Issues in Science and Technology has been leading science and technology policy discussions for more than four decades. Published by the US National Academy of Sciences in partnership with Arizona State University, the magazine is a platform where researchers, government officials, business leaders, and others with a stake in public policy can share ideas with a broad audience. Issues provides deeply informed but highly accessible contributions to public discussions and democratic decisionmaking, enhancing the contribution of science and technology to the creation of a better world.

The past year’s cuts to science funding, haphazard layoffs and rehires at federal agencies, and myriad threats to federal support for research universities have left many researchers demoralized. In fast-moving and deeply uncomfortable times like this, the science community searches for a story about where we are going. Maybe it’s time to find a new narrative—one that emphasizes states as the places where transformative ideas about the relationship between science and the public can emerge. After nearly 80 years of federally driven science policy, the stories in this issue show how states may be able to offer new models to connect the research enterprise with the public’s needs.