Posts By Bailey McCann

Arizona officials push for sunshine

Officials in Arizona are pushing for increased transparency in the state, in the wake of questions raised over dealings between state officials and lobbyists. Secretary of State Ken Bennett and State Representative Kimberly Yee are pushing a new measure that would put more sunlight on the financial disclosure statements and lobbyist filings of the state’sRead… Read more »

Oregon moves forward on insurance exchange despite lack of federal guidance

An announcement earlier this month that the federal government will not establish a national health benefits standard to go along with requirements in the new health care reform law is already impacting some state insurance exchanges. Oregon exchange director Howard “Rocky” King, called the decision “a grenade.” The Obama administration is giving states broad latitudeRead… Read more »

Sen. Harkin asks for investigation into Nikki Haley on health insurance exchange

Governor Nicki Haley of South Carolina is in hot water over emails deleted by her office. The Charleston Post and Courier uncovered the deleted emails after asking for emails from both her office and the state Department of Health and Human Services. The emails returned from the Department showed responses from the Governor which hadRead… Read more »

States use enterprise models/best practices to improve services, cut costs

IT, Health Care and Mobility are three key focus areas for state and local government going into 2012 and beyond. All three areas have the potential to save governments millions and improve service delivery but they can also cause significant short term headaches in this era of austerity. CivSource spoke with Joe Doherty, EVP &Read… Read more »

Maryland crafts sustainable growth plan

Maryland is creating its first long-range plan for sustainable growth. “PlanMaryland,” is the culmination of state mandate first outlined in the 1970s. The plan is designed to combine smart growth projects more effectively with state government programs to facilitate a coordinated public and private process. During the coming year, state agencies will work to identifyRead… Read more »

New Jersey rolls back transparency

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie campaigned on promises of bringing increased transparency to New Jersey. Early on in his administration he launched a transparency website designed to highlight public information from state offices. Despite that, New Jersey last year the state comptroller issued a blistering report highlighting just how opaque the state really is. Now,Read… Read more »

New York rolls back MTA payroll tax, makes investments

New York will be reducing a payroll tax designed to help pay for public transportation that effects small business owners and the self employed. The move was announced on the heels of another announcement that the state will be giving regional councils $785 million to support job creation. The Cuomo Administration hopes that by takingRead… Read more »