Saying “we should be protecting all of our children, including those who identify as LGBTQ, instead of subjecting them to a dangerous practice,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued Executive Order No 97 , a directive that bars state...
In the wake of the nation’s latest (as of this writing) mass shooting, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) proposed a package of reforms to his state’s gun regulations. The hard part will be not having them instantly shot down by his fellow Republicans...
OR GOV SIGNS ELECTION BILLS OREGON Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed legislation this month that will allow Oregonians to mail in their election ballots for free starting with the November 2020 contests. Brown also signed a measure that will require so-called...
President Trump has given up on the idea of getting a citizenship question included in the 2020 Census. But the fight to keep undocumented immigrants from being counted in the congressional apportionment process isn’t over for the state of Alabama...
This session Colorado’s Democrat-led General Assembly passed legislation ( SB 42 ) adding the state to the national popular vote interstate compact. That agreement commits the signatory states’ electoral votes to the candidate in a presidential...
GA GOV ORDERS SWEEPING BUDGET CUTS GEORGIA Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has ordered all state agencies to cut their budgets by 4 percent this year and 6 percent next year. State agencies haven’t received such an order since the Great Recession. (WSB-TV...
In the first six months of California Gavin Newsom’s (D) new administration, companies, associations, unions and other organizations spent $187 million to influence policy and legislation in the state. Adjusted for inflation, that sum is 12 percent...
In 2008, Arizona voters overwhelmingly endorsed Proposition 200, which banned the practice of providing short-term, high-interest loans known as payday lending. But according to a report released this month by the Center for Economic Integrity in Tucson...
Legislation dealing with medical balance billing - the charging of patients by healthcare providers for services not fully covered at the providers’ rate by the patients’ insurance - has been introduced in 32 states this year, according to...
When SNCJ reported in August 2017 on medical balance billing - the direct charging of patients by healthcare providers for services that aren’t fully covered at the providers’ rate by the patients’ insurance - nearly half of the states...
Okay, if you’re the governor you figure that in these polarized times half the voters don’t love you no matter what you do. But even the hardest hearts have to acknowledge the awesomeness of dogs. Case in point this week comes from Michigan...
In theory, facial recognition programs are supposed to be another close-to-infallible tool that helps police ferret out the bad guys. In reality...not so much. As a pair of California lawmakers pointed out last week, said programs can actually be off...
Rhode Island has a number of distinctions. It is the smallest state, but also has the longest official name: Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It is the home of the Tennis Hall of Fame, the birthplace of author Cormac McCarthy, and the site of...
Portland City Council Approves The PORTLAND City Council approves charging landlords an annual $60 registration fee, with the funds designated to go to a new city agency that tracks tenant complaints about negligent landlords and enforces fair housing...
IL Governor Signs HB 3390 ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs HB 3390 , which requires that kennels in the Prairie State be staffed at all times or have a sprinkler system or fire alarm that automatically notifies first responders of a fire (DAILY...
NH Governor Signs SB 258 NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signs SB 258 , a bill that adds primary care physicians and pediatricians to the list of doctors who can bill the state Medicaid program for visits that happen by phone or video conference...
NY Governor Signs AB 5842 NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs AB 5842 , a bill that adds bus drivers to the list of mandated reporters of abuse in private schools (ALBANY TIMES-UNION, NEW YORK GOVERNOR’S OFFICE). IL Governor Signs HB 246...
IL Governor Signs SB 75 ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs SB 75 , an omnibus bill that, among several things, extends legal sexual harassment protections to contract workers, limits the use of contract provisions designed to prevent workers from...
COOPER SIGNS NC GUN ORDER NORTH CAROLINA Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued an executive directive ordering that state Bureau of Investigation and other state agencies to take more action against gun violence. The order directs the BOI to conduct more threat...
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed a pair of bills aimed at expanding the use of blockchain and distributed ledger technology in the Garden State. The first measure, SB 2297 , creates the New Jersey Blockchain Initiative Task Force, which will...
A recall effort against Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) got off to a huge start, garnering over 18,000 signatures in the first week. That is more than two-thirds of the number needed for the initial round of a recall campaign in the Last Frontier. ...
ABRAMS TO FOCUS ON FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who narrowly lost a bid for GEORGIA governor in 2018 in a defeat some of her supporters blamed on voter suppression, will expand her voting rights group and work on reducing obstacles...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) wants the state’s Supreme Court to rule on whether convicted felons should have to pay off fines and fees before they can get their voting rights restored under a new constitutional requirement approved by voters. ...
More than 15 million Americans in eight states will likely vote in 2020 on voting machines without any paper backup, despite calls from elections efforts for auditable paper trails in light of known efforts by foreign governments to tinker with U.S. elections...
MICHIGAN MAY NEED STOPGAP BUDGET BILL MICHIGAN Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) may propose a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, but says she will continue to push for the infrastructure spending that has led to a budget impasse in the...