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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 voters to cast absentee ballots in person before...

Business in TX The United State Supreme Court refuses to hear a challenge to a TEXAS law that requires veterinarians to examine an animal before offering advice or suggesting treatment. The law bars vets from giving advice online without first seeing the animal (LOS ANGELES TIMES). Business In...

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 prohibiting at least some government contracts with...

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 raise their minimum wages to $15 per hour...

AK Gov Signs Highway Funding Bill ARKANSAS Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signed a bill that will tap the state’s budget surplus, investment returns and other funds to provide nearly $50 million for highway projects in the coming fiscal year (ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE [LITTLE ROCK], LEXISNEXIS STATE...

Three of the eight states where the deadliest mass shootings since 1984 have occurred - California, Connecticut and New York - are among those with the strictest gun laws, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. None of those shootings took place in states ranked lowest on gun laws by the...

Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid in accordance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) but left to states discretion by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius in 2012. Seven of those states have obtained federal...

AK Lawmakers Vote To End Oil Subsidies ALASKA’s Senate has approved a House proposal eliminating cash subsidies for oil companies. But there’s still a wide gap between the two chambers over what to do about subsidies owed but not yet paid by the state, with the Republican-led Senate supporting...

The shadow of President Donald Trump and the Republican tax bill will hover over state governing bodies in 2018, a year of midterm elections that Tim Storey, political analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures, says will be “a referendum on the president.” Long before...

Taxpayers in nine high-income, high-tax states claimed more than 60 percent of the state and local tax (SALT) deductions on federal tax returns nationwide in 2014, according to the Tax Foundation. Seven of those states, which include California, where taxpayers comprising 19.6 of the SALT deductions...

At least 29 states have introduced legislation this year aimed at reinstating the requirement that internet service providers treat all content the same in terms of price and accessibility, which was eliminated last year with the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of its so-called “net...

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 with redistricting or take over the process...

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, including drugs that may be cheaper or more...

Twenty-nine states have passed laws broadly legalizing the use of marijuana. Twenty of those states allow the use of the drug for medical purposes, such as pain relief or the control of nausea. Nine states have legalized recreational use of marijuana by those over the age of 21 in addition to medical...

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 for that program. In addition, IOWA proposed a...

Thirty-two states have expanded Medicaid in accordance with the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act but letting states decide whether or not to implement the Medicaid expansion provided for by the federal law. A budget proposal that includes Medicaid expansion has also...

At least 27 states have considered but only two, Oregon and Virginia, have passed legislation dealing with internet privacy in the current session, according to information compiled from the National Conference of State Legislatures and LexisNexis State Net. Many of the measures were introduced last...

Alaska’s public pension “funded ratio” – the level of assets compared to accrued liabilities – increased 10.3 percent between 2013 and 2016, more than in any other state, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trusts. New Jersey had the largest funded ratio decrease over...

The economy is on a tear, with the national growth rate high and unemployment low. Eighty percent of U.S. companies have reported earnings that exceed Wall Street forecasts. City and state revenues are surging, as the Great Recession fades in the rear view mirror. But many of the pension funds...

At least 32 states have introduced legislation this year that would require internet service providers to uphold net neutrality principles, according to analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures and LexisNexis State Net . Many of those states introduced resolutions expressing opposition...

Although the decennial census is a federal responsibility, with states having so much to gain from an accurate tally, 30 have established committees - either through legislation or executive order - to ensure their populations are fully counted, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures...

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...