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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.

Federal subsidies helped 13 million more Americans access health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Millions are expected to lose coverage now that subsidies have expired.
Oklahoma puts its tobacco settlement funds in a trust, spending only the interest. The strategy has had long-term public health benefits.
An Urban Institute analysis tracked growth in median household income between 1970 and 2023. State rates range from negative to nearly 80 percent.
As federal aid shrinks in 2026, wide disparities in sales tax reliance highlight the limits and risks of leaning more heavily on consumption taxes.
States will be scrambling to manage new priorities and demands from Washington, tighten their belts in a tough budget cycle and respond to federal frameworks on AI regulation.
Progress is slow and uneven a year after the Eaton Fire. The wealthy and the well-insured are faring the best.
Nineteen states raised their minimum wage in January. Almost as many are keeping it at the federal level of $7.25 set in 2009.
A first-of-its-kind lawsuit from the city of San Francisco seeks to end advertising that misleads consumers about the health impacts of highly processed foods. The city attorney spoke with Governing about the suit.
AI investment is driving the economy, and states want a share. Here’s a look at where the data centers that do the work of AI are located.
A district at the edge of the Mojave Desert is part of a network of California schools harvesting environmental, behavioral and academic benefits from a school forest.