What level of government should exercise what kinds of authority? That question has been vigorously debated throughout U.S. history. Indeed, the U.S. Constitution itself represented...
Texas has created a Unified Development Budget — an annual statement to the legislature with all forms of spending itemized in one place. All tax...
The conduct of Marshfield’s Town Meeting is dictated by Federal and State law, the Town’s Charter and By-Laws, local tradition, and the publication entitled, "Town...
All officers of the city, as defined in section 1207, and all employees of the city and any and all agencies and instrumentalities thereof, including...
Montana had a ban on corporate contributions to ballot issue campaigns until 1976, when it was thrown out by the courts. In 1996, however, Montana...
Passed by Wayne Township, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania by a 3-0 vote in 1998, this ordinance is primarily a "three strikes and you’re out" ordinance. It...
Whereas, the City of Northampton has a long and distinguished history of protecting and expanding civil rights and civil liberties, often being a beacon for...
Little-noticed laws in more than half the states allow retailers to keep a portion of the sales taxes they collect from shoppers. The practice is...
The Barnstead Water Rights and Local Self-Government Ordinance[Warrant Article 31] was presented and passed at the Barnstead Town Meeting on March 18, 2006. The ordinance...
Efforts to privatize government services in cities and states do not always save the city money, replace well paid and benefited largely unionized public workers...
Barnstead, New Hampshire, became the first municipal government in the United States to ban corporations from pumping out a drop of water for sale elsewhere....
Some communities have passed laws that prevent serial law-breaking corporations from doing busines within their community.… Read More
As Greg LeRoy (GoodJobsFirst)points out, "As states grapple with their worst deficits in more than half a century, policymakers seek better data to help with...
Logging communities (or agricultural and mining communities in general) gain little when their principal resource is exported unprocessed. In the case of wood, every million...
Initiatives and referendums are one of this country’s forms of direct democracy. There is no national initiative or referendum process in the United States, but...