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Carl Smith

Senior Staff Writer

Carl Smith is a senior staff writer for Governing and covers a broad range of issues affecting states and localities. For the past 30 years, Carl has written about education and the environment for peer-reviewed papers, magazines and online publications, with a special focus on conservation and sustainability. He has guest-edited special issues of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health focused on the Precautionary Principle and the human rights dimensions of environmental degradation. Carl attended the University of Texas and the University of Georgia. He can be reached at carl.smith@governing.com or on Twitter at @governingwriter.

A report from Trust for America’s Health examines state readiness to respond to disease outbreaks and disasters.
In Arizona alone, the number of residents receiving nutrition aid fell 42 percent from July 2025 to January 2026.
The dismissal of the entire National Science Board breaks down guardrails that protect public health, says epidemiologist Brian Castrucci.
Allen, Texas, put a few videos on its new YouTube channel in 2007 just to see what would happen. Today the channel has a subscriber base few local governments could match.
Salaries and local cost of living are generally intertwined, but no state pays enough for teachers to live comfortably.
The report from the FEMA Review Council affirms the need for the agency, but urges changes in federal and state responsibilities.
A KFF survey finds that states want more guidance on implementing new Medicaid work requirements from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz.
Families can receive state-funded child care at no cost in the Land of Enchantment, regardless of income. The state managed to fund the endeavor in part via surplus gas and oil tax revenues.
At present, a fifth of the country is facing drought conditions of historic significance.
Foreign actors can use this powerful technology for election interference. But election officials have a new tool in their belt, too.