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4 weeks ago | 
governing.com | Jabari Simama |J.B. Wogan
Last September, Hurricane Helene caused historic devastation across the southeastern United States. In Georgia, Helene brought catastrophic flooding, sustained winds over 50 miles per hour, and tornadoes. The storm killed at least 37 people, left over one million without power, and destroyed $5.5 billion worth of crops and timber. Punishing winds destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings and damaged tens of thousands more across eastern Georgia.
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Mar 3, 2025 | 
governing.com | Alan Ehrenhalt |Jared Brey |J.B. Wogan
President Andrew Jackson is supposed to have said that, objecting to Justice John Marshall’s ruling in the case of Worcester v. Georgia granting legal rights to Native American tribes. Whether Jackson actually used those words is debatable, but the remark has stood for nearly two centuries as an icon of executive resistance not only to judicial orders but to just about any form of government action a powerful executive doesn’t like.
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Mar 2, 2025 | 
governing.com | Jared Brey |J.B. Wogan
Local officials in the Washington, D.C., area are bracing for the economic impact of federal workforce cuts. Some states are working to provide resources to fired workers. Places far outside D.C. could be impacted by the cuts as well. When Howard County, Md., held a public forum for federal employees on Feb. 4, County Executive Calvin Ball was expecting that maybe 50 or 100 people might show up to look for resources or job leads. Instead, 400 people came.
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Jan 27, 2025 | 
governing.com | Alan Ehrenhalt |Jared Brey |J.B. Wogan |Jabari Simama
There are a variety of explanations offered for that state of public opinion, but the one that may be most compelling leads straight into behavioral economics and the well-documented phenomenon called the “endowment effect.” In plain language, the endowment effect holds that it hurts more to lose something you’ve got than to miss out on an equivalent benefit you might want.
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Jan 27, 2025 | 
governing.com | Jared Brey |J.B. Wogan |Jabari Simama
Editor’s note: This story is part of Governing’s ongoing Q&A series “In the Weeds.” The series features experts whose knowledge can provide new insights and solutions for state and local government officials across the country. Have an expert you think should be featured? Email Web Editor Natalie Delgadillo at [email protected].
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Jan 27, 2025 | 
governing.com | Jared Brey |J.B. Wogan |Jabari Simama
Abbott sent letters to the leaders of the U.S. House and Senate and entire Texas congressional delegation requesting the federal government reimburse Texas for more than $11.1 billion spent on border security measures paid for by Texas taxpayers during the Biden administration. Texas allocated more than $11.6 billion to border security efforts over a four-year period, the most in the state's history, under the Biden administration.
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Jan 27, 2025 | 
governing.com | Jared Brey |J.B. Wogan |Jabari Simama
Maryland has been a front-runner among states in pre-K to 12 school reform. But it’s now backpedaling from the commitments made in the 2021 nationally acclaimed legislation, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The blueprint includes preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, higher teacher salaries, extra teacher preparation and tutoring time, more rigorous college and career standards, more resources including school wraparound services and a strong accountability mechanism.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
governing.com | Alan Greenblatt |J.B. Wogan
Gov. Ron DeSantis this week said he wants local officials to help detain and deport people who are in the country illegally and living in Florida, where it is estimated that 1 million people could be targeted by Trump’s deportation plans. If locals do not fully comply, DeSantis said he is willing to remove them from office.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
governing.com | Alan Greenblatt |J.B. Wogan
The state’s Advanced Clean Fleet rule sought to end sales of new fossil-fuel-powered trucks by 2036 and require large fleets to transition to electric or hydrogen models by 2042. A parallel locomotive regulation also sought to phase out diesel-powered engines. These measures — hailed by environmentalists and seen as critical to combating climate change — would have reduced harmful pollution and emissions impacting disadvantaged communities near California freeways, ports and rail yards.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
governing.com | Alan Greenblatt |J.B. Wogan
As she scrambled to find a hotel room, De Salvo forgot to call in sick from her job as a court interpreter. Despite telling her supervisor she was under an evacuation order, she was threatened with discipline by court officials, according to an e-mail reviewed by The Times. The next morning, L.A. County’s courts tried to conduct business as usual even as destructive fires burned from the Pacific Palisades to the San Gabriel Mountains.
