KY Teacher Pension Liability Tops $24B: KENTUCKY’s ailing Teachers’ Retirement System announced an unfunded liability of $24.4 billion for 2015. That sum is a nearly $3-billion increase from the $21.5 billion unfunded liability for 2014...
The Kansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments this month in a case concerning the authority of the high court itself. In 2014 the Kansas Legislature passed a bill taking the power to appoint chief district judges away from the state’s highest...
Seattle’s City Council unanimously approved an ordinance last week allowing drivers for Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing services to collectively negotiate for pay and working conditions, the first legislation of its kind in the nation. “This...
Action NC, Democracy North Carolina, the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute and three North Carolina residents have filed a lawsuit alleging that the state’s Board of Elections, Department of Health and Human Services, and Division of Motor...
NM Local Governments Spend Millions Lobbying State Cities, counties, colleges and other public entities in NEW MEXICO spent nearly $7.2 million in 2014 and 2015 lobbying the state and federal government. About two-thirds of that sum, or around $4.8...
Saying “It’s 2015, and it’s time to start getting results,” Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) earlier this month issued an executive order (EO 15-09) directing Show Me State government agencies under his control to root out gender-based...
Decrying the continued growth of opioid addiction in the Green Mountain State, Vermont Gov. Pete Shumlin (D) introduced new regulations for the prescription of painkillers and other opioid-containing drugs. “We are fighting this battle on...
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) reached a momentous milestone last week, becoming the longest serving governor in American history. On Dec. 14, Branstad marked his 7,6742nd day in office, surpassing the previous gubernatorial longevity record held by New...
Saying that “When you attack immigration, you attack the founding premise of our nation,” NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) decried growing anti-immigrant sentiment that has become a focal point of GOP presidential aspirant Donald Trump’s...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) said last week that he is close to ending the “pause” he enacted on Syrian refugees being relocated in the Wolverine State. In a radio interview with Michigan Public Radio, Snyder said, “The federal government...
Brown Seeks OR Education Innovation OREGON Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced the creation of an education innovation officer position on her staff. The position, which will not be an executive appointment, will be tasked with helping Brown better assess...
The Seattle City Council adopts new rules that allow workers who drive for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to form unions and collectively negotiate wages with the companies (For more, see “Seattle Becomes 1st City to Allow Ride-sharing...
NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announces a series of reforms in the use of solitary confinement for inmates in the Empire State prison system. The reforms, which are part of an agreement to settle litigation brought against the system by the New York...
Representatives of 195 nations sign a legally binding accord in Paris that for the first time requires nearly every country to commit to lowering greenhouse gas emissions to help mitigate the most drastic effects of global climate change. Under the agreement...
Health & Science in MD The MARYLAND Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issues an order authorizing pharmacists to dispense the anti-overdose drug naloxone to thousands of individuals who have been trained and certified through the state’s...
Social Policy in OH A federal judge temporarily blocks OHIO Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) from going to court to change how Planned Parenthood disposes of fetal remains following abortion procedures. U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. issued...
A FLORIDA court rules that a Sunshine State law mandating that dogs which cause severe injury to a person be euthanized is unconstitutional. Judge Andrew Owens rules the statute to be “arbitrary and unduly oppressive” (BRADENTON HERALD). ...
Last issue in this space we discussed , courtesy of the website Thrillist , some of the sillier laws inhabiting state code books. A few others we just love: In California it is illegal to eat the participants in a frog-jumping contest; In Illinois it...
America isn’t the only country with outdated laws. As the New York Times reports , Britain has over 44,000 legal statutes, some dating back to the 13 th Century. So voluminous is the official ledger that Parliament employs a small team of legal...
Odds are good that until a few days ago most people not from there had never heard of Woodland, North Carolina. But little Woodland became international news last week when a story in the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald reported that townsfolk had rejected...
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is a rabid Eagles fan. I mean rabid! As in he even does a bit of pro-Eagles punditry for Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia. But it hasn’t been a great year for the Iggles so far, which means the mercurial Rendell...
We are getting ready to ring in the new year, and that means you have a new budget for your marketing activities in 2016. Is your budget locked? For many CMOs and marketing leaders, the fourth quarter is typically when the annual budget exercise begins...
Using Media Monitoring and Analysis to Predict Primary Performance The viral coverage of the Miss Universe slip-up may have pushed details of the debates out of your newsfeed, but we’ve been keeping an eye on the media buzz with our U.S. Presidential...
Monitoring media for hot topics and trends can provide inspiration for merchandising, marketing and content strategies. Take "Star Wars " for instance. The recent release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was met with unbridled zeal by fans worldwide...
In the Business Dictionary, silo mentality is defined as “a mindset present when certain departments or sectors do not wish to share information with others in the same company.” Take this a step further and you have the actual silos themselves...