Some GOP governors have expressed disappointment at the changes to the Affordable Care Act proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said governors had asked House lawmakers to work with them on changes, but that...
Utah senator Curt Bramble is decidedly not a fan of lawmakers spending time anointing state symbols. But as the Deseret News reports , he recently made an exception to carry a bill dubbing the fearsome Utahraptor the official state dinosaur. And what...
NV Omnibus Tax Measure to Provide Education Funding The NEVADA Legislature passed a $1.5 billion omnibus tax measure combining AB 464 and SB 483 that, if signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), will provide $600 million in additional funding for education...
In the final hours of the fiscal year that ended on June 30, Pennsylvania lawmakers sent Gov. Tom Wolf (D) a bipartisan $31.5 billion general appropriations bill but didn’t include a plan for how to pay for that spending (see PA Passes Partial Budget...
Edwards Issues LGBT Order LOUISIANA Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) issued Executive Order No. JBE 2016-11 , which protects LGBT state employees and contractors from being fired, discriminated against or harassed based on their gender identity or sexual...
In his January State of the State address, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) called on lawmakers to pass legislation that would make the Grand Canyon State the first to accept out-of-state professional licenses. Lawmakers responded by sending him HB 2569 last...
MT Senate Endorses HB 658 The MONTANA Senate endorses HB 658 , which would extend the Treasure State’s Medicaid expansion, while also adding work requirements and a sunset date of 2025. The measure has returned to the Senate for consideration...
TX SENATE APPROVES $8.4B IN ADDITIONAL SPENDING FOR FY 2019 The TEXAS Senate approved a supplemental FY 2019 appropriation of $8.4 billion for lingering expenses associated with Hurricane Harvey, school safety measures and the teacher retirement system...
EVERS SEEKS ROLLBACK OF WALKER-ERA WI WORK LAWS The budget proposed by WISCONSIN Gov. Tony Evers (D) would roll back several employment laws implemented under former Gov. Scott Walker (R), including a repeal of the state’s so-called “right...
AR Governor Signs SB 149 ARKANSAS Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signs SB 149 , so-called “trigger legislation” that would ban abortion in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its landmark 1973 ruling legalizing the procedure nationwide...
The always-fractured relationship between Maine lawmakers and the state’s often-pugnacious governor has taken another nasty turn as a handful of House members said they will seek to launch impeachment proceedings against Gov. Paul LePage (R). At...
In a rare show of bipartisan action, California lawmakers approved legislation last week to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to pay for releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The bills’ passage –...
Nothing is forever in politics. But knowing that doesn’t always make it easier it manage when the end comes. Case in point this week comes from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who bid farewell to chief of staff Steve Kadish, who stepped down in...
In the battle to mold and amend California’s sweeping data privacy law before it goes into effect next year, efforts to carve out numerous exceptions are easily winning out over those that would make the law even tougher. The ramifications...
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage and current Gov. Janet Mills have almost nothing in common, except for an apparent need for speed and an unwillingness to learn a lesson. As the Bangor Daily News reports , Mills has had 10 speeding tickets since 1975, and...
As of this writing, Democrats Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax and Mark Herring are, respectively, the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general for the state of Virginia. Whether any of them are in those positions by this time next week is an open...
CO Signs HB 1043 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs HB 1043, legislation that makes a fourth DUI a felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of as much as $500,000. The law takes effect Aug. 5 (CASPER STAR TRIBUNE, LEXISNEXIS...
McAuliffe Vows Vetoes VIRGINIA Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said last week he would veto any measures sent to him by lawmakers that discriminate against the LGBTQ community or which seek to force so-called “sanctuary cities” to cooperate with...
A bipartisan group of 17 governors signed off last week on a pledge to work together toward increasing the use of renewable power, integrating electricity grids across state lines and ramping up the number of alternative fuel cars on their roadways (For...
One of the first items on New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s agenda was removing the state’s National Guard troops from the border with Mexico. That caused so much posterior pain for state Rep. Zach Cook that he started an online petition...
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) filed legislation last week to create statewide “innovation partnership zones” that give local schools more and better tools to improve poor performing schools. The plan is based on a nine-school...
It wasn’t the kind of exit Kentucky First Lady Glenna Bevin was planning on. As the Louisville Courier-Journal reports , Bevin was one of the speakers at the annual Governor’s Prayer Breakfast last week. When she was done, she sat down in...
Texas might be about to go to the dogs, and that’s not a bad thing. As the Wichita Falls Times Record News reports (say that three times fast!), the Lone Star State Senate passed a bill last week that would make it legal for eateries to allow dogs...
The same distress over the disappearance of jobs in rural communities that helped drive the successful presidential campaign of Donald Trump is leading some states to turn to a complex economic development approach that hasn’t lived up to its advocates’...
We’re pretty sure that once upon a time former Arkansas Gov. James P. Clarke and attorney Uriah Rose were big deals in the Razorback State. They must have been because, after all, their accomplishments were recognized with statues at the state Capitol...