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When States Win Lawsuits, Where Does the Money Go?
AP Demonstrators hoping to draw attention to the subprime mortgage crisis in Philadelphia in 2008. Earlier this month, 19 states plus the District of Columbia reached a settlement with Standard & Poor’s over allegations that the credit ratings agency misled investors in rating mortgage-backed securities in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis. (AP) Connecticut […]
Chief Innovation Officers: Do They Deliver?
AP Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is investing some of his personal fortune to spark innovation in the nation’s cities with a team approach to tackling problems. (AP) When then-Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley was wooing former tech entrepreneur Bryan Sivak to become his state’s new ideas guy, he asked what title Sivak thought […]
With New Mobile Apps, States Engage Citizens Via Smartphone
AP Need to apply for a driver’s license, pay your taxes or follow a bill in the legislature? Many states are rolling out mobile apps that make it possible to accomplish those and other tasks from your smartphone or tablet. (AP) Are you tonight’s designated driver looking for a sober place to hang out while […]
Some Lottery Retailers Beat the Odds—and Cost States
AP State lottery officials are seeing a rash of winning ticket scams, often perpetrated by a handful of retail store operators. (AP) Retail store owners and clerks are hitting lottery jackpots too often, spurring states to crack down on a variety of scams that cheat rule-abiding players—and divert money from state coffers. The scams tarnish […]
High Court to Decide: Can State Judicial Candidates Ask for Campaign Money?
AP The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday on whether states can ban judicial candidates from directly asking potential donors for contributions to their election campaigns. (AP) Do state judicial candidates have a constitutional right to personally ask people and groups for contributions to their election campaigns? Or does that undermine confidence in a […]
Despite Huge Victories, Republicans Face Some Obstacles
AP New Colorado State Senate Majority Leader Mark Scheffel speaks with his daughter Maria during a recess in the opening session of the 2015 Colorado Legislature. Republicans have control of the Colorado Senate for the first time in a decade. (AP) Republicans now dominate statehouses to an extent not seen since the 1920s. But in […]
States Find You Can’t Take Legal Marijuana Money to the Bank
AP A customer pays cash for retail marijuana at the 3D Cannabis Center in Denver. Colorado and other states are frustrated they cannot bring banking to the cash-heavy legal marijuana business. (AP) The nation’s rapidly expanding legal marijuana industry, which operates in 23 states and the District of Columbia, enters a new year facing a […]
Renewable Energy Companies Use New Clout in Statehouses
© AP An old windmill stands in front of a row of 260-foot-tall wind turbines at the Smoky Hills wind farm near Lincoln, Kansas. In Kansas and other states, the green energy industry has used its growing clout to push back against efforts to repeal laws that require utilities to generate more electricity from wind, […]
More States Encourage ‘Companies with a Conscience’
Big City Farms Inc. Big City Farms of Baltimore sells fresh produce to restaurants and consumers. More states are promoting such “benefit corporations” to encourage economic development with some social benefit. (Big City Farms Inc.) In the last four years, 24 states and the District of Columbia have revamped their incorporation laws to help companies […]
States Turn to Data to Hit Back at Fraudsters
AP Krystle Marie Reyes appears in court in Salem, Oregon, in July 2012 on charges she bilked the state of $2 million by filing fraudulent tax returns. It’s one of several scams states increasingly are using databases and data analysis to try to stop. (AP) Indiana began a big crackdown on identity crooks this year […]
Elections Shake Up Top State IT Jobs
AP The chief information officer for Arkansas state government recently stepped down. Several more states can expect turnover in the job that oversees their vast computer systems and databases. (AP) Another shake-up is underway in what’s become one of the most crucial jobs in state government: the top information technology officer. Chief information officers (CIOs) […]
States Backtrack on Student Tracking Technology
AP Students at Barboursville (West Virginia) Middle School scan their fingerprints as they go through the lunch line. Seventy percent of West Virginia school districts use biometric technology. But it’s raising controversy in some states where lawmakers are banning or restricting its use. (AP) Do you know where your student is? At school? On the […]