NEWS AND UPDATES
 

Health insurance subsidies and local impact

Associate Professor Mark Shepard explains the subsidies at the center of the shutdown and potential impacts if they are ended, including effects on state and local government

Read the explainer
 

Infrastructure wins at the ballot box

Taubman Center Visiting Fellow Samantha Silverberg breaks down the recent election wins for infrastructure and what they mean for the shifting roles of federal, state, and local government. 

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Supporting leaders, embracing transitions

As transition time is once again upon us, look back at one Transition Term team's experience supporting North Carolina Governor Josh Stein.

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Students trek through New Hampshire

HKS students experience rural economic development in New Hampshire firsthand through the Taubman Center’s Economic Development Seminar.

Read their reflections
DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF STATE AND LOCAL LEADERS
State, county, city, and town governments need talented young leaders who are passionate about finding solutions to policy challenges. Through experiential learning opportunities, fellowships, and career mentorship and connections, the Taubman Center helps connect students who are dedicated to state and local public service with governments that need their support.
 

Transition Term

Transition Term embeds HKS students in the offices of newly-elected mayors, governors, and county officials during January Term to help these officials accelerate key initiatives as they shift from campaigning to governing.

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Economic Development Seminar

This monthly non-credit seminar for HKS students convenes leading economic development thinkers and doers from around the country to engage on state, county, and city best practices and shared challenges. 

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Treks

Student-led, Taubman Center supported treks allow HKS students to meet state and local leaders in cities and towns across the country and explore how these communities approach policymaking. 

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Policy Analysis Exercise & Taubman Urban Prize

We connect state and local governments with students as part of a Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE), the capstone experience for HKS's MPP curriculum. PAE students are also eligible for the Taubman Urban Prize. 

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GENERATING BIG IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS TO STATE AND LOCAL CHALLENGES
The Taubman Center supports an intellectual community where faculty, fellows, students, and research staff can productively deliver urban and rural research and teaching, as well as interact with each other to stimulate, support, and critique these endeavors. Explore recent research highlights below.
 

Campaign Contributions and Housing Policy

What are the effects of municipal campaign contributions on housing policy? Associate Professor of Public Policy Justin de Benedictis-Kessner and co-author Jennifer Gaudette explore data from over three million municipal election campaigns to gain insight.  

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Small Marketplace Premiums and Administrative Burden

Do health insurance premiums function as enrollment barriers? Associate Professor of Public Policy Mark Shepard and co-authors Tim Layton and Adrianna McIntyre examine the impact from a cost and administrative perspective. 

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A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering

Is there a way to reduce partisan gerrymandering without requiring a neutral third part of bipartisan agreement? Associate Professor of Public Policy Benjamin Schneer proposes the Define-Combine Procedure to do just that in a new paper. 

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HELPING STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENT AND SCALE SOLUTIONS
The Taubman Center seeks to support and improve state, county, city, and town government by spreading and implementing ideas and solutions through our communities of practice, technical assistance, and HKS executive education.
 

Increasing Family Engagement in Voluntary Supports

The Government Performance Lab (GPL) provides actionable strategies that outline how to increase family engagement in voluntary supportive services provided by the government. 

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Facilitating Reuse on "Allston Christmas"

Through their student Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) Nora Cahill MPP 2025 and Naomi Carolan MPP 2025 developed policies to support Boston city services during the yearly influx of discarded items. 

Read the PAE
 

Improving Connections to Permanent Supportive Housing

With support from the Government Performance Lab, Chicago dramatically decreased the time from referral for services to move-in. An interview with program leaders shares lessons from the pilot's success. 

Read the Interview

Alumni Feature: Caren Yap MPP 2025

Caren Yap came to the Kennedy School with a commitment to civic engagement and labor policy drawn from her deep personal experience. As an MPP student, she sought out experiential learning opportunities, including her role as a Dukakis Summer Fellow in Hawaii in 2023 and as a participant in the Taubman Center’s 2024 Transition Term program supporting the new mayor of Ogden, Utah. As a student, Caren authored legislation to address nursing staffing in her home state of Nevada, sharing her experience along the way.

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