Author Archive
Marsha Mercer
Management
Voting to Raise Their Own Pay Puts State Lawmakers in a Bind
Persistently low salaries discourage everyday citizens from serving in state legislatures. Unless salaries are raised, “we’ll have a legislature of only wealthy or retired people.”
Management
States Strive to Help SNAP Recipients Cope With Lower Benefits
More than 41 million people bought food with SNAP benefits last year.
Workforce
States Strive to Reverse Shortage of Paramedics, EMTs
Two-thirds of states considered legislation last year related to emergency medical workers.
Finance
States Put Grocery Taxes on Ice
Two more states are tossing grocery taxes; others are considering it.
Management
As Sports Betting Grows, States Tackle Teenage Problem Gambling
With sports betting legal in more than 30 states, there’s a growing recognition among state legislators and health departments that the youngest gamblers need help.
Management
Gun Storage Tax Break Is Rare Point of Unity in Firearms Debate
An estimated 5.4 million children live in homes with unsecured firearms.
Management
Push to Remove Racist Names Draws Support—And Backlash
"We need to have this conversation."
Management
Police ‘Pretext’ Traffic Stops Need to End, Some Lawmakers Say
Police stop and search Black motorists more often.
Management
Black History Instruction Gets New Emphasis in Many States
Some state social studies curriculums infuse the Black experience.
Management
Stop Milking It, Dairy Farmers Tell Plant-Based Competitors
Milk labels have become contentious as plant-based alternatives compete for customers.
Management
More States Say Goodbye to Columbus Day
The debate over the holiday has split more statehouses this year, growing heated as it touches on immigration, race and equality at a time when those issues increasingly divide the country.
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Management
Progress Stalls for Minor Parties to Get on State Ballots
‘It’s the worst year for hostility to minor parties and independent candidates since 1971.’
Management
As Home-Cooked Cottage-Food Industry Grows, States Work to Keep Up
Some states have embraced "food freedom" laws that exempt home producers from many food-safety laws.
Workforce
New State and City ‘Pay to Move’ Programs Attract People—Not Employers
New initiatives starting this month in Vermont and Tulsa are part of a larger trend aimed at attracting workers to places that need to grow.
Management
Take Two Carrots and Call Me in the Morning
In California, a large-scale pilot program will test the concept of "food is medicine" with a thousand patients who have congestive heart failure.
Management
It's Hard to Manage Your Credit When You've Never Heard of 'Interest'
More states are moving toward mandating financial literacy classes.
Management
Feds Block States From Developing on Land That Could Belong to Frogs
Just over 1,500 acres in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, is at the center of a case the U.S. Supreme Court will consider this fall that asks the question of how much power the federal government has to protect habitat for an endangered species, the dusky gopher frog, even though that frog hasn't lived there for decades.
Management
Legal Sports Betting Is About to Sweep the Nation. Services for Gambling Addicts Probably Won’t.
Only 17 states pay for one or more full-time staff positions to help problem gamblers, according to a 2016 survey from the National Council on Problem Gambling and the Association of Problem Gambling Service Administrators.
Management
Why Free College Tuition Is Spreading From Cities to States
The free tuition push hasn’t produced an economic bonanza for any of the pioneering cities—at least not yet — and some states have struggled to come up with the money to keep their end of the bargain.
Management
Explosion in Tattooing, Piercing Tests State Regulators
Nearly four in 10 people born after 1980 have a tattoo, and one in four have a piercing some place other than an earlobe.
