Category: CSG Midwest

Faced with a rising tide of packaging waste, some states are now requiring the producers and distributors of these materials to assume financial responsibility for helping manage their re-use, recycling and disposal. The concept is known as “extended producer responsibility,” a policy option first employed by states 35 years ago when Minnesota (along with New Jersey) adopted an EPR law related to the disposal of rechargeable batteries.

A unique power of Wisconsin governors is once again the subject of a proposed constitutional amendment, with the Legislature asking voters in November to prevent partial vetoes of spending bills that result in new or increased taxes and fees.

Across his home state of Wisconsin, Rep. Clint Moses says, “there’s a lot of young people who would love to get into farming and would love to know about acreage that comes available.” A part-time beef producer, Moses himself has been interested in acquiring more land. But among the obstacles for the aspiring next generation of agricultural producers: the limited amount of acreage that becomes available, as well as a lack of knowledge of when it does.

As part of broader initiatives to bolster reading scores and overall student achievement, states are increasingly investing in literacy coaches. But what is the role of instructional literacy coaches? And how can they improve student achievement?

For at least one year, the Midwest has reversed a longtime trend, with the region as a whole gaining population in 2025 due to domestic migration. In early parts of this decade, and in many years prior to it, the Midwest consistently lost people to other regions, especially the South and West. 

With the signing of LB 258 in February, Nebraska became the Midwest’s fourth state with a separate, and lower, hourly minimum wage for youth workers. The legislative change was made more than two years after voters approved a ballot measure that increased the minimum wage for all workers, to $15 an hour starting in January 2026.

Celebrated for its breathtaking scenery, cultural richness, and recreational opportunities, Canada’s Great Lakes Waterfront Trail stretches along more than 2,250 miles of freshwater coastline and connects more than 170 communities and First Nations. Its goal is to reconnect people to one-fifth of the Earth’s standing freshwater and to each other, catalyzing improvements in many of the communities it joins.

What options are available for states to provide property tax relief? What policies have been enacted or are being considered in the region’s legislatures? Those questions and more were the subject of informational sessions held for South Dakota legislators in early February.