A couple of weeks ago, North Carolina state Rep. Paul Tine changed his political party designation from Democrat to unaffiliated. "Independent fits for me, and I think when you look at voter registration, it's fitting for a lot of people,"...
Upcoming Elections (01/16/2015 - 02/06/2015) 01/27/2015 Florida Special Primary House Districts 17 and 24 Senate District 6 02/03/2015 Georgia Runoff House Districts 50 and 120
New Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's (R) first few days in office were anything but dull. Rauner, who replaced Democrat Pat Quinn on Monday, issued new rules for both public employees and lobbyists, met with lawmakers and vowed to undo a long list of...
Upcoming Stories Here are some of the topics you will see covered in upcoming issues of the State Net Capitol Journal: - Common Core - State worker exodus - Legalizing pot
MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs House Bills 4882 and 5421, which together allow homeowners facing financial hardship to use a payment plan to meet tax responsibilities and avoid foreclosure and further allow county treasurers to waive additional monthly...
MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs SB 1140, which clarifies that anyone involved with stealing a vehicle, whether driving or not, is not entitled to personal injury insurance benefits (LEXIS NEXIS STATE NET, MICHIGAN GOVERNOR'S OFFICE). • Also...
MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs SB 74, which adds cyberbullying to the forms of harassment specifically barred under the state's anti-bullying law. The law defines cyberbullying as any form of electronic communication intended to harm or harass...
MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs a series of bills (SBs 795, 796, 797, 799 and 800) that collectively increase fines and penalties for anyone caught possessing, transporting and introducing non-native plant or animal species into the Wolverine State...
MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs SB 879, a bill that requires radiologists to provide patients with written summaries of a mammogram, including about *** density (LEXIS NEXIS STATE NET, MICHIGAN GOVERNOR'S OFFICE). • Also in MICHIGAN, Gov...
Outgoing ILLINOIS Gov. Pat Quinn (D) vetoes HB 4226, which would have ended a four-decade ban on the hunting of bobcats in the Prairie State (CHICAGO TRIBUNE). • MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs a pair of bills (HBs 5045 and 5636) that together...
In The Hopper At any given time, State Net tracks tens of thousands of bills in all 50 states, US Congress, and the District of Columbia. Here's a snapshot of what's in the legislative works: Number of 2015 Prefiles last week: 3824 Number of Intros...
If you think that after the wave of malfeasance in the California Senate last year that all the dirty, greasy stuff is contained in legislative chambers, think again. As the Sacramento Bee reports, health inspectors recently shut down Griselda's World...
In case you are pondering using your vacation time to visit a state capital, you should know they are not all created equal. In fact, as the USA Today reports, some are downright spiffy places to hang out. The top of the list, according to a reader survey...
Getting elected to a second term as governor is a big deal, no doubt about it. But in Ohio, nothing is bigger than the Ohio State Buckeyes playing for the college football national championship. To his credit, Gov. John Kasich gets it. Which is why when...
The earth moved in California last week, but it was only a political earthquake rather than a real geological trembler. More accurately, the earth moved twice: once when United States Sen. Barbara Boxer announced she would not seek another term in 2016...
Recently termed-out Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has apparently never warmed up to new Gov. Doug Ducey, a fellow Republican but not the guy she initially backed in the GOP primary last year. (That would be Mesa mayor Scott Smith, who lost out to Ducey in that...
In Case You Missed It California Gov. Jerry Brown started his historic fourth term with a call for the Golden State to strengthen its green agenda. In case you missed it, the story can be found on our Web site at http://www.statenet.com/capitol_journal...
Credits 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...
Pregnant women, children, the elderly and the disabled have long made up the bulk of Medicaid beneficiaries. But as a result of the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, younger and more able-bodied adults have been enrolling in the program...
The GOP-controlled WASHINGTON Senate adopted a rule last week requiring a two-thirds vote to bring bills creating new taxes to the floor for a final vote. Raising an existing tax still requires only a simple majority vote (NORTHWEST PUBLIC RADIO). •...
A special prosecutor and grand jury has recommended that Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane (D) face criminal charges for allegedly leaking secret information to a newspaper. The grand jury's recommendation stems from a 2010 investigation of the theft...
A week after leaving then-West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin's (D) staff in early 2010, Larry Puccio became a lobbyist. Five months after that, he was elected chairman of West Virginia's Democratic Party. Conrad Lucas, chairman of that state's...
A pair of Democratic MISSISSIPPI lawmakers — Reps. Tom Miles and Michael Evans — have proposed a bill to make the Bible the official state book. "Me and my constituents, we were talking about it and one of them made a comment that people...
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) has proposed giving the state power to take over failing public schools. Doing so would require lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment, with voters getting the final say in the 2016 election. Under Georgia law, schools...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said he is meeting with people from both law enforcement and the community to consider ways to make the Empire State grand jury system more transparent. Some media outlets have reported he is weighing the possibility of...