The Oklahoma Democratic Party announced last week - on the 108th anniversary of Oklahoma statehood - that it will open its primary elections to independent voters, who have long been disenfranchised during primaries. Republican voters slightly outnumber...
High Court to Hear TX Abortion Case The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a legal challenge to the abortion restrictions passed in TEXAS in 2013 as part of HB 2. Those provisions require abortion facilities to meet hospital-like ambulatory surgery...
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 that claimed 129 lives and left hundreds more critically injured, a majority of America’s governors now vigorously oppose allowing refugees escaping Syria’s civil war to relocate in...
Calling it “a much needed systemic reform of DCF policies and practices,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced last Tuesday he is doing away with a Department of Children and Families policy that requires the triaging of child welfare...
Brown in Paris CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said he is still planning to attend a United Nations climate change summit in Paris next month. The summit is scheduled to go on in spite of the wave of terrorist attacks carried out in the City of Light...
Business In MA The MASSACHUSETTS Senate approves SB 2054, which would bar employers and schools from requiring employees, students and job applicants to share their social media passwords or provide the employer or a school official access to those...
Crime In OH The OHIO Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of requiring sex offenders to register their addresses with authorities (DAYTON DAILY NEWS). Crime In MA The MASSACHUSETTS House and Senate give final approval to HB 1641, which...
Education in WV The WEST VIRGINIA Board of Education endorses a repeal of the Common Core-based K-12 math and English language arts standards and replacement of them with standards developed by state education officials. The proposal is now in a 30...
Energy in MA The MASSACHUSETTS House and Senate fail to reach agreement on legislation to raise the cap on the amount of net solar metering credits allowed in a particular utility’s system. Each chamber passed legislation of its own (HB 3857...
Environment in MI MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs a trio of bills addressing poaching: SBs 244, 245 and 246, which collectively increase fines and jail time for killing certain game and protected species (MICHIGAN GOVERNOR’S OFFICE).
Health In MI MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs SB 152, which requires amateur mixed martial arts fighters to undergo pre-fight medical exams similar to those used with professional fighters, including testing for blood-borne diseases and drugs and...
The OKLAHOMA Supreme Court rules that a non-biological parent in a same-sex relationship who has acted as a parent has the same rights as the biological parent. The ruling came in the case of a same-sex couple who split after 10 years of co-parenting...
The OHIO House approves HB 48, which would allow people to carry a handgun in a school safety zone if the person has a license and leaves the weapon inside a locked motor vehicle. The measure, which would also allow universities to adopt policies permitting...
If being sworn into office is fun, why not do it twice? That’s what new Massachusetts state Sen. Michael Brady did a few weeks ago. As Statehouse News reports, Brady believed he was to be sworn in at 1:00pm on the 10 th . Alas, Gov. Charlie Baker...
We’re still in election silly season, which means we are elbows deep in candidates spewing the kind of stuff that usually exits the southbound end of a northbound bull. In that regard the venerable New York Times recently investigated a claim from...
It’s just too dad gummed easy to get a shootin’ iron in Texas, according to state Rep. Tony Dale. Now Dale is no namby pamby gun-control lovin’ peacenik. He’s a red-blooded gun lover with a 100 percent rating from the NRA, ooooh...
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as Obamacare, has entered a new enrollment season with advocates singing its praises. This is understandable. In five and a half years of existence, the landmark law has survived two narrow Supreme Court...
Access to information has never been more freely available. The development of the open internet and the creation of search engines to sort information for users means that anyone can get their hands on any information. What does all this mean for the...
At LexisNexis, we are always looking for ways to enhance our market research tools to help you get your work done more efficiently. Here’s the scoop on the latest changes designed to do just that. This weekend, you’ll see several updates...
Five years ago, the G20 Leaders created the Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) to address the negative impact of corruption on economic development and trade. Yet, the latest Transparency International report suggests that the leaders of the world’s...
Every December the SNCJ staff breaks out our crystal ball to foresee what issues might dominate legislative agendas in the coming year. Over the next two weeks Associate Editor Korey Clark and I will share thumbnails of what we think some of those issues...
Between 2007 and 2012, the number of annual suicide deaths rose by more than 30 percent in eight states, according to analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Governing . The largest increase, 69.3 percent, was in Wyoming...
For the first time in a decade congressional leaders have agreed on a federal highway bill that provides funding for more than two years. If approved by the full House and Senate and signed by President Obama, the approximately $300 billion, 5-year plan...
A few years ago, California was facing a $26 billion budget deficit. But a report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office last month said the state would end next fiscal year with an $11.5 billion surplus. And the report also projected surpluses for...
With a budget surplus of as much as $1 billion expected in Minnesota, consensus is building there for tax cuts in 2016. The state ranked 9th highest in the nation in tax collections in 2013, its highest position since 2000 when it ranked 8th, before...