North Dakota Approves SB 2154 The NORTH DAKOTA Senate approves SB 2154 , which would suspend implementation of a voter-approved measure to allow the use of medicinal marijuana in the Flickertail State. The suspension would run through July 31, or until...
Three mornings every week for the last few years California resident Dave Kennedy grabs his headphones, a reading tablet and a few pillows and makes a 15-minute drive to the dialysis clinic nearest his home in the foothills east of Sacramento. Once there...
The Maine Supreme Court dealt Gov. Paul LePage (R) a stinging rebuke last Thursday, unanimously rejecting his plea to force lawmakers hold override votes on 65 bills he vetoed on in July. The challenge was the latest action in what has become an...
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...
Wisconsin lawmakers approved Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) plan to mitigate rising health insurance premiums by implementing a reinsurance plan similar to that in place in a handful of other states. Under that proposal, the state would pay as much as...
As Oklahoma Gov. Brad Stitt watched the “American Ninja Warrior” crew setting up the show’s rigorous obstacle course on the south side of the Capitol grounds in Oklahoma City last week, he couldn’t help thinking, “I could...
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) has made the Sooner State the second to centralize oil and gas regulation with the state and to bar cities and counties from enacting their own bans on the controversial drilling process hydraulic fracturing, or fracking...
BAKER REFILES MA CYBERBULLYING BILL Responding to a study that showed growth in cyberbullying in Bay State schools, MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) refiled a bill that would require schools to teach kids about the dangers of taking and sharing...
tah Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers (R) has introduced a resolution (SJR 9) calling for a convention of the states, under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, to propose amendments to that document “that impose fiscal restraints on the federal...
In another huge electoral night for Republicans, the GOP picked up three additional governorships, with at least one more race too close to call. The party gained the chief executive office in three states previously held by Democrats – Vermont...
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...
Four years ago, faced with a $1 billion budget deficit, Arizona’s GOP-controlled Legislature reduced the maximum amount of time residents could receive welfare benefits over their entire lives to 12 months, the shortest duration in the country....
A pair of Democratic governors launched wide-ranging efforts last week to prop up the Affordable Care Act and to broaden health care coverage in their states. The first came from New California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who issued an executive order...
Minnesota Rep. Joe Atkins (D) was stunned recently to hear that state law enforcement officials might be looking into whether people who play fantasy sports could be committing a crime. Atkins knows lots of people who play fantasy sports - no surprise...
OH FACING $1B ROAD FUNDING SHORTFALL Jack Marchbanks, head of OHIO’s Department of Transportation, told the state House Finance Committee last week that the department is facing a revenue shortfall of $1 billion a year over the next decade. He...
Despite drawing intense scrutiny over the last few weeks, U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) will hold onto the seat she was appointed to earlier this year, following the resignation of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi) over health concerns...
A population explosion in Ada County, Idaho is putting a strain on city services, from roads to parks to fire and police stations. So some cities in the tax-averse region are looking to do what the county’s largest city, Boise, has done before:...
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced last week that it was canceling a $929 million grant to California for a high-speed rail project that was supposed to link San Francisco and Los Angeles. The announcement also said the department was...
Kentucky Approves HB 58 The KENTUCKY House approves HB 58 , which would allow homeschool students to participate in public school extracurricular activities at the school in their respective district. It moves to the Senate (FLOYD COUNTY TIMES). ...
US Supreme Court Rules Overturn Colorado Supreme Court Ruling The United States Supreme Court rules that reports of racist comments by jurors may require setting aside a verdict and holding a new trial. The ruling overturns a COLORADO Supreme Court...
In July 2005 Pennsylvania lawmakers voted to give themselves pay raises of between 16 and 34 percent, depending on their position. That action caused such a public outcry that the raises were repealed a few months later. And even after the repeal, 20...
Rest easy, Colorado, the great lemonade blockade is over. Yes, as the Denver Post reports , Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill last week that will allow young ‘uns who want to make a few bucks with a good old fashioned lemonade stand to do so without...
With the first tax season since the federal tax overhaul now in full swing, the $10,000 cap on state and local tax, or SALT, deductions included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may have wealthy Americans in some high-tax states eyeing moves to cheaper locales...
TX Supreme Court Rules The TEXAS Supreme Court rules that the state does not have to reveal the identity of the manufacturer of the drugs used to carry out executions. Doing so, the court ruled, “would create a substantial threat of physical...
In the many months since the February death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, High Court observers have pondered the potential impact of his absence and the ongoing vacancy of the seat Senate Republicans refuse to fill. Now the time for pondering...