Like it or not, money-obsessed bloviator Donald Trump has dominated the news cycle of late with a string of racist and otherwise idiotic commentary meant as much to get media attention as to attract voters. Mission accomplished on that front, much to...
Editor: Rich Ehisen Associate Editor: Korey Clark Editorial Advisor: Lou Cannon Contributing Editor: Mary Peck , David Giusti Correspondents: Cathy Santsche, Felicia Carrillo Graphic Design: Vanessa Perez Design
Feeling the pressure to deliver business insights? These days, you face huge challenges—keeping pace with 24/7/365 news and social media and sifting out valuable nuggets of insight to share across your organization. Check out this Webinar to learn...
The shadow of unfunded public pension liabilities casts a menacing cloud over the otherwise mostly bright futures of U.S. states and municipalities. The situation is gravest in Illinois, where court rulings have stymied legislative attempts at reform...
As of 2013, Illinois had the most underfunded public pension system in the nation on a percentage basis, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trusts. The state only had enough assets in its pension accounts to cover 39.3 percent of its pension liability...
As states continue to recover from the Great Recession, several are embracing a tax credit to help bring working families along. This year five states, including California and Massachusetts, where a Democrat and a Republican hold the top office, respectively...
During the Great Recession college tuition rates rose steeply to replace state education funding lost to budget cuts. But with student loan debt nearing $1 trillion nationwide and families of every income level worried about the rising cost of college...
NC Tentative On HB 943 The NORTH CAROLINA House tentatively approved a nearly $3 billion bipartisan bond proposal for roads and government infrastructure that would go before voters in the fall. Another vote was required in the House before HB 943...
Last month Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) appointed former Fairfax Circuit Court judge Jane Marum Roush to the state Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr. Although judicial appointments in the state are usually made by the...
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Texas’ four-year-old voter ID law is not an unconstitutional “poll tax” as plaintiffs alleged but that it has a “discriminatory effect” that violates the federal...
Illinois’ Democrat-controlled Senate passed legislation last month that would freeze property taxes statewide for two years and provide about $200 million in relief for Chicago’s troubled teacher pension system. But Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) said...
Women Lawmakers In The States COLORADO has the highest percentage of female state lawmakers in the nation, at 42 percent, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. LOUISIANA has the lowest percentage, at 11.8 percent (HONOLULU...
The Maine Supreme Court dealt Gov. Paul LePage (R) a stinging rebuke last Thursday, unanimously rejecting his plea to force lawmakers hold override votes on 65 bills he vetoed on in July. The challenge was the latest action in what has become an...
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) said he plans to ask the Obama administration to allow the Grand Canyon State to require about 350,000 able-bodied adults currently on Medicaid to pay co-pays for some of their health care services and to put 2 percent of their...
CA Gov Wants Plan for Climate Change CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) sent an open letter last week to the 17 Republican presidential aspirants asking them to lay out a detailed plan for combatting climate change. “Longer fire seasons, extreme...
ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signs SB 7, legislation that requires students who suffer a concussion to get permission from a doctor or athletic trainer before they fully return to class or sports (CHICAGO TRIBUNE).
Presidential Plan to Curb Emissions President Barack Obama unveils a plan that calls for states to curb emissions 32 percent below their 2005 level within the next 15 years. Under the new regulations, states will have to present at least an initial...
ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signs SB 1298, which allows a Prairie State resident entering the hospital to designate a caregiver prior to discharge to the patient's home or transfer to another facility. The new law requires hospitals to notify the...
ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signs legislation that requires large airports to install lactation rooms for new moms. The new rooms must be in place by 2017, although smaller airports will have to make the upgrades only when building new terminals or...
A federal court strikes down an IDAHO law that banned documentation of animal abuse at livestock operations. U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill ruled that the law violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Gem State officials are considering...
The campaign trail can be so brutal. Case in point this week comes from Manchester, New Hampshire, where Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ran into a pair of enthusiastic supporters of his effort to capture the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. As the Washington...
As Gov. Walker discovered, these days it is almost impossible to account for all the ways someone can make your life miserable. He will surely get some sympathy from Asa Hutchinson, his gubernatorial colleague from Arkansas. As the Huffington Post reports...
...comes courtesy of Colorado state Rep. Dan Pabon, who was part of a panel discussion on legalizing marijuana at last week’s big National Conference of State Legislatures Annual Summit in Seattle. Noting that he represents part of the capital city...
It’s a given that before any merger or acquisition, your company conducts due diligence. The question is, are you drilling down to the right information? Financial due diligence is important, of course, but it only scratches the surface. These days...