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Could a vacancy tax help housing affordability in Sacramento?

Alex Muegge

August 23, 2022 |

The Observer |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

After Oakland instituted a vacant property tax for residential units and parcels, the city collected roughly $8 million in tax revenue in 2020 to support homeless services, blight remediation, and stemming illegal dumping. The number of vacant properties in Oakland also decreased.

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No child support, no hunting: Payments up under Utah policy

Zaid Jilani

August 13, 2022 |

NewsNation |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Utah

A new Utah law prevents residents who are more than $2,500 behind on child support payments from obtaining a hunting or fishing license, a strategy lawmakers say provides an incentive without legal ramifications that would affect parents' ability to care for their children in the future. Though the law only applies to a small portion of parents who owe child support, the state saw 494 individuals come into compliance after their hunting and fishing licenses were blocked, with payments increasing by nearly $2 million the year after the new law went into effect.

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'Ventilation Corridors' Funnel Cool Mountain Air Into Steamy Stuttgart

Michaela Haas

August 12, 2022 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany, Stuttgart

Stuttgart is using a “nature-based response” to climate change by leveraging earth-cooling tools already available in the natural world. The city has created a vast network of ventilation channels – green parkways and corridors of water and trees – designed to funnel cooler breezes into the city at night and naturally lower air temperatures.

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One Small Step for Democracy in a ‘Live Free or Die' Town

Dan Barry

July 10, 2022 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Croydon, New Hampshire

We Stand Up for Croydon Students formed as a backlash to severe school budget cuts that resulted from a lack of civic participation among residents. The nonpartisan group collected enough signatures to set a special meeting to overturn the budget and, to get at least 50% of the town’s residents to participate in order for a new vote to be binding, volunteers organized community members through door knocking, phone banks, and lawn signs.

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Farmers are trying new water-saving tech in Utah's drought

Ben Winslow

July 07, 2022 |

KSTU-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Tremonton, Utah

Farmers are upgrading to automated irrigation systems with 50-50 matching grants from the Utah Department of Agriculture. The systems save farmers’ time and water.

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How Pennsylvania keeps its voter rolls clean and updated

Denise Clay-Murray

June 28, 2022 |

Votebeat |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania uses a comprehensive approach to maintain accurate voter roles. The state is a member of the Electronic Registration Information Center, which is a cross-state database that updates records of voters every 60 days based on interactions with the DMV. In addition, when a registered voter doesn’t vote in two consecutive federal election cycles, they are marked inactive and sent a request to confirm their residency. Those that do not respond with 30 days are removed from the rolls. All 67 counties are required to do annual maintenance of their voter rolls.

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Residents 13 and up get another pick of city projects to receive funding

Ted Glanzer

June 20, 2022 |

Hartford Courant |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford residents 13 and older can decide how some public funds are spent. The Hartford Decides participatory budgeting initiative considers public input on small capital projects that cost between $10,000 and $25,000 and have a useful life of at least five years. City officials vet the projects for feasibility and those that pass are put on a ballot for the public to vote on. Previous winning projects include improvements to libraries, schools, and other publicly accessible resources. Residents can vote online or in-person and, depending on available funding, two to four projects can win approval.

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Public Art Project Is Reimagining Philly's Budget, One Poster at a Time

Connie Aitcheson

June 17, 2022 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“A People’s Budget,” produced by Mural Arts Philadelphia, uses art to engage residents in reimagining how the city spends public funds. In addition to public art installations, the group holds teach-ins, organizes gatherings, and brought together local artists to research different sections of the budget and create 30-plus posters, in English and Spanish, that are handed out at events and other public spaces. The group has increased awareness, sparked important conversations about participatory budgeting, and brought together residents to collaborate for change.

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Vote for everyone you like — Fargo tests approval voting

Dan Gunderson

June 06, 2022 |

MPR News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo adopted ‘approval voting’ where residents can vote for as many candidates as they support per race. They do not rank order their choices, but simply select as many candidates as they like essentially voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for each candidate. All choices on a voter’s ballot carry equal weight and vote percentages are calculated by dividing a candidate’s total votes by the total number of ballots cast. The strategy has increased the percent by which winning candidates are selected and helps candidates who in the past would have received few votes because they weren’t seen as having a chance to win.

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The profound impact of giving American families a little more cash

Marin Cogan

May 16, 2022 |

Vox |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

The expanded child tax credit payments provided expanded eligibility for families to receive higher credits per child. Rather than receiving the credit when filing taxes, families received a cash payment per child each month, enabling them to use the money to meet their specific needs. The program provided a cushion for millions of families struggling to cover their expenses each month but expired in 2022.

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