At least 189 bills dealing with independent contractors have been introduced in state legislatures this session, according to LexisNexis State Net’s legislative tracking system . Fifty of those measures have been passed by one or both chambers of...
NY Assembly and Senate Approve AB 2572 The NEW YORK Assembly and Senate approve AB 2572 , which would bar the state from granting permits for drilling or oil or gas exploration in offshore areas controlled by the state. It moves to Gov. Andrew Cuomo...
CARNEY MAKES FIRST DE SPORTS BET : DELAWARE Gov. Jon Carney (D) kicked off his state’s entry into legal sports wagering by making its first legal sports bet since the Supreme Court legalized the practice last month. Carney placed a $10 wager...
Responding to a new U.S. Census report that shows incomes have fallen by 14 percent for African-Americans in Minnesota since 2013, Gov. Mark Dayton (D) announced the creation of an office within the state Department of Employment and Economic Development...
And on the subject of less than honest politicos, we give you U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. As the Washington Post reports , the Deseret News of Salt Lake City published an op-ed from Hatch last week in which the longtime senator recounted his meeting...
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s (D) proposal to expand Medicaid came to a quick demise last week. The measure, which would have extended health benefits to about 70,000 working poor in the Treasure State, died in the House after the Human Services...
South Carolina Issues Executive Order 2017-15 SOUTH CAROLINA Gov. Henry McMaster (R) issues Executive Order 2017-15 , which directs Palmetto State government agencies to cease providing state or local money – through grants, contracts, state...
Health In Massachusetts The MASSACHUSETTS Supreme Judicial Court rules that because the effects of marijuana vary so greatly between individuals, police officers cannot offer an opinion on whether an individual was “high” in court cases...
Speaking of governors’ mansions...the digs of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee got a nice holiday makeover again this year from a select group of designers. So select you might say they were exclusive. As Seattle’s King-TV reports , at the invitation...
Last week, in the most significant primary Election Day of the 2018 season, voters cast ballots in eight states: Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Democrats got most of what they were hoping...
Getting elected to a second term as governor is a big deal, no doubt about it. But in Ohio, nothing is bigger than the Ohio State Buckeyes playing for the college football national championship. To his credit, Gov. John Kasich gets it. Which is why when...
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide was a big win for same-sex couples longing for marriage equality. But it may be a big win for the national economy and state and local governments too. The rush of...
IPERS still facing big shortfall Despite improving performance due to stock market gains and recent policy changes, IOWA ’s Public Employee Retirement System is still underfunded by $5.45 billion (DES MOINES REGISTER). WV lottery revenue...
It’s bad enough when someone else gets your name all wrong, but the needle goes to 11 when you screw it up yourself. Case in point comes from Connecticut, where the Connecticut Post reports that a banner on the website for U.S. Senate candidate...
Experience is the best teacher. So says Utah Sen. Jim Dabakis, who posted videos of himself last month trying an edible marijuana gummy candy outside a medical weed dispensary in Las Vegas. Utah voters decide tomorrow a ballot measure that would legalize...
An effort in Michigan to strip lawmakers of the power to draw the state’s legislative and congressional districts and turn that task over to a nonpartisan commission is on track to collect over 400,000 signatures - 315,000 of which would need to...
CA City Council Approves The LOS ANGELES City Council approves a motion to ask Golden State lawmakers to change the way the state defines “grave disability” in order to give officials more power to forcibly treat mentally ill homeless people...
Michigan Governor Signs HB 4311 MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs HB 4311 , which allows surrendering parents’ names to be excluded from the birth certificates of infants surrendered under the state’s Safe Delivery of Newborns Law (MICHIGAN...
NE State Judge Reaffirms Department of Health and Human Services Decision A Cornhusker State judge reaffirms a decision by the NEBRASKA Department of Health and Human Services to deny extended foster care benefits to three 19-year-olds from Guatemala...
IL Governor Vetoes SB 2332 The ILLINOIS House fails to override a veto by Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) of SB 2332 , a bill that would have raised the legal smoking age to 21 (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES).
Anyone who has spent any time walking in San Francisco can tell you the City by the Bay has a lot of homeless people living on the streets. A lot . And one of the myriad problems with that is that folks inevitably end up relieving themselves on those...
Tax increases generally aren’t welcomed by taxpayers anywhere in the country, deterring lawmakers from passing them. But there’s one category of taxes that gets increased pretty regularly: traveler taxes, levied on everything from hotel rooms...
Hawaii’s Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill last month that would require super PAC’s -- which are allowed to raise and spend unrestricted amounts of money on elections -- to disclose whether their contributors and recipients have...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced a new effort to go after thieves who use electronic skimming devices at gas stations to obtain customers’ credit card information. The crackdown includes a statewide sweep of gas pumps to look for skimmers...
Social Policy In TX The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a TEXAS law that requires clinics that provide abortions to meet surgical-center operating standards and doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The High Court determined in...