The WEST VIRGINIA House approves HB 2153, which would bar doctors from performing an abortion after a woman’s pregnancy has reached 20 weeks. The bill, which contains no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, moves to the Senate (WASHINGTON POST...
Embattled OREGON Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) apparently considered resigning last week before abruptly changing his mind. According to the Associated Press, Kitzhaber informed at least two aids he was going to resign, but then opted not to for reasons which...
The NORTH DAKOTA House Judiciary Committee rejects HB 1435, a bill that would have imposed a $500 fine on repeat violators of North Dakota’s open records and open meetings laws (GRAND FORKS HERALD). -- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
The U.S. Department of Justice told a federal court last week that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s (R) order to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood violates federal law because it denies enrollees in the state-federal health plan the right...
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...
The tragic case of a terminally ill California woman who moved to Oregon so doctors could legally help her end her life made international news. It could also push states to adopt their own version of Oregon’s law. In case you missed it, the...
To paraphrase the immortal Mark Twain, everyone complains about statehouse news coverage but nobody does anything about it. Enter Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. As the Indianapolis Star reports, Pence recently announced plans for his administration to start...
Here are some of the topics you may see covered in upcoming issues of the State Net Capitol Journal: - Common Core - State worker exodus - Legalizing pot
NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs SB 1870, a bill that will require Garden State pet stores to display the names and addresses of the breeders of each dog and cat for sale, to post U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection reports for the prior...
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s (R) proposal to expand Medicaid to cover an additional 280,000 low-income Volunteer State residents appears to be dead after the Senate Health and Welfare Committee rejected it last week. The measure’s chances...
A few years ago, government computer systems in Utah were sustaining 25,000 to 30,000 attempted cyber-attacks a day, which Utah Public Safety Commissioner Keith Squires thought was a lot at the time. But last week Squires told a legislative budget committee...
As of last November, 15 states had enacted motor vehicle event data recorder (EDR), or “black box,” privacy laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. All of the laws prohibit the downloading of information from a motor...
There’s a busy world all around us that goes relatively unnoticed much of the time but that could soon be a major focus of government regulation. It’s called the Internet of Things, or IoT, and although it has dominated the attention of the...
To eat the boxed lunch or not to eat the boxed lunch, that is the question for Washington state lawmakers these days. New rules regulating how many free meals they can accept from lobbyists has left Evergreen State pols angry and confused: annoyed because...
The WYOMING House approves HB 114, a bill that would allow people with concealed carry weapons permits to bring guns onto public school campuses and into state and local government meetings. It moves to the Senate (REUTERS). * NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie...
Declaring, “I was elected by the people of this state to do a job, and I intend to do it,” Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) announced at a press conference last month he would not consider resigning from office. His assertion came in response...
In the aftermath of New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s (D) arrest last month on federal corruption charges, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has vowed not to sign a state budget this year unless it includes a slate of ethics reforms. His list...
In 2013, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) and the DFL-controlled Legislature added a new income tax bracket for the state’s highest earners, individuals who make $150,000 or more per year and couples who make $250,000 or more. During debate over the...
(02/06/2015 - 02/27/2015) 02/10/2015 Arkansas Runoff Senate District 16 Florida Special Primary House District 64 Iowa Special Election House District 23 02/17/2015 Florida Special Election House District 13 ...
The week in session States in Regular Session: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN...
In The Hopper Number of 2015 Prefiles last week: 531 Number of Intros last week: 12,093 Number of Enacted/Adopted last week: 743 Number of 2015 Prefiles to date: 14,461 Number of 2015 Intros to date: 49,679 Number of...
When most pols talk about cutting waste, fraud and abuse, they pretty much never mean anything that would directly impact them. But not so for newly-minted Wisconsin Treasurer Matt Adamczyk. As the New York Times reports, Adamczyk has spent most of his...
The ARKANSAS Senate approves legislation that would authorize the continuance of the state’s so-called “private option” Medicaid expansion plan for another year. That program uses federal funding to pay for private health care insurance...
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said car-hire services like Uber and Lyft can continue operation in the Bay State while he works with mayors in Boston and Somerville to craft licensing regulations for those operations. Those regulations are expected...
Most state budgets are continuing their “modest, slow” recovery from the Great Recession, with most states expecting to meet revenue projections and have balanced budgets, according to a new report from the National Conference of State Legislatures...