Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is no doubt a decent fisherman. But top honors evaded him at last week’s Governor’s Fishing Opener event in St. Cloud. The gov didn’t do bad, hauling in a three pound bass, part of a five-fish total accumulated...
While Gov. Dayton was hooking fish, out west in California lawmakers were doing their best to scare off some frogs. As the Capitol Morning Report notes, lawmakers and staffers came together for the 43 rd Annual Capitol Frog Jump, a gig inspired by the...
Kiley’s line was a good one, but it wasn’t the best one of the week. That honor goes to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. When asked by yours truly his thoughts on the Trump administration’s plans to reinvigorate the war on...
Nevada Approves SB 106 The NEVADA Senate approves SB 106 , which would raise the Silver State minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2022. The measure, which would hike the wage standard by .75 cents every year for the next five years, moves to the Assembly...
California Approves SB 439 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 439 , which would ensure that counties treat juvenile offenders 11 or younger in the child services system instead of the juvenile courts. It moves to the Assembly (ASSOCIATED PRESS). ...
Texas Approves SB 7 The TEXAS Senate gives final approval to SB 7 , which would require Lone Star State principals and superintendents to report inappropriate teacher-student relationships or face jail time and fines up to $10,000. It moves to Gov...
Missouri Amends HB 90 The MISSOURI House declines to take up an amended version of HB 90 , which would have made the Show Me State the last in the nation to adopt a prescription drug monitoring system (KANSAS CITY STAR). Iowa Signs HB 524 IOWA...
Social Policy In Alaska The ALASKA State Medical Board approves new abortion regulations that repeal a requirement that a physician consult with another doctor before performing an abortion after the twelfth week of gestation (ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS...
Louisiana Approves HB 71 The LOUISIANA House approves HB 71 , which would prohibit the removal of any military monument from any war without approval from a majority of voters. The measure, which is aimed at preventing the removal of Civil War monuments...
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said he would soon issue an executive order to enhance LGBTQ protections in the Tar Heel State. Speaking at a conference of the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C. last Tuesday, Cooper did not elaborate on...
Saying the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to address climate change, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) issued an executive order directing the state Department of Environmental Quality to begin assembling regulations to reduce carbon...
The Louisiana Senate approved a trio of bills last week that form the backbone of Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) effort to reduce the Pelican State’s highest-in-the-world incarceration rate. Those measures – SBs 220 , 221 and 139 – would...
Inslee Signs Real ID Bill WASHINGTON Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a bill last week that will make the Evergreen State the 25 th to comply with the federal Real ID law, which requires states to produce driver’s licenses and identification cards...
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling striking down the voter ID law enacted in 2013 by North Carolina’s GOP-led General Assembly and then-Republican governor. The justices’ decision leaves in place...
A South Carolina statehouse corruption investigation, which has been publicly dormant since it lead to the indictment of Sen. John Courson (R) on allegations of laundering campaign money through a powerful, local consulting firm, appears to be starting...
CA, NY Leading Legal Effort To Protect ACA Funding CALIFORNIA Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) and NEW YORK Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) are leading a coalition of states, including CONNECTICUT , DELAWARE , HAWAII , ILLINOIS , IOWA , KENTUCKY...
Earlier this year South Dakota passed a law requiring out-of-state sellers with in-state sales over $100,000 or 200 individual transactions per year to collect and remit sales taxes to the state. The law was part of an effort by multiple states - including...
Democrats who control the California Legislature have proposed legislation ( AB 42 and SB 10 ) that would end the practice of having judges set bail amounts based on a schedule of rates for various crimes. Instead, new county pretrial services agencies...
AK Lawmakers Vote To End Oil Subsidies ALASKA’s Senate has approved a House proposal eliminating cash subsidies for oil companies. But there’s still a wide gap between the two chambers over what to do about subsidies owed but not yet paid...
Almost $82 billion was spent on Medicaid in California in FY 2016 - $52.6 billion (64.1 percent) by the federal government and $29.4 billion (35.9 percent) by the state - according to January 2017 estimates from the Urban Institute, based on data from...
States would face demanding fiscal challenges, especially with Medicaid, if the pending Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) becomes law. Proposed heavy cutbacks in Medicaid could potentially doom the American Health Care Act (AHCA...
There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Maine Gov. Paul LePage is the model for Dr. Seuss’s infamous Grinch. Then again, he certainly appears to enjoy being the living embodiment of the terminally grumpy beast that gets its greatest joy from...
Speaking of puppies, Massachusetts lawmakers took time to share personal stories of their pets during animal advocacy day on Beacon Hill last week. As the State House News Service reports, this included Sen. Mark Montigny’s tale of smuggling a kitten...
Hard as it might be to imagine, Rutgers University once paid Snooki, she of obnoxious drunk fame on the repulsive “Jersey Shore” reality show, $32,000 grand to speak at a campus event. But the days of washed up reality TV creatures commanding...
Don’t go away mad, just go away. This was the message TV chef Sandra Lee clearly sent to U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan during a recent appearance on the “Fox & Friends” cable news show. Lee was booked to give a cooking demo...