Calling mass school shootings “a new and frightening phenomenon,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) proposed last week to allow teachers, principals and other school officials to petition a judge to remove guns from the homes of troubled students...
Going On in TX A federal court issues an injunction blocking TEXAS from telling abortion providers and medical facilities how to dispose of fetal remains from abortions and miscarriages. U.S. District Judge David Ezra said the law requiring burial...
CA governor signs AB 1775 and SB 874 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 1775 and SB 874 , which together bar the State Lands Commission from granting leases for new pipelines and infrastructure to companies looking to drill for oil off the state’s...
And since we’re talking about bodacious 24 hour party people, the Los Angeles Times reports that California lawmakers will soon ponder legislation to make surfing the official state sport. In a statement, bill author Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi said...
With apologies to Bob Dylan and James Brown, the times they are a changin’ and it’s no longer just a man’s world. While a lot of us already know this to be true, the word is just getting to a lot of states, or at least to the language...
OR House Approves HB 2623 The OREGON House approves HB 2623 , a bill that would impose a 10-year ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that injects high-pressure liquids into underground rock to extract oil and gas. The measure moves...
In The Hopper Number of 2015 Prefiles last week: 1,033 Number of Intros last week: 1,635 Number of Enacted/Adopted last week: 1,445 Number of 2015 Prefiles to date: 20,086 Number of 2015 Intros to date: 101,776 Number...
MT ENACTS SCHOOL SAFETY TAX BILL MONTANA Gov. Steve Bullock (D) has signed a bill ( SB 92 ) that will allow schools to levy a new tax specifically for school safety. The bill will also let schools use existing funding streams for safety upgrades. ...
There is a saying that goes, “beauty is only skin deep but ugly is to the bone.” You could say something similar about stupid, and point to Washington D.C. Councilman Trayon White Sr. as an example. White is the intellectual giant who recently...
Environment In California And New Mexico A federal judge orders the Trump administration to immediately enforce restrictions on the release of potent methane emissions at oil and gas drilling operations on public land. The rules, which went into effect...
IL LAWMAKERS PASS REVENUE GENERATING MEASURES In overtime after the scheduled adjournment of their regular session on May 31, ILLINOIS lawmakers passed legislation that among other things would allow a casino in Chicago, double the state’s motor...
In spite of his personal opposition, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said he would allow a measure legalizing sports betting to become law in the Volunteer State without his signature. “The governor has said he does not believe that the expansion...
COST OF SCALED BACK HIGH-SPEED RAIL IN CA GOING UP The cost to build a 119-mile segment of CALIFORNIA’s high-speed rail system in the state’s Central Valley could be $1.8 billion higher than the $10.6 billion previously projected, according...
President Barack Obama vetoes a bill that would have authorized the building of the Keystone Pipeline, a transfer line that would carry crude oil from wells in Canada south across the U.S. to refineries in TEXAS and ILLINOIS (GOVERNING).
During President Obama’s time in office, over 800 Democratic state legislators have lost their seats to Republicans, which is reportedly one of the Democratic Party’s worst records under any president in over a century. But due in part to...
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) unveiled a proposal last week to bolster and expand the state’s $4 billion automotive industry. The four bills in the package include legislation that would: - Supply financial aid to adult learners pursuing education...
The Arizona House isn’t the only legislative body with its collective head up...in the clouds. As Cleveland.com reports , a pair of lawmakers in the Ohio House have introduced legislation to adopt an official Buckeye State cookie. The measure has...
Filibustering and other such political gabfesting as a means of blocking legislation has been practiced by every party since Plato walked the earth. The latest incarnation comes from the Oregon Legislature, where outmanned Republicans have managed to...
SOME CT TOWNS BLOCKING AFFORDABLE HOUSING Dozens of wealthy towns in CONNECTICUT have blocked the construction of low-income housing within their borders for the past two decades. The percentage of low-income housing has actually declined somewhat...
Going On In NJ The NEW JERSEY Department of Environmental Protection enacts a new rule to cap the amount of compounds known as PFNAs, short for perfluorononanoic acids, in Garden State drinking water. The man-made, toxic chemical compounds, once used...
Federal Judge Blocks Grizzly Bear Plans A federal judge blocks plans by WYOMING and IDAHO to hold the first grizzly bear hunt in the lower 48 states in almost three decades. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen ruled grizzlies weren’t sufficiently...
Over the past 45 years, taxable sales as a proportion of consumer services have declined more in Utah than in nearly any other state, according to a new report from the Utah Foundation. The state actually had the same amount of per-capita sales tax revenue...
Uber-patriotic national holidays are a golden opportunity for minor league baseball teams in deep red locales to fill the stadium. Such was the case in May when the Pacific Coast League’s Fresno Grizzlies marked the Memorial Day holiday with a video...
You want to drop $700 on food at a Michelin-rated eatery where it took months to get a reservation? Go for it. The rest of us will just scoop up some venison off the road and have us a time. As CalMatters reports , a bill ( SB 395 ) is working its way...
Last month Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed SB 181, giving cities and towns more control over the regulation of oil and gas drilling. Local governments have wasted little time exercising their new power. Hours after the governor signed the bill...