There is apparently nowhere anyone can go to escape those darned Kardashians. But the California State Assembly is trying to at least limit their negative impact on humanity. As the Los Angeles Times reports, lawmakers last week approved a bill that would...
With most jobs, if you don’t show up for work one time you might as well not show up ever again. Not so for lawmakers, who often ditch their duties with no repercussion at all. That could soon change in Maine, where the House and Senate have endorsed...
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), Dena Blodgett...
Yesterday, FIFA President Sepp Blatter resigned in the wake of the 47-count indictment brought against 14 defendants related to corruption of international soccer. Despite a show of support that led to his re-election last week, NPR reported that Blatter...
A handful of states are racing to be the first to offer their residents a driver’s license they can load onto their smartphones. But some of those who would be most affected by that innovation are wondering what the rush is about. Last December...
At least six states have introduced bills or resolutions dealing with digital driver’s licenses this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and LexisNexis State Net’s legislative database. Three of those resolutions...
According to a report last year from bond-rating company Standard & Poor’s, states have $529.8 billion in unfunded liabilities for health care and other benefits separate from pensions. But that figure could go up significantly soon. Under...
Last week Louisiana’s Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs voted 7-2 in favor of a measure that would eliminate sales tax holidays on back-to-school purchases in early August and hurricane preparedness supplies next May in order to help...
As of the morning of May 29th, North Dakota sweet crude was fetching $58.33 a barrel, which was music to the ears of state officials. It meant that for the month of May the price of oil would average $4.50 above the $55.09 below which it had averaged...
NV Omnibus Tax Measure to Provide Education Funding The NEVADA Legislature passed a $1.5 billion omnibus tax measure combining AB 464 and SB 483 that, if signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), will provide $600 million in additional funding for education...
“States are mythologized as laboratories of public policy innovation,” but in reality they are often “no more than factories of replication, captured by political myths and doomed to re-enact failed policies,” David Schultz, a...
Rep. William Howell (R), speaker of the Virginia House for the last dozen years, opposes the Affordable Care Act and is a former chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council. But despite his conservative credentials, he’s facing a challenge...
Conservative politicians often blame unions and right-to-work laws for lagging employment and overly generous worker pay. But according to an article last month in the Great Falls Tribune by Alvah MacWilliam, data from The National Conference of State...
Seventeen months ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Democrats allied with Hillary Rodham Clinton have launched a nationwide legal effort aimed at overturning Republican-backed restrictions on voter access that could be decisive in a close race....
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) has made the Sooner State the second to centralize oil and gas regulation with the state and to bar cities and counties from enacting their own bans on the controversial drilling process hydraulic fracturing, or fracking...
Coming off a session that saw lawmakers adopt the bulk of his agenda, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) is pondering a run at the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada). Sandoval has said many times in the past he has...
CA Court Challenges Ex-Gov Schwarzenegger's Clemency Ruling A CALIFORNIA appeals court ruled that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) did not break the law in 2010 when he drastically reduced the prison sentence of the son of a political ally...
CA Senate Approves SB 3 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 3, which would raise the Golden State minimum wage to $11 in $2016 and $13 in 2017. The measure, which would also hike the wage annually based on inflation, moves to the Assembly (LEXISNEXIS...
CO Signs HB 1043 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs HB 1043, legislation that makes a fourth DUI a felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of as much as $500,000. The law takes effect Aug. 5 (CASPER STAR TRIBUNE, LEXISNEXIS...
CA Assembly Approves AB 949 & Endorses AB 288 The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves AB 949, which would make competitive cheerleading an official interscholastic sport. It moves to the Senate (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET). Also in CALIFORNIA , the Assembly...
CA Senate Approves SB 350 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 350, which sets the following renewable energy goals for 2030: cutting by 50 percent the state’s use of petroleum, having 50 percent of all utility power come from renewable energy sources...
CA Senate Approves SB 151 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 151, a bill that would raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. It moves to the Assembly (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET). The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 140, a bill that would regulate electronic...
The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 674, which would require local and state law enforcement agencies to sign certifications for qualified immigrant crime victims when they have been helpful to the investigation of a crime like sexual assault and domestic...
CA Senate Approves SB 23 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 23, which would repeal a state law that bars women from receiving additional welfare benefits if they become pregnant while on public assistance. It moves to the Assembly (LEXISNEXIS STATE...
TX Legislature Approves HB 910 The TEXAS Legislature gives final approval to HB 910, a bill that will allow certain Lone Star State residents to openly carry handguns. Under the measure, someone with a concealed carry gun permit could also openly carry...