend 2022 and were well above normal across the U.S. West. The extreme weather has brought renewed attention to the science behind heat waves.
With the help of city school kids, an organization is restoring long-depleted oyster beds that once flourished in the waters that surround New York City. The bivalves are cleaning the water and protecting shorelines.
Water pressure is back in Mississippi's capital but it's still not safe to drink. Residents have been through this so many times that they've learned how to cope. That doesn't mean they're happy.
In a brave new world of hybrid work — or not — IT leaders rethink what it means to work for the public sector and what investments are needed to keep everyone connected.
The Williams sisters’ story is about more than glory, grit and power. Among other things, it shows how investments in public parks and recreational programs can help many reach their potential.
Rules that mandate excess parking in new development projects have added to the overlapping crises of housing affordability, urban sprawl and climate change, advocates say. California could soon bar cities from imposing them.
It deals with very different urban issues than the West. Its population is exploding, with all 20 of the world’s fastest-growing cities based in Africa or Asia. I’m taking a long trip through the region to find out more.
As historic floods beset several states, a new study finds that warming could make a California “megaflood” more dangerous, and likely, than previously thought.
From call records to sensors, your phone may reveal more about you than you think. Even a burner phone paid for with cash can reveal your identity and where you’ve been.
Thomas Jefferson thought that each generation should rewrite its own founding document. A constitutional scholar talks about the changes that could have happened if Americans had taken Jefferson up on his challenge.
COVID led to historic high enrollments. But as the emergency comes to an end, millions are expected to lose their insurance, including people who meet the requirements for Medicaid but get lost in its labyrinthine bureaucracy.
A monthlong shutdown of the Orange Line in Boston has riders scrambling for other transportation options. And many are choosing Bluebikes.
Democrats shouldn't count their chickens yet; what happens when election deniers run elections; and what the courts have to say.
Since the country’s founding, the federal government has had its fair share of scandals often followed by a congressional hearing to find out what went wrong and why. Some are famous, others less so.
Access to broadband Internet can dramatically alter quality of life and economic prospects in rural areas, including long-neglected tribal nations. New federal funding is helping to fill some of the gaps in the high-speed network.
San Francisco has a brand-new park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay. Its history is rooted in an attempt to make road traffic safer.
As with pension fund divestment policies, it’s tempting for states and local governments to blacklist companies over their public policy stances. But it’s the taxpayers who are likely to be the collateral damage losers.
It seems logical that we would be rushing to turn vacant office buildings into apartments and condos. So far it’s not happening on a large scale, but there are reasons to think it’s in our urban future.
Community-based organizations know how to register voters and increase census participation. Reaching out block by block, even door to door, they can be just as effective in boosting vaccination rates.
The 33-year ordeal of Salman Rushdie came to head with a knife attack at a venerable cultural venue in upstate New York. That the onstage stabbing took place in America is a grim reminder of the need for eternal vigilance in defending the First Amendment.
The vast majority of ghost guns recovered by law enforcement nationwide are built from parts made by Polymer80, which has managed to evade laws forbidding the manufacture of unserialized gun parts.
Diesel-powered school buses produce more than 5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. EV school buses eliminate harmful pollutants and cost less to maintain than diesel buses. But they aren’t cheap.
