Blogs

IL Governor Signs SB 1 ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs SB 1 , legislation that will raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 by 2025. The Prairie State joins CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY and MASSACHUSETTS in adopting proposals to gradually...

WV House Tables Bill The WEST VIRGINIA House tables a bill that would have, among other things, created the state’s first charter schools and legalized education savings accounts for parents to pay for private school. The proposal prompted teachers...

ID House Endorses Legislation The IDAHO House endorses legislation that would make the state Wolf Depredation Control Board a permanent government agency. It is now with Gov. Brad Little (R) for consideration (POST-REGISTER [IDAHO FALLS]).

US Supreme Court Rejects Appeal The U.S. Supreme Court rejects an appeal by MARYLAND to review a ruling by a lower court that invalidated an Old Line State law which barred drug makers from imposing large price increases without first justifying those...

AR Governor Signs SB 149 ARKANSAS Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signs SB 149 , so-called “trigger legislation” that would ban abortion in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its landmark 1973 ruling legalizing the procedure nationwide...

NY City Commission on Human Rights Bars Discrimination The NEW YORK CITY Commission on Human Rights bars discrimination against individuals on the basis of the way they wear their hair, specifically defending “natural hair, treated or untreated...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a way with words. He also loves the sound of his own voice so much that he often keeps talking when he ought to shut up. Or at least talk out of only one side of his mouth. Such was definitely the case during his recent...

Speaking of fast times in California’s sprawling Central Valley, how’s a Golden State Autobahn grab you? As the Los Angeles Times reports , state Sen. John Moorlach has introduced a bill that would authorize building new lanes with no speed...

If a game show host and failed developer can become president, why not an alleged comedian? That seems to be the thought in New Jersey, where Fox News reports that former Saturday Night Live cast member and current radio talk blatherer Joe Piscopo is...

One of the first items on New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s agenda was removing the state’s National Guard troops from the border with Mexico. That caused so much posterior pain for state Rep. Zach Cook that he started an online petition...

If you’ve been on social media since the beginning of the new year, you’ve likely seen iterations of the 10-year challenge. For those who missed it, it’s a recent trend for users to share photos that span a decade to demonstrate how...

Buzzwords such as “AI”, “machine learning” and “Big Data” have without doubt become a major topic in today’s tech scene and they are here to stay. But the innovation force behind Artificial Intelligence and its...

Transparency International’s just-published annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) reveals the world’s most corrupt countries in 2018. Introduced in 1995, the CPI currently ranks 180 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived...

Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize the way we live and work, as well as drive economic growth for at least the next decade. At the same time, it threatens to disrupt the job market, increase inequality, diminish privacy, and, as some see...

At least 18 states have introduced bills this year mentioning the word “algorithm.” They include measures dealing with the use of algorithms to censure offensive, political or religious speech on social media (Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi...

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) has proposed a plan to provide $300 million a year in funding for the state’s roads and highways - which would make it the largest road plan in the state’s history - and about $114 million a year for city and...

For the first time in 25 years, teachers in the Denver Public Schools system have gone on strike. Over 2,500 walked off the job last Monday when an 11th hour effort to hammer out a new contract with better pay fell apart after 15 months of negotiations...

OH FACING $1B ROAD FUNDING SHORTFALL Jack Marchbanks, head of OHIO’s Department of Transportation, told the state House Finance Committee last week that the department is facing a revenue shortfall of $1 billion a year over the next decade. He...

tah Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers (R) has introduced a resolution (SJR 9) calling for a convention of the states, under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, to propose amendments to that document “that impose fiscal restraints on the federal...

With their state facing a $1.6 billion budget deficit for the coming fiscal year, Alaska lawmakers need to make some tough decisions about what spending to cut. But the state’s House has been at a standstill for almost a month because members haven’t...

Midway through South Dakota’s legislative session, 10 percent of the bills under consideration are so-called “vehicle bills,” measures with no meaningful text that can still be acted upon and have text added at any point in the legislative...

ND GOV APPOINTS STATE’S FIRST BLACK FEMALE CHIEF JUSTICE NORTH DAKOTA Gov. Roy Cooper (D) has appointed state Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley to replace retiring Chief Justice Mark Martin. Beasley will be the first black woman to serve as...

Last November, 53 percent of Utah voted endorsed a ballot measure to expand eligibility for the state’s Medicaid program. Last week, Gov. Gary Herbert (R) signed legislation to do that, but the bills he signed will provide coverage for far fewer...

Former California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) was famous for his “paddle to the left, paddle to the right” philosophy of governance. But in his State of the State address last Tuesday, new Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) made clear he is paddling his own way...

NORTHAM RESTORES VA FELON VOTING RIGHTS Embattled VIRGINIA Gov, Ralph Northam (D) said in a statement released last week that 10,992 Old Dominion residents with felony convictions have had their voting rights restored since he took office last year...