UNESCO , the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has designated May 3 World Press Freedom Day . The date coincides with the 250 th anniversary of the world’s first freedom of information law. In an age where information...
Although the airspace over the United States is, by act of Congress, the exclusive regulatory domain of the Federal Aviation Administration, states have been very active in recent years on the issue of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), more commonly known...
Since 2013, 27 states have enacted laws addressing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The laws generally define what UAS or drones are and specify how they can be used by law enforcement...
After decades of losing sales tax revenue to online and catalog retailers located outside their borders and years of trying to get Congress to do something about it, states may finally get federal action on the issue - from the U.S. Supreme Court. ...
On a bipartisan, 19-0 vote last week, the California Assembly’s Governmental Organization Committee approved a bill sponsored by that committee’s chairman, Assemblyman Adam Gray (D), that would legalize Internet poker in the state. In...
KS Passes Unbalanced Budget KANSAS lawmakers ended their 2016 session by passing a $6.3 billion budget for next fiscal year that is roughly $22 million out of balance. Their budget bill ( SB 249 ) calls on Gov. Sam Brownback (R) to come up with...
Last month the U.S. Supreme Court refused for the second time to block Texas’ voter ID law - the strictest in the nation, allowing only certain forms of photo ID, including gun licenses but not student IDs - from remaining in effect. The justices...
For its primary election last Tuesday, Maryland rolled out new voting machines that scan paper ballots cast by voters. The switch from electronic machines that didn’t leave a paper trail to the new scanning technology was a decade in coming and...
Auto Voter Registration Comes to VT VERMONT Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed legislation that will automatically register eligible residents to vote when they apply for a driver’s license. The law, which will take effect in 2017, makes Vermont the...
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) have each announced plans for greater efforts to combat lead poisoning in their states. Reacting to recent testing that shows elevated levels of lead in water supplies for some...
With little fanfare, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed five of six anti-tobacco measures last week, including a bill making the Golden State the second to raise the legal smoking age to 21. Other measures in the package will require e-cigarettes...
Markell Announces DE Technology Effort Saying “Our aim has always been, under corporate law, to harness the benefits of new technologies while limiting the risk for businesses,” DELAWARE Gov. Jack Markell (D) announced a state initiative...
TN Gov Signs SB 2109 TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Haslam (R) signs SB 2109 , which makes the Volunteer State the third to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports games. The law establishes a regulatory framework for the industry, including a licensing process...
CT Approves HB 5054 The CONNECTICUT Senate approves HB 5054 , legislation that would require which would require alleged domestic abusers to immediately give up their guns and ammunition if their partners seek restraining orders. It moves to Gov. Dannel...
TN Gov Allows SB 2376 TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Haslam (R) allows SB 2376 , which allows full-time faculty, staff and other public college and university employees who have handgun-carry permits to carry their guns on campus as long as they notify the local...
NH Gov Signs HB 1116 NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) signs HB 1116 , legislation that doubles the cap on so-called net metering, which allows solar power generators to sell excess power back to the electric grid (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD).
Environment In CO The COLORADO Supreme Court strikes down an ordinance in the town of Longmont that barred hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and the disposal of waste water associated with the process within city limits. The court said the law was...
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration bans the sale of e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and hookah tobacco to people under age 18 and requires companies to submit these products to it for regulatory review, provide it with a list of product ingredients...
Social Policy In VA The VIRGINIA Supreme Court rules that a gay couple can be legally considered to have “a relationship analogous to marriage,” and if they’ve been together for a year, a person paying spousal support to one of those...
CA Approves SB 807 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 807 , which would grant civil immunity to any firefighter or first responder who damages an unmanned aircraft, or drone, in the course of doing their job. The measure heads to the Assembly (LEXISNEXIS...
J.G. Preston has his hands full most days working as the press secretary for the Consumer Attorneys of California. But while we’re sure he likes his job, he loves baseball. Which is why, as the Capitol Morning Report in Sacramento reports, he is...
Later this year the University of California Center in Sacramento will say goodbye to its long-time associate director, A.G. Block. For the last dozen years Block has led the school’s public policy programs, teaching college students about government...
The annual NFL draft was held a few weeks ago, a.k.a. the time of year when otherwise intelligent grown-ups get in a lather over the job prospects of a large group of college kids they’ve never met in an industry none of them are part of. As if...
Maine Gov. Paul LePage is the hands down champ as the most disagreeable governor in the nation, a guy as likely to stomp on measures from his Republican colleagues as he is those from the Democrats he clearly hates. So it should come as no surprise that...
Guest Written by: Bhargavi Arrunategui The workforce is changing. Millennials—the generation born between 1980 and 2000—now represent a quarter of the U.S. workforce. As more Baby Boomers retire, the numbers will shift even more significantly...