From governments and healthcare companies to retailers and financial leaders, no one seems to be able to avoid information security implications. Last year, some of the world’s biggest brands—Anthem, Target, Experian and the IRS, to name just...
The collapse of oil prices is taking a toll on energy-producing states. As job losses mount in the nation’s oil patch, depressed oil and commodity prices are having a ripple effect on state budgets. As many as a dozen states have been affected...
A bipartisan group of 17 governors signed off last week on a pledge to work together toward increasing the use of renewable power, integrating electricity grids across state lines and ramping up the number of alternative fuel cars on their roadways (For...
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) proffered two options for the coming budget year - which is still in a stalemate over the current year budget: If lawmakers will go along with a slate of reforms he campaigned on but has so far been unable to pass, he will...
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) is proposing deep cuts in the state budget, a hiring freeze, a temporary one-cent sales tax increase and higher alcohol and cigarette taxes to close a looming budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion. The increased...
Christie Rolls Out Budget Proposal Gov. Chris Christie (R) returned to NEW JERSEY from the presidential campaign trail on Wednesday to propose a $34.8 billion budget for the coming fiscal year. That marks a $1 billion, or 3.1 percent, increase in spending...
Lawmakers in New Mexico are scrapping a plan to create an ethics commission to oversee elected officials’ conduct. The proposal died this week in a Senate committee after amendments were proposed to water down the commission’s authority...
States are increasingly wading into the issue of immigration, according to a new study by The National Conference of State Legislatures. The study, released this week, found state-based laws related to immigration increased by 26 percent in 2015...
Happy Obama Day? A bill filed by a Chicago representative would make President Barack Obama’s birthday Illinois’s 13th paid state holiday. Rep. Andre Thapedi (D) filed the measure Feb. 2, and is awaiting approval from the Illinois House...
A bipartisan group of 17 governors announced last Tuesday they were banding together in a pledge to work collectively to develop cleaner energy and transportation resources in their states. In a statement released by California Gov. Jerry Brown (D), the...
When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) ended his bid for the GOP presidential nomination last fall, he noted his first legislative priority back in Madison was to overhaul the Badger State’s century-old civil service system. On Feb. 12, Walker saw...
Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter (R) has called on lawmakers to form a work group to study any possible connection between faith healing and child deaths in the Gem State. In a letter to House Speaker Scott Bedke (R) and Senate President Pro...
Snyder Seeks Expanded Medicaid for Flint MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is seeking federal approval to expand Medicaid benefits in the city of Flint to include residents up to 21 years old and pregnant women who have been receiving water from the city’s...
Business In NJ The NEW JERSEY Senate approves SB 992, which would bar employers from paying one gender less than the other for “substantially similar” work. The measure moves to the Assembly (NEWARK STAR-LEDGER). Business In RI RHODE...
PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) signs SB 166, which allows individuals who have served their punishment and remained free of arrest or prosecution for seven to ten years, for nonviolent misdemeanors, to petition the court for their record to be sealed...
The FLORIDA House approves HB 833, which would require Sunshine State public schools to provide 100 minutes of recess each week in kindergarten through fifth grade. The measure, which would also apply to sixth-grade students enrolled in schools with one...
The OREGON House approves HB 4036, which would eliminate the use of coal power in Oregon by 2030. The measure, which would also require the state’s largest energy providers to obtain 50 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2014, moves...
Environment in WI The WISCONSIN Senate approves AB 603, which would limit the kinds of waterways that can be protected from development as areas of special natural resource interest and give final say over those designations to the Legislature rather...
The GEORGIA House approves HB 34, so-called “right-to-try” legislation that would allow Peach State doctors to prescribe experimental medications that have not yet received federal approval to terminally ill patients. The bill moves to the...
Immigration In NM The NEW MEXICO House gives final approval to HB 99, which would ensure the Land of Enchantment issues driver’s licenses compliant with the federal Real ID law. The measure would also continue to allow unauthorized immigrants...
Social Policy In VA The VIRGINIA House endorses HB 773, a bill that would block state agencies from punishing discrimination against people who are in same-sex marriages, transgender or have sex outside marriage. It moves to the Senate (WASHINGTON...
There are sweet perks to being governor. One of the sweetest for Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is getting regular deliveries from Alma Winberry, better known around the Capitol as “the fudge lady.” As KULR News in Billings reports, Winberry is...
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin didn’t waste time signing a restrictive new law requiring Bluegrass State doctors to perform, display and describe ultrasound images to a woman seeking an abortion before performing the procedure. Neither did state Rep....
Or not. You decide. In a return to our occasional look at some of the odd laws on state books, we offer you the Idaho law that makes cannibalism a crime. Unless, as noted by the website Thrillist.com , you had to eat someone to stay alive yourself. So...
The stakes are high. The South Carolina primary will either boost or blow a Republican candidate’s shot at the presidential nomination. Historically, South Carolina has been a fierce battleground state for the Republican Party. The winner of...