Elections
Covering topics such as governors, legislatures, local government, redistricting and voting.
A proposed bill would clarify when conversations outside public meetings violate the state’s open government law.
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit has had a good week. Two major financial wins will give the system millions of dollars to come and its ridership continues to rebound, with two days seeing the highest ridership rates since COVID began.
The state’s Senate Finance Committee will look at transferring millions in federal COVID-19 funds to the Governor’s Office Gifts, Grants and Donations Fund, which already has more than $17 million.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s affordable housing plan would give the state power to bypass local zoning laws, but local officials want to maintain control of what is built in their communities. The state is in historic need of more housing.
Online chatter and ongoing harassment suggest that security concerns will persist, if not increase, ahead of the next election cycle. Resources are being offered to help election officials cope with this new reality.
The upcoming spring primaries will be a competition between longtime Democratic figures with deep government experience and a new wave of political priorities for Allegheny County executive, County Council and district attorney.
Voters in Black and Latino communities face longer lines at polling places, limited access to mail-in balloting and poor communication of redistricting changes. Spanish speakers make up about 12 percent of the state’s population.
A group of bipartisan state legislators have announced support for 13 bills that would ease permitting, zoning or other regulations to increase housing availability. Some estimate Washington currently needs 150,000 new housing units.
There’s a botany boom going on in Latin America’s most exclusive neighborhoods. It should be happening in parts of the U.S., but a difference in civic and governing culture has stymied its growth.
The office recession is real, with downtowns in major cities still missing a majority of their pre-pandemic workforce. San Francisco offers a case study in terms of the consequences.
The Alaska governor introduced two bills that would create a regulatory framework for geologic storage of carbon dioxide and for selling carbon offset credits, and could earn billions for the state. Many details are still unclear.
A new poll found that voter confidence across the state has increased and about 73 percent of registered voters said they were very or somewhat confident that November’s general election was fair and accurate.
Last year, the state’s top 200 political donors shelled out nearly $16 million to statewide and legislative races while the 206,000 people who spent $250 or less gave a collective $13.5 million in donations.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is backing a return of rent control, decades after it was banned in a state referendum. But disappointment among tenant activists raises questions about what rent control is supposed to achieve.
Restrictive codes can severely limit housing development, but a new survey of mayors finds that few take them into account in their plans to address homelessness.
There's no question that a responsive, innovative government is more critical than ever. Here are some issues that are top of mind for state and local technology leaders as we take on the new year.
Most Read
