Christie Vetoes Pension Bill Deriding it as handing out “a blank check,” NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) conditionally vetoed legislation ( SB 3040 ) that would have allowed Garden State police and firefighters to take control over their...
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...
Citing data showing that people living in manufactured homes in Ohio are far more likely to die in a fire than those living in other dwellings, Gov. John Kasich (R) is urging lawmakers to give the Buckeye State direct oversight of the industry. That oversight...
Iowa Signs SB 489 IOWA Gov. Terry Branstad (R) signs SB 489 , legislation legalizing the sale and use of consumer fireworks in the Hawkeye State, but only during the periods around the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve (CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE)...
Texas Approves HB 3859 The TEXAS House approves HB 3859 , which would allow foster care and adoption agencies to refuse to place children with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender households over religious objections. It moves to the Senate (AUSTIN...
Texas Approves SB 1018 The TEXAS Senate approves SB 1018 , legislation that would make it easier for the state to license privately run detention centers as “family residential centers” in order to hold immigrant families in detention centers...
Florida Amended HB 1397 The FLORIDA Senate declines to hear an amended version of HB 1397 , which would have created rules for the Sunshine State’s nascent medical marijuana industry, killing the measure for the year. Rules to regulate the medical...
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).
Texas Approves Senate Bill 7 The TEXAS House approves Senate Bill 7 , which would require principals and superintendents to report teachers having inappropriate relationships with students or face a state jail felony or a fine of up to $10,000. It...
Crime In New York The NEW YORK State Court of Appeals unanimously upholds a policy implemented by the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) that allows the state Department of Motor Vehicles to permanently revoke driving privileges for repeat drunk...
Illinois Approves SB 1502 The ILLINOIS Senate approves SB 1502 , a measure that would require online companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon to disclose to consumers what data about them has been collected and shared with third parties. It is...
Don’t go away mad, just go away. This was the message TV chef Sandra Lee clearly sent to U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan during a recent appearance on the “Fox & Friends” cable news show. Lee was booked to give a cooking demo...
Hard as it might be to imagine, Rutgers University once paid Snooki, she of obnoxious drunk fame on the repulsive “Jersey Shore” reality show, $32,000 grand to speak at a campus event. But the days of washed up reality TV creatures commanding...
Speaking of puppies, Massachusetts lawmakers took time to share personal stories of their pets during animal advocacy day on Beacon Hill last week. As the State House News Service reports, this included Sen. Mark Montigny’s tale of smuggling a kitten...
There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Maine Gov. Paul LePage is the model for Dr. Seuss’s infamous Grinch. Then again, he certainly appears to enjoy being the living embodiment of the terminally grumpy beast that gets its greatest joy from...
States would face demanding fiscal challenges, especially with Medicaid, if the pending Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) becomes law. Proposed heavy cutbacks in Medicaid could potentially doom the American Health Care Act (AHCA...
Almost $82 billion was spent on Medicaid in California in FY 2016 - $52.6 billion (64.1 percent) by the federal government and $29.4 billion (35.9 percent) by the state - according to January 2017 estimates from the Urban Institute, based on data from...
AK Lawmakers Vote To End Oil Subsidies ALASKA’s Senate has approved a House proposal eliminating cash subsidies for oil companies. But there’s still a wide gap between the two chambers over what to do about subsidies owed but not yet paid...
Democrats who control the California Legislature have proposed legislation ( AB 42 and SB 10 ) that would end the practice of having judges set bail amounts based on a schedule of rates for various crimes. Instead, new county pretrial services agencies...
Earlier this year South Dakota passed a law requiring out-of-state sellers with in-state sales over $100,000 or 200 individual transactions per year to collect and remit sales taxes to the state. The law was part of an effort by multiple states - including...
CA, NY Leading Legal Effort To Protect ACA Funding CALIFORNIA Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) and NEW YORK Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) are leading a coalition of states, including CONNECTICUT , DELAWARE , HAWAII , ILLINOIS , IOWA , KENTUCKY...
A South Carolina statehouse corruption investigation, which has been publicly dormant since it lead to the indictment of Sen. John Courson (R) on allegations of laundering campaign money through a powerful, local consulting firm, appears to be starting...
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling striking down the voter ID law enacted in 2013 by North Carolina’s GOP-led General Assembly and then-Republican governor. The justices’ decision leaves in place...
Inslee Signs Real ID Bill WASHINGTON Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a bill last week that will make the Evergreen State the 25 th to comply with the federal Real ID law, which requires states to produce driver’s licenses and identification cards...
The Louisiana Senate approved a trio of bills last week that form the backbone of Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) effort to reduce the Pelican State’s highest-in-the-world incarceration rate. Those measures – SBs 220 , 221 and 139 – would...