Infrastructure
Texas flooding brings new urgency to Houston home buyout program
The Houston area is the site of perhaps the country’s longest-running experiment in the adaptation policy known as “managed retreat.” But the past week’s flooding has demonstrated that even this nation-leading program hasn’t been able to keep pace with escalating disaster.
Management
Medical residents are increasingly avoiding states with abortion restrictions
A new analysis shows that, for the second year in a row, students graduating from U.S. medical schools were less likely to apply this year for residency positions in states with abortion bans and other significant abortion restrictions.
Workforce
Celebrating Public Service—and Public Servants
COMMENTARY | Government is asked to solve our toughest and most intractable problems. That’s why we need to celebrate the people who make a difference through government service.
Sponsor Content
State and local agencies evaluate their AI future
The recent surge of interest and investment in AI tools has presented fascinating new opportunities in the government landscape.
Workforce
A glimpse at the ‘human-machine partnership’
Lots has been said about the ways in which artificial intelligence may augment employees’ work. But first, local governments will need to successfully manage the learning curve.
Workforce
The key to filling IT talent gaps? Invest in your current workforce.
COMMENTARY | Retaining IT talent requires more than just competitive pay and defined career paths.
Workforce
Paid sick leave sticks after many pandemic protections vanish
Paid sick leave protects both the community's public health and the economic security of low-wage workers.
Infrastructure
Skateboarding’s latest trick: Reviving cities
New skate plazas are proving that making spaces skateable makes them safer and more dynamic, too.
Workforce
‘Invisible’ no more: States move to hire people with disabilities
Tapping potential employees with “non-apparent” conditions like autism, attention deficit disorder and chronic depression can bring qualified candidates to a public sector workforce in desperate need of talent.
Digital Government
Florida’s school safety dashboard helps parents and teachers address root causes of misbehavior
COMMENTARY | School leaders can use the dashboard to identify areas of concern in their own school—such as an increasing pattern of fights—and then develop evidence-based solutions and training to address the issues.
Management
Amid campus protests nationwide, DC’s response stands out
The capital city’s police department cleared an encampment at a local university following pressure from House Republicans to be more forceful. But the District’s reluctance to take action sooner underlies lessons officials learned decades ago about the perils of aggressive enforcement.
Featured eBooks
Digital Government
The surging demand for data is guzzling Virginia’s water
The commonwealth is home to the data center capital of the world. Can it handle AI's thirst?
Sponsor Content
Transforming Experience Every Day
Citizens want more from their constituent experiences (CX), and state and local officials also want to deliver better CX.
Management
Easing the housing squeeze on low-income renters
The State and Local Innovation project will work with policymakers to draft bill language and leverage data and best practices to keep the lowest income renters in stable housing.
Infrastructure
FCC poised to require calls to the 988 suicide hotline be geolocated
Routing calls based on location versus a person’s area code is already standard for calls coming into 911. Elected officials and mental health advocates want 988 calls to be geolocated as well. A new FCC proposal would do that.
Management
Montana could be a model as more GOP states weigh Medicaid work requirements
The state has a program that can help Medicaid enrollees get job training, career guidance.
Management
‘Extremely dangerous’: Governors criticize ‘federalization’ of National Guard
Governors from 53 U.S. states and territories object to the Defense Department's plan to move all Air National Guardsman with space-related missions from state to federal control, placing them under the umbrella of the U.S. Air Force, specifically the Space Force.
Management
How local governments can respond to the housing crisis
A new book by Charles Marohn and Daniel Herriges of Strong Towns encourages local officials to promote small-scale developments, even if it means using city financial tools to get them off the ground.
Management
The possibility of parole: A powerful incentive that makes us all safer
COMMENTARY | Researchers have found that offenders incarcerated under truth-in-sentencing laws racked up more disciplinary infractions and engaged in fewer rehabilitation programs. And after release, they were much more likely to reoffend.
Infrastructure
With only three weeks to go, lawmakers weigh ways to save federal internet subsidy
Congress is exploring several options to fund it. All face long odds of success despite widespread and bipartisan support for the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Finance