August 6
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HomeSpotlight Story | Bird’s Eye View | Budget & Taxes | Politics & Leadership | Governors | Hot Issues | Once Around the Statehouse Lightly
Today, a visitor to a Bon Appétit cafe will have no problem finding plenty of tasty things to nosh on. But finding a plastic straw for their soda or a plastic stirrer for their coffee will soon be impossible. San Francisco-based Bon Appétit...
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Lauren Arthur is not a household word, except perhaps in the neighborhood of suburban Kansas City, Missouri, where she lives. But Arthur, who on June 5 won a special election to fill a vacancy in the Missouri state senate, epitomizes the high hopes of...
Since 2016 at least 19 states have introduced and 9 have enacted legislation creating a state reinsurance program and/or authorizing the state to apply for a State Innovation Waiver under Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act to obtain federal funding...
As of March 22, at least 27 states had introduced bills this year prohibiting pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM) or health insurer contracts that prevent pharmacists from informing customers about alternatives to medications they’ve been prescribed...
INSLEE SIGNS QUARTET OF WA #METOO BILLS : Saying “We must do better to make sure employers understand there is no place for these behaviors in the workplace,” WASHINGTON Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed four bills last month that address sexual...
In democracies, voters are supposed to choose their legislative representatives. Increasingly, however, U.S. courts have found that representatives choose their voters through partisan gerrymandering of legislative and congressional districts. With...
Commissions, rather than legislatures, have primary responsibility for drawing state legislative and/or congressional districts in 13 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In another 12 states, commissions either assist legislators...
At least 18 bills dealing with blockchain or distributed ledger technology have been introduced in 11 states so far this year, according to LexisNexis State Net’s legislative tracking system. Another five blockchain-related measures that were introduced...
In response to the $10,000 cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) included in the federal tax overhaul, lawmakers in high-tax states like California are considering allowing taxpayers to make charitable contributions to state funds...
As of Oct. 30 at least 43 states had introduced over 240 bills and resolutions related to cybersecurity this year, according to analysis of LexisNexis State Net data by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Twenty-seven of those states have enacted...
At least 11 states will exhaust their Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds before the end of the year, if Congress fails to extend federal funding for the program, according to a survey of state Medicaid officials by the Kaiser Family...
Greitens Calls MO Abortion Special Session MISSOURI Gov. Eric Greitens (R) said he will call a special session this week to consider new abortion regulations, in part to counter a St. Louis city ordinance he said made it an “abortion sanctuary...
The same distress over the disappearance of jobs in rural communities that helped drive the successful presidential campaign of Donald Trump is leading some states to turn to a complex economic development approach that hasn’t lived up to its advocates’...
As of 2015, 1,235 of North Carolina’s dams were classified as “high hazard potential” by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the highest number in the nation. Texas had 1,212 dams with that same hazard potential, meaning that a...
VW Settlement to Offset Budget Cuts in MO MISSOURI Gov. Jay Nixon (D) said the state will use the first $8.7 million share it received from Volkswagen as part of a settlement over the German carmaker’s emissions cheating scandal to offset earlier...
In addition to state legislative elections that could flip party control of 18 chambers across the country, 157 statewide ballot measures will also be contested in 35 states on Nov. 8. The measures include an unusually high number of citizen initiatives...
Seven states - Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia - have passed laws this year aimed specifically at legalizing daily fantasy sports (DFS) games on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel. In addition, Kansas enacted...
The daily fantasy sports industry had a few wins this spring in its first full year of pushing to make its games explicitly legal across the country. And while the question of whether the games are legal remains unclear in much of the nation, and their...
NC Gov Signs SB 734 NORTH CAROLINA Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signs SB 734 , which will allow Tar Heel State residents to obtain the anti-overdose drug naloxone without a prescription. The law takes effect immediately (CHARLOTTE NEWS & OBSERVER). ...
CO Gov Signs HB 1404 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs HB 1404 , which requires large daily fantasy sports operators to be licensed by the state, with smaller operators required only to register with state officials. The bill’s other...
CO Gov Signs HB 1423 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs HB 1423 , which bars software vendors from selling student-specific data or from using that data to create individual student profiles or for targeted advertising. Vendors will also be...
NJ Assemble Approves AB 457 The NEW JERSEY Assembly approves AB 457 , which would add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of ailments eligible to be treated with marijuana. It moves to the Senate (NORTHJERSEY.COM). CO Gov Signs HB 1436 ...
As of last month, 29 states had a minimum wage that was higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two of those states, California and New York, have also passed laws that will gradually...
Thirty-three states have considered legislation related to daily fantasy sports this year, according to LegalSportsReport.com and LexisNexis State Net legislative data. DFS bills have been passed in four states, including Virginia, which enacted two....
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books prohibiting at least some state pension or retirement funds from investing in companies that do a certain amount of business in Iran. Ten of those states also have laws on the books...
ND Tribe Challenges voter ID Laws Seven members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa have filed a lawsuit against North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger (R) alleging that recent changes to the state's voter ID laws infringe on their right...
In most states eligible voters can cast their votes before Election Day, either by going to the polls during designated early voting periods or by voting via absentee ballot. But 30 states have no early voting period, although 13 of those states allow...
MO Overrides Veto of SB 24 The MISSOURI Legislature overrides a veto by Gov. Jay Nixon (D) of SB 24, legislation that cuts the lifetime limit for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program from five years to three years and nine months and...
The Federal Communications Commission issued a ruling in February preempting laws in North Carolina and Texas that restricted municipalities from developing their own broadband networks. As of January 2014, 20 states had such restrictions in place, according...