CSG DC

Today the U.S. Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for six months. The House of Representatives passed a similar bill last week.

The Council of State Governments recently joined briefs supporting state and local government in two cases heading to the U.S. Supreme Court. The briefs, filed by the State and Local Legal Center, both involve the interpretation of the Clean Water Act.

Each year the World Bank publishes a study about how each country ranks when it comes to competitiveness in the “knowledge economy.” A knowledge economy, broadly, is a nation’s ability to compete globally with intellectual capital. In a world where this knowledge currency is becoming more widely circulated, a nation’s ability to compete with its ideas becomes ever more valuable.

Two years ago, Congress passed, and the president signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law. A response to the financial meltdown in 2008, Dodd-Frank initiated one of the most significant restructurings of financial regulations since the Great Depression, and a great deal of the reforms hinged on states’ relationships and regulatory authority over financial institutions. Now, with the law in effect and the federal rule-making process well under way, some states are using their new authorities in unpredicted—and unprecedented—ways.

In January, the White House released a fact sheet on President Obama’s blueprint for keeping college affordable. Though the release did not garner nearly as much attention as the student loan interest rate hike battle a few months later, the provisions it contained are no less important.