The State of the States

While attention is rightfully focused on the national stage with the Presidential and Congressional elections, we wanted to take a moment to focus on the people in state and local government who keep our towns running. The work of state and local agencies has a huge impact on our day-to-day life. They are the people that issue our driver's license, police our streets, pick up our garbage, and give voice to the elderly and children through social work.[Tweet "State of the States: local governments keep our towns running. #GovEventsBlog"]

Across the country there are more than 12 million state and local government employees. This population is incredibly diverse with more than 5,000 different job classifications. While these numbers are large, state and local agencies are chronically understaffed and have become experts on doing a lot with very little.[Tweet "Across the country there are more than 12 million state & local gov employees. #GovEventsBlog"] This mixture of immediate and critical needs, with limited resources, has spawned some of the most innovative programs in our country:

• Albany, NY - The city wanted to move unpaid traffic fines out of the system to reduce the administrative burden on staff that needed to continuously follow-up. The city instituted Food for Fines where people could donate to food banks to get their minor traffic fines taken off the books.
• New York City -- Using data from 311 calls, officials could see and predict which areas of the city had tenant harassment issues and focus programs there.
• Tigard, OR - Facing fast growth, this Portland suburb sped up the process for getting building and business permits by moving it all online.
• Fairfax County, VA - Police increased transparency and made valuable community data available to the public by providing access to 911 calls through an open data portal.
• North Carolina - Moving resources online for Veterans, the state reduced the backlog for military veterans seeking support from both state and federal agencies.

Even in support of federal activities like voting, states are investing in technologies that will make it easier for citizens to register to vote and cast absentee ballots.

With the diversity amongst the workforce, events become a critical way for state and local employees and officials to share challenges and successes with peers. For example, teams from Oklahoma are well versed in disaster preparedness and recovery due to the high frequency of storms in their area. They have a lot to teach other cities and states about best practices.[Tweet "Events are a way for S & L government to share challenges and successes. #GovEventsBlog"]

Some organizations supporting the state and local workforce include:

• Republic
• Route 50
• State Scoop
• National Association of State Chief Information Officers
• National Association of Counties
• National Conference of State Legislators
• National Association of State Technology Directors
• National Association of State Energy Officials

For more details on State and Local events in the coming months, check out our list on GovEvents.com.