Wyoming has the largest estimated fiscal year 2019 rainy-day fund balance as a percentage of total state expenditures, at 109 percent, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers’ Spring 2019 Fiscal Survey of States . California...
A special committee in Kansas is looking into ways to control the rising cost of healthcare in the state. This month the members of the House and Senate Special Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance got a crash course on healthcare cost control...
Brown County, Wisconsin is one of at least 23 counties in the state that charge jail inmates room and board for the time that they’re incarcerated. But Wisconsin isn’t alone. At least 40 states charge such “pay-to-stay” fees, although...
TN PROPOSES SWITCH TO MEDICAID BLOCK GRANT FUNDING TENNESSEE unveiled a plan last week that would fund its Medicaid program through a federal block grant, limiting how much is spent on the program instead of paying for whomever enrolls, which is the...
For decades, California has been able to adopt auto emission regulations that are tougher than those approved by the federal government, thanks to a federal waiver allowing the state to set its own auto emission standards and other states to follow those...
PUSH FOR ‘JUNGLE PRIMARY’ IN FL FLORIDA billionaire Mike Fernandez, who left the Republican Party because of his opposition to President Trump, is spending millions of dollars to place a measure before voters in 2020 that would shift the...
Amid a growing number of vaping-related deaths and serious illnesses, Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California, both Democrats, launched efforts last week to ban the products. The actions come days after the Trump administration...
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) unveiled “an absolute game changer” plan to make all colleges and universities tuition-free for all in-state students, regardless of family income. The proposal, which will require legislative approval...
NH LAWMAKERS SUSTAIN VAST MAJORITY OF VETOES The NEW HAMPSHIRE Legislature upheld all but one of the 55 vetoes issued by Gov. Chris Sununu (R), including measures on gun control, renewable energy and paid family leave. The one successful veto override...
California Governor Signs AB 5 Calling it “landmark legislation for our workers and our economy,” CALIFORNIA Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signs AB 5 , which codifies the process for determining if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor...
New Hampshire House Fails to Override Governor's Veto of HB 365 The NEW HAMPSHIRE House fails to override Gov. Chris Sununu’s (R) veto of HB 365 , which would have raised from 1 megawatt to 5 the limit on how much solar and hydropower towns...
Trump Administration Announces Plans to Revoke Longstanding Federal Rule The Trump administration announces plans to revoke a longstanding federal rule that allows CALIFORNIA to establish stricter emissions standards than required by federal law. State...
Utah Legislature Unanimously Endorses SB 1002 The UTAH Legislature unanimously endorses SB 1002 , which would scrap a proposed state-centralized system for delivering cannabis to patients in favor of leaving distribution in the hands of private businesses...
New Hampshire House Sustains Veto of HB 109 The NEW HAMPSHIRE House sustains the veto by Gov. Chris Sununu (R) of HB 109 , a bill that would have required a criminal background check for commercial firearms sales (NEW HAMPSHIRE PUBLIC RADIO). ...
Arizona Supreme Court Rules in Phoenix Ordinance The ARIZONA Supreme Court rules that a PHOENIX ordinance that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination cannot be used to force artists to create custom wedding invitations...
The legacy of the speech then-Vice President Richard Nixon gave on Sept. 23 rd 1952 is pretty profound. Accused of campaign improprieties, Nixon took to the airwaves to defend himself. Over the course of 30 minutes he showed his profound ability to spread...
Illinois state Rep. Jaime Andrade is tired of all the mess pigeons make at the Irving Park Blue Line train station in Chicago. Admittedly, some problems are harder to see than others. Uh, not this one. While talking about the issue to TV reporters last...
If you kill it, you must grill it! Well, not quite yet but maybe in the future. As CalMatters reports , California lawmakers endorsed a bill last week intended to pave the way for folks to harvest critters smushed on Golden State highways. The bill originally...
In spite of screeching from some quarters, America is now and always has been built on diversity. And as the personal finance site WalletHub reports , based on a wide range of measurements no state is more diverse than California. This is likely not a...
Caroline Black is a partner in the white-collar crime team at the London-based law firm Dechert LLP. She has worked on several large multi-jurisdictional anti-corruption and bribery cases and advised major companies on putting in place adequate compliance...
There was a time when, if you weren’t in Las Vegas and you wanted to put some money down on a football game – say $100 that the Rams would cover the spread on Sunday – you needed to talk to a bookie. So, you picked up your phone. ...
At least 18 states allow sports betting either in-person at casinos and other gambling facilities, or online via computer or mobile phone, according to the website BettingUSA.com. Eleven of those states allow both, while six allow only in-person sports...
New Jersey senators who convened a hearing this month to try to figure out what’s wrong with the state’s scandal-ridden business tax incentive program -- which expired at the end of June and Gov. Phil Murphy (D) refused to extend last month...
The attorneys general of every state but Alabama and California have officially launched an antitrust investigation of Google. Standing on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court along with officials from 11 other states and the District of Columbia...
NJ FACING BIG PUBLIC PENSION HIT NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) decision to phase in a reduction in the public pension system’s expected rate of return from 7.6 percent to 7 percent, which former Gov. Chris Christie (R) made just before...