State public health officials need timely, comprehensive data to effectively detect and respond to the wide range of issues within their purview—from disease outbreaks and maternal mortality to contaminated food and water, opioid overdoses, and more.
The reported funding gap for state pension plans—the disparity between promised benefits and available assets—was $1.32 trillion in 2023, according to 50-state data collected by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
As states grapple with how to meet rising energy demand, lawmakers across the nation are turning to a promising solution to modernize the grid and help bring new electricity generation projects online.
Across the country, state governments are faced with the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters and the compounding scarcity of resources to plan for and lessen their impacts. With these unprecedented challenges likely to grow, state leaders are turning to one another to share best practices and lessons learned to increase resilience.
After years of growth, states’ rainy day fund capacity—the number of days they could cover state operations—fell in fiscal year 2025, the first decline since the Great Recession of 2007-09. At the end of fiscal 2025, the median state could run on just its rainy day funds for 46.9 days, down from the record high of 53.2 days in fiscal 2024, according to estimated budget numbers reported to the National Association of State Budget Officers.
In one of the world’s most urbanized coastal environments—the waters around Hong Kong—pressure from human activities is threatening the vulnerable Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, known locally as the Chinese white dolphin.
It’s not exactly news that Americans are mistrustful of their federal government. What you may have heard less about is that trust in some historically respected institutions has also taken a hit in the post-pandemic years.
For America's 250th, a look at lessons from our past, voices from our present, and how the power of nonpartisan problem-solving can bring us together.
World leaders, scientists, nongovernmental organizations, and others have concluded negotiations at the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 30), held Nov. 10-21, with renewed momentum toward meeting global commitments. The decisions made over the past two weeks in Belém, Brazil, will shape not only the planet’s future but also the well-being, security, and livelihoods of billions of people around the world.
Fiscal 2023 marked the first time in at least 23 years that no state had an annual deficit. But even with the record-setting number of annual surpluses, five states incurred long-term revenue shortfalls relative to expenses for fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2023. If left unmanaged, these ongoing gaps can threaten states’ financial well-being.
Congressional passage of the massive budget reconciliation measure, H.R. 1, in July set in motion a new federal-state fiscal dynamic—and states are moving fast to adapt. The law reshapes three policy areas key to state budgets: tax revenue, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides food stipends for tens of millions of low-income individuals and children.
In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, police officers are equipped to help people experiencing overdose because the officers carry naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug.
