MILLS REJECTS ME MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS MAINE Gov. Janet Mills (D) sent a letter to federal officials rejecting new work requirements for Medicaid recipients that were requested by former Gov. Paul LePage (R) and approved by the Trump administration...
President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border could collectively cost states, the District Columbia and two U.S. territories as much as $6 billion in federal military construction and National...
The Maine House of Representatives will have a family feel this year, at least in one row of the chamber. That’s where, as the Bangor Daily News reports , Rep. Amy Arata will sit next to Rep. Richard Bradstreet, also known as her dad. Thankfully...
At least three states - New Hampshire, North Dakota and South Carolina - have introduced legislation dealing specifically with electric bicycles so far this year, according to LexisNexis State Net’s legislative tracking system . Last session, e...
GROUPS, VOTERS CHALLENGE POLITICAL POWER SHIFT IN WI The League of Women Voters, Disability Rights Wisconsin, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities and three WISCONSIN voters have filed a lawsuit seeking the invalidation of new laws passed by the...
For years, being put on hold when calling a state agency office in Alaska meant a healthy dose of Muzak, better known to most of us as elevator music. But thanks to the efforts of one intrepid Last Frontier lawmaker, callers will now be spared a fate...
‘RAINBOW WAVE’ IN TX Fourteen, or 40 percent, of the 35 gay, bisexual and transgender candidates on the ballot in TEXAS won their races on Tuesday. State and national activists said this election cycle, which saw a record 400 LGBTQ individuals...
The partial shutdown of the federal government which began on Dec. 22 is already affecting state and local governments. And that impact could soon grow significantly. According to Governing , mandatory programs that receive federal funding, like...
With President Donald Trump engulfed in daily chaos that prevents him from effectively leading the nation, governors have stepped up to fill the void in ways not seen before in modern American history. Whether one believes that opinion recently posited...
It seems like just about every Republican in the free world is running for president, but don’t expect any of them to get an endorsement from Massachusetts Governor and fellow Republican Charlie Baker. As Statehouse News reports, Baker took note...
Those seeking a broader menu of taxpayer-funded schooling options – ranging from more public charter schools to increasing vouchers for private and religious schools – have never had a stronger ally in the nation’s top education job...
There’s a busy world all around us that goes relatively unnoticed much of the time but that could soon be a major focus of government regulation. It’s called the Internet of Things, or IoT, and although it has dominated the attention of the...
Texas Approves SB 7 The TEXAS Senate gives final approval to SB 7 , which would require Lone Star State principals and superintendents to report inappropriate teacher-student relationships or face jail time and fines up to $10,000. It moves to Gov...
Kansas Gov.-elect Laura Kelly (D) reiterated her intention to issue an executive order reinstating protections from workplace discrimination for LGBTQ Kansans after she is sworn in next January. “I am planning to actually have an executive...
DESANTIS WINS FL RECOUNT A machine recount in FLORIDA has confirmed that Republican Ron DeSantis won the Sunshine State’s highly charged gubernatorial race. The final margin of 34,000 votes was enough to avoid an automatic hand recount. But Democrat...
With Gov.–Elect J.B. Pritzker (D) expressing interest in working quickly to decriminalize cannabis in the Prairie State, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) took time last week to offer his fellow Dem some advice on how to keep it all from going...
West Virginia Approves HB 3093 The WEST VIRGINIA House gives final approval to HB 3093 , which would allow communities to form ”internet co-ops” that would work together with a service provider to become their community’s own provider...
Citing a court ruling that declared the state’s 6 th Congressional District to be illegally gerrymandered, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) created a nine-member commission tasked with taking politics out of drawing the district’s lines. ...
Analytics experts from Fortune 500 companies, along with other top data practitioners, will converge on Las Vegas this month—and that's not the only stop on the Predictive Analytics World tour, now in its 10th year. Washington DC, London and...
In late February the Federal Communications Commission issued new rules aimed at preventing Internet providers from designating fast and slow lanes for Web traffic. Internet advocates declared victory. But others have taken issue with -- and action against...
AK FACING BIG CLIMATE-CHANGE COSTS ALASKA is facing some of the country’s most extreme climate changes, including coastal erosion and road damage, according to the federal climate report released last month. The report estimated that the climate...
Last week the Michigan Senate voted largely along party lines to make significant changes to citizen-initiated measures raising the state’s minimum wage from $9.25 to $12 per hour ( SB 1171 ) and requiring paid sick leave ( SB 1175 ). The...
Last week a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a voter ID law passed by Virginia’s Republican-controlled General Assembly in 2013, rejecting a challenge from Democrats that the law suppressed minority voting...
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling striking down the voter ID law enacted in 2013 by North Carolina’s GOP-led General Assembly and then-Republican governor. The justices’ decision leaves in place...
Kansas’ Republican Secretary of State Ron Estes defeated Democratic Wichita civil rights attorney James Thompson in a special election last Tuesday to fill the Fourth Congressional District seat vacated by Republican Mike Pompeo, who was appointed...