Massachusetts Endorses HB 4488 The MASSACHUSETTS House and Senate each endorse HB 4488 , a bill that would bring the Bay State in compliance with the 2001 federal Real ID law. That law requires states to issue driver’s licenses that are more...
Yes, not only is children’s bingo really a thing, one New Hampshire lawmaker wants to open up the kiddie games to adults. Under Granite State law, hotels and campgrounds can hold bingo games for kids or for adults as long as the two don’t...
Motorists across the country have welcomed the more than 50 percent drop in oil prices since last summer, from over $100 a barrel in June to $50 this month. But the same can’t be said for state governments. The collapse in oil prices is creating...
Two RHODE ISLAND lawmakers received threatening letters in connection with their investigation of the state's failed $75 million investment into retired ballplayer Curt Schilling's video-game company, 38 Studios, which filed for bankruptcy in...
BAKER WANTS MA TO NEGOTIATE BETTER DRUG PRICES Calling escalating prescription drug prices “the single biggest driver, at this point, to the rising cost of health care in MASSACHUSETTS ,” Gov. Charlie Baker (R) is preparing to introduce...
While the confirmation fight over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was raging on in the U.S. Senate last week, the eight current justices began their new term. And there are several cases on the docket of consequence to state and local governments...
Despite President Trump’s call for $1 trillion in infrastructure spending, at least 15 states, including six governed by Republicans - Arkansas, Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah - are considering raising gas taxes or other fees...
The Minnesota Supreme Court gave Gov. Mark Dayton (D) a significant victory last week, upholding his line-item veto of the Gopher State Legislature’s operating budget. The court, however, declined to rule if Dayton’s actions were intended...
After the recount in Florida in the 2000 presidential election with its infamous “hanging chads,” many states and counties, with the aid of federal funding from the Help America Vote Act, replaced their paper-based voting systems with, in...
New Jersey Signs SB 1266 NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs SB 1266 , which allows any Garden State municipality to operate its own needle exchange program (NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR’S OFFICE). Social Policy In New York NEW YORK Attorney...
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) issued an executive order last week absolving public employees who decline to join a union from having to pay fees that support union activities like collective bargaining. State law currently allows state workers to opt...
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s (R) proposal to expand Medicaid to cover an additional 280,000 low-income Volunteer State residents appears to be dead after the Senate Health and Welfare Committee rejected it last week. The measure’s chances...
The GOP-controlled WASHINGTON Senate adopted a rule last week requiring a two-thirds vote to bring bills creating new taxes to the floor for a final vote. Raising an existing tax still requires only a simple majority vote (NORTHWEST PUBLIC RADIO). •...
California Vetoes AB 1399 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes AB 1399 , which would have required the state Department on Teacher Credentialing to develop program standards on teaching the subject of genocide and human rights. Brown said such programs...
VT GOV ISSUES CYBER SECURITY ORDER Saying his state needed to do more to address cyber security, VERMONT Gov. Phil Scott (R) issued Executive Order 18-17 to create the Governor's Cyber Security Advisory Team, a group tasked with developing a plan...
Social Policy In Texas The TEXAS Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples have no right to spousal benefits in the Lone Star State. The court unanimously determined that while a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling clearly legalized same-sex marriage, that...
Or maybe more accurately, the axe doesn’t get the booze. As the Salt Lake Tribune reports , legislation recently enacted in the Beehive State bars an axe-throwing venue in the city of Ogden from obtaining a license to sell beer. Ditto for a karaoke...
Last month, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) launched a 10-year plan to combat obesity in his state that includes everything from raising nutritional standards in public schools to developing more pedestrian-friendly communities and making healthy foods...
Every sport has its own lingo, the tossing around of which identifies the user as that most treasured of things – the insider. Politics is no different, and in fact has a whole language unto itself spoken under every Capitol dome. The Sacramento...
The NEW JERSEY Assembly approves SB 3249, which would require Garden State gun shop owners to stock so-called “smart guns” that can only be fired by their owners. The measure moves to Gov. Chris Christie (R), who has indicated he will likely...
Social Policy in CO The COLORADO Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs rejects SB 25, so-called ‘death with dignity” legislation that would have allowed doctors to prescribe drugs to terminally ill patients that help...
The Supreme Court of the United States issues a temporary injunction blocking a plan by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lower carbon emissions from power plants. The plan has been challenged by over two dozen states that predominantly rely...
LA Approves HB 539 The LOUISIANA House unanimously approves HB 539 , which would allow coroners to donate tissue or biological samples from abandoned or unclaimed bodies to people who train dogs for search and rescue missions. It moves to the Senate...
J.G. Preston has his hands full most days working as the press secretary for the Consumer Attorneys of California. But while we’re sure he likes his job, he loves baseball. Which is why, as the Capitol Morning Report in Sacramento reports, he is...
If you thought presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was a terrible CEO, well, you are right. But it turns out she is even worse at 1) football prognostication and 2) social media. The hubbub started on New Year’s Day when Fiorina took to Twitter...