Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) has proposed giving the state power to take over failing public schools. Doing so would require lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment, with voters getting the final say in the 2016 election. Under Georgia law, schools...
A special prosecutor and grand jury has recommended that Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane (D) face criminal charges for allegedly leaking secret information to a newspaper. The grand jury's recommendation stems from a 2010 investigation of the theft...
Outgoing ILLINOIS Gov. Pat Quinn (D) vetoes HB 4226, which would have ended a four-decade ban on the hunting of bobcats in the Prairie State (CHICAGO TRIBUNE). • MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs a pair of bills (HBs 5045 and 5636) that together...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said he is meeting with people from both law enforcement and the community to consider ways to make the Empire State grand jury system more transparent. Some media outlets have reported he is weighing the possibility of...
A week after leaving then-West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin's (D) staff in early 2010, Larry Puccio became a lobbyist. Five months after that, he was elected chairman of West Virginia's Democratic Party. Conrad Lucas, chairman of that state's...
Pregnant women, children, the elderly and the disabled have long made up the bulk of Medicaid beneficiaries. But as a result of the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, younger and more able-bodied adults have been enrolling in the program...
Vermont lawmakers re-elected incumbent Gov. Pete Shumlin (D) last week. Shumlin defeated Republican challenger Scott Milne and Libertarian Dan Feliciano, garnering 110 votes to Milne's 69. Feliciano did not receive a vote. The decision fell to lawmakers...
A pair of Democratic MISSISSIPPI lawmakers — Reps. Tom Miles and Michael Evans — have proposed a bill to make the Bible the official state book. "Me and my constituents, we were talking about it and one of them made a comment that people...
Faced with ongoing scrutiny over his fiancee's consulting work, OREGON Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) and fiancee Cylvia Hayes have hired attorneys to represent them in an investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. The governor said he and...
The GOP-controlled WASHINGTON Senate adopted a rule last week requiring a two-thirds vote to bring bills creating new taxes to the floor for a final vote. Raising an existing tax still requires only a simple majority vote (NORTHWEST PUBLIC RADIO). •...
Credits 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...
In Case You Missed It States have generally bounced back from the Great Recession, but slower growth and big time fiscal obligations have become the new normal. In case you missed it, the story can be found on our Web site at http://www.statenet.com...
It's normal for pols to dislike dealing with the media, but most accept it as part of the job and just try to be professional about it. And then there is Frederick County, Maryland Council member Kirby Delauter. As the Frederick News-Post reports...
In The Hopper At any given time, State Net tracks tens of thousands of bills in all 50 states, US Congress, and the District of Columbia. Here's a snapshot of what's in the legislative works: Number of 2015 Prefiles last week: 1,178 Number of...
A federal judge sentenced former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell (R) to two years in prison for his conviction on a long list of corruption charges last fall. The sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer was significantly less severe...
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie makes no bones about his love for two things: Bruce Springsteen and the Dallas Cowboys. While the former has given Christie the cold shoulder, he and Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones are having a full-on bromance. This was...
With buzz building that Indiana Gov. Mike Spence (R) is considering a run at the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, a new bill was submitted in the Hoosier State last week that would let him simultaneously seek both the presidency and re-election as governor...
Speed and red-light cameras have generated millions of dollars for municipalities across the country. But a backlash against the cameras by motorists has led many of those municipalities and some states to abandon their use, leaving them with big budget...
A federal court rules that a CALIFORNIA law banning the force-feeding of ducks and geese in order to artificially enlarge their livers, or the sale of products made from that process, is unconstitutional. Force-feeding the fowl is a key part of making...
Upcoming Elections (01/09/2015 - 01/30/2015) 01/13/2015 Texas Special Election House District 13 Virginia Special Election House District 74 01/27/2015 Florida Special Primary House Districts 17 and 24 Senate District 6
Thanks to an oil and gas boom, North Dakota's job market grew more than any other state's last year, 4.8 percent, according to analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by Stateline. Texas ranked second at 3.7 percent, followed by Utah at 3...
States in Regular Session: CA, CO, CT, DC, IN, KY, MA, ME, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, NY, OH, PA, RI, US, VT, WI States in Informal Session: States in Skeleton Session: States in Veto Session: States in Recess: NJ, OK States in Special Session: Special...
The PENNSYLVANIA Department of Corrections announces it will no longer place inmates with serious mental illnesses in solitary confinement. Those prisoners will now be placed in special treatment units instead. The agreement settles a lawsuit brought...
Shortly after being sworn in for a historic fourth term last week, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) hailed his state's efforts to combat global climate change, saying the Golden State has "the most far-reaching environmental laws of any state...
Texas lawmakers are expected to have an extra $9 billion to $12 billion to spend this session. And with Republicans having expanded their majorities in both chambers of the Legislature in November, many had been predicting big tax cuts were on the way...