Texas Approves SB 522 The TEXAS Senate approves SB 522 , which would allow county clerks to recuse themselves from signing marriage licenses for same-sex couples because of religious objections. It moves now to the House (TEXAS TRIBUNE).
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) signed 41 bills last week, including at least five that deal with blockchain cryptocurrency technologies. Those measures include HB 19 , which codified a definition of a cryptocurrency and makes them exempt from Equality...
Some traditions never die...no matter how much they probably should. Case in point comes from Idaho, where last month a trio of freshman lawmakers introduced their first-ever bills to the full House of Representatives. As the Idaho State Journal reports...
A Wisconsin judge ruled on Thursday that laws passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature during last December’s lame duck session to strip some powers away from incoming Gov. Tony Evers (D) are unconstitutional. Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess...
LA Judge Rejects Edwards LGBT Directive Saying the law was unclear, a LOUISIANA judge rejected an attempt by Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) to force the state Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) to okay legal contracts that include anti-discrimination language...
As of 2016, the last year for which complete data is available, states had only 71.1 percent of the assets they needed to cover future pension payments to retirees, down from 74.5 percent in 2015. New Jersey was in the worst shape, with a pension funding...
In 2015 Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure reforming the state’s highly partisan legislative redistricting process, but congressional redistricting was left untouched. Now there’s talk around the Statehouse of remedying that...
Since men get to constantly tell women how to manage their own bodies, Georgia state Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick thinks it’s time that women get to return the favor. In an email to colleagues she titled “Testicular ‘Bill of Rights’...
Hard part just beginning for CA cap-and-trade program: By most measures, California's nascent cap-and-trade program had a solid first year of operation, producing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for state coffers and, perhaps more important...
After over a year of negotiation, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and legislative leaders announced an agreement to legalize recreational marijuana use in the Garden State. The deal would establish a flat tax rate of $42 per ounce, which would stay...
Most people would not spend $18,000 to save $200. Alas, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety is clearly not burdened with such fiscal sense. As the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports , the DPS has recently spent $17,727.50 fighting an open records...
ABBOTT ORDERS FREE REPLACEMENT GUN CARDS: TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbott (R) directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to waive the cost of replacing licenses to carry handguns for residents who lost their cards as a result of Hurricane Harvey. Residents...
US Supreme Court Rejects Appeal The U.S. Supreme Court rejects an appeal by MARYLAND to review a ruling by a lower court that invalidated an Old Line State law which barred drug makers from imposing large price increases without first justifying those...
Christie Signs Opioid EO Sticking to his vow to address the state’s rising opioid abuse epidemic, NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) issued Executive Order No. 219, which declares opioid abuse to be a public health crisis and creates a state...
Vermont Approves HB 196 The VERMONT House approves HB 196 , which would require business owners to provide workers with six weeks of family leave at 80 percent of their salary, paid for by a statewide payroll tax on all workers. The measure moves to...
If you live in Pennsylvania and your kid likes to torment others, you might want to start a special savings account. As the Washington Post reports , Pennsylvania State Rep. Frank Burns will soon introduce legislation that would hit the parents of repeat...
OR Senate SB 608 The OREGON Senate approves SB 608 , which would impose the nation’s first statewide rent control regulation. Under the proposal, landlords could raise rent no more than 7 percent per year, plus the annual change in the consumer...
By some accounts, insurance fraud has reached epidemic proportions, costing insurance companies and their policyholders tens of billions of dollars each year. State lawmakers have taken several measures in recent years to combat the problem, but this...
Going into the Nov. 8 election, Republicans controlled both chambers of the legislature in 30 states, while Democrats controlled both chambers in 12, and 7 statehouses were split between the two parties. (Nebraska’s Legislature is technically nonpartisan...
Hickenlooper Pondering Slower Hospital Growth in CO COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) told reporters last week he might propose requiring hospitals seeking to expand to file proof with the state to show there is a need for such growth. At least 35...
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is no doubt a decent fisherman. But top honors evaded him at last week’s Governor’s Fishing Opener event in St. Cloud. The gov didn’t do bad, hauling in a three pound bass, part of a five-fish total accumulated...
Frustrated by a lack of success on the federal level, advocates for raising the minimum wage have in recent years instead focused their energies on states and specific cities around the nation. Those efforts have proven far more fruitful: while the federal...
Social Policy In Alaska The ALASKA State Medical Board approves new abortion regulations that repeal a requirement that a physician consult with another doctor before performing an abortion after the twelfth week of gestation (ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS...
Rhode Island Signs HB 5277 RHODE ISLAND Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) signs HB 5277 , which makes the Ocean State the 10 th to ban so-called “conversion therapy,” a therapy aimed at changing the sexual orientation, gender identity or gender behavior...
With Republicans emerging from last year’s election in control of the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate and the White House, and congressional redistricting approaching in 2020, Democrats are planning to mount a major effort in state legislative races...