At least 18 states have introduced bills this year mentioning the word “algorithm.” They include measures dealing with the use of algorithms to censure offensive, political or religious speech on social media (Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi...
WILDFIRE CLEANUP COULD COST CA $3B Clearing away the debris from the 19,000 homes and businesses destroyed by last month’s wildfires could cost CALIFORNIA at least $3 billion, according to state and federal authorities. That sum is more than...
The regulatory environment that you operate in is more complex than ever—and as some of our past FCPA-focused blog posts show, organizations that fail to put due-diligence and third-party monitoring programs in place face enormous financial and...
Board Denies Funds for OR Women’s Prison The OREGON Emergency Board rejected a plea by state correction officials for $3.8 million to help re-open the Oregon State Penitentiary Minimum in Salem to augment the state’s only current women’s...
The attorneys general of 16 states have filed a federal lawsuit to block the Trump administration from using a national emergency declaration to appropriate about $6.6 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. All 16 of the AGs are Democrats...
As the partial closure of the federal government continues to drag on, states across the country are stepping up to assist the tens of thousands of their residents impacted by the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history. Brand new Govs. Gavin Newsom...
Voters in three states approved measures on Election Night to expand Medicaid, bringing to 36 [plus the District of Columbia] that have agreed to broaden eligibility to include those earning 138 percent of the federal poverty rate. One of those, Maine...
When Election Day ended two weeks ago the “blue wave” many had predicted for the first midterm of the Trump presidency seemed relatively modest in size. But since the election that wave has continued to roll in, bringing more Democratic gains...
Malloy Pitches Justice System Reform for CT Young Offenders : Saying we need “a society where young people who make mistakes don’t pay a price forever,” CONNECTICUT Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) proposed creating a new category of “young...
Sustainable, or ESG, investing – choosing investments based on environmental, social and governance considerations – has been around for decades. But such investing has really taken off in recent years. According to global investment research...
A federal judge issued a ruling last week blocking the U.S. Commerce Department from adding a question about citizenship to the 2020 census. Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr. had ordered the addition of the citizenship question nearly a year...
States enacted budgets for fiscal 2016 that will increase general fund spending by an average of 4.1 percent, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. The biggest spending bump, New York’s 14.7 percent increase, is largely...
And speaking of common sense...maybe someone in the Alabama House ought to give it a try sometime. As the Birmingham News reports , the House just passed a bill that would cut off state funds to colleges or universities that adopt so-called “sanctuary”...
CT APPROVES BANK LOANS FOR UNPAID FEDERAL WORKERS CONNECTICUT’s Democrat-led General Assembly overwhelmingly approved and Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation providing state-backed, zero-interest loans for federal workers who aren’t...
Nine states have received federal approval for waivers allowing them to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients. A federal judge has struck down the requirements in two of those states, Arkansas and Kentucky. But waivers are pending in another...
Kentucky Approves SB 17 The KENTUCKY Senate approves SB 17 , which would codify the right for students to express religious viewpoints in school, including in their homework and clothing. It moves to the House (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER). Virginia...
An executive order signed last month by President Donald Trump threatens to cut off over $2B in federal funding for the nation’s largest sanctuary cities, according to analysis by Reuters. Those cities range from Denver, with $20.4 million in federal...
Nevada became the first state to authorize the operation of autonomous, or self-driving, vehicles in 2011. In the years since then, seven other states - California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Tennessee and Utah - and the District of Columbia...
Saying it was “inevitable” that her state would soon be surrounded by states that have legalized recreational cannabis use, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) joined a growing number of her Democratic colleagues in proposing to follow suit...
BIG TRANSPORTATION FUNDING PROBLEM IN OH OHIO has run out of money for major road projects. A coalition of local governments, chambers of commerce, contractors, engineers and truck drivers called Fix Our Roads Ohio has formed to push for solutions...
Twenty-one states have passed laws governing public access to police body camera footage, according to CNN and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. A few of those measures, including North Carolina HB 972 , were signed into law in the last...
During the 2013-14 legislative year, 14 states enacted bills related to Mental Health First Aid - CPR-like training to help emergency personnel, teachers and others recognize and respond to mental health disorders - according to the National Council for...
Bypassing seven years of congressional inaction and accelerating a national trend, state legislatures in California and New York have passed laws that will gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. In separate legislation these states have also...
Machine learning has become a buzzword in recent years, but the term dates to 1959 when AI-pioneer Arthur Samuel described machine learning as giving “computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed.” Decades later, having...
A spokesperson for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said the governor will unveil a proposal early next year to legalize recreational marijuana use in the Empire State. It would presumably come after a new Democratic majority is sworn in to both legislative...