Report: South Struggles to Provide Child Well-Being
TODAY'S TAKE: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi rank lowest on a new 50-state assessment of child well-being.
View ArticleInfographic: 'Frontloading' of Primaries and Caucuses Eases in 2012
In recent years, states have been holding earlier presidential contests to gain more influence over the selection of a candidate. Now some are moving the opposite way.
View ArticleFive Ways Students Will Feel Budget Cuts
From swipe cards for school buses to four-legged lawn workers, the billions in cuts to education this past legislative session have forced K-12 schools and colleges to change the way they operate this...
View ArticleRatings Agencies Sharpen Focus on States
TODAY'S TAKE: The threat of a credit downgrade is not over for some states that rely heavily on the federal government. Tennessee, for instance, has been asked to show it can handle deep cuts in...
View ArticleInfographic: The Aging States of America
For states, changing demographic patterns, visualized here as "population pyramids," have major implications for policy and politics.
View ArticleEarly Favorites Emerge for Next Race to the Top
EDUCATION BEAT: New Race to the Top grants focus on early education ... Indiana vouchers mostly used for Catholic schools ... 11 Connecticut towns and cities don't spend enough on education, and more...
View ArticleInfographic: A Due Date Nears on Unemployment Trust Fund Loans
Starting September 30, states that borrowed money from the federal government to pay benefits to unemployed workers will have to begin paying interest on those loans.
View ArticleWill Obama Jobs Plan Include Aid to States?
TODAY'S TAKE: The White House reportedly favors a $300 billion jobs program that will contain direct aid to state and local governments, which have been laying off employees by the thousands.
View ArticleBefore Jobs Speech, Obama Pushes Highway Funding
TRANSPORTATION BEAT: As he prepares to address Congress on his plans for creating jobs, President Obama is urging federal lawmakers to renew a major transportation law, detailing the potential jobs...
View ArticleObama Pitches American Jobs Act: What's in It For the States?
TODAY'S TAKE: Though dominated by cuts in federal Social Security taxes, the $447 billion jobs plan President Obama introduced on Thursday night (September 8) includes proposals with great significance...
View ArticleReports Find Mismanagement of Homeland Security Grants
PUBLIC SAFETY BEAT: In the lead-up to the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, reporters have found that states have spent anti-terrorism funds on questionable items, some of which they...
View ArticleInfographic: Since September 11, a Much Changed National Guard
Before 2001, the state-based units of the National Guard were often viewed as "weekend warriors" that governors called out to respond to natural disasters. But in the decade that followed, the Guard...
View ArticleStates Scramble to Pay for Healthier School Food
Better nutrition for low-income kids is a cause that's hard to oppose. Funding it and signing up more needy families are the big challenges.
View ArticleWhite House Offers Details of American Jobs Act
TODAY'S TAKE: As President Obama tries to gather support for his jobs bill, the White House is pointing out how the legislation would benefit residents in each state.
View ArticleCongressional Super Committee Short on State Experience
TAX AND BUDGET BEAT: The congressional panel charged with cutting the national debt will make decisions that are critical for states, but most of the members have served as state officials only...
View ArticleInfographic: Student Loan Defaults Rise as Job Prospects Dim
The recession has led to more student defaults and a higher unemployment rate for people in their 20s than the national average.
View ArticleBeating Deadline, Congress Approves Transportation Bill
TODAY'S TAKE: Congress has approved a six-month extension of transportation funding, temporarily easing states' concerns that money for infrastructure projects would expire.
View ArticleKaiser Report: More Growth in Medicaid Managed Care
HEALTH BEAT: Looking for cost savings, states are expanding managed care beyond children and pregnant women to harder-to-serve populations: seniors, patients with disabilities and children with special...
View ArticleFast Food and Food Stamps: Big Controversy, Small Program
SOCIAL POLICY BEAT: Rhode Island is joining a small group of states that allow homeless, elderly and disabled to use food stamps at certain fast food restaurants. Arizona, California, Florida and...
View ArticleNew Momentum Seen for Free Trade Deals
ECONOMY & BUSINESS BEAT: One of the job-creation proposals that President Obama is calling for - passage of long-stalled free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea - is also a top...
View Article
