Over the past 50 years the manufacturing industry has gone from comprising a third of the U.S. economy to 18 percent, while the services industry has gone from making up half of U.S. GDP to over two-thirds. States have tried to adjust to that shift...
On June 12 U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) and several cosponsors, including U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chair Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Virginia), introduced the “No Regulation Without Representation Act of 2017” ( HR 2887 ), mandating...
According to a report from the National Association of State Budget Officers , 33 states are going to miss their revenue targets for the recently ended 2017 fiscal year. NASBO also reported that 23 states made budget cuts during the fiscal year, up from...
Supreme Court To Consider Partisan Gerrymandering Case The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a WISCONSIN case in which a three-judge federal appeals panel ruled 2-1 last year that the political district map drawn by that state’s GOP-controlled...
Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the special runoff election last month to fill the seat vacated by former U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Georgia), who was appointed health and human services secretary by President Donald Trump. Democrats...
As recent headlines attest, the partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans in Congress has become so entrenched that many major policy issues are hopelessly gridlocked year after year . Many state legislatures are subject to the same political...
Cuomo, NY Lawmakers Reach ‘Buy American’ Deal After previous failures, NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has reached a deal with Empire State legislative leaders on a bill that would require that certain state agencies require the use of American...
Calling it “a solution in search of a problem,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) vetoed a bill that would have required Pelican State colleges and universities to do more to foster the appearance of controversial speakers and opinions on...
Citing a litany of allegations of abuse of power and fiscal malfeasance, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) last week signed legislation that will dramatically change the makeup and responsibilities of the state’s 138-year-old Board of Equalization...
Michigan Signs HB 4013 MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signs HB 4013 , which allows Wolverine State motorists to show proof of insurance via their smartphone or other electronic device. The law also bars law enforcement from viewing anything else on...
Social Policy In Arkansas The U.S. Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples in ARKANSAS are entitled to have both their names listed on their child's birth certificate. The ruling overturns a Razorback State law that blocked both parents’...
Immigration In The US The U.S. Supreme Court rules that federal officials may implement part of President Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from six nations with overwhelmingly Muslim populations until the court decides on the issue in its...
Health In California CALIFORNIA Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D) announces he would shelve SB 562 - a Senate-approved bill that would implement a statewide single-payer health care system in the Golden State – for the year without a vote in...
Pennsylvania Approves SB 383 The PENNSYLVANIA Senate approves SB 383 , which would allow Keystone State school boards to authorize teachers and other non-police school employees to carry firearms on school property. It moves to the House (TRIBLIVE...
Pennsylvania Approves HB 1238 The PENNSYLVANIA House approves HB 1238 , which allows for someone to be charged with felony animal abuse for activities beyond killing an endangered species or fostering an animal fighting ring (LANCASTERONLINE). Crime...
Oregon Approves SB 828 The OREGON House approves SB 828 , which would require employers in the retail, food service and hospitality industries and with at least 500 workers worldwide to provide workers with an estimated schedule seven days before the...
And then leave the car running if you like...as long as you are on your own property. As the Detroit Free Press reports , Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed legislation last week that allows Michiganders to leave their car running in their own driveway...
One of California’s coolest Capitol hangouts is no more. As the Sacramento Bee reports , the venerable steakhouse Chops has been the watering hole of choice for lobbyists and lawmakers alike for the better part of 15 years. Located directly across...
Fact - supporting The Donald will absolutely impact your dating life! Whether it is for the better or worse depends on several things. As the Sacramento Bee reports , online dating sites are noticing a definite trend of users warning off potential dates...
California has a wide array of folks running to replace soon-to-be-termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018, most of them your standard Dems or Reeps promising the same things Dems and Reeps always say to fire up their base enough to at least get through the...
Despite the unusual amount of uncertainty heading into this year’s state legislative sessions, a few of the issues we predicted last December might receive particular attention from lawmakers, such as cybersecurity and transportation funding, have...
As of mid-June at least 41 states had introduced over 240 bills and resolutions related to cybersecurity this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Sixteen of those states have enacted legislation, and two have adopted resolutions...
NV PENSION FUND GROWS BY DOUBLE DIGITS NEVADA’s public employee pension fund grew 11.8 percent, well over its 8 percent target rate, to $38.5 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Last fiscal year the fund’s rate of return was...
Connecticut’s 28 acute-care hospitals posted a collective gain from their operations in the 2016 fiscal year of $353 million, a 17 percent decline from the $422 million increase in fiscal 2015. A major reason for that decline is that the hospitals...
Ten states started the 2018 fiscal year on July 1 without a budget in place, according to the Tax Foundation. A partial government shutdown in one of those states, Maine, ended on the 4th of July when Gov. Paul LePage (R) signed a budget compromise eliminating...