State Agencies

Every state runs a broad set of executive agencies, typically including departments of transportation, health, human services, education, corrections, revenue, labor or workforce development, environmental protection, natural resources, agriculture, and motor vehicles, along with public universities and state police. Most states also have dozens or hundreds of boards and commissions that license professions from doctors to barbers, regulate utilities and insurance, and oversee specific programs. State governments employ several million people.

Unlike the federal executive branch, which answers to a single President, state executive branches are often divided. Many states elect not only a governor but also officials such as a treasurer, auditor or comptroller, superintendent of public instruction, insurance commissioner, agriculture commissioner, or public utility commission, so some agencies answer to officials who may belong to a different party than the governor. Governors appoint most other agency heads, often with state senate confirmation, and some agencies are run by independent boards.

State agencies carry out many federal programs, including Medicaid, food assistance, unemployment insurance, child welfare, and environmental permitting under federal law, using federal funds and following federal rules. Most states have their own administrative procedure acts governing rulemaking, and many use sunset reviews to evaluate agencies periodically. Supporters of divided state executives say they give voters more control, while critics say they diffuse accountability and make coordination harder.