California Gov. Jerry Brown likes to say the key to governing is like steering a canoe: to move ahead you have to paddle a little to the right, then a little to the left. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin must be listening. As the Associated Press reports , Fallin...
License, registration, sexual favors. Wait, what? Yep, believe it or not, until a few weeks ago there was nothing in Kansas law to prevent police from engaging in sexual activities with someone they pull over on the road or detain in a criminal investigation...
Supreme Court Overturns Sports Betting Law The Supreme Court of the United States overturns a federal law that barred states from authorizing sports betting. The ruling came in the case of Murphy v. NCAA. (For more, see Budget & Taxes in this issue...
If you haven’t noticed, Republicans are as relevant in California as a screen door on a submarine. But it hasn’t always been that way. Reeps were once the state’s preeminent political force. But that started to wane after then-Gov. Pete...
Challenges are always in the eye of the beholder. Case in point: During the recent winter meeting of the National Governors Association, Fox Business reporter Maria Bartiromo moderated a panel discussion in which she asked all the attending govs to share...
Politics has always driven intense emotions. Some would say now more so than ever, while others might counter that it has always been this way and we just know more of what is said and done than we used to. For example, like when Illinois state Rep. Stephanie...
CO City Council Endorses The DENVER City Council endorses a proposal to change where electric scooters are allowed to operate. Under the proposal, scooters will be required to stay in bike lanes or on the street if the posted speed limit is 30 miles...
MANY STATES SHORT ON UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUNDS: Twenty-eight states don’t have enough money in their unemployment insurance trust funds to get through the next economic downturn, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor . Eleven...
Four mostly Democrat-governed, northeastern states - Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and New York - are suing the Trump administration over the $10,000 cap on the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes included in the federal tax overhaul enacted...
Since 2000, nearly every state has significantly raised taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products, according to data compiled by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids . Recent years have also seen a steady stream of casino openings in states around the...
In March, Florida lawmakers approved a proposed constitutional amendment for the state’s November ballot that would require a two-thirds majority in each chamber of the Legislature to enact new taxes or fees, or hikes of existing ones. As the election...
OH Governor Signs SB 216 OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) signs SB 216 , which makes dozens of changes to the Buckeye State education system, including how teachers are evaluated, allowing third-graders to take tests on paper, softening the law on excessive...
As Richard Nixon would tell you if he was here, the lie is rarely what sinks your ship, it’s the cover up. And now-former Florida legislative candidate Melissa Howard can vouch for it as well. As most folks have now heard, Howard’s run for...
TX HOUSE SPEAKER WILL NOT SEEK REELECTION: After five terms as speaker of the TEXAS House, Rep. Joe Straus announced last month that he would not be running for re-election next year. Straus has repeatedly been criticized this year by fellow Republicans...
BAKER WILL SEEK SECOND TERM As expected, MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) has announced he will run for re-election next year. Baker made the announcement on his Twitter feed. (BOSTON HERALD) HOLCOMB ORDERS CBD OIL OFF SHELVES INDIANA Gov...
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has had it with your silly climate change denial. In Paris along with a host of current Golden State officeholders for the big United Nations climate confab, “The Governator” took to Facebook to...
U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell struck down Montana’s limits on political campaign contributions last Tuesday, just three weeks ahead of the state’s presidential primary. Lovell ruled those campaign limits, approved by voters in 1994, unconstitutional...
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) recently finished addressing the last of the 1,059 bills lawmakers sent to him this year. Brown vetoed 159 of those measures, roughly 15 percent, a figure almost double the 8 percent overall figure he has accumulated during...
is not gold, we know this to be true. Except when it comes to the shiny new dome of the New Hampshire State House in Concord. As the New Hampshire Union Leader reports, the finishing touches are just about done on the years-long renovation of the almost...
Utah Sen. Curt Bramble (R) said he and his colleagues will debate a bill this year requiring Utah-based businesses that sell on the Internet to collect sales taxes on those transactions and saying to businesses that do not, “We’re going to...
The mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas last week that left 59 people dead has displaced the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando last year, in which 49 people were killed, as the deadliest such attack in modern U.S. history...
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) ruled in May that candidates for congressional office can use their campaign funds to pay for child care. Since then, state and local candidates across the country, including an unprecedented number of women, have...
IL Governor Signs HB 5245 ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signs HB 5245 , legislation that requires hospitals to train enough medical providers in how to treat sexual assault patients that when a victim arrives, a trained provider is present within...
OH Senate Approves HB 123 The OHIO Senate approves HB 123 , which would, among several things limit payday loans to no more than $1,000 and no longer than 12 months. The bill returns to the House (CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER). CA Governor Signs AB...
For decades, every California governor followed up their January budget release with an appearance at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon. It was always the most heavily attended event of the year, and thus also the best moneymaker for the SPC’s journalism...