If 18 is old enough to vote, join the army or go to prison, then it’s old enough to govern a state. That may sound like the theme of a Disney movie but it’s actually the gist of a bill making the rounds in Nebraska. As the Omaha World Herald...
California voters will decide on Nov. 8 whether to do away with the death penalty and replace it with the sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Secretary of State Alex Padilla(D)certified last month that enough valid signatures...
Iowa’s state Supreme Court has upheld that state’s lifetime voting ban for convicted felons. In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled that all felonies are “infamous crimes” warranting permanent disenfranchisement under the state constitution...
WA Federal Court Blocks a Company from Posting Online Plans A federal court in WASHINGTON blocks a company from posting online plans for 3D-printed gun blueprints that lawmakers around the country feared would lead to a wave of easily produced, untraceable...
9th Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds A three-judge panel of the 9 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court’s ruling that blocks the Trump administration from immediately ending the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program...
According to a report from the National Association of State Budget Officers , 33 states are going to miss their revenue targets for the recently ended 2017 fiscal year. NASBO also reported that 23 states made budget cuts during the fiscal year, up from...
California Approves SB 51 The CALIFORNIA Assembly and Senate approve SB 51 , which would require the California Environmental Protection Agency to preserve any scientific information “at risk of censorship or destruction by the federal government”...
California Signs SB 332 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs SB 332 , which requires that foster youth are provided with voter registration resources and paperwork when they are progressing into adulthood (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE). ...
Pennsylvania Democrats celebrated when the state Supreme Court struck down the state’s 2011 congressional district map, drawn by the Republicans who controlled both chambers of the General Assembly as well as the governor’s office at the time...
In every state in America it is the responsibility of the governor to present lawmakers with a balanced budget proposal, after which said pols spend weeks or months in their own legislative cage match parrying and thrusting until enough of them agree...
Last week GOP leaders in VIRGINIA's House of Delegates proposed a cap of $100 on gifts of any kind to state officials. That limit is tighter than the one the Legislature imposed on itself earlier this year as well as what an ethics panel appointed...
To paraphrase the immortal Mark Twain, everyone complains about statehouse news coverage but nobody does anything about it. Enter Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. As the Indianapolis Star reports, Pence recently announced plans for his administration to start...
The University of CALIFORNIA announces it will now require all students to be vaccinated for measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella, tetanus, meningococcus and whopping cough. The program will be phased in over three years before taking full effect in 2017...
The ALABAMA Law Enforcement Agency raised the renewal fee for operational driver's licenses by 54 percent, from $23.50 to $36.25, last week. The increase was made in an effort to increase efficiency in the ALEA, a new agency created as part of an...
Several states are investigating a major cyberattack on the nation’s No. 2 health insurer, Anthem Inc., which the company disclosed this month. The company said hackers accessed a database and stole personal information about tens of millions of...
Well, not yet but if history is any indication it’s only a matter of time. As the Indianapolis Star reports , state Sen. Jean Leising has again introduced a bill to require Hoosier State elementary schools to teach kids cursive handwriting. Her...
Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) rejected 36 bills last week, adding to the record 500-plus vetoes he has accumulated during his eight years in office. As expected, the governor’s vetoes included legislation that would have funded voter-approved...
In recent decades individuals who have come to the United States to escape violence or persecution in their home countries have helped rejuvenate and shore up budgets in upstate New York cities where population declines have accompanied a loss of manufacturing...
The Wisconsin Supreme court ordered the reinstatement of 15 appointees of former Gov. Scott Walker who were removed from their posts in connection with an ongoing power struggle between the state’s Republican controlled Legislature and new Democratic...
Most election officials and lawmakers agree that the cyberattacks targeting America’s voting systems last year are an ongoing threat. But resources aren’t being allocated for updating voting equipment, strengthening voter databases, training...
More than 20 Republicans in Colorado’s House and Senate are sponsoring a bill to repeal the law that created the state’s health insurance marketplace. House Bill 1066 would repeal the Colorado Health Benefit Exchange Act effective Jan. 1 and...
If you think that after the wave of malfeasance in the California Senate last year that all the dirty, greasy stuff is contained in legislative chambers, think again. As the Sacramento Bee reports, health inspectors recently shut down Griselda's World...
The OHIO Senate gives final approval to SB 177, which would allow Buckeye State judges to include household or companion animals in court-ordered protection orders for domestic abuse victims. The measure moves to Gov. John Kasich (R), who is expected...
On a bipartisan, 19-0 vote last week, the California Assembly’s Governmental Organization Committee approved a bill sponsored by that committee’s chairman, Assemblyman Adam Gray (D), that would legalize Internet poker in the state. In...
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes AB 1060, which would have required the state Health and Human Services Agency to create a non-profit foundation to solicit donations to fund participation in clinical drug trials. Brown said there are already numerous...