New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) conditionally vetoed a measure that would have overhauled the Garden State’s process for expunging convictions for those who have stayed out of further legal trouble for at least 10 years. In his veto message for AB 3205 , Murphy offered lawmakers several suggestions...

FEDERAL COURT RULES CO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS DON’T HAVE TO VOTE IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE ELECTORATE The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled last month that COLORADO’s presidential electors don’t have to vote for the candidate chosen by the state’s electorate...

At least 37 states have introduced legislation this year dealing with the cybersecurity of government agencies, 24 of which have enacted such measures, according to information from the National Conference of State Legislatures and LexisNexis State Net. The measures deal with a range of issues, including...

VA GOV VOWS END TO LAWSUITS AGAINST PATIENTS VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said he would work with University of Virginia James Ryan to end the widespread practice of aggressively pursuing former patients for unpaid medical bills. A recent investigation by Kaiser Health News revealed that that UVA...

Calling the rise in vaping-related illnesses “a frightening public health phenomenon,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) proposed legislation to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in the Empire State. “Common sense says if you do not know what you are smoking, don’t smoke...

NJ FACING BIG PUBLIC PENSION HIT NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) decision to phase in a reduction in the public pension system’s expected rate of return from 7.6 percent to 7 percent, which former Gov. Chris Christie (R) made just before he left office in 2018, could leave the state...

New Jersey senators who convened a hearing this month to try to figure out what’s wrong with the state’s scandal-ridden business tax incentive program -- which expired at the end of June and Gov. Phil Murphy (D) refused to extend last month -- got an earful from the experts who gave testimony...

At least 18 states allow sports betting either in-person at casinos and other gambling facilities, or online via computer or mobile phone, according to the website BettingUSA.com. Eleven of those states allow both, while six allow only in-person sports wagering and one, Tennessee, allows such betting...

There was a time when, if you weren’t in Las Vegas and you wanted to put some money down on a football game – say $100 that the Rams would cover the spread on Sunday – you needed to talk to a bookie. So, you picked up your phone. That bookie – maybe a guy who looked a little...

Wyoming has the largest estimated fiscal year 2019 rainy-day fund balance as a percentage of total state expenditures, at 109 percent, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers’ Spring 2019 Fiscal Survey of States . California has the largest FY 2019 rainy-day fund balance...

Many states have learned lessons from the Great Recession of 2007-09 and are better prepared for the next economic downturn, according to findings by the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) and other analysts. “Rainy day funds are growing as a share of state budgets,”...

At least 27 states have considered legislation this year dealing with the privacy of consumer data, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures . Consumer data privacy bills were enacted in six of those states, while measures are still pending in several others, including California, where...

TROUBLED NJ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY AWARDS TAX BREAKS The NEW JERSEY Economic Development Authority has released $533 million in tax breaks for 31 companies that had been on hold since the state’s incentive programs came under scrutiny this year. Several companies reportedly complained that...

BAKER PUSHES MA IMPAIRED DRIVING BILL Responding to the state Cannabis Control Commission moving closer to allowing social consumption marijuana lounges, MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) urged Bay State lawmakers to act on legislation ( HB 71 ) he proposed earlier this year to address impaired...

At least four states - Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina and New Jersey - have introduced legislation this year dealing with motor vehicle subscription services, according to LexisNexis State Net’s legislative tracking system. Indiana and North Carolina have both enacted such measures. Bills...

Although motor vehicle subscription services - similar to auto leases but with no long-term commitment, the ability to change vehicles periodically and insurance and maintenance bundled in - have only been around for a few years, they’ve been embraced by some automakers, insurers and consumers...

As of October 17, 68 lawsuits had been initiated against the Trump administration via a complaint or petition filed by multiple states, according to data compiled by Dr. Paul Nolette, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, for the website AttorneysGeneral.org . Democrat...

Jersey City Voters Affirm Airbnb Regs Voters in Jersey City, NEW JERSEY’s second-largest municipality, overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure upholding new regulations on short-term rentals. Nearly 69 percent of voters supported Municipal Question 1, despite the fact that Airbnb spent $3 million...

Republicans appear likely to have picked up a Senate seat and between two and four Assembly seats in New Jersey in last week’s election. Those gains won’t be enough to dislodge Democrats’ hold on the state’s Legislature, given their 25-15 majority in the upper chamber and 54-25...

As public health officials confront an outbreak of lung injuries linked to vaping from e-cigarettes, a patchwork of state and local responses have cropped up in lieu of federal regulation. But with a developing and not yet fully understood problem, and with several e-cigarette bans in a handful...

North Dakota is currently the only state to have created a public bank, which it did way back in 1919. But momentum for more is growing at both the state and local level. The latest effort was launched last week in New Jersey, where New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) ordered the state to develop a...

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an executive order last week providing for the creation of a 14-member board to oversee a state-owned bank, a centerpiece of Murphy’s 2017 gubernatorial campaign. The bank would be owned by the state’s taxpayers and invest millions of dollars in New...

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) issued an executive order last week to more than double the Garden State’s goal for offshore wind power production. Under Executive Order No. 92 , the state will seek to produce 7,500 megawatts of wind power by 2035, a significant jump over the current goal of 3...

As of mid-October, 26 states had introduced legislation this year dealing with the privacy of consumer data, according to analysis of LexisNexis State Net legislative data by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Seven of those states had enacted such measures, including Hawaii, where a consumer...

It’s the holiday season, and if most voters are thinking about politics at all they are probably pondering more about how to get through family festivities without a major blowup over differing political philosophies than they are about next year’s legislative agendas. But rest assured...