Sarah Breitenbach
The Pew Trusts
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Past articles by Sarah:
As Cashless Toll Roads Proliferate, So Do Rental Car Fees
Rental car drivers will likely have to navigate more electronic tolls as states convert traditional cash tolls to electronic ones and build new cashless roads. → Read More
Despite Growing Support for Marijuana, Legalization Faces Rocky Road
This year, Vermont came close to becoming the first state to legalize recreational marijuana through the Legislature. Other states spent the first half of 2017 battling over regulations to govern voter-approved pot sales. → Read More
How Mapping Disasters Can Help Devastated Communities Rally
The threat of more frequent and more intense natural disasters linked to climate change is forcing cities and states to change the way they prepare for, and recover from, events like tornadoes, forest fires, floods and hurricanes. → Read More
Nonprofits Poised for Bigger Role in Disaster Recovery
Nonprofits and foundations are working to fill the gap between federal funding and disaster recovery needs as natural disasters become more frequent and expensive. → Read More
Using Special Nails to Save Roofs — and Dollars
Some states are encouraging homeowners to build stronger homes to minimize disaster damage — and save money. → Read More
Federal Pullback, Climate Change Could Boost State Spending on Disasters
States are used to relying on the U.S. government when disaster strikes, but the impact of climate change and shifting opinions about state responsibility could cost them. → Read More
Dirt Roads Help Some Cities, Counties Drive Down Costs
A quiet movement to resuscitate deteriorating paved roads by converting them to gravel is proving popular. → Read More
A New Push to Clamp Down on the Wage Gap in Cities, States
To close the wage gap between women and men, cities and states are prohibiting employers from asking about salary histories, among other techniques. → Read More
Is No-Fault Auto Insurance to Blame for High Rates, Fraud?
A dozen states still have no-fault auto insurance laws, which critics blame for high premiums and fraud. → Read More
Are Animal Hoarders Criminals?
Reports of animal hoarding are on the rise, leaving states and localities deciding whether to prosecute or deal with the underlying mental problem that leads to it. → Read More
Cities, States Plod Toward ‘Next Generation 911’
The ability to text 911 could be valuable in emergencies where it is unsafe to make noise or verbally describe the danger at hand. → Read More
College Returns to Prison; Hope Is Fewer Prisoners Will
Renewed access to federal Pell Grants could mean a college education for thousands of inmates — and possibly fewer of them returning to prison. → Read More
Prisons, Policing at Forefront of State Criminal Justice Action
In 2016 some states moved to reduce their prison populations while others focused on supporting offenders once they return to their communities and revamping the way police departments interact with the public. → Read More
States Race to Protect Student Data
For several years states have worked to protect the personal information of students, but some privacy advocates want more regulation as classroom technology evolves. → Read More
To Combat Disease, States Make it Harder to Skip Vaccines
States are looking to cut back on the number of unvaccinated children by amending laws that allow parents to decline state-mandated vaccinations. → Read More
Is America Finally Ready for Smart Guns?
Some gunmakers know how to manufacture smart guns. But they have faced obstacles to selling them — until possibly now. → Read More
Aging Voting Machines Cost Local, State Governments
As computerized voting machines reach the end of their life span, officials must figure out what to replace them with — and how to pay for it. → Read More