Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) led a bipartisan group of governors last week in urging Congress to work together to quickly reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for low income families before...
Fallin Cracks Down On Sexual Harassment : Saying “Sexual harassment is wrong and cannot be tolerated,” OKLAHOMA Gov. Mary Fallin (R) issued Executive Order 2017-41 last week, which directs state agency heads to take action to ensure workers...
In defeating Republican Roy Moore in last Tuesday’s U.S. Senate race in Alabama – although Moore has refused to concede – Democrat Doug Jones did something no member of his party has done in the Deep South for 25 years. And while the...
Last week the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to repeal the net neutrality regulations adopted during the Obama administration prohibiting broadband providers like AT&T and Comcast from favoring or blocking content from certain websites...
In the spring of 2007, long before presidential candidate Donald Trump began promising to build a wall along the border with Mexico, the federal government initiated one of the most aggressive seizures of private land in decades to build a fence to keep...
SCOTUS AGREES TO HEAR SECOND REDISTRICTING CASE: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a redistricting case from MARYLAND involving Republican voters’ claim that the congressional districts drawn by the state’s Democrat-controlled General...
Michigan lawmakers gave final approval last week for a package of legislation addressing the state’s roughly $18 billion in unfunded retiree benefits, about half of which is health-care related. The bills, which received unanimous votes in the Senate...
The initial feedback from a four-month pilot program by the Colorado Department of Transportation exploring the prospect of charging drivers by-the-mile instead of by-the-gallon to provide funding for transportation was mostly positive. Over 90 percent...
FEDERAL SPENDING BILL PROVIDES TEMPORARY CHIP RELIEF TO STATES: The bill signed by President Trump this month that put off a federal government shutdown until Dec. 22 also allows the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to distribute any available...
Taxpayers in nine high-income, high-tax states claimed more than 60 percent of the state and local tax (SALT) deductions on federal tax returns nationwide in 2014, according to the Tax Foundation. Seven of those states, which include California, where...
The shadow of President Donald Trump and the Republican tax bill will hover over state governing bodies in 2018, a year of midterm elections that Tim Storey, political analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures, says will be “a referendum...
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention was signed on 17 December 1997. It required its member countries to create legislation to make bribing a foreign public official illegal. In this blog, the...
In today’s climate terms like ‘due diligence’, ‘being risk averse’ and ‘risk assessment’ might seem like jargon and barriers to productivity, but in reality, addressing third-party risk through onboarding due...
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is a big basketball fan, so much so he recently opted to have a full-sized court installed at the Hoosier State Governor’s Mansion. But the best laid plans of mice and governors sometimes come with a hitch. In this case...
Speaking of governors’ mansions...the digs of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee got a nice holiday makeover again this year from a select group of designers. So select you might say they were exclusive. As Seattle’s King-TV reports , at the invitation...
The Virginia governor’s mansion, meanwhile, is getting set to host a new resident of its own. That’s right, a black Labrador pooch named Murphy is going to be kicking it big time around the home’s stately grounds for the next four years...
Add Christmas trees to the long list of casualties of the Great Recession. Yes, as the Orange County Register reports , the dramatic reduction in the number of Christmas trees bought by cash-strapped families during the recent lean years took out so many...
NY GOVERNOR SIGNS AB 6571 NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs AB 6571 , an energy bill that requires the state Public Service Commission to establish a portfolio of energy storage policies, including a long-term energy storage target. The Empire State...
U.S. COURT DECLINES REVIEW The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review a June decision by the TEXAS Supreme Court, which ruled that the SCOTUS’s landmark 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage does not fully address the right to marriage benefits...
With just weeks to go before applications are due, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed off on emergency rules that, among many things, allow medical cannabis dispensaries to stay open after the Dec. 15 deadline without affecting their chances of getting...
Saying he has “absolutely no tolerance whatsoever for these repeat violent offenders and these criminal gangs causing lawlessness in our streets,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he will introduce wide ranging legislation in January intended...
Defying federal restrictions, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) submitted plans to the state Legislature to make the Badger State the first to mandate drug testing for adults who apply for food stamps. Lawmakers – who initially approved the testing...
EDWARDS TO CREATE LA HARASSMENT ASK FORCE : Weeks after his chief of staff resigned amidst sexual harassment allegations, LOUISIANA Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said he would soon issue an executive order directing executive branch state agencies to review...
Alabama GOP U.S. Senate nominee Roy Moore appears to have bounced back from the allegations of sexual misconduct that have been leveled against him. But some members of the state’s business community are concerned about the potential impact of his...
Over 100 proposed amendments to Florida’s Constitution are currently being considered by a commission that meets every 20 years. Among other things the proposals would make it harder for state lawmakers to increase taxes, create a patients’...