NGA -- Sector Strategies
An increasing number of states are addressing the challenges of globalization by establishing sector strategies – policy approaches that support regional, industry-specific approaches to workforce needs and are implemented by an employer-driven partnership of relevant systems and stakeholders.
 

CAEL – Adult Learning
Demographic patterns demonstrate that relying on the traditional K–16 pipeline to meet the educational and workforce needs of our states and the nation will not be enough. The economic and personal benefits that individuals gain from education argue for greater focus and emphasis on adult learning.

CLASP – Post Secondary
American employers need workers with higher skills to compete in a global economy. This report describes efforts to help community colleges identify and develop strategies to enable low-skilled adult students to fill these needs and place themselves on sustainable career pathways.

TWA - America's Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs
Employment opportunities in middle-skill occupations, which require some post-secondary training, are predicted to increase in the next decade. Without greater investments, future growth in the supply of educated workers will likely fall short of the labor market demand, especially in key sectors and geographic regions. While further aid for those enrolling in four- year college programs is critical, we must also provide other pathways to labor market success for those who cannot enroll in or complete such degrees. 

TWA – Middle Skills - Washington Case Study
Despite its reputation for innovation Washington State is beginning to experience shortages of the middle-skill workers that are so critical to our economic success. To maintain its competitive edge in an increasingly competitive global economy, Washington must invest in both high- and middle-skill workers to ensure our businesses have the talent they need.
 

Brennan -- Voter Purges
Purges, if done properly, are an important way to ensure that voter rolls are dependable, accurate, and up-to-date. Far too frequently, however, eligible citizens show up to vote and find their names removed from the voter lists. State should maintain purge procedures that are free from manipulation, have sufficient voter protections, and have adequate procedures to correct errors.
 

Brennan -- De Facto Disenfranchisement
Despite universal sufferage there remains a significant barrier to the franchise: 5.3 million American citizens are not allowed to vote because of criminal convictions.
 

Pew -- Government Performance
Information elements, in short, are key to how a state takes care of its infrastructure, plans for its financial future and deals with the dramatic changes affecting the state workforce. A growing number of states are no committed to improving the way information is used to manage their states.
 

Pew -- Online Election Information
Information elements, in short, are key to how a state takes care of its infrastructure, plans for its financial future and deals with the dramatic changes affecting the state workforce. A growing number of states are no committed to improving the way information is used to manage their states.

Public Strategies Group - Game Changing Opportunities to Help States Deal with Fiscal Crisis
Fiscal crisis presents an opportunity for states to make changes that will allow them to function more effectively and efficiently.  Over the past two decade, Public Strategies Group has developed a family of ideas that both save public dollars and improve the way states deliever services.

CNT - Regional Green Building Case Study Project
This new study released by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Chicago Chapter examines post-occupancy performance data, costs and benefits of 25 LEED-certified buildings in terms of energy and water efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, occupant comfort, and other performance indicators.

Pew - The Clean Energy Economy
The emerging clean energy economy has grown considerably— extending to all 50 states, engaging a wide variety of workers and generating new industries. Between 1998 and 2007, its jobs grew at a faster rate than overall jobs.

Brookings – Bridge to Somewhere
Periods of strategic investments in our nation’s transportation infrastructure have turbocharged growth and transformed the country, but America’s transportation infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth and evolution of its economy. Our nation needs a federal transportation program that keeps pace with today’s economic, social, and environmental landscape.
 

Brookings -- Funding and Devotion
Metropolitan areas require greater control of the transportation spending so crucial to their dynamism. As Congress debates the reauthorization of the federal transportation spending bill, emphasis should be placed on devolving decision making to metropolitan areas and away from statewide agencies.
 

NGA -- Funding Transportation
States face significant and immediate challenges in transportation finance. Investment is insufficient to meet demand and federal policy is shifting transportation funding away from grant support to the states.
 

WRITR -- Intermodal Transportation Planning at State DOTs
Traditionally, state departments of transportation have been concerned primarily with highway construction. Despite growing pressures to consider a more intermodal model, state DOTs must continue to strive to develop a more comprehensive approach to planning.
 

CHP – Combined Housing and Transportation Burdens
Many working families face a basic tradeoff between paying a greater share of their income for housing or enduring long commutes and high transportation costs. States and municipalities should make transportation and economic development decisions based on bringing affordable housing closer to family supporting jobs.
 

TCRP&NCHRP -- Collaborative Multimodal Decisions
The current challenge for transportation managers is to manage their resources better. That means maximizing opportunities and dollars and making a commitment to connect modes, assess capacity investments, and tap into information systems designed to promote transportation access.
 

PWM&P -- Revisiting Transportation Planning
Transportation planning in most states and cities is failing to plan for multi modal transportation systems and is often politically driven. It is the market, defined by trip purposes, that can provide a link from the theory to the reality of transportation planning and investments.
 

ICFI -- State Transit Funding
The accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best solved through a coordinated program of cooperative research.
 
COWS – Greener Pathways
Building a competitive and equitable green economy means investing in the backbone of America’s labor force: workers with more than high school, but less than a four-year degree. The new energy economy will be built and sustained by middle-skill workers in traditional occupations using many skills used existing sectors of the economy. 
 

Center for American Progress - Better Health Through Better Information: Comparative Effectiveness Research Will Help Deliver Better Medical Care
Report that poor quality and quantity of information about medical treatments and services hampers consumers' ability to make choices, and could result in sub-optimal health outcomes. Comparing the effectiveness of a range of treaments for a condition is a logical way of closing this information gap.

The Commonwealth Fund - Supporting Culture Change: Working Toward Smarter State Nursing Home Regulation
This report suggests that the states and federal government must strike a balance between the traditional regulatory approach to weed out substandard facilities and a partnership model aimed at promoting high performance.

Kaiser Family Foundation - Side-by-Side Comparison of Major Health Care Proposals
This Kaiser Family Foundation overview of Congressional Reform Packages includes the final version of the bill reported out of the Senate Finance Committee, and provides information on the likely state financial impact of the various bill.

The Environmental Working Group - Pollution in People: Cord Contaminants in Minority Newborns
The EWG has found up to 232 toxic chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of 10 babies from racial and ethnic minority groups. The findings consitute hard evidence that each child was exposed to a host of dangerous substances while still in its mothers womb. To ensure a full accounting of chemical exposure before birth, the report recommends that the CDC initiate a comprehensive cord blood-testing program.

Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice - Back on Track: Supporting Youth Reentry from Out-of-Home Placement to the Community
The report finds that institutionalizing young people should be "the choice of absolute last resort, reserved only for those who pose such a serious threat that no other solution would protect prublic safety." In most cases, the state should instead treat and rehabilitate young offenders who can be well served by community-based supports and services that align with best practices in the field.

Pew-Pew Applauds Bipartisan Legislation to Help States Get a Better Return on Their Public Safety Dollars
The introduction of the Criminal Justice Reinvestement Act of 2009 to establish a federal grant program will help states implement data-driven, evidence-based policies to increase public safety and reduce spending on corrections.

Urban Institute-The First Line of Defense: Reducing Recidivism at the Local Level Hearing Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcomittee on Crime and Drugs
This report describes recidivism as a compelling national problem, some current innovation, and how more attention and evaluation is necessary.

Justice Center-New Federal Action Plan for Children of Incarcerated Parents
The report details seventy plus recommendations for improving outcomes of the 1.7 million children of incarcerated parents.

The Sentencing Project-Recidivism Rate Low in Nevada
Nevada has one of lowest recidivism rates in the country; 28% vs. national average of 40%.

The Sentencing Project-Justices Will Scrutinize Life Sentences
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two cases regarding the constitutionality of imposing a sentence of life without parole on juvenile non-homicide offenses.

The Sentencing Project-Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System
Describes racial disparity in the criminal justice system and recommends policy changes.

The Sentencing Project-The Impact of Mandatory Sentencing Policies in the United States
Testimony of Marc Maur prepared for the Canadian Parliament. U.S. mandatory sentencing has failed to enhance public safety, has produced excessive punishments, and has not eliminated discretion.

RAND-Police Recruitment and Retention in the Contemporary Urban Environment: A National Discussion of Personnel Experiences and Promising Practices from the Front Lines
An in-depth look at challenges, opportunities, and best-practices in recruiting and retaining police officers and other first-responders.

Justice Center-Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of Specialized Probation Initiatives
Identifies ten key elements of successful initiatives to improve outcomes for paroles with mental illnesses.

The Sentencing Project-The State of Sentencing 2008: Developments of Policy and Practice
The report highlights a number of key state-level criminal justice policy developments that occurred in 2008: parole, drug policy, racial disparity, and more.

Vera Institute of Justice-Vera Announces Creation of Cost-Benefit "Knowledge Bank": A New National Resource for Cost-Effective Criminal Justice Planning
Knowledge bank intended to inform practitioners and policymakers about the budgetary impacts of criminal justice policy choices.

PEW-Maximum Impact: Targeting Supervision on Higher-Risk People, Places and Times
Report outlines a targeted strategy: cut costs and prevent criminal activity by listening to statistics -  majority of serious crimes are committed by a small fraction of people, in a small number of crime-ridden neighborhoods, during the first few month of probation or parole.

Justice Center-Justice Reinvestment in Texas: Assessing the Impact of the 2007 Justice Reinvestment Initiative
This brief examines the justice reinvestment strategy to increase public safety and reduce spending on corrections in Texas. It looks at policies inacted, trends in prison, parole, and probation since 2007, and challenges facing Texas in 2009.

Vera Institute of Justice-The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices
This report provides a look at how budget cuts are affecting corrections: reduce spending on staff and programs, bolstering re-entry programs, instituting early-release opportunities

NCSL-Cutting Corrections Costs: Earned Time Policies for State Prisoners
Report explores the cost-saving policies that speed release time of inmates who complete programs. In addistion the report looks at savings to states, recidivism rates, and details information on sentencing and corrections policies.

IPC-Earned Legalization: Repairing our Broken Immigration System
Legalization, when accompanied by comprehensive immigration reform, is beneficial to the nation. Taking care to get legalization right will pay off in a host of ways. This report outlines the benefits of legalization, if done correctly and the key principles that should be considered when devising a legalization structure.

IPC-Back to the Future: The Impact of Legalization Then and Now
While there are many facets to an intelligent immigration reform package, one thing is clear: legalization for undocumented immigrants helps all of us.

NILC-A Broken System
Confidential Reports Reveal Failures in U.S. Immigrant Detention Centers.

MPI-Immigrants and Health Care Reform What's Really at Stake?
Healthcare reform will be affected substantially by lawmakers' decisions regarding the eligibility of legal immigrants for health benefits, and their approaches to screening out unauthorized immigrants.

Human Rights Watch-Detained and Dismissed: Women's Struggles to Obtain Health Care in United States Immigration Detention
Most immigration detainees in the United States are held as a result of administrative, rather than criminal, infractions, but the medical treatment they receive can be worse than that of convicted criminals in the US prison system.

Council on Foreign Relations-U.S. Immigration Policy
The goal of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy was to examine this complex issue and craft a nuanced strategy for reforming immigration policies and practices.

IPC-Breaking Down the Problem: What's Wrong with Our Immigration System?
Examines the far-reaching impact of America's outdated and inefficient immigration system on society.

NELP/AFL-CIO/American Rights at Work Education Fund-Iced Out: How Immigration Enforcement Has Interfered with Worker's Rights
This publication tells the often ignored story of our country’s broken immigration system and the collateral damage immigrants and U.S. workers experience when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prioritize enforcement over workers’ rights.

NELP-Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in America's Cities
This report examines the slew of labor and employment law violations in low-wage industries NELP found in three of the nation’s largest cities.

Institute for Women's Policy Research-The Need for Paid Parental Leave for Federal Employees: Adapting to a Changing Workforce
The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act would provide four weeks of paid leave for federal workers who adopt, foster, or have a child. This report discusses the role that providing paid parental leave to federal employees could play in addressing federal workforce challenges.

Institute for Women's Policy Research-Valuing Good Health in New Hampshire: The Costs and Benefits of Paid Sick Days

National Health Policy Forum -- Covering All Kids: States Setting the Pace
Providing health insurance coverage for the uninsured is a challenge that has remained unresolved for decades. In the absence of a national solution, states have initiated their own efforts to expand access to health insurance coverage, particularly for children.  
 

National Academy for State Health Policy -- State Efforts to Cover Low-Income Adults Without Children
Most Americans assume that our health insurance safety net covers the poor, regardless of family status, but a majority of uninsured Americans are low-income, childless adults who are not eligible for public programs. Many states are using innovative means of extending care to this underserved population.
 

Center for Health Care Strategies -- Integrated Care Program: Final Evaluation
States have been concerned for many years about the delivery of services and cost of care for a particularly complex and expensive group of Medicaid beneficiaries—those who are jointly eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. This “dually eligible” population of nearly 7.5 million low-income seniors and persons with disabilities has significant medical and long-term care needs and consumes a disproportionate amount of the total public dollars spent on health care.

Center for American Progress -- Opening the "Front Door" of a Reformed Health Care System
Achieving the goals set out by comprehensive health care reform will require all American's to purchase health insurance.  Promoting and facilitating participation is a crucial step to improving the quality of our health care system, managing chronic diseases, and lowering health care costs. 

The Commonwealth Fund -- Reforming Provider Payment: Essential Building Block for Health Care Reform
Changing how the nation pays for health care is critical to improving value, increasing quality, and slowing cost growth.  This report examines a number of ways in which changing the current model of provider payment can lower costs and and increase quality.  
 

The Commonwealth Fund -- Organizing the U.S. Health care Delivery System for High Performance
This report from The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System offers policy recommendations to stimulate greater organization in the U.S. Health Care System, and suggests some established mechanisms for working across providers and care settings.
 

The Commonwealth Fund --  Why Not the Best? 
This report offers a comprehensive means of measuring and monitoring health care outcomes, quality, access, efficiency, and equity in the United States. The 2008 Scorecard, which presents trends for each dimension of health system performance and for individual indicators, confirms that the U.S. health system continues to fall far short of what is attainable, especially given the resources invested.