Social Policy In Florida U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle makes permanent an injunction blocking a FLORIDA law that would have barred all state funding to clinics like Planned Parenthood and required the inspection of as many as 35,000 women’s...
Crime in Connecticut The CONNECTICUT Supreme Court reaffirms that a 2012 law abolishing the death penalty in the Constitution State applies to both future sentencing and those persons already sentenced to die for their crimes. The court had reached...
The folks at Mohawk High School in Sycamore, Ohio were recently very happy to welcome state Sen. Izaha Akins to talk to students about the joys of being in government. The school had been expecting Sen. David Burke, but went along when Akins told them...
Energy In OR The OREGON House approves SB 1547, which would require Beaver State utilities, by 2040, to serve half their customers’ demand with renewable power sources such as wind and solar. The measure returns to the House (OREGONLIVE.COM)...
Connecticut Approves HB 6329 The CONNECTICUT House approves HB 6329 , which would permanently ban the storage of fracking waste in the Constitution State. It moves to the Senate (HARTFORD COURANT).
President Donald Trump named Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) to a commission tasked with tackling the nation’s ongoing opioid abuse epidemic. The commission will be chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie...
GA Gov Signs Rural Investment Tax Credit Bill GEORGIA Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed legislation ( SB 133 ) providing $60 million in tax credits for companies that invest in businesses in rural areas. The measure has been both criticized as a handout...
KS Gov Signs Budget With Tax Increase KANSAS Gov. Sam Brownback(R)signed a $15.6 billion state budget last month that includes the $1.2 billion income tax increase approved by lawmakers. The governor vetoed that rollback of the income tax cuts he championed...
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has made no bones about his skepticism of global climate change. But as reported by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting , Scott wants everyone else in Sunshine State government to take the same view. According to FCIR...
...comes courtesy of Colorado state Rep. Dan Pabon, who was part of a panel discussion on legalizing marijuana at last week’s big National Conference of State Legislatures Annual Summit in Seattle. Noting that he represents part of the capital city...
MN Road Funding Gap MINNESOTA’s Department of Transportation has released a new estimate for the cost of repairing and expanding the state’s roads that predicts a nearly $4 billion, or 30 percent, bigger gap in unfunded road costs over...
Ige Pledges a Cool Down HAWAII Gov. David Ige (D) used his State of the State speech last week to pledge to ensure that 1,000 public school classrooms received air conditioning units by the end of the year. He also vowed to launch an initiative to...
Taking its cue from crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new rules in October that will allow privately owned businesses to raise up to $1 million a year from private investors, instead...
George Mason University was understandably excited to receive $30 million recently from a few folks – including the Koch brothers – to rename the school’s law school after recently-deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. University...
NV Stadium Special Session NEVADA Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) has called a special session to consider increasing room taxes in Clark County to finance $750 million of a proposed $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat stadium in Las Vegas - the potential new home of...
After months of often tense negotiations, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) reached an agreement last week with legislative leaders to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program, one of the Golden State’s primary tools in battling climate change...
A decision in 2011 to take away California lawmakers’ state-sponsored cars drew howls of protest from the Legislature and claims it would raise the already-high cost of their transportation even higher. Alas, that was total hooey. As the Sacramento...
Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore handily defeated sitting U.S. Sen. Luther Strange (R-Alabama) in a special primary runoff last Tuesday to determine the Republican who will potentially serve out the term of now-Attorney General Jeff...
It’s nothing new for governors of western states to prefer boots and blue jeans to dress shoes and suits. But as new North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum recently discovered, the casual look doesn’t apply in all situations. As Fox News reports ,...
Crime In California The U.S. Supreme Court rules that police cannot be held liable for injuries they caused as part of a search unless the search itself is “unreasonable.” The decision overturns a lower court’s ruling in a CALIFORNIA...
Massachusetts Endorses SB 2093 The MASSACHUSETTS Senate unanimously endorses SB 2093 , which would bar Bay State employers from discriminating against an employee or prospective employee due to pregnancy or a condition related to the pregnancy, such...
There were some early fireworks last month after the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity - assembled to investigate President Donald Trump’s claims that voter fraud is rampant in America and cost him the popular vote in last year’s...
So far this year, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, one state, New Mexico, has enacted legislation dealing with balance billing, the practice of charging consumers for medical costs not paid by their insurance. Balance billing measures...
CA Gov Signs $167B Budget CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a $167 billion budget that makes no spending cuts, deposits $3.3 billion into the state’s Rainy Day Fund and $1.75 billion into the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, and...
ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signs legislation that requires large airports to install lactation rooms for new moms. The new rooms must be in place by 2017, although smaller airports will have to make the upgrades only when building new terminals or...