The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) recently released their 2025 Federal Advocacy Priorities. The five priorities include artificial intelligence, DotGov adoption, cybersecurity grants, cyber workforce and cybersecurity regulations. The advocacy brief includes recommendations related to each priority, including Artificial Intelligence: States Leading the Way. NASCIO recommends providing states with tools and resources to implement AI strategies. The brief states that “the federal government should take early and robust measures to provide states with the resources needed to ensure services are not interrupted, to train and develop the AI workforce and prevent user data from being compromised.”
On October 11 a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals removed Judge Janis Jack from a federal case that oversees reforms of Texas’ foster care system; the panel cited her “intemperate conduct on the bench.” Now child care advocates worry about a “chilling effect,” according to The Imprint on January 16, with judges possibly changing how they rule on cases in light of this development. Attorneys representing the kids in the Texas child welfare system filed an appeal asking the court to reconsider the October ruling. The Texas lawsuit, originally filed in 2011, asked for changes in the state’s foster care system; in a 2015 decision Jack called the Residential Child Care Licensing division “broken.”
Ohio ranks number seven overall for all states and Puerto Rico in the 2024 State Occupational Licensing Index from the Archbridge Institute and the Knee Regulatory Research Center; the score places the state seventh among states for the highest occupational licensing burden. Besides the overall ranking, the report also features a state profile ranking that puts states in one of five quintiles. Ohio falls at the bottom of that ranking system, scoring the “most occupational licensing” with a quintile ranking of one. The quintile system reviews several factors, including barriers and licenses, along with universal recognition reforms. The licensing index, released in August, contains information on 284 occupations.
Other overall rankings include Kentucky at number 8.
Find out how your state ranks in the latest edition of the State Occupational Licensing Index.
