U.S District Judge Carl Barbier granted final approval last week for a settlement of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill that was announced in July. The settlement will require BP to pay an estimated $20.8 billion - including billions of dollars in environmental...
MN Lawmaker Targets Corporate Tax Havens MINNESOTA Sen. John Marty (DFL) has introduced a bill ( SF 3318 ) to make corporations headquartered in one of 46 tax havens around the world - including the Cayman Islands, Liberia, Luxembourg, Panama and the...
In one of the most consequential cases of its current term, Evenwel v. Abbott , the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously last week to uphold the standard of one person, one vote in drawing election districts. Two Texas voters had argued that only eligible...
The partisan battle over the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court has drawn a lot of attention. But there are similar clashes taking place in states all across the country. Millions of dollars are being spent on state supreme court races this year...
Facebook Facilitates Voter Registration in WA A Facebook post reminding WASHINGTON state residents to register to vote and including a link by way of the U.S. government’s voter registration portal to the state’s online voter registration...
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) vetoed a quartet of education bills last week, including one that would have required Old Dominion schools to notify parents of sexually explicit content in reading material assigned in classrooms. In a statement ...
Expressing concern that current state and federal programs don’t consider public health enough in regulating industrial air emissions, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced a major overhaul last week of the state’s air pollution regulations...
Bentley Impeachment Effort Moves Forward As expected, Rep. Ed Henry (R) filed articles of impeachment against ALABAMA Gov. Robert Bentley (R) last week. Those articles accuse the governor of, among several things, “willful neglect of duty,”...
Crime In IA The IOWA Senate unanimously approves HB 2399 , which would make numerous changes to the Hawkeye State’s domestic violence laws, including mandatory minimum sentences for stalking, harassment and multiple convictions of domestic abuse...
Education in MA The MASSACHUSETTS Senate endorses SB 2203 , legislation that would gradually lift the cap on the number of charter schools in the Bay State but tie that to increased funding for all public schools. The measure now moves to the House...
Energy In NJ The NEW JERSEY Senate approves SB 1707 , which would require Garden State utility companies to source at least 80 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by the year 2050. It moves to the House (CLEANTECHNICA.COM). ...
Health In VT The VERMONT House passes HB 93 , which would raise the legal smoking age in the Green Mountain State to 21. The measure, which would exempt members of the military and wounded veterans under 21, moves to the Senate (WCVB.COM [BOSTON])...
Social Policy In TN The TENNESSEE House approves SB 1556 , which would allow private practice counselors and therapists to refuse to see clients whose cases go against their principles. The measure, which would require therapists to refer those patients...
Potpourri In TN The TENNESSEE General Assembly approves HB 615 , which would make the Bible the official state book. It moves to Gov. Bill Haslam (R) for consideration (TENNESSEAN [NASHVILLE]). Potpourri In WI WISCONSIN Gov. Scott Walker (R)...
Having really, really lousy ideas is one thing; using terrible grammar is even worse. So says Missouri Rep. Tracy McCreery, a St. Louis-area Democrat who recently filed a resolution ( HR 1220 ) urging her colleagues to stop using the word “physical”...
Aiming to grow its appeal to tourists and businesses, Rhode Island recently implemented a $5 million marketing campaign, including the hiring of a famous designer to come up with the new state logo and slogan. What could possibly go wrong? As noted in...
George Mason University was understandably excited to receive $30 million recently from a few folks – including the Koch brothers – to rename the school’s law school after recently-deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. University...
It is sometimes hard to fathom why perpetually unpopular Florida Gov. Rick Scott even ventures out of the governor’s mansion anymore. After making news last month for getting kicked off of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” for refusing to...
As we noted on the blog last week, the leak of more than 11.5 million files from offshore law firm Mossack Fonesca revealed a laundry list of compliance breaches—from tax dodges and money laundering to sheltering the assets of individuals and countries...
Last week, the hottest cable show of 2016, at least according to Nielsen ratings , drew 6.2 million viewers for its finale. By the time the dust settles—in this case, when everyone who missed the mini-series finishes streaming the show on Hulu —more...
Last week The Huffington Post and its Australian partner Fairfax Media published a bribery and corruption investigation into Monaco-based company Unaoil. The title of the article, ‘World’s Biggest Bribe Scandal’, may sound like journalistic...
We’ve all seen what happens when due-diligence efforts fall short. In addition to tainting a company’s reputation, the bad actions of a third-party can lead to criminal investigations, hobbled business operations and hefty fines that impact...
Is Wearable Tech Redefining the Role of Technology in our Lives? Wearable technology has come a long way since our first Walkman and its constant evolution is not only giving us more options for integrating technology into our daily living, it’s...
Republicans have flourished in U.S. statehouses during the Obama presidency, winning a best-ever number of legislative chambers and a near-record majority of governorships. But GOP legislative domination, as well as control of Congress, may be threatened...
This year’s statehouse elections offer opportunities for both Democrats and Republicans to shift majority control of legislative chambers, according to Tim Storey of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Democrats are eyeing Republican...