MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs House Bills 4882 and 5421, which together allow homeowners facing financial hardship to use a payment plan to meet tax responsibilities and avoid foreclosure and further allow county treasurers to waive additional monthly...
A PENNSYLVANIA court strikes down a 2014 law that allowed gun supporters to sue local governments that imposed gun prohibitions or laws stricter than statewide measures. The law’s supporters, including the National Rifle Association, say they will...
California Signs SB 839 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs SB 839 , a portion of which makes it a crime for an individual or corporation to breed killer whales, or orcas, in captivity, punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET...
MI Senate Approves Bills Senate approves SB 584 , SB 585 and SB 586 , a three-bill package that collectively would allow concealed pistol license holders to obtain an endorsement on their licenses exempting them from “no gun zone” restrictions...
MA House Approves HB 4664 The MASSACHUSETTS House approves HB 4664 , a bill that would ban the use of so-called conversion therapy, a controversial practice aimed at changing the sexual orientation and gender identity of minors. It moves to the Senate...
Citing the ongoing opioid and heroin crisis he said “has tragically claimed scores of lives and broken families across the Commonwealth,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signed off on an expansive measure that imposes a number of new...
Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) met with the Pine Tree State’s 16 county sheriffs last week in an effort to reach a compromise over his order for them to hold suspects for federal immigration officials. In September LePage sent all of the sheriffs a...
As the Cap J reported in its last issue , a federal judge approved a plan this month that will allow Texans without government-issued IDs to vote in the November election if they sign a declaration of citizenship and present proof of residence, such as...
For the last two decades visitors to Lindström, Minnesota have been greeted with signs bearing two dots, called umlauts, over the “o.” But when the signs were recently replaced after the most recent U.S. Census, the new ones came sans...
MA Denied Federal Money For Storm Recovery The Obama administration denied a request from MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) for additional federal money to help the Bay State cover the estimated $350 million incurred clearing snow, repairing damaged...
Texting out sexually explicit cell phone messages and photos is generally a bad idea. It is a truly bad idea if you are a public figure with a lot to lose if you get caught. As the Indianapolis Star reports, state Rep. Justin Moed got outed last week...
The U.S. House and Senate each approve HR 6 , known better as the 21 st Century Cures Act, a bill that boosts by billions of dollars funding for medical research, eases the development and approval of experimental treatments and reforms federal policy...
U.S. COURT DECLINES REVIEW The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review a June decision by the TEXAS Supreme Court, which ruled that the SCOTUS’s landmark 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage does not fully address the right to marriage benefits...
IL APPROVES EDUCATION FUNDING REFORM ILLINOIS lawmakers passed legislation last week overhauling the way state money is distributed to local school districts to ensure that more funding goes to poorer schools. Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) was expected to...
Sacramento is no Washington D.C. but it has its share of similarities, not the least of which is having a lot of people who love to hear how important they are. Which could explain why the entire Capitol community goes a thither each year waiting for...
Oregon is the only state in the nation that doesn’t have a process to impeach and remove its governor from office. Last month the state’s Democrat-controlled House overwhelmingly passed a resolution that would ask voters to approve one. HJR...
Lobbyists give lawmakers gifts. It’s as regular as the sun rising in the east. For the most part that means meals, sports tickets, yada, yada, yada. But if Missouri Rep. Bart Korman gets his way, that list of reportable gifts will soon grow to include...
Or not. You decide. In a return to our occasional look at some of the odd laws on state books, we offer you the Idaho law that makes cannibalism a crime. Unless, as noted by the website Thrillist.com , you had to eat someone to stay alive yourself. So...
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...
The Washington, D.C. Council gave preliminary approval last week for an anti-crime bill that would, among other things, pay as many as 200 residents of the District who are at risk of committing or being a victim of violent crime up to $9,000 a year for...
As teachers were preparing for a walkout in Arizona last week, thousands remained out of the classroom in Oklahoma in protest of limited school funding and a protest continued in Kentucky over the restructuring of teacher pensions. The unrest suggests...
Saying his administration “is committed to making Massachusetts a safe and welcoming place with zero-tolerance for hate or violence,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) issued an executive order last Monday to restart a long dormant state...
Voter ID laws have become a fixture in the states. Thirty-two have Voter ID laws in place, with 11 of those laws of the “strict” variety, requiring voters without proper identification to cast a provisional ballot. A twelfth strict law is...
MI Senate Approves SB 340 The MICHIGAN Senate approves SB 340, which would double the fines imposed on retailers for selling tobacco products to minors. Under the proposal, which now moves to the House, violators could face fines of $100 for a first...
CA Privacy CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs SB 676, which makes forfeiture provisions of existing law applicable to illegal telecommunications equipment, or a computer, computer system, or computer network, and any software or data, when used...