Saying that “parenting is often more than a full-time job,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued Executive Order 95 last week, which grants up to eight weeks of paid parental leave to many of the estimated 56,000 state employees who work in the agencies under the executive branch. Cooper’s directive would grant the full eight weeks to women who give birth, with spouses receiving four weeks. The order marks a significant change from current rules, which require workers to use accrued sick leave and vacation should they take time off after a birth. The new rules go into effect on September 1. (NEWS & OBSERVER [RALEIGH], ABC11.COM [RALEIGH])
A months-long investigation has failed to say for certain if VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is the person who appeared in blackface in a 1984 college yearbook photo. Northam originally said the young man in the picture was him, but then later denied it. Investigators for the Eastern Virginia Medical School said they could not uncover any proof it was Northam. (ROUTE FIFTY)
FLORIDA Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed SB 186, a bill that blocks the release of government-held recordings of deaths in mass violence incidents. The measure applies to government photo, audio and video recordings that show the deaths of three or more people, not including the perpetrator, in an incident of mass violence, and blocks such records from being released under the state’s public records laws. (MIAMI HERALD)
After years of failed efforts, pot lounges are coming to COLORADO. Under HB 1230, signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis (D) last week, local jurisdictions will be legally able to license and regulate limited on-site consumption and sales of cannabis products beginning in January 2020. (COLORADO SPRINGS INDEPENDENT)
CALIFORNIA Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and the Legislature’s two top leaders said they would not follow a commission’s recommendation to change the state’s utility wildfire liability law this year but said they would pursue the creation of a multibillion-dollar fund to help utilities pay for wildfire damages. They also said they were open to legislation that would more clearly define when ratepayers would pick up the bill for claims. (ASSOCIATED PRESS, LOS ANGELES TIMES)
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
After much tussling back and forth, California regulators have decided once and for all that coffee does not pose a major risk of causing cancer. This is very good news to coffee giants like Starbucks, which contended that the benefits of drinking a cup or two or three a day was much bigger than the risks associated with a chemical produced in the coffee roasting process. As the Associated Press reports, the news was less joyously received by a group called The Council for Education and Research on Toxics, which started all this with a lawsuit almost eight years ago. They have vowed more litigation. Meanwhile, coffee nerds such as me think a cup of black sounds really good right about now.
OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) signs HB 425, which codifies that police body camera video is public record unless it is a confidential investigatory record. The law does not, however, require police agencies to use body cameras, and does not specify when body cameras must be activated (WOSU [COLUMBUS]).
OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) signs HB 511, which boosts the minimum marriage age to 18 for both parties. The law does allow 17-year-olds to marry if they have juvenile court consent, go through a 14-day waiting period and aren’t more than four years older or younger than their betrothed (DAYTON DAILY NEWS).
The OREGON House approves HB 2623, a bill that would impose a 10-year ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that injects high-pressure liquids into underground rock to extract oil and gas. The measure moves to the Senate (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Calling mass school shootings “a new and frightening phenomenon,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) proposed last week to allow teachers, principals and other school officials to petition a judge to remove guns from the homes of troubled students. If approved, it would be the first so-called red flag law in the country to include school personnel among those who can seek to take guns from someone who might be a danger to themselves or to others.
Red flag laws in other states currently apply only to police and family members of the person in question. Cuomo called his proposal to add school officials “the logical, sensible intelligent way forward in this situation.” He said it is also a much better option than to heed what he called the “bizarre concept” of arming teachers.
“Teachers are not there to carry firearms and engage in shootouts in a school setting with hundreds of students in the venue. You don't become a school teacher to become a security guard or a police officer. You become a teacher to be an educator,” he said during his announcement.
Teachers, he said, also often are more aware of troubles at home for their students than are other adults in a child’s sphere. As such, under his proposal teachers would have legal standing to petition the court for the removal of guns from a child’s home. Current law allows courts to remove guns via a temporary order of protection, but only through criminal or family court proceedings.
The governor’s proposal has drawn support from teacher unions, but with only a few weeks left in the legislative session its chances in the GOP-led Senate are not considered bright. Cuomo acknowledged the challenge, noting that Republicans rejected a similar proposal during budget negotiations earlier this year. But he said lawmakers who oppose it now could face retribution in November’s elections from voters weary of lawmakers’ inaction on preventing mass school shootings. Empire State Republicans have so far had no comment on the bill.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least six states - Rhode Island, Florida, Vermont, Delaware, Maryland and Vermont – currently have red flag laws, with dozens of others weighing similar bills. (NEWSDAY, DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, NEW YORK GOVERNOR’S OFFICE, SYRACUSE.COM)
A federal court issues an injunction blocking TEXAS from telling abortion providers and medical facilities how to dispose of fetal remains from abortions and miscarriages. U.S. District Judge David Ezra said the law requiring burial or cremation of the remains violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. State officials say they will appeal the ruling (DALLAS MORNING NEWS).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 282, which exempts a person who assists, encourages or advises someone to end their life in compliance with the state’s assisted suicide law from prosecution (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 1775 and SB 874, which together bar the State Lands Commission from granting leases for new pipelines and infrastructure to companies looking to drill for oil off the state’s coastline. The Senate measure also bans the Commission from renewing an existing lease if that action would result in increased oil or natural gas production from federal waters (LOS ANGELES TIMES).
And since we’re talking about bodacious 24 hour party people, the Los Angeles Times reports that California lawmakers will soon ponder legislation to make surfing the official state sport. In a statement, bill author Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi said “Nothing represents the California Dream better than surfing.” Really? Given that it is estimated there are only about 2.5 million surfers in the entire nation, and that California alone has almost 40 million people, that seems a little hyperbolic. But then it would not be the first time that the entire state is asked to just go along with whatever folks on the coast may like.
With apologies to Bob Dylan and James Brown, the times they are a changin’ and it’s no longer just a man’s world. While a lot of us already know this to be true, the word is just getting to a lot of states, or at least to the language they use in their official documents. Such is the case in Maine, where the Associated Press reports that lawmakers are working on making official references to the governor and state justices gender neutral rather than solely to “he,” “him,” or “his.” Which is a good idea given that for the first time in its history the Pine Tree State has a female governor. Not surprisingly, Gov. Janet Mills supports the measure.
-- By RICH EHISEN
In The Hopper
Number of 2015 Prefiles last week: 1,033
Number of Intros last week: 1,635
Number of Enacted/Adopted last week: 1,445
Number of 2015 Prefiles to date: 20,086
Number of 2015 Intros to date: 101,776
Number of 2015 Enacted/Adopted overall to date: 13,811
Number of bills currently in State Net Database: 129,864
--Compiled By DENA BLODGETT
(Measures current as of 04/07/2015)
Source: State Net database
MONTANA Gov. Steve Bullock (D) has signed a bill (SB 92) that will allow schools to levy a new tax specifically for school safety. The bill will also let schools use existing funding streams for safety upgrades. (BILLINGS GAZETTE, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) 2020 state budget plan calls for transferring $33 million from a fund used to pay for the burials of fallen firefighters and provide financial assistance to firefighters and their families to the state’s general fund. The proposal comes after an investigation by the state’s comptroller revealed the fund was vulnerable to abuse and waste due to insufficient oversight. (NJ.COM)
The NORTH CAROLINA General Assembly’s chief economist informed lawmakers last week that the state was on pace to collect over $700 million, or 3 percent, more than projected when the budget was approved last summer. That sum would give the state its largest surplus since the Great Recession. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
OR TEACHERS GO ON STRIKE BUT NOT FOR HIGHER PAY
Tens of thousands of teachers across the state of OREGON walked off the job last week. But unlike with other recent teacher walkouts, the Oregon educators aren’t seeking higher pay but more funding to reduce class sizes; increase support staff, including school nurses, mental health counselors and librarians; restore art, music and physical education programs; and purchase classroom supplies. (CNN)
CA GOV PROPOSES ENDING SALES TAXES ON DIAPERS, TAMPONS
CALIFORNIA Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a plan last week to eliminate sales taxes on diapers and tampons. He framed the plan as part of an effort to make the state more affordable for young families. (SACRAMENTO BEE)
-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK
There is a saying that goes, “beauty is only skin deep but ugly is to the bone.” You could say something similar about stupid, and point to Washington D.C. Councilman Trayon White Sr. as an example. White is the intellectual giant who recently made headlines for espousing his theory that Jewish financiers control the weather. Not surprisingly, that earned the first-term councilman a blizzard of bad press, putting his nascent career into a serious ice fog. (See how I did that?) As the Washington Post reports, White took a shot at saving his suddenly cloudy future by making a few public appearances with Jewish leaders around the District. He also made one unpublicized visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Alas, White bailed out on the 90-minute tour halfway through. No explanation was given, though one can guess the horrific reality of the images there might have caused him some inner turbulence.
A federal judge orders the Trump administration to immediately enforce restrictions on the release of potent methane emissions at oil and gas drilling operations on public land. The rules, which went into effect on January 3rd, are intended to cut the release of 175,000 tons of the greenhouse gas annually and reduce the emission of associated toxic pollutants. The ruling came in a suit filed by CALIFORNIA and NEW MEXICO. U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte ruled the administration cannot legally postpone a rule that has already taken effect (LOS ANGELES TIMES).
In spite of his personal opposition, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said he would allow a measure legalizing sports betting to become law in the Volunteer State without his signature.
“The governor has said he does not believe that the expansion of gambling is best, but he recognizes that many in the legislature found this to be an issue they want to explore further,” Lee spokeswoman Laine Arnold said in a statement. “He plans to let this become law without signature.”
The measure (HB 1) applies only to online sports wagering, with no bricks-and-mortar outlets allowed. It also requires bettors to be at least 21 years old and to be in Tennessee when making their bet. The law will also bar athletes and owners of a team involved in a game from placing bets, as well as anyone involved with sports betting operations or who has any kind of influence over a game’s outcome.
Tennessee will become the ninth state to allow online sports betting, joining Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Lee had pondered vetoing the bill, but opted to allow it to become law when it became clear lawmakers had the votes for an override.
Supporters contend that legalized sports betting will bring in about $50 million in revenue annually, funds that will be divvied up between education, local infrastructure projects, and mental health programs. Opponents, however, say those figures are wildly optimistic, pointing to a recent Associated Press analysis of sports wagering in other states new to online wagering as proof.
Barring anything unforeseen, online wagering will become legal in Tennessee on July 1. (TENNESSEAN [NASHVILLE], ASSOCIATED PRESS, BIRMINGHAM NEWS)
The cost to build a 119-mile segment of CALIFORNIA’s high-speed rail system in the state’s Central Valley could be $1.8 billion higher than the $10.6 billion previously projected, according to an internal report drafted by the state’s rail authority in preparation for an update to the Legislature. Earlier this year Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called for the scaling back of the full $77-billion project originally intended to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco due to a lack of funding and a realistic plan for completing it. (LOS ANGELES TIMES)
With bills authorizing sports betting currently before their respective governors, IOWA and MONTANA are poised to become the first two states to legalize such wagering this year, joining the six states that did so last year after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the ban against it. But sports betting expert Chris Grove said disputes over details such as whether to allow bets to be placed online and how much to tax such gaming had derailed legalization efforts in other states, likely limiting the total number that will actually be completed this year to eight instead of the 10 to 12 he’d initially expected. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
In 2017 MISSISSIPPI spent about 17 percent, or $18.8 million, of its welfare funding on a college scholarship program that benefited middle class families. The same year, despite having one of the most impoverished populations in the country, the state spent 7.2 percent, or $8.6 million, of its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds on direct cash payments to poor families, well below the national average of about 25 percent. (MISSISSIPPI TODAY [RIDGELAND])
In overtime after the scheduled adjournment of their regular session on May 31, ILLINOIS lawmakers passed legislation that among other things would allow a casino in Chicago, double the state’s motor fuel tax to 38 cents per gallon and increase the state’s $1.98-per-pack tax on cigarettes by $1. The measures are needed to help pay for a $45 billion, multiyear infrastructure plan proposed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D). (CHICAGO TRIBUNE)
The LOUSIANA House approved a bill (HB 578) that would provide funding for 10 transportation projects across the state, including in Lafayette and New Orleans. The $690 million in spending would be the largest investment in the state’s roads and bridges since voters approved a transportation funding ballot measure in 1989. (ADVOCATE [BATON ROUGE])
MAINE Gov. Janet Mills (D) proposed $239 million in bonds last week that would provide funding for broadband internet, renewable energy, road and bridge repairs and the state’s land conservation program, Land for Maine’s Future, among other things. The bonds would have to be approved by both lawmakers and voters. (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD)
CONNECTICUT’s Democrat-led General Assembly approved a $43 billion, two-year state budget bill last week that would close a projected $3.7 billion shortfall, while increasing spending by 1.7 percent in the first year and 3.4 percent in the second. Gov. Ned Lamont (D) is expected to sign it. (HARTFORD COURANT)
NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy (D) proposed completely overhauling the state’s corporate tax incentive program. He said the current program, which is set to expire on June 30, just enriches big companies, and he will not renew it. (NJ.COM)
--Compiled by KOREY CLARK
President Barack Obama vetoes a bill that would have authorized the building of the Keystone Pipeline, a transfer line that would carry crude oil from wells in Canada south across the U.S. to refineries in TEXAS and ILLINOIS (GOVERNING).
The MONTANA Supreme Court upholds a lower court’s 2014 ruling in a lawsuit that the law denying unemployment benefits, university enrollment and other services to people who arrived in the country illegally was unconstitutional. The court also rejected a requirement of the law that required state workers to report to federal immigration officials the names of applicants who are not in the U.S. legally (BILLINGS GAZETTE).
A bill (HB 5925) approved by RHODE ISLAND’s House Judiciary Committee would enshrine into law Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea’s (D) current policy of excluding full birth dates from voter lists released to the public. Gorbea instituted the policy in 2016 to prevent identity theft, but watchdog groups and media organizations say the information helps reveal inaccuracies in the voter rolls. (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
The FBI revealed last month that a Russian phishing attack in 2016 targeting FLORIDA voter data was successful in two counties, but a nondisclosure agreement prevented the agency from naming those counties. One of them has since been identified as Washington County, in the state’s panhandle. (SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL, WASHINGTON POST)
Democratic state officials in COLORADO and MARYLAND have called for an economic boycott of ALABAMA over the abortion ban the state passed last month. NBCUniversal, Netflix and Disney are also considering pulling productions out of GEORGIA in protest of the new anti-abortion law enacted there. (REUTERS, WASHINGTON EXAMINER)
The U.S. Supreme Court has suspended two lower court rulings requiring new congressional district maps to be drawn in Michigan and Ohio, pending a decision by the justices on the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering.
Lower courts had ruled that Republicans in the two Midwestern states had drawn maps so favorable to GOP candidates that they violated the U.S. Constitution’s 1st and 14th Amendments. And Republicans in both states appealed those decisions.
The Supreme Court also heard redistricting cases in its last term but has so far avoided the issue of whether there’s a constitutional limit to partisan gerrymandering. (POLITICO)
Dozens of wealthy towns in CONNECTICUT have blocked the construction of low-income housing within their borders for the past two decades. The percentage of low-income housing has actually declined somewhat in a quarter of the state’s municipalities over the past three decades. (CONNECTICUT MIRROR, PROPUBLICA)
The TEXAS Legislature almost unanimously approved a bill (SB 12) that would allocate $1.1 billion from the state’s savings account over the next two years to shore up its Teacher Retirement System. The bill is now with Gov. Greg Abbott (R). (TEXAS TRIBUNE [AUSTIN])
The CALIFORNIA Assembly Appropriations Committee stripped $1B in funding from a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Jim Wood (D) aimed at making homes in high fire risk areas more fire resistant, after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) refused to commit to that spending. The governor said he would work with lawmakers to find funding for that effort. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Despite having “significant reservations” about an education funding bill (SB 1030), MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) will allow it to become law without his signature. The measure, titled the “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future,” will provide $850 million in additional state funding for public schools over the next two years. (BALTIMORE SUN)
Uber-patriotic national holidays are a golden opportunity for minor league baseball teams in deep red locales to fill the stadium. Such was the case in May when the Pacific Coast League’s Fresno Grizzlies marked the Memorial Day holiday with a video tribute to U.S. armed forces that included a montage of former president Ronald Reagan talking about “enemies of freedom.” As NBC reports, the video then showed former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Wait, what? Yep. Some fans of the team seemed to cheer the video, but the reaction from a trio of oh-so-precious sponsors was immediate. Raisin-maker Sun Maid was first to drop their relationship with the team, followed shortly thereafter by beer companies Tecate and Dos Equis. Team officials have apologized profusely, saying an employee had not properly screened the video before rolling it. And as the Fresno Bee reports, two Fresno City Council members in D.C. last week to lobby Congress used the opportunity to apologize to Ocasio-Cortez in person. They came bearing a gift: a red Grizzlies jersey. No word on whether she tried it on.
-- BY Rich Ehisen
Filibustering and other such political gabfesting as a means of blocking legislation has been practiced by every party since Plato walked the earth. The latest incarnation comes from the Oregon Legislature, where outmanned Republicans have managed to force a clerk to read aloud every single world of every bill that comes before them as a means of slowing down the process and, presumably, forcing some concessions from supermajority Dems on bills the Reeps like. As the AP reports, Reeps in Colorado tried a similar tack earlier this year, so Dems brought in a robot to speed-read the bills. A judge later blocked that effort, allowing the GOP to prevent several bills from being considered before the session ended. Oregon Dems say the situation is not dire in that regard yet, but they also have a few tricks of their own up their sleeves should it become so. Stay tuned.
You want to drop $700 on food at a Michelin-rated eatery where it took months to get a reservation? Go for it. The rest of us will just scoop up some venison off the road and have us a time. As CalMatters reports, a bill (SB 395) is working its way through the California Legislature that would allow folks to “salvage” recently-killed critters from Golden State roads for the purpose of consumption. Yep, if you run it over, you might soon be able to just toss ‘er in the back and run it home to the family, making California the most populous state to make roadkill cuisine a thing. Alas, the law would only apply to deer, elk and wild pigs, so just put down that recipe for grandma’s squirrel stew. Unless you want to go kill them the old fashioned way.
Last month Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed SB 181, giving cities and towns more control over the regulation of oil and gas drilling. Local governments have wasted little time exercising their new power.
Hours after the governor signed the bill, the city of Lafayette extended its existing moratorium on drilling by six months. Broomfield is considering temporarily banning drilling while it drafts new rules for the industry. And the county of Larimer is launching a task force to guide county leaders on how to regulate drilling.
“I think it’s no-holds barred for communities,” said Joe Salazar, a former state lawmaker and executive director of the anti-fracking group Colorado Rising. “The oil and gas industry has been abusive for a long time and now communities are going to fight back. It’s the dawn of a new era.”
But John Brackney, a former Arapahoe County commissioner who helped lead an aborted effort to repeal SB 181, indicated pushback from the industry could come if local government leaders push to far.
“Should they overreach, the oil and gas industry and the business community will give us full backing to put initiatives on the ballot [in 2020],” he said, adding that such measures would likely receive strong support from voters, given their sound rejection of a ballot measure in November that would have required new oil and gas wells to be sited at least 2,500 feet from homes and schools. (DENVER POST)