Wolf Pitches Job Protection Plan PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) said new businesses that accept state grants to start their companies must be held accountable for the jobs they say they will create. Wolf’s budget proposal includes a three-point...
Texas Approves SB 1018 The TEXAS Senate approves SB 1018 , legislation that would make it easier for the state to license privately run detention centers as “family residential centers” in order to hold immigrant families in detention centers...
Texas Approves SB 4 The TEXAS Senate gives final approval to SB 4 , which would make it a crime for law enforcement to refuse cooperation with federal immigration officials. Local jurisdictions could also face fines of up to $25,000 per day for violating...
Georgia Senate Approves HB 481 The GEORGIA Senate approves HB 481 , which would regulate the operation of drones in the Peach State and bar local governments from adopting their own laws around drone operation. It goes to Gov. Nathan Deal (R), who...
Saying “We need to treat this crisis the exact same way we treat any other state emergency,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) declared a state of emergency last week over the state’s growing number of opioid overdose deaths. Hogan also...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder may be having the worst month of anyone in politics. As the situation in Flint continues to unfold, Snyder has been working overtime to counter accusations that his administration was at best incompetent and at worst negligent...
Speaking of Oklahoma, The state GOP is still picking bits of its giant foot from between its own teeth after likening food stamp recipients to animals last week. As News 9 also reports, the state GOP took to Facebook to compare an announcement that the...
OK Issues EO 2015-17 OKLAHOMA Gov. Mary Fallin (R) issues Executive Order 2015-17, which creates a new executive panel designed to develop a plan for improving the range and quality of services for people with developmental disabilities (LEXISNEXIS...
Education In AZ The ARIZONA Senate approves HB 2544, which would make the Grand Canyon State the first to allow schools to choose from a menu of standardized tests rather than the one offered by the state. It moves to Gov. Doug Ducey (R) for consideration...
NY Gov. Cuomo Cuts Off Groups Boycotting Israel Saying “If you boycott against Israel, New York will boycott you,” NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) directed state agencies under his control to divest themselves of companies and organizations...
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s (R) recent veto of a half dozen bills, most of which he deemed unwarranted, “sophomoric,” or “legislative ‘logrolling,’” has likely set up a contentious override session next spring...
The GEORGIA Senate rejects SB 6, a proposal to ban giving driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants granted deferred action status by the federal government (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET, WABE.ORG [ATLANTA]).
Warning that the world is heading toward “total unsustainability and ecological collapse” if we don’t do something to counter the impacts of global climate change, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D)called on more states and international...
For three decades ferret lovers have been trying to get California lawmakers and regulators to overturn a law that bans folks from owning ferrets. For the uninformed, ferrets are a member of the weasel family and bear a strong connection to the European...
PA HOUSE APPROVES SB 3 The PENNSYLVANIA House approves SB 3 , which would bar doctors from performing abortions on women who are past their 20 th week of pregnancy. The measure moves to Gov. Tom Wolf (D), who has vowed to veto it (MORING CALL [ALLENTOWN...
House and Senate Reach Final Agreement on MA SB 2119 The MASSACHUSETTS House and Senate reach final agreement on SB 2119 , gender pay equity legislation which requires men and women to be paid the same for similar work. The measure, which also bars...
LePage Wants Local Schools to Fund Themselves Saying that schools spend too much money on superintendents, MAINE Gov. Paul LePage (R) said on his weekly radio show that he will push to have Pine Tree State school districts consolidate administrations...
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signed a bill into law last month legalizing games “involving wagering” in residents’ homes as long as those games aren’t held more than once a week, aren’t advertised and don’t involve...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) chose a highly unorthodox format for his annual State of the State address this year: forsaking a speech made to lawmakers in favor of a weeklong statewide tour in which he presented his agenda to audiences in six different...
Crafting a state budget is not for the weak of heart, nor is it for the humor-challenged. Thankfully neither is the case in Washington, where lawmakers last week carried on what has become a more than two decades-long tradition of giving each budget negotiation...
Twice in two weeks courts have rejected state pension reform laws. On April 30, Oregon’s Supreme Court ruled that the reductions the state made to cost-of-living adjustments in 2013 were unconstitutional. And last week Illinois’ Supreme Court...
Since 2012, 32 states have introduced legislation to establish retirement plans for workers in the private sector or study the feasibility of providing such plans, according to the Pension Rights Center, AARP and Georgetown University’s Center for...
For a lot of folks a Harvard degree might seem the epitome of achievement. That would seem especially true if said degree helps you go on to become governor. But not so for Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who reiterated last month his feeling that attending...
Health In Texas And Arizona The U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules that states may not import drugs used for lethal injection. The agency said the drugs states like TEXAS and ARIZONA were seeking to bring in were unapproved and misbranded (TEXAS...
Charlotte, North Carolina mayoral candidate Kimberly Paige Barnette thinks she has all the skills, talents and abilities she needs to be the city’s next mayor. After all, she’s a former county magistrate, believes in traditional values and...