Red states have limited options for fighting Biden’s vaccine rules
As intensive care units fill with mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, hospital leaders in Montana and seven other Republican-run states are caught between the federal vaccine...
Some states train jobless for post-pandemic workforce
The over $2 trillion relief package Congress approved in March included money states and localities could use for workforce development. Short-term training has been a...
California may need more fire to fix its wildfire problem
The long-standing default position of suppressing every fire has created problems throughout the West. The Fire Restoration Group and others are pushing for more controlled...
Some states aren’t waiting for the feds to create COVID-19 worker safety rules
Unions and labor advocates say states need coronavirus-specific safety rules to make employers provide protective equipment, tell sick workers to stay home and take other...
Some wonder if electric microgrids could light the way in California
After power shut-offs that affected millions of Californians, clean energy advocates are calling for a transformation of the electric grid. They want more home solar-panel...
Produced by Seattle Times Marketing
This jobs program just might get people back to work
A reemployment grant program from the U.S. Department of Labor will give states $3 billion over the next six years, but starting in 2023, states...
Unskilled workers often tied down by ‘abusive’ noncompete agreements
In a half-dozen states, legislators have proposed barring or limiting noncompete agreements applied to surprisingly low-level employees — janitors, landscapers and entry-level health workers, for...