The Senate on Jan. 11 voted to approve the nomination of Alan Davidson as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, and head of the agency’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) project – now in its 17th year (not a typo) of implementation – is slogging along with a revised project plan that has reduced functionality and obscured project costs. FI$Cal is due to miss yet another planned project completion this summer, and will have to extend the project timeline by another two years.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said in its annual report on governmentwide improper payments – defined as payments that shouldn’t have been made or were made for  incorrect amounts – jumped to 7.2 percent in Fiscal Year 2021 with the increase driven in part by soaring rates of unemployment insurance fraud during the coronavirus pandemic.

Adrian Perkins, the mayor of Shreveport, La., is turning ideas into action to fulfill his vision for a smart city.

According to a research survey from the Pew Research Center, nearly half of parents surveyed said their child faced technology-related obstacles causing them to fall behind their peers with proper broadband connectivity and technology access. Students who lacked these necessities for remote learning experienced what is often called the “homework gap,” which impact may continue to be felt in the future. 

With the holiday season upon us, we at MeriTalk wanted to spread some holiday cheer. We’ve gathered up photos of our furry friends dressed in festive attire, meeting Santa, or just enjoying some winter weather.

As we get ready to break out the champagne flutes and toast to a new year, MeriTalk SLG is taking a look back at the most popular state and local government stories from the past year.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision striking down the Biden administration’s eviction moratorium this fall, political leaders and housing advocates have scrambled to find ways to keep people in their homes.

In the past two years, state and local government (SLG) leaders have improved their means to produce meaningful data analytics, but they still find themselves struggling to accomplish this as the amount of data collected increases at an exponential rate, according to a new report from MeriTalk.

The Washington State Department of Health (DoH) has launched WA Verify, the state’s new Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record system to help residents prove vaccination status when required.