For the last three decades, Washington has allowed Oregonians to spend their money in the state without paying its 8.89 percent combined state and local sales tax rate, the fifth-highest in the nation. But an initiative on Washington’s November...
This month New Jersey’s Democrat-led General Assembly passed, and Republican Gov. Chris Christie pledged to sign, legislation increasing the state’s 14.5 cents-per-gallon gas tax - the second lowest rate in the country and one that hasn’t...
Social Policy In Texas A federal judge in TEXAS reaffirms that a temporary injunction barring federal officials from enforcing a school directive on transgender bathrooms applied to every state in the nation. The Obama administration was seeking to...
Over 80 local governments, including Los Angeles County and the City of San Francisco, will ask voters next month to approve sales-tax increases, the highest number ever recorded. Some of the measures would provide funding for roads and other projects...
A request to place an early voting site on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus recently met with a pretty interesting reason for rejection: a city clerk feared it would aid a Democratic state representative’s reelection campaign because...
Singer, actor, producer...felon! Yep, that’s what the headlines screamed recently after entertainer Justin Timberlake posted a selfie from inside a Memphis voting booth to his Instagram account. Seemingly within minutes the Hollywood Reporter posted...
The United States often disparages countries that allow the wealthy to conceal their assets from tax authorities. But America is emerging as a tax haven rivaling notorious refuges like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, say some tax reformers. ...
Health in DC The Federal Circuit rules that makers of biosimilar medications must always notify brand-name drug makers six months before unveiling their products on the market. Biosimilar makers had contended that making the notification requirement...
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 1, which bars local governments from fining residents who let their lawns die or go brown during the state’s historic drought (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
NC Approves HB 766 The NORTH CAROLINA House gives final approval to HB 766, a bill that would allow the use of cannabis oil in treating children who suffer from seizure disorders like epilepsy. It moves to Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who is expected to sign...
Vermont Gov. Pete Shumlin (D) unveiled a plan last week to end child and family homelessness in the Green Mountain State by 2020. Shumlin said that around 1,500 people end up in Vermont homeless shelters each night, with about half of that number being...
Hey, you want to be become a member of the Brookline Massachusetts Board of Selectmen? Sorry, too late! That’s because, as the Boston Globe reports , the town has dropped the name in favor of calling its elected leaders the Select Board. Members...
Anyone who has played the ribald question-answer card game “Cards Against Humanity” knows that pretty much nothing is out of bounds. And speaking of boundaries – see how I did that! – the game’s creators made news last week...
Mississippi Lawmakers Approve HB 638 Lawmakers in MISSISSIPPI give final approval to HB 638 , which would allow authorities to use a firing squad to carry out executions. The measure is now with Gov. Phil Bryant (R), who has indicated he will sign...
The ALABAMA House approves HB 18, legislation that would authorize the use of the electric chair to carry out executions should lethal injection drugs not be available. It moves to the Senate (MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER).
Arkansas Reviews Child Welfare In the wake of a state lawmaker’s admission he “re-homed” his two adopted daughters with a man who later sexually assaulted them, ARKANSAS Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) last week ordered a review of the state’s...
Iowa lawmakers got a scare last week when, right in the middle of the day, smoke started wafting up from behind the Senate chambers. Fire alarms went off and people were sent scurrying out of the building post haste. Alas there was no fire, only the intense...
U.S. Treasury Department Increases Economic Pressure on Iran, Targeting Its Oil Reserves and Human Rights Violations On Feb. 6, the United States tightened sanctions on Iran’s access to its oil revenues and further exposed the Iranian government’s...
When he was running for office, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe promised his kids that if he won they could get some chickens. And as any parent knows, kids never forget a promise. So as the Washington Post reports, there is now a quartet of hens at the...
About a quarter of the American voters who will go to the polls this year to choose the next president, all 435 members of the U.S. House, a third of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate, and a host of state and local officials will cast ballots on electronic...
NH House Panel Considers Voting Laws The NEW HAMPSHIRE House Election Committee this week reviewed a measure that would ask voters to require residents to actually live in the state for 10 days before being eligible to vote. State law currently requires...
The WEST VIRGINIA Senate approves HB 4005, which would eliminate the Mountain State’s prevailing wage law, which allows the state to determine hourly pay for all job categories on all large projects paid for entirely with taxpayer dollars. It moves...
Bowing to pressure from business leaders, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) released a revised minimum wage plan Friday that scales back proposed increases but offers workers a raise as soon as this summer. Brown’s original proposal would have raised the...
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Fernande Duffly revealed last week she would soon step down, becoming the third justice in the last week to announce their retirement. Duffly, 66, said she would leave the bench in July, four years before reaching...
We should be careful what we wish for. And perhaps we should also be careful what we’re willing to risk to make a good soundbite. As the Sacramento Bee reports , California political consultant Paul Mitchell was so sure that the Golden State’s...