( CNN ) -- With its past-midnight resolution ( at least temporarily ) of the fiscal cliff , Washington gave us a clearer picture of what the next two to four years of federal action might look like : Lengthy periods of legislative gridlock , persistent partisan finger-pointing and short bursts of incremental activity that ultimately fail to resolve the major national challenges at hand . And those challenges are substantial . Our country is still struggling to fully recover from the Great Recession . More than 12 million Americans are still out of work , and 107 million Americans are considered poor or near poor ( up from 81 million a decade ago ) . The United States ranks 16th in the world in infrastructure quality , with one in four bridges in America considered structurally deficient . And our education system is no longer keeping our kids competitive , leaving 15-year-old American students ranked 31st in math and 23rd in science . But as has happened time and again throughout American history , our greatest innovations come at times of greatest challenge . True to form , inaction from the federal government has sparked the innovation of states , cities and metropolitan areas that are teeming with smart , pragmatic and bipartisan solutions to national economic challenges . For the second year in a row , we have identified our Top 10 State and Metropolitan Innovations to Watch -- actions undertaken by states and metropolitan areas in 2012 that seem ripe for meaningful impact in 2013 and beyond , as well as for replication by other communities . Many of these innovations represent grand economy and talent-shaping gestures . In San Antonio , for example , a ballot initiative to support pre-kindergarten education was passed in November , championed by Mayor Julian Castro and the local business and civic leadership . The referendum provides $ 31 million a year in new sales tax revenue to expand pre-k programs , with the goal of providing every eligible student in the city a strong start on the path to secondary and post-secondary success . Other large-scale initiatives include an Infrastructure Trust in Chicago to leverage private investment for the energy retrofit of public buildings , and the accelerated build-out of a state of the art transit system in Los Angeles -- a metropolis long known for its traffic congestion rather than transport alternatives . Most dangerous U.S. cities . Some innovations embody smaller , structural interventions . Florida Gov . Rick Scott 's new Office of Freight Logistics and Passenger Operations will bring a multimodal approach to solving transportation and logistics challenges that have traditionally been addressed separately and inefficiently . Building on the state 's decision to prioritize investments in the Port of Miami -- which alone carries 5 % of U.S. trade with Latin America by value -- the office will be instrumental in ensuring the competitiveness of the state 's large logistics sector by preparing for changing dynamics in global trade , such as the expansion of the Panama Canal . Other structural initiatives include an ambitious strategy in Portland , Oregon , to help small business and distinctive clusters of firms access global markets , and a new National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute in Youngstown , Ohio , to capitalize on opportunities brought by 3D printing . All of these innovations share common themes . They embrace a vision of economic growth that is productive , sustainable , inclusive and globally oriented . They are affirmative in spirit , forward-leaning in action and imaginative in design , reflecting the quintessential optimism that characterizes America . And , perhaps most importantly , they are shaped and advanced by networks of leaders who work across jurisdictional , ideological and , yes , political lines to get stuff done . But most of all , these innovations in policy and practices show that American-problem solving does not rely exclusively on the work of the federal government . If we can accomplish such extraordinary things at the state and local level , just imagine what we can accomplish as a nation if Washington gets it act together and even partially embodies this same innovative spirit . Hopefully , it wo n't take four years . * * * . Top 10 state and metro innovations to watch . Exports . Metro -- Portland , Oregon : Metropolitan Export Plan . An ambitious strategy to help business and distinctive clusters of firms access global markets . State -- Florida : Office of Freight Logistics and Passenger Operations . A new department to coordinate and prioritize freight and port strategies and investments . Low Carbon . Metro -- Chicago : `` Retrofit Chicago . '' Leveraging private investment in a new Infrastructure Trust for the energy retrofit of public buildings . State -- California : Cap-and-Trade . The launch of a carbon trading system to lower carbon emissions and further demarcate the state as the center of the American clean economy . Innovation . Metro -- Youngstown , Ohio : National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute . A new regional manufacturing initiative to exploit the full opportunities brought by 3D printing . State -- Massachusetts : Top-USA Massachusetts . A research exchange between Boston-area and Brazilian research institutions . Opportunity . Metro -- San Antonio : Pre-k Expansion . A commitment to expand pre-k education , to give every student a strong start on the path to secondary and post-secondary success . State -- Kansas : Career and Technical Education Initiative . State incentives for enrollment in and completion of local technical education and community college classes . Governance . Metro -- Los Angeles : America Fast Forward . Metro-federal partnership in accelerated build-out of transit expansion . State -- California , Washington , Oregon : West Coast Infrastructure Exchange . Three-state initiative to coordinate cross-state infrastructure investments . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the authors .
Washington has been mired in dysfunction for years , authors say . They say the good news is local governments are stepping up . States and localities are finding innovative solutions to problems , they say . Authors : Small government units tackling transit , education , economy .