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States are spending a lot of their federal TANF money on things that don’t help families that need it the most, and work reporting requirements keep too many families from accessing benefits.
A report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that the city had 28 issues, including insufficient oversight, conflicts of interest and inaccurate documentation, in its administration of federal grants.
Millions in Washington state still do not have reliable access to high-speed Internet, making online life nearly inaccessible. Local and tribal governments will soon be able to apply for federal grants to expand broadband services.
Armed with three years of grocery shopping data, researchers found that total sugar sales are down by almost 20 percent, driven largely by falling soda purchases.
The Valencia lab, a public-private venture between the state and PerkinElmer, processed only 1 to 8 percent of all Californians’ COVID tests in the first 10 months of the contract. And the lab was riddled with dozens of problems, according to an inspection report.
The state’s jail population increased 60 percent from 2000 to 2019, more than five times the state’s overall population growth, resulting in overcrowding and understaffing. The fallout can be deadly.
The plan would utilize the city’s waterways to help reduce truck traffic and pollution caused by idling vehicles. The DOT estimated that between January 2020 and September 2021 truck traffic across the East River increased by 50 percent.
Bureaucratic, compliance-driven contracting systems do little to create sustainable and equitable communities. Done better, procurement could be a creative tool for problem-solving.
The increase in the Texas metroplex is more than double the average rise for U.S. cities. At 15.3 cents per kilowatt hour, it’s the highest average since the Great Recession. Experts predict prices will continue to increase.
Illinois and seven other states want the federal government to reinstate a pause on interest rates for loans used to pay unemployment benefits in the beginning of the pandemic. If left unpaid for a year, Illinois could owe $100 million in interest.
The rules for spending federal COVID-19 relief funds include a disinvitation to invention. State, local and tribal governments need to be able to try new things — and then stop some of them.
The state Department of Transportation has received a $10 million grant to transform an Amtrak station into a centralized transportation hub with retail opportunities and exhibits. The new station is expected to open in 2025.
A climate bill that is being negotiated in the U.S. Senate would dedicate $14 billion over the next decade to clearing vegetation and debris to prevent wildfires. More than 7 million acres burned in California in the last two years alone.
Populists are once again advocating the creation of state-owned banks to overcome private-sector lending market failures. But market innovations hold a lot of promise for accomplishing the same goal.
The federal government is sending billions to cities and counties to overcome pandemic setbacks. Plans from 150 local governments offer a preview of how these dollars might be spent.
Labor data suggests that Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to cut the extra $300 of federal funds from unemployment benefits 10 weeks ahead of the federal deadline had little effect on moving people back into the workforce.
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