Maine Gov. Paul LePage is the hands down champ as the most disagreeable governor in the nation, a guy as likely to stomp on measures from his Republican colleagues as he is those from the Democrats he clearly hates. So it should come as no surprise that...
With little fanfare, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed five of six anti-tobacco measures last week, including a bill making the Golden State the second to raise the legal smoking age to 21. Other measures in the package will require e-cigarettes...
KS Passes Unbalanced Budget KANSAS lawmakers ended their 2016 session by passing a $6.3 billion budget for next fiscal year that is roughly $22 million out of balance. Their budget bill ( SB 249 ) calls on Gov. Sam Brownback (R) to come up with...
NH Gov Signs HB 1116 NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) signs HB 1116 , legislation that doubles the cap on so-called net metering, which allows solar power generators to sell excess power back to the electric grid (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD).
Auto Voter Registration Comes to VT VERMONT Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed legislation that will automatically register eligible residents to vote when they apply for a driver’s license. The law, which will take effect in 2017, makes Vermont the...
Markell Announces DE Technology Effort Saying “Our aim has always been, under corporate law, to harness the benefits of new technologies while limiting the risk for businesses,” DELAWARE Gov. Jack Markell (D) announced a state initiative...
Environment In CO The COLORADO Supreme Court strikes down an ordinance in the town of Longmont that barred hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and the disposal of waste water associated with the process within city limits. The court said the law was...
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...
Social Policy In VA The VIRGINIA Supreme Court rules that a gay couple can be legally considered to have “a relationship analogous to marriage,” and if they’ve been together for a year, a person paying spousal support to one of those...
CA Approves SB 807 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 807 , which would grant civil immunity to any firefighter or first responder who damages an unmanned aircraft, or drone, in the course of doing their job. The measure heads to the Assembly (LEXISNEXIS...
UNESCO , the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has designated May 3 World Press Freedom Day . The date coincides with the 250 th anniversary of the world’s first freedom of information law. In an age where information...
Guest-written by Mariangela Ferrara Recently, the Canadian Marketing Association held an event focused on how to use data to engage and persuade “both internal audiences and the marketplace.” It’s an ongoing juggling act for marketers...
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards makes no bones about being a country boy at heart. Which is why it should come as no surprise that he recently installed a chicken coop on the front lawn of the Governor’s Mansion. As Edwards told WWTV in New Orleans...
LA Approves HB 266 The LOUISIANA House approves, HB 266 so-called “ban the box” legislation that bars government job applications from requiring job seekers to disclose a felony conviction. Employers could still require that information...
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) signed a quartet of bills last week aimed at reducing the Sooner State’s burgeoning prison population. Oklahoma leads the nation in incarceration rate for women and is second nationally for men. The measures,...
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) issued an executive order last month that will allow more than 200,000 convicted felons to run for public office and to vote in the swing state in the November presidential election. The governor said restoring felons’...
The World Bank’s commitment to debarment against companies involved in World Bank-funded projects who commit financial crime remains strong, according to latest figures . When firms or individuals are found to have engaged in fraudulent, corrupt...
Last month Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) proposed three options for closing his state’s projected $290 million budget hole: borrow against expected future proceeds from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, delay making a $100 million payment...
At least 11 states have considered measures this session mimicking Hawaii’s newly implemented law that raises the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products to 21, according to LexisNexis State Net ’s legislative database. California’s...
With many male-dominated legislatures passing strict abortion restriction measures, one South Carolina lawmaker has decided it’s time the men see how it feels. As the Hilton Head Island Packet reports , Rep. Mia McLeod introduced legislation last...
CA Fails SB 966 A sufficient majority of the CALIFORNIA Senate fails to endorse SB 966 , which would have repealed mandatory sentencing enhancements for someone convicted of the sale, possession for sale, distribution or transportation of drugs such...
A federal judge has upheld a North Carolina voter ID law passed after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder allowing states like North Carolina with a history of discrimination to make changes to their voting laws without...
Sometime in the next week – maybe by the time you are reading this – California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) will weigh in on legislation to raise his state’s legal smoking age from 18 to 21. If he signs it, the Golden State would become only...
Nearly 90 percent of the income tax revenue California collected in 2013 came from the top one-fifth of earners, those making $91,000 or more. And 45 percent of the state’s income tax revenue came from the top 1 percent of earners, those with an...
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously voted last month to uphold the legislative district map drawn by an independent commission in Arizona in 2012. Republicans had challenged that map, alleging it placed more voters in GOP districts than in Democratic ones...