Indiana is on the verge of stripping union rights and becoming a right-to-work state. The Republican-controlled House passed a bill on Wednesday that would ban unions from collecting mandatory fees from workers. The bill follows similar measures in other states like Wisconsin, which have drawn mass protests. The bill now goes to the Senate whereRead… Read more »
Congress may be moving forward on the public safety broadband network, but some Governors say that there isn’t enough involvement from state officials – the primary users of the proposed network. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead (R), co-chairmen of the homeland security committee of the National Governors Association (NGA), haveRead… Read more »
Maryland is trying to give local business owners more incentive to grow the economy with a series of measures. They’ve launched an online database of all financial incentives available for job creation, and economic development. The database will support a variety of other online tools for business owners, designed to help them while also increasingRead… Read more »
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is turning his focus to infrastructure for 2012. In an early morning address to local business leaders, the Governor underlined the need to keep his state’s infrastructure in good working condition as a cost saving measure. He also repeated his plan for a New International Trade Crossing bridge connecting Michigan andRead… Read more »
Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is sending $37 million back to the federal government. The money was an award for the state’s health care exchange under the early innovator program. The move follows an earlier announcement from the Governor that Wisconsin will not move forward on health care reform requirements until the Supreme Court rulesRead… Read more »
Toronto is working on its next city budget with the help of its citizens. City officials opened up part of the budget to public debate and input through a series of outreach initiatives designed to get people more involved in municipal activities. The city held public roundtables, posted an online survey and asked citizens toRead… Read more »
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will expand health coverage in the United States by more than 35 million people. This expansion requires states to take a fresh look at eligibility and customer service operations, and develop new business processes for interacting with stakeholders. Existing IT systems are outdated, and under-resourced state agencies are challenged byRead… Read more »
Rural broadband networks are moving forward in South Dakota and Alaska. Last week, South Dakota asked rural residents to complete usage surveys about how they use the internet and what services they would like to see. General Communications Inc. just finished an expansion in Southwest Alaska that would bring internet access to the region forRead… Read more »
California’s most recent government technology effort is running into some hurdles. The Financial Information System for California (FISCal), was supposed to streamline IT costs and staffing but seems to be hitting snags for exactly those reasons. So far, the project has cost over $60 million with final costs stretching into over a billion over theRead… Read more »
Chicago was one of the first cities to release government data with the hope of enticing civic hackers to create apps to help citizens and government improve services. So far, the experiment has been successful with several new applications powered by government data coming online for citizens. Now, city officials hope to expand these effortsRead… Read more »