CA Proposes SB 789 Drought-inspired legislation proposed in CALIFORNIA would authorize local water authorities to seek voter approval to impose 300 percent taxes on the bills of excessive water users. The bill (SB 789) needs a two-thirds majority in...
NY Approves AB 7060 The NEW YORK Assembly approves AB 7060, which would allow emergency access to medical marijuana for patients with illnesses like epilepsy. It is now in the Senate (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE). FL Signs HB 751 FLORIDA...
TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbot (R) signs SB 374, which requires state agencies, colleges and universities to use the federal electronic employment verification system known as E-Verify when screening job applicants. The bill codifies into law an executive order...
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds TX Surgical Center Standards A three-judge panel of the 5 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a TEXAS law that requires Lone Star State clinics that perform abortions to meet ambulatory surgical center standards...
The NEW YORK Assembly approves AB 7260, which would require state veterans affairs officials to develop plans for assisting veterans of military sexual trauma. The measure moves to the Senate (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET). -- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
In this guest post for Procurement Leaders Mark Dunn, Segment Leader for Risk at LexisNexis, shares his views on supply chain visibility and strategies to mitigate the impact of international and domestic sanctions. Widening impact of sanctions for...
Editor: Rich Ehisen Associate Editor: Korey Clark Contributing Editor: Mary Peck, David Giusti Editorial Advisor: Lou Cannon Correspondents: Richard Cox (CA), Lauren Davis (MA), Steve Karas (CA) and Ben Livingood (PA), Cathy Santsche (CA), Dena Blodgett...
A SMASHING SUCCESS : Looking for a way to show off the impact of legislation he authored to help low income people get out of gas guzzlers and into high-mileage, low-emissions vehicles, California Senate pro Tem Kevin de Leon decided to take a “go...
CA Senate Approves SB 3 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 3, which would raise the Golden State minimum wage to $11 in $2016 and $13 in 2017. The measure, which would also hike the wage annually based on inflation, moves to the Assembly (LEXISNEXIS...
It hasn’t been a good last few years for keeping California’s elected officials out of trouble with the law, with three Senators arrested in felony corruption cases and at least four lawmakers arrested for drunk driving. There is only so much...
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) has made the Sooner State the second to centralize oil and gas regulation with the state and to bar cities and counties from enacting their own bans on the controversial drilling process hydraulic fracturing, or fracking...
“States are mythologized as laboratories of public policy innovation,” but in reality they are often “no more than factories of replication, captured by political myths and doomed to re-enact failed policies,” David Schultz, a...
According to a report last year from bond-rating company Standard & Poor’s, states have $529.8 billion in unfunded liabilities for health care and other benefits separate from pensions. But that figure could go up significantly soon. Under...
At least six states have introduced bills or resolutions dealing with digital driver’s licenses this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and LexisNexis State Net’s legislative database. Three of those resolutions...
A handful of states are racing to be the first to offer their residents a driver’s license they can load onto their smartphones. But some of those who would be most affected by that innovation are wondering what the rush is about. Last December...
CO Signs HB 1043 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs HB 1043, legislation that makes a fourth DUI a felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of as much as $500,000. The law takes effect Aug. 5 (CASPER STAR TRIBUNE, LEXISNEXIS...
Coming off a session that saw lawmakers adopt the bulk of his agenda, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) is pondering a run at the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada). Sandoval has said many times in the past he has...
Rep. William Howell (R), speaker of the Virginia House for the last dozen years, opposes the Affordable Care Act and is a former chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council. But despite his conservative credentials, he’s facing a challenge...
Last week Louisiana’s Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs voted 7-2 in favor of a measure that would eliminate sales tax holidays on back-to-school purchases in early August and hurricane preparedness supplies next May in order to help...
Don’t expect to see any smiling baby faces on beer labels in New Hampshire any time soon. As the Associated Press reports, Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed a measure that would have allowed the Green Mountain State liquor commission to consider letting...
Conservative politicians often blame unions and right-to-work laws for lagging employment and overly generous worker pay. But according to an article last month in the Great Falls Tribune by Alvah MacWilliam, data from The National Conference of State...
As of the morning of May 29th, North Dakota sweet crude was fetching $58.33 a barrel, which was music to the ears of state officials. It meant that for the month of May the price of oil would average $4.50 above the $55.09 below which it had averaged...
CA Assembly Approves AB 949 & Endorses AB 288 The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves AB 949, which would make competitive cheerleading an official interscholastic sport. It moves to the Senate (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET). Also in CALIFORNIA , the Assembly...
NV Omnibus Tax Measure to Provide Education Funding The NEVADA Legislature passed a $1.5 billion omnibus tax measure combining AB 464 and SB 483 that, if signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), will provide $600 million in additional funding for education...
CA Court Challenges Ex-Gov Schwarzenegger's Clemency Ruling A CALIFORNIA appeals court ruled that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) did not break the law in 2010 when he drastically reduced the prison sentence of the son of a political ally...