In a 5-4 decision last month, the Supreme Court ruled that public-sector workers who opt out of joining unions can’t be forced to contribute to those unions’ collective bargaining efforts. In Abood v. Detroit Board of Education in 1977...
SCOTUS LARGELY UPHOLDS CONTESTED TX POLITICAL DISTRICTS In a 5-4 decision last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all but one of the handful of TEXAS legislative districts and both of the congressional districts that a three-judge panel said...
Culminating a broad effort to prevent several major policy issues being decided by voters at the ballot box, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signed off on a so-called “grand bargain” that will gradually raise the Bay State minimum wage...
The ongoing controversy over family separations at the U.S. border with Mexico has spurred a bipartisan group of governors to pull back or reject outright President Trump’s request to send National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico. Democrats...
BROWN MOVES DAYLIGHT SAVINGS BILL TO CA BALLOT CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed AB 807 , a measure that will allow Golden State voters to decide if they want to stay on daylight saving time year-round. If voters approve, the measure would still...
MA Senate Approves SB 2546 The MASSACHUSETTS Senate approves SB 2546 , which would allow the Bay State attorney general to file civil actions and issue stop work orders in wage theft cases. The measure, which also would create a trust fund to repay...
PR Governor Signs Legislation Gov. Ricardo Rossello (NP) signs legislation that allows the U.S. territory to enter into public-private partnerships for the transmission and distribution of power as well as for services like billing and meter-reading...
Going On In OK The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approves a plan that will make OKLAHOMA the first state to oversee coal ash disposal within its borders. Under the agreement, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality will fully take over...
MA House Approves HB 4664 The MASSACHUSETTS House approves HB 4664 , a bill that would ban the use of so-called conversion therapy, a controversial practice aimed at changing the sexual orientation and gender identity of minors. It moves to the Senate...
Going On In AR A federal judge issues a temporary restraining order that prevents ARKANSAS from enforcing a section of a 2015 law requiring abortion providers to contract with a second doctor who has hospital admitting privileges. The order issued...
MA Attorney General Approves Extension In a ruling with statewide implications, MASSACHUSETTS Attorney General Maura Healey (D) approves an extension of a temporary moratorium on legal cannabis shops and other marijuana businesses through June 2019...
It was very bad that now-former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens left office in disgrace over a litany of deplorable behavior and alleged corruption. It was worse that he tried to stick the state with his legal fees on the way out the door. But as the Kansas...
West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry is more than a hallowed jurist. He is also the author of a book decrying political corruption in the Mountain State. Alas, as the Charleston Gazette reports , Loughry himself now stands accused of playing...
As a public official, Kansas Secretary of State and gubernatorial hopeful Kris Kobach is not so competent; as a lawyer he’s even worse. Before you start frothing at the mouth, it wasn’t me that said it. As the Wichita Eagle reports , that...
In spite of some tragic failures, the slow movement toward autonomous cars is rolling forward. The latest proof comes from Massachusetts, where State House News Service reports that Gov. Charlie Baker (R) recently signed off on an agreement to allow testing...
Remember Batman? Not the dark, brooding Batman of our current decade, but the outrageously fun Adam West version featuring the POW-ZING dynamic duo of Batman and Robin. We were recently talking about superheroes (of the public relations variety), and...
It’s easy to take certain types of content at face value and quickly dismiss them as something that does not have direct implication for your organization. One example is patent content. Unless you’re focused on ensuring your R&D budgets...
Social purpose is your brand's new best friend. Social Media Week shared the facts that prove the rise in purpose-driven brands , including growing consumer support of sustainable brands and increasing company investment in capital for social impact...
Crowdfunding is one of the biggest and most effective ways of raising money, with users turning to the platform in order to fund everything from business ventures to holidays to life-saving surgery. However, the rising popularity of crowdfunding as a...
Lauren Arthur is not a household word, except perhaps in the neighborhood of suburban Kansas City, Missouri, where she lives. But Arthur, who on June 5 won a special election to fill a vacancy in the Missouri state senate, epitomizes the high hopes of...
In a normal wave election - which is typical of the first midterm election of a new president - the party out of power picks up six to eight state legislative chambers. A normal wave in November could give Democrats control of both chambers in Arizona...
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Husted, Ohio Secretary of State v. A. Philip Randolph Institute et al last week giving Ohio and other states the go ahead to remove inactive voters from their voter rolls. While all states have procedures...
Last Tuesday, primary elections were held in four states - Maine, Nevada South Carolina and Virginia - and a special election was held in Wisconsin. Support for President Trump continued to be a key factor in GOP primaries. Corey Stewart eked out...
RANKED-CHOICE VOTING GETS INAUGURAL STATE-LEVEL RUN IN ME: In last Tuesday’s primary election, MAINE became the first state to use ranked-choice voting, already employed in about a dozen cities, including Minneapolis and San Francisco. Although...
Last month Seattle, Washington’s City Council unanimously approved a tax on the city’s largest employers to help address its homelessness problem. The Seattle area has the third-largest homeless population in the country, and the city spent...