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...
VIRGINIA Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) vetoes SB 612 and HB 131, bills that would prohibit Old Dominion public schools from joining interscholastic organizations that don’t allow home-schoolers from participating in athletics. The House failed in its...
Wolf Battling Cancer PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) revealed last month he is suffering from prostate cancer. Wolf, 67, did not specify what his treatment plan would be but said it would not include chemotherapy. “What I’m going through...
Politicos’ misadventures with social media are well-chronicled here. But almost as common – and idiotic – is male electeds’ inability to be around attractive women without making dolts of themselves. Case in point this week comes...
ME House Veto HB 1139 The MAINE House upholds Gov. Paul LePage’s (R) veto of HB 1139 , which would have established a regulatory and taxation system for marijuana. LePage said there was still too much uncertainty that federal marijuana policy...
Yay, Ku Klux Klan! Wait, what? Yes, you read that right. As the Nashville Tennessean reports, while many in the South are trying to figure out how to respectfully manage their Confederate history, the Volunteer State recently marked another “Nathan...
CT Declares Capital Punishment Unconstitutional The CONNECTICUT Supreme Court declares capital punishment to be unconstitutional, effectively barring the death penalty in that state (WASHINGTON POST). MD Use of DNA In Unsolved Crimes The MARYLAND...
The Oklahoma House passed a four-bill package of sentencing and justice reforms backed by Gov. Mary Fallin (R). The measures would: raise the dollar amount needed to make a property crime a felony (HB 2751); allow district attorneys discretion in filing...
Hey Yalies, are you sick of paying the big Connecticut tax bill on that mega-endowment of yours? Well, you have options! Taking a page straight from the Rick Perry playbook, Florida Gov. Rick Scott says you are more than welcome to move the 300-year-old...
Gov. Wolf Urges Passing of PA Opioid Measures Citing “a public health crisis the likes of which we have not before seen,” PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) addressed a rare joint session of the legislature last week to urge them to take action...
National Drug Control Policy to Focus on Heroin Epidemic The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy announces it will hire public safety and public health coordinators for five areas in the northeast hit the hardest by a growing epidemic of heroin...
Texas state Rep. Jessica Farrar isn’t fond of her male colleagues proposing bills they claim will protect women’s health but which she says are in fact barely-veiled attempts to block women from obtaining a legal abortion. So, as the Houston...
Last week the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to repeal the net neutrality regulations adopted during the Obama administration prohibiting broadband providers like AT&T and Comcast from favoring or blocking content from certain websites...
CA Senate Approves SB 460 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 460 , net neutrality legislation that would bar broadband providers from blocking or limiting access to the Internet. The measure moves to the Assembly (LOS ANGELES TIMES). CA Senate Rejects...
Faced with losing out on the chance to host numerous NCAA sporting events over the next six years, North Carolina lawmakers reached a compromise with Gov. Roy Cooper (D) on repealing HB 2 , the state’s controversial “bathroom bill,”...
There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Maine Gov. Paul LePage is the model for Dr. Seuss’s infamous Grinch. Then again, he certainly appears to enjoy being the living embodiment of the terminally grumpy beast that gets its greatest joy from...
As surprises go, the switcheroo one plucky young man pulled off in the California Capitol last week was a doozy. As the Capitol Morning Report reveals, longtime staffer Amanda Fulkerson, communications director for Assembly Republican Leader Kristen Olsen...
Cuomo Forms Opioid Task Force Noting that accidental overdose is the leading cause of death in his state, NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced he is forming a task force to combat growing heroin and prescription opioid abuse in the Empire State...
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration bans the sale of e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and hookah tobacco to people under age 18 and requires companies to submit these products to it for regulatory review, provide it with a list of product ingredients...
CO Signs HB 1057 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) has signed a bill (HB 1057) requiring citizen petitions for constitutional amendments to include estimates of the proposals’ fiscal impact. Currently such estimates aren’t required until...
Citing “a severe and growing shortage of qualified teachers,” Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) signed an executive order last week that directs the Virginia Board of Education to adopt emergency regulations to allow institutions to offer...
MI Approves HB 4041 The MICHIGAN Senate approves HB 4041, a bill that would end cash assistance for families where a child is considered chronically truant as determined by school district rules. The families would lose about $386 per month in cash...
TX Approves SB 1135 The TEXAS Senate approves SB 1135, so-called “revenge porn” legislation that would make posting nude or sexually explicit photos or videos of someone online without their consent a Class A misdemeanor, with a punishment...
OK Revenues Hit 6-Year Low OKLAHOMA Treasurer Ken Miller reported last week that state revenues fell to a six-year low in May, with collections in every major revenue category, including income taxes, sales taxes, motor vehicles taxes and taxes on...
Nevada Approves Joint Resolution 2 The NEVADA Senate approves Assembly Joint Resolution 2 , a constitutional amendment that would codify recognition of same-sex marriage in the Silver State in the instance the Supreme Court of the United States reverses...