Route Fifty

California has already seen more than 3,500 wildfires so far this year, in what state officials earlier this week called a “significantly more active [season] than the last five years.” With an estimated 207,415 acres of land burned—or roughly the length of 150,000 football fields—and 10 wildfires still burning, officials are concerned about how they are impacting residents and their well-being. A new map recently released by the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, looks to help residents find areas of refuge across the state. Using the map, individuals can locate clean air centers, or facilities with air filtration systems or other similar appliances, they can travel to if their area is impacted by wildfire smoke and other air pollutants. CARB collaborated with local air districts responsible for regional air quality management, planning and monitoring to develop the tool as a “one-stop shop,” said Kate Lamb, information officer at CARB. She said officials in recent years have received an increasing number of inquiries about clean air centers, and the map helps fill that information gap without individuals depending on a government employee to respond to them. As more and more parts of the country are exposed to wildfire smoke—like the Northeast last year with the Canadian wildfires—this capability could appeal to other states as well. Learn more at Route Fifty:

This week Elizabeth Daigneau looks at the struggle to nail down dedicated funding for affordable housing initiatives. Plus: Taxpayers fleeing cost Blue states $52B, the unexpected places insurance costs are increasing and angry birds.

The tools that transportation agencies use to record the condition of pavement on roadways don’t work for biking and walking paths, so several communities are rolling out 'data bikes' that can get the job done. Local planning organizations have deployed them in Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts and Minnesota. Alaska might be next, if it can secure a federal grant to purchase the specially outfitted bicycles, which are connected to an iPhone with an app that monitors the smoothness of the pavement. The cargo bikes are also outfitted with a GoPro camera in the front and a 360-degree camera on a pole overhead to collect images for sites like Google Maps. The metropolitan planning organization in the Boise, Idaho, region secured their data bike with a $6,000 federal grant in 2018, because one of its employees had seen the device being used in Iowa. After a test phase, the agency put out its first annual report on trails in Ada and Canyon Counties in February. It collected data on 54 miles out of the 86 miles of local, off-street pathways. The bike found that 42% of the trails it covered were in good condition and 5% rated as excellent. But 33% of the paths were in fair condition, 12% were in poor condition and 9% were in very poor shape. With more data on the condition of bike paths in the region, local governments have been building trails to last longer, even if the upfront costs are higher, said Carl Saxon, a senior planner for the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Learn more about data bikes and their impacts on biking and walking paths at the link below:

How can the public sector bridge this widening talent gap and improve retention? The answer may lie in upskilling current employees through stackable certificate programs. Stackable certification is an education and training program designed to be approachable and flexible for working adults. Classes are designed to be cumulative, with each credential building upon the skills and knowledge of the previous one, offering a flexible, incremental approach to earning higher-level degrees or certifications. In Tennessee, a partnership between the state labor department and online learning platform Coursera equips workers with in-demand skills like data analytics. Similarly, Virginia's community college system has seen higher employment rates and wages for previously unemployed adults who complete stackable credentials, demonstrating the effectiveness of this strategy in a practical setting. These are not isolated instances. Other states, including Indiana, Kentucky and North Carolina, have also implemented stackable certificate programs with encouraging results, showcasing the versatility and adaptability of this approach. Read on to learn more about stackable certificates from Nelson Lim, a senior social scientist at RAND, here: https://lnkd.in/e5_WK-47 #governmentit #itworkforce #publicsector #govjobs #rand #upskilling #certification #communitycollege

Medical debt affects 100 million American adults and is growing. As a result, “there is a big demand from state and local governments to know how bad the [medical debt] problem is in their own states, and also how that's changing over time,” said Breno Braga, principal research associate in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute. A new data tool from the Washington, D.C., think tank offers users a way to get that information. Policymakers can assess how the amount and share of medical debt among Americans has varied since 2011 at the national, state and county level, as well as how it has impacted communities of color compared to white communities. The tool also offers information on drivers of medical debt in different communities, such as the prevalence of hospital closures and mergers, residents’ average household income, the share of uninsured individuals and others. Those insights, Braga said, can help state and local officials gauge the impacts of policies aimed at easing the medical debt burden for residents, particularly to track efforts to reduce health disparities across different populations.

Whatever name they go by—granny flats, in-law suites, backyard bungalows, casitas—accessory dwelling units in California have exploded over the last several years. The number of these small homes permitted each year increased by more than 15,000% between 2016 and 2022. Last year, 1 in 5 of all new homes in the Golden State were ADUs. Unsurprisingly, other states want in on the action and are considering their own zoning reforms to limit local restrictions on ADUs. A multibillion dollar Massachusetts bond bill, for example, is making its way through the state legislature and would, among other initiatives, make accessory dwelling units allowable by right across the state. A few weeks ago, the Rhode Island General Assembly approved legislation allowing property owners to build ADUs while stipulating those units cannot be used as short-term vacation rentals. In May, Colorado approved legislation that requires cities with a population of more than 1,000 to allow ADUs on the properties of single-family homes. “Saying, ‘You can build an ADU,’ is not necessarily adequate to actually get ADUs built,” said Yonah Freemark, research director of Urban Institute’s Land Use Lab. “There are a number of different other obstacles standing in the way,” including parking and setback minimums that can be nearly impossible to meet when working with limited space. But there are broader barriers that can prevent ADUs from becoming a meaningful housing tool or economic influence. While some states have created grant programs to help homeowners build ADUs, financing is often still a major obstacle, especially for low- and middle-income households without much capital on hand. Learn more about states' efforts to improve ADU development at Route Fifty. https://lnkd.in/eeNdmypP #adu #grannyflats #housing #housingshortage #california #zoning

Now that the U.S. is finally starting to build high-speed rail, it risks creating a “inchoate and fragmented” system of networks that promote parochial concerns over national needs, according to a new report from Eric Goldwyn, the program director of transportation and land use and an assistant professor at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management. Congress is largely to blame as it has not made high-speed rail a major priority, Goldwyn allowed, and support from the U.S. Department of Transportation shifts from one administration to the next. The hands-off approach at the national level means that projects take longer to finish and cost more than they otherwise would. As a result, Texas Central, Brightline West and California High-Speed Rail are all using different technical standards for the kinds of rail they use, signals, right-of-way dimensions and traction power facilities that deliver electricity to the trains using overhead wires. And in some cases, the U.S. projects are mixing components that are standard in Europe or Japan with what is available locally. But a lack of common standards could also be an obstacle for high-speed rail development, Goldwyn said. Learn more at the link below: https://lnkd.in/eNYFJPdj #highspeedrail #transportation #infrastructure #passengerrail #fra #congress

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case that focuses on legislation passed to prevent minors in Texas from accessing pornography. A decision could have implications for state efforts to limit children’s access to social media as well. A Texas law requiring websites with pornography to use age verification technology and have health warnings on their pages was approved last year amid a broader push in the state and nationwide to limit children’s exposure to adult material and access to social media as policymakers grapple with how to confront a youth mental health crisis. Neighboring Louisiana and more than a dozen other states have similarly turned to age verification technology to prevent minors from viewing adult content. The plaintiffs in the case, the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry, argue that the 2023 law places an undue burden on users. “Despite proponents’ claims, online age verification is simply not the same as flashing an ID at a check-out counter. The process is invasive and burdensome, with significant privacy risks for adult consumers,” Alison Boden, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, said in a statement. “Sexual expression is the canary in the coal mine of free speech, and we look forward to defending the rights of all Americans to access the internet privately and free from surveillance.” Read more at Route Fifty:

Dementia affects 1 in 9 Americans age 65 and older—an estimated 6.7 million people. Unfortunately, that number is expected to explode. By 2060, experts project 14 million Americans will be living with the syndrome. The costs of caring for those with dementia are similarly expected to escalate. Millions of families already face daunting choices as the expenses of in-home care, assisted-living facilities and nursing homes devour their and their loved ones' savings. To get ahead of the wave, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week a new federal initiative that aims to standardize neurodegenerative health care for older adults across the U.S., support their caregivers, and reduce Medicare and Medicaid expenditures. The federal Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience, or GUIDE, model looks to improve care coordination for patients with dementia, reduce strain on unpaid caregivers like patients’ family members and help older adults age in place. The model directs participating organizations, or providers and suppliers enrolled in Medicare Part B, to offer patients person-centered assessments and care plans, seamless care coordination across resources and 24/7 access to a support line for caregivers. Caregivers will have access to respite services and educational and training resources so they can better understand the needs of those with dementia. Organizations must also pair patients and their caregivers with care navigators to help link them with additional supports, such as meal or transportation assistance. Learn more about GUIDE at Route Fifty:

In the wake of the pandemic, Connecticut is facing an unusual workforce challenge. In 2022 and 2023, Connecticut saw the best two-year period of job growth in a quarter century. Yet the state still has a consistently high level of job openings as workers leave their roles, usually to retire or take another job. Filling these open roles and providing opportunities for more Connecticut residents requires a new approach to developing the state’s workforce—one that focuses on job candidates’ skills. By bringing together employers, community organizations and education providers across the state, Connecticut is building a new skills-based ecosystem. Connecticut officials from the CT Office of Workforce Strategy and Connecticut Department of Administrative Services highlight three lessons learned from the state's transition toward skills-based hiring at the link below: