If you don’t want to hear an honest answer, you had better not ask Missouri Lt. Governor candidate Jake Wilburn a question. Wilburn, who is running a write-in campaign for the position, minces no words when it comes to his disdain for the office...
And then there is this: former Texas Gov. Rick “Oops” Perry will be one of the contestants on the upcoming season of “Dancing with the Stars.” Yes, the man who once famously forgot which federal agencies he was planning to get...
New voting restrictions will be in effect in 15 states for the first time in a presidential election this year. But courts have blocked or loosened such restrictions in a few states. And legislative activity aimed at expanding voter access is outpacing...
New voting restrictions, including strict voter ID requirements and scaled back early voting periods, are set to be in effect for the first time in a presidential election this year in 15 states. In another five states restrictions will be in effect for...
Lottery sales have slumped in many states in recent years , but last fiscal year the Maine Lottery hit the jackpot, setting records for ticket sales, winner payouts, retailer commissions and contributions to the state’s General Fund. A $1.6 billion...
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said this month that the catastrophic flooding in the state last month caused over $8.7 billion in damage. More than 6,000 businesses were flooded and over 55,000 homes, more than 80 percent of which were uninsured...
AL Approves $1B BP Settlement Spending Plan ALABAMA lawmakers approved a plan last week to spend most of a $1 billion settlement with BP over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on debt repayments, Medicaid and highway projects in Baldwin and Mobile...
A proposed constitutional amendment has been submitted to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) that would classify any abortion performed in the state as murder. The ballot issue would define an “unborn human” as “an individual...
Minnesota’s highest court has thwarted an effort to allow Minneapolis voters to decide whether that city should raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour. Backers of the proposal, who see it as a way to combat poverty and racial disparity in the city...
Feds Say TX Misleading Voters about Voter ID Requirement The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion in federal court accusing TEXAS officials of misleading voters by telling them they can cast a ballot without a form of photo ID specified by...
A quartet of former Kansas governors have waded into a bitter fight in Kansas over whether voters will opt to retain or remove four justices on the Sunflower State Supreme Court. Former Govs. Michael Hayden and Bill Graves, both Republicans, joining with...
With efforts to call a special session to consider impeaching Gov. Paul LePage (R) going nowhere, a handful of Maine lawmakers asked Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D) to invoke a never-before-used constitutional clause to report to the state Supreme...
DE Gov. Markell Signs Mental Health Bills Acting on reforms suggested by a task force he created, DELAWARE Gov. Jack Markell (D) has signed a pair of bills aimed at improving the state’s mental health system. One measure ( SB 245 ) would establish...
Business In Missouri A MISSOURI court rules that electric automaker Tesla cannot bypass having dealerships to sell its cars directly to consumers. Cole County Judge Daniel Green ruled that Show Me State officials erred by allowing Tesla to sell cars...
Crime In Arizona ARIZONA Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) issues a legal opinion that allows people with concealed-carry permits to bring their guns into Grand Canyon State public and private K-12 schools (ARIZONA REPUBLIC [PHOENIX]).
New York Signs AB 10740 NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs AB 10740 , which makes the Empire State the first to require all schools to test their drinking water for lead contamination, with results reported to parents and state and local officials...
Environment In California A federal judge tentatively rejects a plan by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to open more than 1,500 square miles of lands in central CALIFORNIA to oil drilling and fracking. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald said...
FDA Bans 19 Chemicals The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issues a rule banning 19 chemicals commonly used in anti-bacterial soaps. The FDA said the chemicals are unnecessary and in some cases even dangerous. Companies that make the soaps were given...
New Jersey Signs SB 1266 NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs SB 1266 , which allows any Garden State municipality to operate its own needle exchange program (NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR’S OFFICE). Social Policy In New York NEW YORK Attorney...
New Jersey Signs AB 3682 NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs AB 3682 , which allows animal facilities to use artificial turf in outdoor enclosures (NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR’S OFFICE). -- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
The last days of any legislative session can be chaotic and mind numbing. Such was the case recently when, as the California Legislature was relentlessly wading through the mountain of bills it always leaves to the final moments, Bloomberg BNA reporter...
As bad ideas go this would seem to have been an obvious one. As Reuters reports , the West African nation of Burkina Faso recently barred an annual beauty contest that judged women strictly on the size of their behinds. Government officials stepped in...
Speaking of chaotic, this nugget from the ongoing carnival act known as the 2016 presidential campaigns. As the Columbus Dispatch reports , Green Party candidate Jill Stein recently flew into Cincinnati to speak at a campaign rally for her longshot candidacy...
Montana GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte may or may not unseat incumbent Gov. Steve Bullock, but if he does it will be without the support of Susan Carstensen. As the Missoulian reports , Carstensen has publicly endorsed Bullock, saying of Gianforte...
October 3rd will mark six months since the release of the Panama Papers, a trove of 11.5 million documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The leak highlights how complex corporate structures, often set up in ‘offshore’ jurisdictions...