State and local governments depend on federal data for everything from community planning to disaster response. What happens if it goes away?
In Brief:
- Following a series of announcements about new federal priorities, the Trump administration removed data tools crucial to state and local governments.
- Some have been restored, but questions remain about the long-term availability of federal data once taken for granted.
- Local governments don’t have the ability to duplicate most of the data sets they rely on to plan for the future and create new policy.
State and local governments have long understood they’d have to adjust to shifting federal priorities under the Trump administration. But many did not recognize they might have to adapt to a world where it’s harder to access crucial data.
Recent changes in federal data collection and distribution will make it harder for state and local governments to plan for things like disease outbreaks, disasters, crime prevention, transportation and housing policy, says Brian Castrucci, the president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, a public health nonprofit.
governing.com
by Carl Smith
August 21, 2025