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U.S. Homelessness Edged Upwards This Year, Federal Report Says

At least one advocacy group points to housing affordability as a key factor. Also on Monday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced a high-level staff departure.

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Jails May Not Be Able to Hold Juveniles Pretrial Much Longer

Local governments would have three years to find space for youths elsewhere, space a recent UCLA Law School report argues already exists.

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Report: Tech Shops Don't See Themselves Driving Change

Nearly 60 percent of civilian tech specialists cited insufficient funding as a major barrier to IT modernization.

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Transportation Is Consolidating Its IT Contracts into a Single Vehicle

The Enterprise IT Shared Services contract will be available departmentwide but task orders will have to flow through the Office of the Chief Information Officer.

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Data Show Sluggish Economic Output in Smaller Counties

For the first time, the Bureau of Economic Analysis has released GDP figures for all of the nation's counties.

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Watch This State Office Building Twist and Sway

For the past 15 years, the Atwood Building in downtown Anchorage has been outfitted with instruments to measure how it performs during big earthquakes.

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Poor Security Could Leave U.S. Defenseless Against Missile Attacks

The details of the nation’s ballistic missile defense system are vulnerable to inside and outside threats, the Defense Department inspector general found.

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Wisconsin’s Outgoing Governor OKs Bills to Limit Executive Powers of His Successor

Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers criticized the legislation as ignoring "the will of the people."

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Amazon Intervenes in Oracle’s JEDI Lawsuit

A judge ruled that Amazon Web Services has standing in Oracle’s case against the Defense Department regarding its massive cloud contract.

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Federal Watchdog Offers Gloomy Outlook for State and Local Budgets

U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates show mounting fiscal pressures over the next 50 years.

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Farm Bill Expands Rural Broadband Funding

But some remain concerned that the money will not get to many places that need it to expand access.

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The Reason Why Kentucky’s Pension Reform Law Was Struck Down

Gov. Matt Bevin, who championed the legislation, called Thursday’s state Supreme Court ruling “an unprecedented power grab by activists judges.”

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Federal CIO Previews 2019 Priorities

OMB will roll out more reskilling programs, tweak FITARA scoring and is looking at standards for automated decision-making, Suzette Kent said.

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White House Expects to Stand Up GEAR Center in 2019

But most other key aspects of the modernization research center are up in the air.

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State Attorneys General Could Become More of a Factor in Antitrust

One FTC commissioner thinks that’s a possibility as the Trump administration returns to a laissez-faire approach toward mergers and acquisitions.

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FITARA Scores Are Up But More Work Lies Ahead

Lawmakers warned agencies not to rest on their laurels.

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Congress Votes For Better Government Websites, Digital Services

The Senate passed the 21st Century IDEA Act, giving agencies one year to improve citizens’ digital experiences.

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White House Will Launch Multi-Agency Council Focused on Opportunity Zones

The council will engage with state and local government officials on development in zones, a White House adviser said.

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Considering Diversity in Snow-Day Decisionmaking

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | A giant middle finger sculpture rises in Vermont … Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee’s “clean energy smart deal” … and speeding up N.Y.’s sluggish subways.