2014 EXPECTED TO BE 'BREAKOUT YEAR' FOR JOBS: After years of tentative growth, the U.S. job market will pick up a bit more this year, according to Moody's Analytics. The global economic forecasting company projects the nation will add 2.6...
Crime In IA The IOWA Senate unanimously approves HB 2399 , which would make numerous changes to the Hawkeye State’s domestic violence laws, including mandatory minimum sentences for stalking, harassment and multiple convictions of domestic abuse...
OREGON Gov. Kate Brown (D) signs SB 844, which allows someone convicted of a marijuana crime to seek expunction for an act that, if committed by an adult, would constitute criminal possession of marijuana (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
In 2014, spurred by a series of cyberattacks, including the unauthorized access of millions of records at retail giant Target, California passed a law requiring businesses responsible for a security breach involving Social Security or driver’s license...
Wisconsin Approves Right-to-Work (SB44) The WISCONSIN Senate approves SB 44, so-called right-to-work legislation that would prohibit workers from being required to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment. The measure will now be...
Taxpayer Refunds for CO According to economic forecasts released last month, COLORADO will exceed its constitutional limit on tax collections under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights by $70-$220 million this fiscal year, triggering taxpayer refunds...
This year marked a rift between Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) and many of the state’s lawmakers, including some of his fellow Republicans, with both chambers of the GOP-led Legislature voting to roll back a major tax cut the governor championed...
A bill introduced last week in California would overhaul Proposition 13 -- the landmark property tax limit initiative approved by the state’s voters in 1978 -- to allow regular reassessments of commercial and industrial properties. Currently such...
IL Approves HB 218 The ILLINOIS House approves HB 218, a bill that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. It is now in the Senate (CHICAGO TRIBUNE). MD Signs HB 594, SB 482 and HB 533 MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signs...
California Approves AB 406 The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves AB 406 , which would ban for-profit companies from owning or managing charter schools in the Golden State. It moves to the Senate (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET). Nevada Signs AB 64 NEVADA Gov...
AK Lawmakers Dodge Walker Call for Action On Appointments Saying it was “time to bring [them] to a close,” ALASKA Gov. Bill Walker (I) issued a proclamation last week calling for a joint session of the Last Frontier Legislature to force...
Texas Approves HB 100 The TEXAS House approves HB 100 , which would establish a statewide framework for regulating ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. The measure, which would also override local regulations already in place, would establish...
Seventeen-year-olds who will turn 18 by the November general election were allowed to vote in Ohio’s primary last Tuesday, thanks to a ruling by a county court judge in that state a few days before the election. Ohio Secretary of State John...
TN Gov Allows SB 2376 TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Haslam (R) allows SB 2376 , which allows full-time faculty, staff and other public college and university employees who have handgun-carry permits to carry their guns on campus as long as they notify the local...
Saying California is using “powers it doesn’t have,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions filed suit last week over a trio of Golden State laws he says inhibit federal immigration authorities from doing their jobs. “In recent...
Kansas election officials threw out 13,717 ballots cast in the state in the 2016 presidential election. That total is at least triple the number of ballots rejected last year in any similarly sized state and is even higher than the 13,461 ballots disqualified...
Conservative politicians often blame unions and right-to-work laws for lagging employment and overly generous worker pay. But according to an article last month in the Great Falls Tribune by Alvah MacWilliam, data from The National Conference of State...
A nonprofit group pushing for nonpartisan redistricting in Virginia has filed a lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court alleging that in the last round of redistricting, in 2011, the state’s GOP-controlled General Assembly drew 11 districts to protect...
Crime In Maryland The MARYLAND Court of Appeals unanimously rules that Old Line State judges and court commissioners should look first to ways other than bail to ensure a defendant appears for trial. The seven-member court’s ruling was a compromise...
Florida Amended HB 1397 The FLORIDA Senate declines to hear an amended version of HB 1397 , which would have created rules for the Sunshine State’s nascent medical marijuana industry, killing the measure for the year. Rules to regulate the medical...
Maine Rep. Jim Handy thought he was doing something good when he recently introduced a bill that would have required dogs to be safely secured in a seat belt when riding in a car. But as the Washington Post reports , the reaction from dog lovers ranged...
It hasn’t been a good last few years for keeping California’s elected officials out of trouble with the law, with three Senators arrested in felony corruption cases and at least four lawmakers arrested for drunk driving. There is only so much...
Energy in OH OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) vetoes Substitute House Bill 554 , which would have extended a freeze on renewable-energy standards for the past two years by making them voluntary for 2017 and 2018 (CLEVELAND PLAIN-DEALER).
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed a bill last week ( HB 2537 ) that will expand the state’s Supreme Court from five justices to seven. Earlier this month Chief Justice Scott Bales asked Ducey to veto that bill, saying in a letter that expansion...
Citing an ongoing scourge of overdose deaths across the Northeast, all six New England state governors pledged last week to do more to combat the opioid abuse in their states and throughout the region. Gathered at a three-day symposium at Harvard...