This archive collects stories where U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and subnational governments around the world are the driving force behind meaningful change. Across 467 articles, you’ll find accounts of state and provincial lawmakers, agencies, and coalitions enacting policies, launching programs, and achieving results that improve people’s lives. From environmental protections to public health wins, these are the places where regional leadership makes a difference.
As reported by Vox, this practice leads to the disproportionate dismissal of jurors of color, and “multiple studies suggest that peremptory strikes play a major role in producing juries that are whiter than the population as a whole.”
Adoption by same-sex couples has been legal in Mexico since the country’s Supreme Court ruled in a landmark 2010 decision that the government could not withhold legal rights on the basis of LGBTQ+ identity.
North Carolina judges ordered the restoration of voting rights for over 55,000 people with a felony conviction in what advocates call the largest expansion of voting rights in decades in the state.
A new bill empowers law enforcement to go beyond prosecuting carriers and mules and instead crack down on the criminal syndicates responsible for illegal wildlife trafficking.
The new law dictates that starting January 1, 2022, pigs sold in the Golden State must be raised in roomier, 24-square-foot spaces, up from the previous size of 20-square-feet.
Illinois schools will be prohibited from issuing rules regarding hairstyles historically associated with race and ethnicity, such as braids and twists, under a new law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
New York’s State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced further divestment of coal assets today from one of the nation’s largest pension funds – shedding remaining investments in New Hope, PT Indo Tambangraya Megah Tbk, Semirara Mining and Power, Shanxi Coking Coal Energy Group. and Whitehaven Coal.
Maine has enacted a groundbreaking law that will ban the use of toxic PFAS compounds in all products by 2030, except in instances deemed “currently unavoidable”.
Whatcom County’s council unanimously passed a measure that bans the construction of new refineries, coal-fired power plants and other fossil fuel-related infrastructure.
The bill will legalize what’s known as natural organic reduction, or what some refer to as human composting. The law goes into effect July 1, 2022.
