For the last two decades visitors to Lindström, Minnesota have been greeted with signs bearing two dots, called umlauts, over the “o.” But when the signs were recently replaced after the most recent U.S. Census, the new ones came sans...
CA Assembly Approves AB 30 The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves AB 30, which would bar Golden State schools from using the nickname “Redskins” after the 2016 school year. It moves to the Senate (LEXINEXIS STATE NET). NV Approves SB 504 ...
KS Approves SB 34 The KANSAS Senate has approved a bill (SB 34) that would grant the Secretary of State the authority to prosecute election fraud. LexisNexis State Net’s legislative prognosis tool places the bill’s chances of passage at...
The Alabama House Republican Caucus has proposed a plan to address a projected budget shortfall of $290 million for 2016. The plan calls for cost reductions, including the suspension of longevity bonuses for state employees for a year and mandatory furloughs...
One might think that by now ambitious politicos would get this whole Interwebs thingy. One would be wrong. Case in point this week comes from the presidential campaign trail, where former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is one of about 6,000 Republicans...
CA Approves Emergency Water Usage Cuts Faced with historic drought conditions, the CALIFORNIA Water Resources Control Board unanimously approves an emergency order mandating a 25 percent cut in urban water use, the first such cut in state history ...
Ks and TX Friends of the Court In Florida Support Governors in KANSAS and TEXAS said they would file amicus briefs in support of FLORIDA Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) lawsuit against the Obama administration alleging the government is illegally coercing...
Possible Digital Streaming Tax in AL The ALABAMA Department of Revenue is planning to issue a rule that would impose a four-percent rental tax on digital streaming services like Netflix. The state’s legislative leaders have asked revenue commissioner...
LA Approves SB 143 The LOUISIANA Senate approves SB 143, which would legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in the Pelican State. It moves to the House (TIMES-PICAYUNE [NEW ORLEANS]). TN Signs SB 280 TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Haslam ...
A Maricopa County Judge rules that undocumented students in ARIZONA who have work visas under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are allowed to pay the in-state tuition rate at Grand Canyon State colleges and universities...
MO Overrides Veto of SB 24 The MISSOURI Legislature overrides a veto by Gov. Jay Nixon (D) of SB 24, legislation that cuts the lifetime limit for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program from five years to three years and nine months and...
OR Approves SB 941 The OREGON House approves SB 941, which requires that a background check be conducted on a buyer who is purchasing guns from a private party. The bill, which requires private sellers to conduct transactions through a registered gun...
Credits 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...
America has a huge problem, notably that too many of us are downright huge. With obesity rates and the ensuing ills that come with them through the roof, Texas officials decided 10 years ago to bar school cafeterias from cooking with deep fryers and to...
MN Rejects Amendment to Liquor Bill The MINNESOTA House rejects a proposal to allow local municipalities to decide for themselves whether to allow Sunday liquor sales. The proposal was an amendment to an omnibus liquor bill that did garner House approval...
Approximately a month after the GOP-dominated legislature rejected his own plan, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) signed off on a Republican plan to expand Medicaid in the Treasure State. Under the bill (SB 405), the state will extend health coverage...
Last month the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill (HB 615) to make the Holy Bible the official state book. The vote was 55-38, with 20 of the chamber’s 73 Republicans, including House Speaker Beth Harwell, voting against it, six of...
The transportation funding crisis in the states is continuing to worsen. At least six states -- Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Montana, Tennessee, and Wyoming -- have delayed roughly $2 billion in construction projects, and five states with Republican governors...
Earlier this year, the federal government gave its approval to a powdered form of alcohol dubbed Palcohol by its Arizona-based creator. But, citing a long list of potential problems associated with the product, seven states have already passed legislation...
Speaking of the Lone Star State, nobody can accuse them of not having a sense of humor down there. Electing Rick “Oops” Perry four times proved that. But I digress. To the matter at hand, the Associated Press reports that the Texas House recently...
Sometime this summer consumers in a handful of states will be able to buy a favorite alcoholic beverage or cocktail in a most unusual form: powder. The product, dubbed Palcohol, received federal approval earlier this year, but if lawmakers in many more...
It was a week of big announcements from California Gov. Jerry Brown (D). First, on Tuesday, Brown announced a proposal to hit the state’s biggest water wasters with fines up to $10,000, a significant increase over the current maximum penalty of...
Over 200 state legislators have attended Next Generation workshops, designed to cultivate collaboration across party lines in the development of public policy. The workshops were hosted by the nonprofit, nonpartisan National Institute for Civil Discourse...
Supporters of the new Kansas law restricting how welfare recipients spend their benefits (see KS AIMS TO LIMIT HOW WELFARE RECIPIENTS SPEND BENEFITS in the April 13 issue of SNCJ ) said it’s intended to push the poor to find work. “The...
If you are in Wisconsin any time soon, stop and have a beer or three. As the Washington Post reports, the Badger State is also the Brewski State, the one with the highest number of heavy drinkers. Heavy, you say? Defined how? According to a study from...