Calling climate change “an existential threat,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) issued a proposal to bring Minnesota's electric sector to 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2050. Under the proposal, by 2050 all Gopher State electric utilities...
Saying a lack of affordable housing is becoming a drag on the state economy, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation earlier this month that would relax zoning controls in Bay State cities and towns. Baker said a lack of housing is driving...
REPUBLICAN WON’T RUN IN NC CONGRESSIONAL RACE DO-OVER Republican Mark Harris said last week he will not run in NORTH CAROLINA’s new election for the 9th Congressional District due to health concerns. The GOP candidate in that race will...
With Democrats having suffered presidential election losses despite winning the popular vote in 2000 and 2016, an effort to bypass the Electoral College has been picking up momentum in blue states. Eleven that have consistently voted for the Democratic...
MN GOV PROPOSES $1.3B IN BORROWING MINNESOTA Gov. Tim Walz (D) has proposed borrowing nearly $1.3 billion to provide more affordable housing, fix buildings on college campuses and repair transportation infrastructure. Although parts of the governor’s...
The Affordable Care Act mandated that insurance companies cover mental health services at parity with medical care. But loopholes in the ACA and other federal laws have let some plans limit or exclude mental health coverage. So state and local governments...
Two years ago Amazon announced plans to build a second headquarters in North America and invited cities to vie for the 50,000 jobs that facility would provide. More than 200 cities responded with incentive proposals. But companies don’t always...
New York pays a larger share of its total Medicaid spending than any other state, at 51.2 percent, with the federal government covering the other 48.8 percent, according to data compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation . New York also pays the most in...
It has been just over two years since President Donald Trump famously bemoaned the complexities of the American health care system, telling a meeting of the nation’s governors that “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” ...
If you’re a social media user, you’ve likely seen plenty of posts about what people—even those without a religious affiliation—are giving up for Lent. There are the usual suspects, of course: chocolate, alcohol, bread. But a recent...
It stands to reason that the percentage of media coverage each candidate has received—also known as their share of voice—should predict the outcomes of state primaries and caucuses. Newspapers, radio stations, news websites and TV networks...
Media Intelligence on Oscar Night’s Big Winners The 88 th Academy Awards held last Sunday featured a frenzy of photographers and fans, a red carpet studded with Hollywood’s film-making elite and a protest led by Al Sharpton outside the...
When Joanne Peterson and a friend were involved in a car accident in 2014 that sent them to the emergency room, she was shocked when a doctor tried to prescribe them the pain medication oxycodone. Sold under a variety of brand names, oxycodone is an opioid...
States have enacted numerous laws to combat the epidemic of opioid-related deaths plaguing much of the United States. Most common are so-called “Good Samaritan” laws that generally give a person civil or criminal immunity for seeking help...
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) announced plans for a 3 percent immediate cut to the state university system after tax collections came in well below projections last month. The $17 million reduction will be spread across the six state universities,...
Public universities in Illinois are facing financial crisis with the state in the ninth month of disagreement between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-controlled legislature over the state’s budget. None of the 57 public universities...
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation this week to expand a tax on health insurers to avoid a loss of federal money that would have made a huge hole in the state’s Medi-Cal budget. Brown signed a package of bills on Tuesday -...
Malloy Cancels State Worker Pay Raises CONNECTICUT Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) is cancelling previously-scheduled pay raises for nearly 2,000 non-union state government workers in management positions because of the state’s ongoing budget woes. Malloy’s...
Acting state Attorney General John Hoffman resigned this week to take a job at Rutgers University. The school announced Hoffman’s hiring on Thursday. Hoffman, 50, said he would step down in six weeks and would become the New Jersey flagship state...
NH House Panel Considers Voting Laws The NEW HAMPSHIRE House Election Committee this week reviewed a measure that would ask voters to require residents to actually live in the state for 10 days before being eligible to vote. State law currently requires...
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) vetoed a bill (HB 1008) last week that would have made the Coyote State the first to require transgender students to use the bathrooms, locker rooms and shower rooms based on their biological sex. The bill had drawn...
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) issued an executive order (EO 2016-03) on Feb 24 making the Sooner State the 20th to “ban the box” by requiring state agencies to eliminate questions about felony convictions from employment applications. ...
Wolf Battling Cancer PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) revealed last month he is suffering from prostate cancer. Wolf, 67, did not specify what his treatment plan would be but said it would not include chemotherapy. “What I’m going through...
Business In VA The VIRGINIA General Assembly endorses SB 646, which would make the Old Dominion the first state to legislatively adopt regulations on the fast growing daily fantasy sports industry. Under the measure, fantasy operators would have to...
Crime In VT The VERMONT Senate approves SB 241, which would make the Green Mountain State the first to legislatively legalize the sale and possession of small amounts of marijuana for recreational use. The measure, which would allow residents 21 and...