Finance
Virginia's 'tech tax' ignites debate on business taxes
Many states are extending sales tax to digital services, but the Virginia Senate’s attempt to expand it to cover business-to-business transactions raised eyebrows.
Management
State-level conservation action sparks hope for nature
COMMENTARY | Spurred by strong local support and successful conservation ballot initiatives, elected leaders are collectively building a menu of policies that could turn the tide of nature loss.
Emerging Tech
This state’s ‘unsexy’ AI policy takes transparency to the next level
From AI “nutrition labels” to keeping an inventory of artificial intelligence tools, Connecticut is embracing sweeping rules that would “talk to people about why we're using it, how we're using it.”
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Infrastructure
States rethink data centers as ‘electricity hogs’ strain the grid
Worries are rising over what data centers mean for demand, renewable energy goals.
Finance
US long-term care costs are sky-high, but one state's plan to help pay for them could be nixed
COMMENTARY | Washington state's WA Cares Fund collects a 0.58% tax out of residents’ paychecks to fund a new long-term care social insurance program. It’s not clear, however, whether the state’s strategy is going to work out.
Workforce
90 years after 'Lunch Atop a Skyscraper,' are workers any safer?
COMMENTARY | Extreme heat and new technologies have created less obvious but equally potent new dangers in workplaces. State and local governments can address ongoing and new threats.
Emerging Tech
How states can take a ‘quantum’ leap in economic development
Governments are eyeing quantum technology as a way to boost jobs and their economies. But adopting the hard to understand technology, one expert says, will require educating and upskilling your workforce.
Management
Republican attorneys general mount a new attack on the EPA’s use of civil rights law
Twenty-three states want the Biden administration's EPA to curtail its approach to environmental justice.
Management
State legislators are taking the maternal mortality crisis into their own hands
State lawmakers—many of whom are women—are establishing new committees to study and investigate investigating pregnancy-related deaths, their causes and prevention.
Workforce
Southern governors raise pressure in fights with auto unions
Republican officials want to tell automakers that get big financial incentives for new factories that they have to use secret ballots during unionization efforts.
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Emerging Tech
Generative AI steps up as a ‘facilitator’
The Texas Department of Public Safety now uses a generative AI-powered chatbot to streamline procurement. And Polco is rolling out a tool to connect city leaders with survey data so they can see how they stack up against others.
Sponsor Content
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Finance
A range of emerging fiscal risks could disrupt state budgets
Tomorrow’s demographic, environmental, and technological trends require planning and action today.
Management
Anxiety over squatters inspires a wave of legislation
Opponents of the bills call the trend a ‘manufactured crisis’ that could affect legitimate tenant protections.
Workforce
‘We can’t exist without child care’: Rural towns use state funding to open local centers
State grants are infusing over $3.7 million into helping rural communities build collaborative, innovative solutions to address child care needs across South Dakota.
Digital Government
Mobile hunting, fishing licenses streamline conservation management
Minnesota’s new system will replace a paper-based license purchase and harvest registration process, saving staff time and improving customer service.
Digital Government
4 lessons from the federal open records process
COMMENTARY | State and local governments can take a page from the federal government’s FOIA playbook to boost their own efficiency and transparency.
Infrastructure
FCC reinstates net neutrality rules
Commissioners voted 3-2 to revive net neutrality, which supporters said would prevent the internet from being intentionally blocked or slowed down. Opponents said the effort is unnecessary and violates the law.
Emerging Tech
Banning TikTok won’t solve social media’s foreign influence, teen harm and data privacy problems
COMMENTARY | Protecting Americans cannot be accomplished by banning a single app. To truly protect their constituents, lawmakers would need to enact broad, far-reaching regulation.
Management