North Carolina’s General Assembly convened a special session on Aug. 24 to consider changes to two constitutional amendments bound for the state’s November ballot that could shift power from the governor to state lawmakers, part of an ongoing...
MURPHY CALLS FOR TOUGHER NJ GUN LAWS In the wake of the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy (D) endorsed new restrictions on gun and ammunition sales in New Jersey. Murphy urged lawmakers to introduce new bills to fight...
IA Law Barring Abortion A state judge declares an IOWA law barring abortion procures as soon a fetal heartbeat is detected – as early as six weeks into a pregnancy - to be unconstitutional. Judge Michael Huppert said prohibiting abortions violates...
WV Senate Approves SB 1 The WEST VIRGINIA Senate approves SB 1 , which would allow Mountain State residents to attend community college or technical school for free provided they meet certain conditions, including passing regular drug tests and performing...
BROWN ISSUES OR CLEAN ENERGY ORDERS : Saying “economic development and environmental stewardship are not mutually exclusive goals,” OREGON Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed two executive orders that collectively take steps to increase the use...
ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signs HB 6021 , which allows state employees who retired prior to June 2011, and are in either the Illinois Teachers Retirement System, State Universities Retirement System or Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, to establish...
Currently North Dakota’s executive and judicial branches can directly introduce bills in the state’s legislature, the Legislative Assembly. But a bill sponsored by North Dakota Rep. Nathan Toman (R) and several other Republican lawmakers of...
Last year, when Philadelphia became the second U.S. city to approve a tax on sodas and other sugared beverages (two years after Berkeley, California became the first), the city’s Department of Revenue estimated the levy would generate $2.3 million...
Seattle adopts unique public campaign finance program Seattle voters approved Initiative 122, which will make the city the first in the nation to try a taxpayer-funded “democracy voucher” program. The program, which will be funded by a...
Health & Science In NJ The NEW JERSEY Assembly fails to override Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) veto of SB 2360, a bill that would have required local police to be notified if a person who had once been involuntarily committed for psychiatric...
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...
Although their constitutionality has been upheld by federal courts, Maryland’s congressional districts - drawn in 2011 by then-Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and the Democrats who control the state’s General Assembly - are considered by some...
Oklahoma could spend over a quarter of a million dollars on special elections this year. The reason? The need to fill eight vacancies in the state’s Legislature - four in the House and four in the Senate. One of those vacancies was created...
OK CONSIDERS COOLING-OFF PERIOD FOR STATE OFFICIALS The OKLAHOMA Ethics Commission is considering banning state officials and employees from lobbying for two years from the time their government service ends. Over 30 states already have such cooling...
The hope that public financing of elections might eventually get big private money out of politics ended with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , eliminating limits on political spending by...
At an informal gathering in St. Louis this month organized by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the online industry group NetChoice called for congressional action in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair...
Few elected officials seem to revel in being obnoxious quite like Maine Gov. Paul LePage. During his two terms in office LePage has yet to meet a policy proposal, public vote or maybe even the time of day he can’t get downright testy over. And lest...
BROWN SIGNS CA DAM INSPECTION MEASURE : One year after the near failure of the Oroville Dam, CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation ( AB 1270 ) last month to codify and strengthen the Golden State’s dam inspection standards. A significant...
MD Lawmakers Overturn Hotel Tax Change MARYLAND’s Democrat-controlled General Assembly overturned five of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s vetoes from last year, including two measures requiring online hotel booking services like Travelocity...
Days before last Christmas - and six months after the start of the current fiscal year - Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature sent Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf a $30.26 billion state budget. Wolf signed $23.39 billion of that spending plan...
Chicago to Consider Airbnb fee Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed an ordinance that would impose a 2-percent surcharge on home-sharing and vacation rentals like those offered through services like Airbnb and VRBO. The proposal also seeks to require...
Health In NE The NEBRASKA Legislature rejects LB 1032, which would have expanded Medicaid in the Cornhusker State to cover and additional 97,000 low-income residents (KTICRADIO.COM [WEST POINT]). Health In FL FLORIDA Gov. Rick Scott (R) signs...
Despite facing a budget shortfall this year, Maryland doubled its income tax exemption for military retirement pay to $10,000. And a budget hole forced Connecticut to raise taxes on its most prosperous corporations, but it still managed to do away with...
Illinois’ Democrat-controlled Senate passed legislation last month that would freeze property taxes statewide for two years and provide about $200 million in relief for Chicago’s troubled teacher pension system. But Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) said...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said last month that New Jersey owes the federal government $32.2 million for improper Medicaid reimbursement claims filed for home care services by officials in the state. An audit found that 17 claims...