States are not equally prepared for a public health threat like the Zika virus, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2016 National Health Security Preparedness Index. That Index, which is based on over 100 different measures, including...
On June 30, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) announced that he is considering pulling his state out of the Reciprocal Personal Income Tax Agreement with Pennsylvania, which since the 1970s has allowed individuals who live in one of those states and...
New Jersey legislative leaders announced this month that they’ve agreed on a new plan to generate revenue for the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, which is expected to run out of money this month. The plan calls for a 23-cent increase in...
The recent good news for Illinois is that, as the Cap J reported in July , Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) and the state’s Democrat-controlled Legislature finally agreed on a budget, a $75 billion stopgap spending plan for the 2017 fiscal year that will fund...
AL Gov Calling for Special Session on Lottery ALABAMA Gov. Robert Bentley (R) has called for a special session to consider a referendum on establishing a state lottery. Voters rejected a lottery proposal 17 years ago, but Bentley, who’s been...
Last month, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) had overstepped his authority when he issued an executive order in April restoring voting and other rights to more than 200,000 former felons, who encompass nearly a quarter...
Alabama’s Judicial Inquiry Commission argued this month that Chief Justice Roy Moore should be removed from office for urging his state’s probate judges to defy recent federal court rulings upholding gay marriage. “Because the...
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman ruled this month that Wisconsin voters lacking the photo identification mandated by that state’s 2011 voter ID law can cast ballots after signing an affidavit attesting to their identity. “Although most...
CO Voters to Consider Minimum Wage Increase A proposal to raise COLORADO’s minimum wage appears to be headed for the state’s November ballot, with backers saying this month that they expected to deliver 200,000 petition signatures to the...
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) pushed back a bit this week on Attorney General Maura Healy’s (D) recently announced plan to begin prosecuting gun sellers and manufacturers that seek to go around the state’s ban on assault weapons. Baker...
The NBA followed through on a threat to move its 2017 All Star Game out of North Carolina, announcing last month it would relocate the game from its originally planned site in Charlotte. That change is likely to cost the city and state an estimated $100...
Gov. Hogan Funds MD Drug Treatment Initiative MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan’s (R) office announced it had provided $540,000 to fund a pilot program intended to give nonviolent drug offenders a chance at drug treatment rather than jail. The funds...
House and Senate Reach Final Agreement on MA SB 2119 The MASSACHUSETTS House and Senate reach final agreement on SB 2119 , gender pay equity legislation which requires men and women to be paid the same for similar work. The measure, which also bars...
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...
Health in California The CALIFORNIA State Board of Education approves a new history and social sciences curriculum that includes new instruction on topics like financial literacy; voter education; genocide; and the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual...
New Jersey Signs AB 2949 NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs AB 2949 , which bars the harvesting of diamondback terrapins in the Garden State. The law also requires state environmental officials to develop a management plan for terrapins (NJTODAY...
New York Signs AB 3461 NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs AB 3461 , which requires a court order appointing a guardian to oversee the care of an incapacitated person to identify all individuals who are entitled to notice of a person's death,...
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...
Social Policy in Alaska The ALASKA Supreme Court overturns a Last Frontier State law that required doctors to give parents two days’ notice before performing an abortion on a minor girl. The court said the law violated the state constitution...
Potpourri in Massachusetts MASSACHUSETTS Attorney General Maura Healy (D) announces the Bay State will crack down on the sale of semi-automatic weapons, which have been banned there since 1998. Healey said gun sellers have been exploiting a loophole...
Oh what a difference a single number can make. Some holders of electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards in Maine discovered just how much of a difference last month when, as the Bangor Daily News reports , a man calling the help number listed on the back...
Devout Nebraska Cornhuskers football fans can relax – the balloons will continue to fly. As the Lincoln Journal Star reports , a federal judge recently rejected the plea of an Omaha man who wanted to bar fans from releasing balloons when Big Red...
The California contingent may have been banished to the hinterlands at the recent Republican National Convention, but state Republican Party chair Jim Brulte made the best of it. As the Sacramento Bee reports , Brulte took advantage of being holed up...
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is one loyal dude. For the last 18 months, he has shown unwavering support for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who has been dueling with the NFL over a ball tampering scandal from the 2015 AFC championship...
Politics have dominated the headlines—and prime-time news channels—in recent weeks as media outlets zeroed in on the happenings at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. And LexisNexis was there right amidst media. As we...