Citing the ongoing opioid and heroin crisis he said “has tragically claimed scores of lives and broken families across the Commonwealth,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signed off on an expansive measure that imposes a number of new...
UNION MEASURE HELPS DRIVE HIGH VOTER TURNOUT FOR MO PRIMARY MISSOURI’s Proposition A, a referendum on a law passed last year prohibiting mandatory union fees ( SB 19 ), helped drive turnout for the state’s Aug. 7 primary election to its...
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) ruled in May that candidates for congressional office can use their campaign funds to pay for child care. Since then, state and local candidates across the country, including an unprecedented number of women, have...
SPORTS BETTING OFF AND RUNNING IN NJ Three casinos and two racetracks allowing sports betting in NEW JERSEY took in $40.6 million in such wagering in July, the first full month it has been legal. Since the state initially began allowing sports gambling...
Cybersecurity has local election officials across the country caught between a rock and a hard place, according to those gathered at the annual DEF CON hacker conference in Las Vegas this month. They said they don’t have the knowledge or the resources...
Four states – Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin – held primary elections on Aug. 14. In the Democratic primaries, one of the major Election Day themes was diversity. In Connecticut, Democrats nominated Jahana Hayes, a teacher...
For years, a lack of state funding has forced delays of bridge replacement projects in Wisconsin. But the state’s Department of Transportation, or WisDOT, has launched a new program to address that problem. Under the program, called “Replace...
In 1978 California voters approved Proposition 13, which, among other things, capped property taxes at 1 percent of market value and limited property tax increases to 2 percent per year. The changes to the state’s tax system were dramatic, and they’ve...
Alaska’s public pension “funded ratio” – the level of assets compared to accrued liabilities – increased 10.3 percent between 2013 and 2016, more than in any other state, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trusts....
The economy is on a tear, with the national growth rate high and unemployment low. Eighty percent of U.S. companies have reported earnings that exceed Wall Street forecasts. City and state revenues are surging, as the Great Recession fades in the rear...
No industry is impervious to bribery and corruption risk, but companies linked to energy industries, in particular, face elevated risks in order to reap the equally-high rewards. It’s a topic we’ve touched on in blog posts on Unaoil and Petrobras...
Today’s consultants are pressed to be more than an advisor from a distance. They are being asked to play an integral role in the critical business decisions of today’s leading companies. You need to do more than share information – you...
The global compliance landscape is becoming ever more complex, and some of the most significant recent developments in ABC and AML legislation have happened in the UK. All companies who operate in the UK need to be aware of these laws, as well as growing...
New advances in the digital world impact the workspace of every industry on a daily basis. Emerging technology is changing the way people communicate, process information and use it to meet their bottom line. As a professional in public relations , the...
With wildfires burning the state down amidst the usual end-of-session jamming through bills that really ought to have had a lot more deliberation, California lawmakers can point to at least one epic accomplishment: surfing is now the official state sport...
As Richard Nixon would tell you if he was here, the lie is rarely what sinks your ship, it’s the cover up. And now-former Florida legislative candidate Melissa Howard can vouch for it as well. As most folks have now heard, Howard’s run for...
That Ron Estes is a real winner. Ron Estes is also a loser. Wait, what? Yes, as the Huffington Post reports , Ron Estes was both the winner and the loser in last month’s GOP primary to represent Kansas’s 4th Congressional District. So how...
Government officials all over the world are feverishly working to figure out ways to mitigate the worst impacts of global climate change. In the meantime, we poor peons have to learn to deal with a rapidly warming globe. But if you think you have it bad...
The city legislative body in ANCHORAGE narrowly approves a complete ban on all disposable plastic shopping bags from local retail stores. The ban, which takes effect next March, is stricter than those adopted in other Alaska cities and villages and comes...
CALIFORNIA lawmakers send a bill to Gov. Jerry Brown (D) that bars secret settlements and non-disclosure agreements in sexual harassment cases, one of several bills considered this year in state legislatures in response to the #MeToo movement. The California...
ME, KY, MS GOVS FILE WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION BRIEF MAINE Gov. Paul LePage (R), KENTUCKY Gov. Matt Bevin (R) and MISSISSIPPI Gov. Phil Bryant (R) join the attorneys general of 13 other states in an Aug. 23 brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule...
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who is the Democratic nominee in the race to succeed California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and has campaigned in favor of having California pay for the health care of all, reiterated this past week that should include undocumented...
CA PASSES LAW TO BAN CERTAIN TYPES OF HEALTH INSURANCE CALIFORNIA lawmakers pass and send to Gov. Jerry Brown (D) legislation that bans certain types of health insurance policies known as “short-term” plans, or “junk insurance”...
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation overhauling the Golden State’s pretrial detention system, ending cash bail and instead giving judges more control over who should be jailed ahead of trial. “Today, California reforms...
CALIFORNIA passes a measure setting ambitious clean energy goals, calling for relying solely on clean sources of energy like solar, wind and geothermal by 2045, and sends it to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who is expected to sign it. The proposal...