New York Signs AB 10740 NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs AB 10740 , which makes the Empire State the first to require all schools to test their drinking water for lead contamination, with results reported to parents and state and local officials...
DE Gov. Markell Signs Mental Health Bills Acting on reforms suggested by a task force he created, DELAWARE Gov. Jack Markell (D) has signed a pair of bills aimed at improving the state’s mental health system. One measure ( SB 245 ) would establish...
Feds Say TX Misleading Voters about Voter ID Requirement The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion in federal court accusing TEXAS officials of misleading voters by telling them they can cast a ballot without a form of photo ID specified by...
AL Approves $1B BP Settlement Spending Plan ALABAMA lawmakers approved a plan last week to spend most of a $1 billion settlement with BP over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on debt repayments, Medicaid and highway projects in Baldwin and Mobile...
Montana GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte may or may not unseat incumbent Gov. Steve Bullock, but if he does it will be without the support of Susan Carstensen. As the Missoulian reports , Carstensen has publicly endorsed Bullock, saying of Gianforte...
Environment In California A federal judge tentatively rejects a plan by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to open more than 1,500 square miles of lands in central CALIFORNIA to oil drilling and fracking. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald said...
FDA Bans 19 Chemicals The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issues a rule banning 19 chemicals commonly used in anti-bacterial soaps. The FDA said the chemicals are unnecessary and in some cases even dangerous. Companies that make the soaps were given...
New Jersey Signs SB 1266 NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs SB 1266 , which allows any Garden State municipality to operate its own needle exchange program (NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR’S OFFICE). Social Policy In New York NEW YORK Attorney...
New Jersey Signs AB 3682 NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs AB 3682 , which allows animal facilities to use artificial turf in outdoor enclosures (NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR’S OFFICE). -- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a good fish tail to tell this week. Or he did until he made the mistake of talking about it on social media. As AOL News reports , the governor and his brother Chris, an anchor with CNN, went fishing last weekend off of...
California Approves SB 1063 The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves SB 1063 , which bars employers from paying workers based on race or ethnicity. The bill moves to Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for consideration (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET). California Gives Endorsement...
Engaging with pop culture in an intelligent way can be an irresistible PR tactic. It's only natural to want to position a brand alongside people and events that are drawing huge amounts of coverage to try and reap some of that excitement and buzz...
Sometime this month California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) will weigh in on a measure ( AB 797 ) that would allow someone who encounters a dog or cat left in a hot car to bust the critter out without facing criminal or civil charges. If Brown signs it, he will...
With just a few months to go before the November presidential election, states are finding their election systems in the crosshairs of hackers. In June the Federal Bureau of Investigation informed Arizona officials that Russian hackers had initiated an...
We all know someone – okay, lots of someones – who has bent our ear of late about what they see as truly terrible choices for the presidency of the United States this election year. If this is you, there is now hope. Let us present Duke, the...
Last month when prolonged rainfall had just begun submerging homes and businesses in southern Louisiana, the state spent about $12 million in under a week dealing with the flooding. Local National Guard troops cost the state $800,000 per day alone. ...
Many states have joined multi-state efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage investment in clean energy and energy efficiency, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). Nine states participate in the Regional Greenhouse...
California lawmakers last month cemented their commitment to dramatically reducing the state’s carbon emissions, passing a pair of bills ( SB 32 and AB 197 ) that collectively extend the program by a decade and give the Legislature more oversight...
California Approves AB 2888 The CALIFORNIA Assembly gives final approval to AB 2888 , which would mandate that anyone convicted of rape in the Golden State must receive jail time. The law removes a loophole that allowed judges the discretion to sentence...
Another week, another massive dose of heartburn for Maine lawmakers struggling to manage a professional relationship with Gov. Paul LePage (R). In the span of just over a few week the governor known as much for his pugnacious personality and confrontations...
If you don’t want to hear an honest answer, you had better not ask Missouri Lt. Governor candidate Jake Wilburn a question. Wilburn, who is running a write-in campaign for the position, minces no words when it comes to his disdain for the office...
A panel of federal judges issued a ruling last month that will have no bearing on the November election but could have major implications for future races. The judges simply ruled that a challenge to the congressional redistricting in Maryland after...
A recent audit of the University of California revealed that the prestigious public higher-education system has been giving preferential admissions treatment to out-of-state and foreign students, who pay higher tuition than residents of the state. But...
Education in California The CALIFORNIA Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling ( Vergara v. California ) that rejected a challenge to the Golden State’s teacher dismissal, tenure and layoff laws (EDSOURCE).
MN Gov. Issues Bee EO MINNESOTA Gov. Mark Dayton (D) issued Executive Order 16-07 , which limits the use of pesticides that harm the Gopher State’s honeybee population. The governor’s order directs the state’s Department of Agriculture...