Garrity Launches GOP Bid for Governor in 2026-
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity has announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor, becoming the first GOP contender in the race and positioning herself as a...more
8/19/2025
/ Employee Benefits ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Pennsylvania ,
Political Campaigns ,
Political Candidates ,
Public Transit ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Market ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Elections ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Wage and Hour
Gov. Shapiro Urges Compromise as Budget Talks Stall -
Governor Josh Shapiro (D) says progress is slow but ongoing in Pennsylvania’s overdue budget negotiations, with mass transit funding and school choice among key sticking...more
8/5/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Alcohol Beverage Control ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Budget Cuts ,
Medicaid ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Public Schools ,
Public Transit ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
SNAP Program ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures
BOSTON—City’s First Office-to-Residential Conversion Project Begins -Construction has officially begun on Boston’s first office-to-residential apartment conversions. This effort is a part of a City pilot program aimed at...more
7/24/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Apartments ,
City Councils ,
Crime Statistics ,
Housing Market ,
Local Elections ,
Minimum Wage ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Office Space ,
Opioid ,
Public Schools ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State Budgets ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
PHILADELPHIA—Waymo to Begin Testing Driverless Cars This Summer -Waymo is launching manual test drives of its autonomous vehicles in Philadelphia to familiarize its technology with the city. While public rides are not yet...more
7/10/2025
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
Automotive Industry ,
Driverless Cars ,
Gig Economy ,
Housing Market ,
Minimum Wage ,
Public Health ,
Public Safety ,
Public Transit ,
Sales Tax ,
Sanctuary Cities ,
State Funding ,
Unions
NEW YORK—Waymo Applies for NYC Permit -
Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car unit, plans to begin manually operating vehicles in Manhattan as a first step toward launching autonomous ride-hailing in New York City. The company...more
6/26/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Curfews ,
Driverless Cars ,
Gig Economy ,
Housing Market ,
Minimum Wage ,
New York ,
Property Tax ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Technology Sector ,
Transportation Industry ,
Unions ,
Urban Planning & Development
Gov. Shapiro, Amazon Unveil Historic $20B AI Investment in PA -
On Monday, Governor Josh Shapiro (D) and Amazon announced a $20 billion investment to build AI infrastructure in Pennsylvania, including two major data centers...more
6/13/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Amazon ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Deep Fake ,
Healthcare ,
Investment ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Pennsylvania ,
Protests ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
Technology Sector
BOSTON—City Receives $7.4M for Office-to-Residential Conversions -Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) allocated $7.4 million to support two office-to-residential conversion projects in downtown Boston, part of a broader...more
6/12/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Housing Market ,
Mayors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Health ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
Tax Reform
BALTIMORE—Bill Introduced to Address Housing Shortage-
On Monday, Mayor Brandon Scott (D) introduced his Housing Options & Opportunity Act, which aims to expand zoning laws for multi-family homes and provide more housing...more
Mayor Parker Transmits First HOME Initiative Bills to City Council-
During Thursday’s meeting, City Councilmember Jeffery Young, Jr. (District 5) introduced a bill that would eliminate specialized zoning overlays in his...more
CHICAGO—City Incentives Aim to Attract Data Centers -
Chicago is positioning itself to capitalize on the data center boom, with the City Council adopting an ordinance offering incentives for developers to store municipal...more
3/20/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Data Centers ,
Employment Policies ,
Gig Economy ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Wage ,
Property Tax ,
Public Health ,
Real Estate Development ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Incentives ,
Technology
Tax Reform Commission Recommends Eliminating BIRT, Reducing Wage Tax -
The Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission released its interim report this week, proposing that the City eliminate the Business Income & Receipts Tax...more
CHICAGO — Restaurants on Guard Against ICE -
Immigrants comprise roughly 40% of Chicago's restaurant workforce. Some restaurant owners have begun educating employees on their rights, providing required paperwork, and...more
2/5/2025
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Wage ,
Real Estate Development ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
Special Election Set for SD-35 Following Passing of Rep. Gergely State Rep. Matt Gergely -
(D-Allegheny) passed away last weekend, leaving the state House once again tied 101-101. A special election will be held March 25 to...more
1/24/2025
/ Ballot Measures ,
Energy Policy ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Minimum Wage ,
Pennsylvania ,
Public Safety ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Elections ,
Trump Administration ,
Voting Rights
CHICAGO — Jobs Slightly Down Since Last Year, State Data Shows -
The Chicago metro area experienced a 0.2% drop in non-farm jobs between November 2023 and November 2024. While private education, health services, and...more
1/9/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Arenas and Stadiums ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Funding ,
Homeless Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Low Income Housing ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Property Tax ,
Public Health ,
Public Safety ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
CHICAGO — Teachers Union Narrows Contract Demands-
After eight months of increasingly tense contract negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union has now narrowed its number of demands to land a deal in the next month, the...more
12/5/2024
/ Affordable Housing ,
Commercial Leases ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Local Elections ,
Mayors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Public Health ,
Public Schools ,
Public Transit ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Small Business ,
State Taxes ,
Teachers ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
CHICAGO — City Council Plans to Turn City Data Pain Into Tax-Revenue Gain -
Alderperson Gilbert Villegas (Ward 36), who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Economic, Capital & Technology Development, proposes 8% of the...more
6/21/2024
/ Affordable Housing ,
City Councils ,
Fair Workweek ,
Gig Economy ,
Homeless Issues ,
Migrants ,
Minimum Wage ,
Opioid ,
Public Transportation ,
State Budgets ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
CHICAGO — Chicago Government’s IT Infrastructure Inefficient to the Point of “Barely” Working, Consultant Tells City Council-
An IT consultant hired by City Hall to diagnose the city’s wide array of technological woes urged...more
10/6/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
Asylum ,
Child Care ,
Impact Assessments ,
Information Technology ,
Infrastructure ,
Joe Biden ,
Mayors ,
Mental Health ,
Minimum Wage ,
Political Parties ,
Public Safety ,
Public Schools ,
Public Transit ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Market ,
Retirement ,
Shootings ,
Strike ,
Telecommuting ,
Tipped Employees ,
Trust Funds ,
Unions
CHICAGO — Mayor Johnson Launches Campaign to Close Chicago’s Device Gap-
Mayor Brandon Johnson, in partnership with World Business Chicago, announced the launch of a month-long campaign encouraging Chicago’s business...more
7/28/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
AirBnB ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Asylum ,
Climate Change ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Homeless Issues ,
Mass Shootings ,
Minimum Wage ,
Police ,
Rent Control ,
Short-Term Lease ,
State and Local Government ,
Tipped Employees ,
Transportation Industry ,
Unions
Gig Economy & Technology-
CHICAGO —
University of Chicago Commits Millions to Startups The University of Chicago is stepping up its efforts to create more startups, committing more than $20 million to launch three new...more
1/12/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Campaign Contributions ,
City Councils ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crime Victims ,
Dispensaries ,
Employer Mandates ,
Fair Workweek ,
General Assembly ,
Homeless Issues ,
Life Sciences ,
Minimum Wage ,
Nurses ,
Property Tax ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Market ,
Strike ,
Tax Increases ,
Technology Sector ,
Uber ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Work Schedules
Massachusetts’ Energy Facilities Sitting Board approved a special permit for a controversial electrical substation in East Boston. The permit allows the project to circumvent 14 final environmental permits. 84% of Boston...more
12/15/2022
/ Affordable Housing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Gig Economy ,
Homeless Issues ,
Minimum Wage ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Political Candidates ,
Property Tax ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
Small Business ,
Starbucks ,
State Health Departments ,
Technology ,
Unions ,
Vaccine Passports ,
Work Schedules
CHICAGO — Chicago Offering 12 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave to City Employees; New Policy Applies to Birthing, Non-Birthing Parents-
In yet another pre-election sweetener, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that the city is...more
10/27/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Eviction ,
General Elections ,
Housing Market ,
Impeachment ,
Mental Health ,
Minimum Wage ,
Paid Leave ,
Parental Leave ,
Public Health ,
Public Safety ,
Redistricting ,
Transportation Industry ,
Unemployment ,
Wealth Tax
Throughout the country, large municipalities are laboratories of democracy. New and innovative policies introduced in one market are often exported to others, and ultimately replicated at the state and federal level. This...more
9/22/2022
/ Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
City Councils ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Fair Workweek ,
Gig Economy ,
Grants ,
Homeless Issues ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
Political Candidates ,
Property Valuation ,
Real Estate Market ,
Starbucks ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Elections ,
Strike ,
Tax Revenues ,
Tipped Employees ,
Unduly Burdensome ,
Unemployment ,
Unions ,
Wages ,
Wi-Fi Hotspot ,
Wrongful Termination