Generally speaking, the longer a project drags on, the bigger the price tag. More money is spent on contracting costs, machinery, staff time, rent and fuel. Inflation takes a toll, as does the need to pay for temporary repairs to existing routes.
Pew Charitable Trusts
Is Medicaid Expansion Near a Tipping Point?
“The ideological opposition to the president will have to start fading when he’s out of office. At that point, the facts and the evidence will start to matter more.”
State Prisons Turn to Telemedicine to Improve Health and Save Money
Though some prisons used telemedicine as early as the 1980s, its use has dramatically increased with the arrival of vastly improved technology, electronic medical records, and pressure to control ever rising medical costs.
The High Cost of Higher Education
States only have limited funds to work with, even as many lawmakers say they want college to be more affordable and states aim to increase the share of residents who hold a postsecondary degree or certificate.
States at a Crossroads on Criminal Justice Reform
After two decades of “tough on crime” policies, many states are taking a hard look at the way people are charged, how much time they serve, and what happens when they are released from prison.
Helping Drug-Addicted Inmates Break the Cycle
In the first two weeks after a drug user is released from jail, the risk of a fatal overdose is much higher than at any other time in his addiction. After months or years in confinement, theoretically without access to illicit drugs, an addict’s tolerance for drugs is low but his craving to get high can be as strong as ever.
In Drug Epidemic, Resistance to Medication Costs Lives
Addicts who quit drugs under an abstinence-based program are at a high risk of fatally overdosing if they relapse. Within days, the abstinent body’s tolerance for opioids plummets and even a small dose of the drugs can shut down the lungs.
New Work Requirements Put Food Stamps at Risk
Linda Hopgood lost her benefits when Wisconsin reinstated work requirements for food stamps. With 22 new states reinstating the requirements as of Jan. 1, another 500,000 or more people could find themselves in her situation by spring.
States Rethink Restrictions on Food Stamps, Welfare for Drug Felons
Since 1996, 20 states have lifted restrictions on food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and 24 allow people with certain types of drug felonies to get those benefits — leaving six states where a felony drug record disqualifies a person from receiving them.
Move Is on to Make End-of-Year Pardons Less Random
Several governors and state legislatures have moved in recent months to make the clemency process easier and pardons more frequent, reflecting a growing consensus that harsh mandatory minimum sentences have left too many Americans behind bars.