State & Local Roundup: Top Counties Return to Pre-pandemic Populations
Plus: Seattle gig workers get paid sick leave; Chicago and Wisconsin go to the polls; California’s insulin experiment hits a bump; Big gaps in electric vehicle ownership; and more news you can use from around the country.
As Book Bans Gain Favor, Some Say Libraries Could Go
The number of school libraries and librarians has been dwindling for decades.
Old Zoning Laws Share Blame For Housing Shortage
A new report highlights zoning strategies that cities can adopt to bolster housing development equitably and sustainably, including overhauling single-family regulations.
Nashville Attack Renews Calls for Assault Weapons Ban
COMMENTARY | Data shows that there were fewer mass shooting deaths during the 10 years in which the U.S. banned sales of assault weapons—a trend that reversed as soon as the ban expired.
$50 Billion in Opioid Settlement Cash Is on the Way. We’re Tracking How It’s Spent.
Spending the money effectively and equitably is a tall order for state and local governments, and a lack of transparency in the process is already leading to fears of misuse.
Congress Looks to Undo Another D.C. Law
The police reforms under scrutiny this time deal with hiring and the release of body camera footage, among other things.
As 988 Crisis Line Sees More Use, States Debate How to Pay for It
Five states have approved a monthly phone fee to support the crisis hotline.
A Spill Outside Philadelphia Adds to the Growing List of Chemical Accidents This Year
There have already been 50 chemical spills or fires in the U.S. this year, and it's only March.
As More Republican States Consider Expanding Medicaid, the GOP House Proposes Gutting it
Republicans in Congress want to reduce federal spending on Medicaid, arguing it has grown too much.
Extra Food Assistance Cushioned the Early Pandemic’s Blow on Kids’ Mental Health
COMMENTARY | Expanding SNAP helped shield low-income children from some of the harm caused by economic upheaval when the Covid-19 pandemic began.
‘Housing Catalogs’ Make a Comeback
Once popular in the 1950s, pre-approved housing designs are back and helping cities build homes that aesthetically align with existing homes.
This Moment is Rife with Opportunities to Advance Racial Equity
COMMENTARY | Government has an immense opportunity to lead on racial equity. It must lean in where it can, examine the data to determine if it is having an impact and adjust plans accordingly.
States Seek to Ease Child Care Crunch
The efforts come as federal pandemic aid is set to end.
Low-Income Renters Continue to Be Hit Hardest By Housing Shortage
A new report finds that no state has an adequate supply of affordable rental housing. Governments, it suggests, must create incentives for developers to build affordable units.
In the Face of Extreme Floods, Rural Communities Lack Forecasting and Broadband
Plans are in place to address the urban observation bias in national weather prediction, but the other piece—reliable broadband—could still be years away for places like Eastern Kentucky.
Could the Feds Save States Money on Prescription Drugs?
A proposal in President Biden’s 2024 budget claims it could save billions, but not everyone is so sure.
What Will Congress Do About SNAP Benefits?
Some want to see an increase in food stamps to account for rising food prices. Others want to tighten work requirements. A compromise is certain as the two sides work toward a must-pass farm bill.
Prescription for Housing? California Wants Medicaid to Cover 6 Months of Rent
Gov. Gavin Newsom is making a bold push for Medicaid health plans to provide more housing support. He argues it’s cheaper to pay for rent than to allow homeless people to fall into crisis, which requires costly care in hospitals, nursing homes and jails.
Mobile Clinics Really Got Rolling in the Pandemic. A New Law Will Help Them Cast a Wider Safety Net.
Mobile clinics that provided covid-19 testing and vaccines at the peak of the pandemic are now being used to provide a range of health services in hard-to-reach communities. A law passed late last year allows qualified health care centers to use federal grants to expand the fleets.
California Governor Announces Plan to ‘Create More Housing, Faster’
In an effort to tackle one of the country’s largest homeless populations, Gov. Gavin Newsom last week announced plans to build 1,200 tiny homes and spend $1 billion on local homelessness initiatives.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link
If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.
Cookie List
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Functional Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Performance Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Social Media Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Targeting Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.