Governance & Finance: Page 7

  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Baltimore sues Trump administration over purge of DEI programs

    Baltimore, along with several other organizations, says President Trump overstepped his authority in his executive orders to slash DEI initiatives and threaten federal funding approved by Congress.

    By • Feb. 18, 2025
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    (2025). "America Builds: A Review of Programs to Address Roadway Safety" [Video]. Retrieved from T&I Committee Republicans/YouTube.
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    Roadway safety requires traffic enforcement, infrastructure investments: House hearing

    Safety advocates and local government officials joined members of Congress in calling for action to reduce traffic deaths in a House subcommittee hearing.

    By • Feb. 18, 2025
  • Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at a podium.
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    Mark Makela via Getty Images
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    Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro sues Trump administration, citing frozen IRA funding

    The state’s agencies have limited access to over $3.1 billion in funding for activities including distributed solar deployment, well plugging and weatherization, according to the lawsuit.

    By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 18, 2025
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    Column

    How local governments can continue to meet citizen needs: A strategy for boosting efficiency with a dwindling budget

    Many state and local agencies are grappling with budget challenges and hiring holds going into fiscal 2025. They are tasked to reduce spending, but not services—and the standout strategy for that is outsourcing.

    By Dennis DuFour • Feb. 13, 2025
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    Local governments are acquiring more public safety technology, including transformative AI tools

    Data-driven tools are revolutionizing how law enforcement agencies detect, prevent and respond to criminal activity, enabling more proactive and efficient operations.

    By Michael Keating • Feb. 11, 2025
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    Column

    How streamlined verifications can support public housing agencies amidst the affordable housing crisis

    Using technology and data to streamline the income and employment verification process can help reduce manual efforts for PHAs that are working to more quickly get affordable housing to eligible people.

    By Benjamin Carlson • Feb. 10, 2025
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    DOT rescinds approval of New York congestion pricing plan

    Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the plan "a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners."

    By • Updated Feb. 19, 2025
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    Column

    Reconciling induced demand with highway spending—Adopting a new way of thinking about transportation planning

    With more than 4.2 million miles of public roads crisscrossing the United States today, why does the country continue to pour billions of dollars annually into highway construction, expansion and maintenance?

    By Wes Guckert, PTP • Feb. 7, 2025
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    Column

    Expanding housing choices: Local governments work together to help homeowners build ADUs

    An inspirational collaborative model is being replicated in several California regions to create new housing and greater affordability by making it easier to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

    By Anna Alekseyeva, David Driskell, Scott Johnson • Feb. 6, 2025
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    Ransomware is a growing threat, but local governments are training staffers to be more aware

    More cities and counties are at risk of ransomware attacks in 2025, with the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals and the growing reliance on digital infrastructure. Local governments can enhance their cybersecurity posture by adopting a comprehensive and proactive approach to security.

    By Michael Keating • Feb. 5, 2025
  • Scott Tuner, HUD secretary, testifying before Congress
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    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
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    Scott Turner confirmed as HUD secretary

    Turner helped establish opportunity zones, an economic development tool, when he served in the first Trump administration.

    By Leslie Shaver • Feb. 5, 2025
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    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
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    On housing, mayors see path forward with Trump

    “Housing should not be a partisan issue,” one mayor said during a National League of Cities housing summit. But the president’s immigration policies are a concern.

    By Danielle McLean • Feb. 5, 2025
  • A Waymo autonomous vehicle passes in front of San Francisco City Hall
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    San Francisco illegally fired workers seeking COVID vaccine religious exemption, 9th Circuit says

    The record didn’t show that the City and County of San Francisco “seriously considered any religious accommodation,” according to the court.

    By Ryan Golden • Feb. 5, 2025
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    Column

    How public works can get help paying for PFAS cleanup in wastewater

    To tackle the persistent presence of PFAS in source water, communities will have to widen their circles of treatment beyond drinking water, to areas such as wastewater and biosolids disposal, otherwise the problem will go on forever.

    By Mike DiGiannantonio, Ken Sansone • Feb. 4, 2025
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    OpenAI unveils AI service designed for U.S. government agencies

    ChatGPT Gov was designed to accommodate “non-public sensitive data” in a secure self-hosting environment, according to the company.

    By • Feb. 3, 2025
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    Opinion

    How ERP automation is helping local governments tackle regulatory change

    ERP automation simplifies compliance by unifying operations, generating accurate reports and reducing human error.

    By Matt Parks • Feb. 3, 2025
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    Opinion

    Engineering modifications meet unique challenges of tunnel lighting project

    Tunnel lighting is a unique subset of roadway illumination that must address the complex safety challenges within the tunnel.

    By Michael Brereton • Jan. 31, 2025
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    The Smart Cities Outlook for 2025: Change is coming

    From new federal policies to growing technologies like AI and robotaxis, cities will encounter many changes while they continue to tackle housing, homelessness, climate and equity issues.

    By Smart Cities Dive Staff • Jan. 31, 2025
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    Zeldin is confirmed as the new EPA administrator. What’s next?

    The former New York representative will helm the agency as it navigates executive orders pausing climate programs and reviews pending regulations that could affect the waste and recycling industries.

    By Megan Quinn , Jacob Wallace • Updated Jan. 30, 2025
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    Nature- and health-inspired facilities will help cities and counties reach sustainability goals

    Buildings account for a third or more of carbon emissions, and local officials can make big strides toward greater sustainability by prioritizing adoption of green building standards for all new residential and commercial construction.

    By Michael Keating • Jan. 29, 2025
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    Column

    Securing state and local elections: The critical role of data protection

    While Americans still use paper ballots, most other parts of the process take place online. Candidate websites, voter registration databases and other political resources may be vulnerable to cyber attacks. To mitigate these risks, agencies must fortify their cybersecurity frameworks with zero-trust principles, encryption, security service edge (SSE) solutions, and mobile endpoint detection and response (EDR).

    By Jim Coyle • Jan. 29, 2025
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    Opinion

    Water quality protections now depend on state and local governments—and voters

    State, tribal and local governments have the authority to regulate activities affecting waters within their jurisdictions. The integrity of the nation’s waters depends on informed, engaged citizens who vote in every election.

    By Royal C. Gardner • Jan. 28, 2025
  • Algorithmic pricing, RealPage, Salomon, Washington state
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    MichaelVi via Getty Images
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    State lawmaker seeks ban in new shot at algorithmic pricing

    Landlords’ use of automated rent-setting software is “plainly illegal,” Sen. Jess Salomon in Washington state says.

    By Robert Freedman • Jan. 28, 2025
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    Adobe Stock/TDB

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    Sponsored by OpenGov

    Less grind, better results: AI makes government work better

    Stanford’s Hoover Institution surveyed over 1,000 government employees and uncovered some eye-opening trends. Discover the surprising truth about AI in local government.

    Jan. 27, 2025
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Column

    5 Critical elements of effective human-centered design in the public sector

    A growing number of government agencies are looking to leverage human-centered design (HCD) principles to improve services for their constituents, increase awareness of those services and give people the tools to access them.

    By Allison Torpey, Rose Barcklow • Jan. 24, 2025