The report noted weaknesses, notably in infrastructure and the ability of public finances to deal with an aging populace.
To further restrict the ability of public interest campaigners to press their case, as the Tasmanian government proposes, is to make Australia's free speech landscape deeply depressing.
Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-dominated Legislature passed a law that severely restricts the ability of public sector unions to bargain collectively.
The same is true for the ability of public sector institutions not only to subsidise pharmaceutical companies but actually to transform the technological and market landscape on which they operate.
Larry S. Gage, president of the National Association of Public Hospitals, said the rule's importance went far beyond Medicaid because it would compromise the ability of public hospitals to provide vital services like trauma care and burn treatment.
Now, with searches under way for new presidents at Hunter and City Colleges and concern about the ability of public financing to sustain the university in an increasingly competitive academic world, that is changing.
In addition to such concerns about the ability of public bodies to uphold and guarantee commitments made on paper, there are still loopholes allowing the determined to teach creationism.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday strengthened the power of the Federal Trade Commission to block hospital mergers, issuing an opinion that could limit the ability of public hospital authorities to claim immunity from federal antitrust laws.
The rapid growth of Latino and other immigrant populations in Chicago's suburbs is outstripping the ability of public schools to provide bilingual programs mandated by Illinois, and government financing for the programs is shrinking, state records show.
A county judge in Wisconsin on Friday struck down much of the 2011 state law pushed through by Gov. Scott Walker that severely restricts the ability of public employees to bargain collectively.
Mr. McEntee, whose union represents 114,000 public employees in Ohio, criticized the bill for eliminating the ability of public employees to negotiate on health care, outsourcing and staffing levels for nurses, firefighting crews and police squad cars.
