NJ Governor Signs SB 3554 NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs SB 3554 , legislation that requires all workers hired to supervise people with developmental disabilities to undergo state and federal criminal background checks (NJ.COM).
Last week President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders outlined their plan for a sweeping overhaul of the federal tax code. While many details of the plan still have to be worked out, it currently calls for a 4.6 percent reduction in the...
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) joined with all four legislative leaders last week to announce updates to a proposal ( SB 901 ) that would limit the liability of public utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for future wildfires. The measure would...
There’s an oh-so-very chic urban salvage yard in Oakland that the wife and I are fond of browsing through on occasion. One recent trip turned up something I had never seen before: a cabinet with hundreds of slots labeled with the name of every imaginable...
State and local lawmakers used to dealing with homelessness issues know that one of the major aspects of that dilemma is public urination. And as city leaders in Paris can attest, it certainly is not a problem relegated to the U.S. As such, the City of...
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and his fellow Democrats who control the state’s General Assembly have come up with a plan to reduce the state’s public school teacher pension costs: get local governments to cover some of them. Under the proposal...
Last week Nebraska Sens. Steve Erdman (R) and Joni Albrecht (R) proposed amendments to an $8.9 billion budget package under consideration in their chamber and then withdrew them before they could be voted on. Erdman’s amendment would have kept all...
Amidst widespread speculation that a GOP plan in the U.S. Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act depends on his support, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) reiterated last week his staunch opposition to the proposal. U.S. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) has...
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) said he needs to study a bill lawmakers sent him last week that would make the Green Mountain State the first to import prescription drugs from Canada. That measure, SB 175 , would create an importation program for buying widely...
As a native of South Lake Tahoe, California I know firsthand that it is one of the loveliest places in the world. But as the Sacramento Bee reports , the community is feeling under siege these days from an influx of two entirely different kinds of visitors...
Geez, don’t make California Assemblymember Melissa Melendez angry. Or at least make sure the sharp objects are out of her reach. As CalMatters reports , fellow Republican Chad Mayes once gave Melendez a basketball signed by members of her favorite...
NV GOV WILL SIGN WAGE, PAID LEAVE BILLS In a statement issued last week, NEVADA Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) said he would sign legislation ( AB 456 ) on his desk that will incrementally raise the Silver State minimum wage to $12 per hour by July, 2024....
The MASSACHUSETTS House approves SB 2021, a bill that would repeal a Bay State law that automatically suspends the driver’s licenses of drug offenders whose crimes had nothing to do with operating a motor vehicle. The measure returns to the Senate...
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Unanimously Approves The SAN FRANCISCO Board of Supervisors unanimously approves an ordinance that requires brick and mortar retail establishments to accept cash as payment, becoming the second major city in America...
TN no longer covers OxyContin In an effort to combat the ongoing opioid abuse epidemic, health insurer BlueCross BlueShield announces it will stop covering OxyContin prescriptions in TENNESSEE . BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee reps say the company...
State and local tax collections increased by 9.4 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively, in the final quarter of 2017, roughly three times the average quarterly growth rate for the last year, according to a report by the Rockefeller Institute of Government...
MA Governor Signs HB 4670 MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signs HB 4670 , so-called “red flag” legislation that allows family or household members to petition the courts for a one-year renewable order suspending gun ownership rights...
There can be any number of reasons to object to a new high-rise apartment building going up in your community. Berkeley, California residents, for instance, are not thrilled about a developer’s proposal to build a five-story building that would...
CO Governor Signs SB 9 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs SB 9 , which allows Centennial State residents to store energy gleaned from renewable sources like solar power without discrimination in rates or excessive barriers in connecting to the...
Last week Standard & Poor’s lowered the bond rating for Hartford, Connecticut from B- to CCC, a four-grade drop. That news was bad enough, particularly coming after another four-grade drop in the city’s rating, from BB to B-, less than...
A proposed constitutional amendment that would permanently limit state spending in Iowa was unanimously approved by a Senate subcommittee last week. The bill - SJR 9 , which would limit spending to “the lesser of 99 percent of the adjusted revenue...
Officials in Maryland have agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit over Gov. Larry Hogan (R) blocking hundreds of people from his official Facebook page. The settlement also includes attorney’s fees and an agreement to adhere to a new policy for...
This month U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it easier for federal prosecutors to crack down on marijuana businesses in states that have legalized the drug. Marijuana was already illegal under federal law, but James Cole, U.S. attorney general...
NY Governor Signs AB 6823 NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs AB 6823 , which relieves Empire State prosecutors from having to prove force, fraud or coercion was used to involve a minor in prostitution. (NEW YORK POST)
A trio of closely watched redistricting cases were dispatched by the Supreme Court last month on technical grounds rather than on the merits of their arguments. In one of the cases, Gill v. Whitford , from Wisconsin, the justices unanimously ruled...