Last month, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) launched a 10-year plan to combat obesity in his state that includes everything from raising nutritional standards in public schools to developing more pedestrian-friendly communities and making healthy foods...
MI passes transportation funding legislation MICHIGAN’s House and Senate narrowly passed a $1.2 billion road-funding package that will cost the state’s motorists about $20 more to register their vehicles and $1.17 more to fill their cars’...
On Nov. 3, legislative seats were contested in three states, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Mississippi, Republicans increased their majority in the House from 67 to 73, just...
Along with the legislative contests, voters in seven states also considered 22 statewide ballot measures on Nov. 3, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That’s fewer than normal, even for an odd-year election, NCSL said, noting...
Seattle adopts unique public campaign finance program Seattle voters approved Initiative 122, which will make the city the first in the nation to try a taxpayer-funded “democracy voucher” program. The program, which will be funded by a...
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) issued an executive order last week extending rules designed to boost opportunities for state contracts among woman- and minority-owned businesses to also include businesses owned by veterans, the disabled and members...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced a new effort to go after thieves who use electronic skimming devices at gas stations to obtain customers’ credit card information. The crackdown includes a statewide sweep of gas pumps to look for skimmers...
Dayton bashes poachers In the wake of the arrest of three men found to illegally have more than 3,000 pounds of snapping turtle meat, hundreds of turtle shells and 23 live turtles, MINNESOTA Gov. Mark Dayton (D) said he is considering renewing his...
NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs SB 4327, which allows Empire State restaurant goers to have their dogs with them at outdoor dining locations, provided the eatery allows it and that the animal does not have to walk through the building to get to the...
The MASSACHUSETTS House approves HB 1694, which would make it a crime to profit by fraudulently claiming to be a veteran. Violators would face a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. It moves to the Senate (STATEHOUSE NEWS [BOSTON]). MICHIGAN Gov. Rick...
OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) signs HB 2, which among its several provisions requires in-depth financial and academic reporting from charter schools and management organizations, bars charter schools from switching authorizers to avoid being shut down, and...
NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) vetoes AB 2778, which would have used state funds to pay non-profits to trap and spay or neuter feral cats. Cuomo said there is no proof that such programs actually diminish the feral cat population (DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE...
NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs SB 676, which requires Empire State hospitals to record the name, phone number and address of a patient’s main caregiver in that patient’s medical record before they can be released. The facility must also...
People often bemoan that politicos orate in homilies, bromides and other gibberish meant to obfuscate more than illuminate. (See how I did that?) But fans of straight talk might just have found their hero in Mikelis Beitiks, who is seeking to fill the...
As I often say, if you think our elections are goofy...you are right. But we are not alone. Case in point comes from Ukraine, where Han Solo’s Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca got arrested last month for disturbing an election in Odessa. This was particularly...
It is safe to presume that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe doesn’t think much of Sen. Bill Stanley’s intestinal fortitude. Or lack thereof, to be more precise. As Washington D.C. radio station WTOP reports , Stanley recently called police over...
Love them or hate them – and there is no real in-between – the New England Patriots are the rulers of the professional football world. And no amount of teeth gnashing over their incessant cheating and bending of rules – sorry, alleged...
Whether you’re a global corporation or a U.S. presidential candidate, complacency can bring momentum to a stand-still. A few years ago, during an interview for a Knowledge@Wharton podcast , Lisa Bodell, founder and CEO of futurethink and author...
Every fall and spring, there are a myriad of conferences filled with brilliant thought leaders sharing new ideas and reminding us practitioners where our focuses should lay. After attending several fantastic sessions focusing on PR, Marketing and Communications...
Minnesota Rep. Joe Atkins (D) was stunned recently to hear that state law enforcement officials might be looking into whether people who play fantasy sports could be committing a crime. Atkins knows lots of people who play fantasy sports - no surprise...
Legislation related to daily fantasy sports (DFS) has been drafted or introduced this year in 16 states, according to LegalSportsReport.com, which covers the legal online sports wagering industry. The bills generally seek to legalize DFS in states that...
A deadlock between Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) and lawmakers has left the state budget-less four months into the current fiscal year. But the governor’s office and legislative leaders said last week they’d reached a tentative agreement...
Ballots trickling in after Election Day in the vote-by-mail state of Washington indicate that voters there have approved an initiative giving lawmakers an ultimatum: Pass a constitutional amendment by April 15 requiring a two-thirds majority vote for...
MN Road Funding Gap MINNESOTA’s Department of Transportation has released a new estimate for the cost of repairing and expanding the state’s roads that predicts a nearly $4 billion, or 30 percent, bigger gap in unfunded road costs over...
Any hope that Florida lawmakers would be able to determine new boundaries for the state’s Senate districts - in accordance with a settlement they reached with voting rights groups and voters over the map approved in 2012 - ended this month when...