A How-To Guide for States to Spark Innovation
California may be home to Silicon Valley, but more and more states are not only actively encouraging homegrown entrepreneurs, they’re proactively seeking innovators who can make a difference in our everyday lives and that state’s bottom line.
State & Local Daily Digest: S.C.’s Federal Disaster Relief; Philly’s $400 Million Soda Tax Funding
Also in our news roundup: Jersey City’s minimum wage hike; Sacramento’s Seattle inspiration; and a squirrel monkey is not a “commonly kept animal.”
Employment Rates Creep Closer to Pre-Recession Levels
Nationwide, an average of 77.2 percent of prime-working-age adults were employed in 2015, up from lows of about 75 percent after the 2007-09 recession.
'Zombie Houses' Multiply in Some States
Thought to be relics of the Great Recession, zombie houses stuck in foreclosure continue to haunt many states and are on the rise in several.
Will California Ditch Daylight Saving Time?
New legislation could lead to a statewide vote on the matter.
Florida’s 2016 Python Challenge Nabs 106 Snakes From Everglades
More than 1,000 people registered to hunt down the invasive species in a multi-week competition.
As Nation Moves to a Service Economy, States Look to Tax It More
In states from Arizona to Oklahoma, lawmakers are considering bills that would impose the sales tax on services ranging from beauty salons to funeral homes.
NASCIO’s 5 Tips for Improving State IT Procurement
Interagency barriers remain a major problem.
Route Fifty’s Complete Coverage of NGA Winter Meetings, NACo Legislative Conference
The nation’s governors and county leaders recently gathered in the nation’s capital to discuss their policy priorities, mutual challenges and ideas to improve their governments. Here’s a comprehensive roundup of our dispatches from Washington, D.C.
States Strive to Eliminate Costly Construction Delays
Some states, recognizing the economic and environmental costs of delayed transportation projects, are starting to use financial incentives, heightened public scrutiny and “design-build” strategies to increase the likelihood that projects will come in on time and on budget.
Louisiana Legislature Advances Tax Bills to Knock Out Huge Budget Deficit
Legislation calling for a 1 percent sales tax increase was among scores of bills that passed out of a House committee on Tuesday.
Zika Virus Exposes Weaknesses in Public Health
Budget cuts have left state and local health departments seriously understaffed and in a precariously dangerous situation if the country has to face an outbreak of Zika virus.
Ensuring the Safety of Compounded Drugs
States are the primary regulators of pharmacies. The Pew Charitable Trusts examined states’ oversight policies on compounded drugs and identified their replicable best practices.
Governors Seek Ways for Their States to Address Challenges From Rural Poverty
Better education, they say, is the critical element needed to improve lives in impoverished areas.
Governors, County Leaders Gather in D.C. for 2016 Winter Meetings
Among the topics being discussed at the National Governors Association and National Association of Counties meetings: Opioid abuse, rural poverty and fiscal challenges, among many others.
Alaska Governor Wants to Re-Plumb State Finances to Depend Less on Energy Sector
“We need to take the volatility of oil out of funding government,” Gov. Bill Walker tells Route Fifty.
Economists Tell Governors That a Recession Is on the Horizon
It probably won’t happen this year but the “next recession is probably closer than the last one,” one expert said during the National Governors Association’s winter meeting.
States Familiar With West Nile Response Are Better Prepared for Zika
Many health agencies already have protocols in place to monitor the new virus that’s been spreading in countries across the Americas.
Vermont Governor: To Combat Opioid Crisis, the Way Pain Pills Are Prescribed Must Change
“It isn’t the drug dealers from South America that are our biggest challenge, it’s our federally-approved drugs that we’re passing out like candy,” according to Gov. Peter Shumlin.
States Start to Let Pharmacists Prescribe Birth Control Pills
California and Oregon allow pharmacists to write prescriptions for hormonal birth control without a doctor’s approval. The practice, designed to improve access to contraceptives and curtail unplanned pregnancies, is being considered by several states.
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