VA House and Senate Pass HB 1811 and SB 1341 The VIRGINIA House and Senate each pass measures that would make it illegal for drivers to talk on a cellphone without using a hands-free device. Those measures, HB 1811 and SB 1341 , pass now to the opposite...
President Barack Obama makes permanent a 2010 executive order deeming ALASKA's Bristol Bay off limits to oil and gas exploration. The president's original order was set to expire in 2017, but now can only be overturned by a new executive directive...
Bypassing the Trump administration, California has reached agreement with four of the world’s largest automakers to improve fuel efficiency and reduce automobile emissions that contribute to global warming. And more are likely to follow. ...
(03/13/2015 - 04/03/2015) 03/24/2015 Pennsylvania Special Election House District 170 03/28/2015 Louisiana Special Runoff House District 66 03/31/2015 Massachusetts Special Election House Districts 1st Suffolk and 11th...
In The Hopper Number of 2015 Prefiles last week: 307 Number of Intros last week: 5,193 Number of Enacted/Adopted last week: 1,039 Number of 2015 Prefiles to date: 17,544 Number of 2015 Intros to date: 85,362 Number...
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency rejects requests from medical cannabis supporters to end marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I controlled substance on par with drugs like heroin and cocaine. The agency cited the Food and Drug Administration’s...
The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves SB 10 , which would allow unauthorized immigrants to buy health insurance through the state’s health benefits exchange. Purchasers would not be eligible for federal subsidies to help them pay for their coverage....
Much has been made of French President Emmanuel Macron being married to a woman who at one time was his high school teacher. But in a bit of gamesmanship that could only matter to President Donald Trump, Macron was not the first world leader to marry...
For decades, the Land Park Golf Course in Sacramento has been a place where many a politico has been able to escape to on a warm afternoon for a quick nine holes. Count current Sacramento Mayor and former California Senate pro Tem Darrell Steinberg among...
The federal tax overhaul pushed through Congress by the Republican majority in December doubled the exemption threshold for the estate tax levied on property and other assets transferred from deceased individuals to their heirs - earning it the epithet...
California Vetoes AB 1279 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes AB 1279 , which would have required the state Department of Health to develop an outreach program to increase awareness of the disease Valley Fever. Brown said the agency already has...
Social Policy In Iowa A county judge in IOWA upholds the Hawkeye State’s new law imposing a 72-hour waiting period on women seeking an abortion. The plaintiffs in the case, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, filed an intention...
Well, when it comes to winning the state lottery...everything. Which is why Charlie McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery, thought the marketing slogan “Luck yeah!” was a real winner. Alas, as reported by the New Hampshire...
OH Governor Signs SB 1 OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) signs SB 1 , which increases prison sentences for drug offenses involving fentanyl-related compounds by three to eight years (COLUMBUS DISPATCH).
CA Governor Vetoes AB 2070 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes AB 2070 , which would have required incoming student orientations at Golden State colleges and universities to include information on intimate partner and dating violence (LOS ANGELES...
CA Federal Judge Rejects Appeal A federal judge in CALIFORNIA rejects an appeal by the Trump administration to indefinitely detain immigrant children caught crossing the border illegally with their parents (LOS ANGELES TIMES).
PA Governor Issues Executive Order 2019-01 PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) issues Executive Order 2019-01 , which establishes a Keystone State goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050. The order also creates a state...
LA VOTERS TO WEIGH ABORTION RIGHTS IN 2020 LOUISIANA lawmakers gave final approval last week for a proposed constitutional amendment that would stipulate there is no right to an abortion in the state. The action, part of a wave of recent anti-abortion...
WHITMER VOWS VETO OF MI INSURANCE OVERHAUL Saying the legislation “creates more problems than it solves,” MICHIGAN Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said she would veto a bill (SB 1) approved in the Senate that would fundamentally change auto insurance...
NE Legislature Approves LB 947 The NEBRASKA Legislature approves LB 947 , a bill that would allow so-called “dreamers” – immigrants who entered the country illegally but were granted lawful status by the federal government –...
NH Gov Signs HB 1116 NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) signs HB 1116 , legislation that doubles the cap on so-called net metering, which allows solar power generators to sell excess power back to the electric grid (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD).
Editor: Rich Ehisen Associate Editor: Korey Clark Contributing Editor: Mary Peck, David Giusti Editorial Advisor: Lou Cannon Correspondents: Richard Cox (CA), Lauren Davis (MA), Steve Karas (CA) and Ben Livingood (PA), Cathy Santsche (CA), Dena Blodgett...
An ARKANSAS judge rules that Razorback State corrections officials must reveal their source for drugs used to execute condemned prisoners. Officials have appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court (DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE [LITTLE ROCK]).
Florida state government has long been under GOP rule. But this year, the state’s Republican legislative majority, energized by three new conservative state Supreme Court justices, new legislative leaders and a new governor, accomplished a few items...
Since 2013, 31 states have raised their gas taxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures . Four states - Alabama, Arkansas, Ohio and Virginia - have done so this year. And Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin could be next...