After two weeks of resistance, President Trump abandoned his plan to get a citizenship question on the 2020 census. But that doesn’t mean he’s given up on the idea of collecting information about the citizenship status of everyone living in...
CA TAKES ANOTHER SHOT AT KEEPING TRUMP OFF BALLOT The CALIFORNIA Legislature has passed a bill ( SB 27 ) that would require candidates for president to release five years’ worth of tax returns before their name could appear on the state’s...
Faced with the imminent threat of litigation from her own attorney general, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) has dropped her effort to allow thousands of Show Me State residents to continue receiving food stamps without meeting state-mandated work requirements...
After initially saying he had no plans to try changing a state law that requires the governor to annually issue a proclamation honoring an early Ku Klux Klan leader, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) reversed course and said he would seek to change the law...
TRIBES REJECT OK GOV’S CALL FOR NEW GAMING DEALS Questioning “his sincerity to work with us in a cooperative manner,” the leaders of five major OKLAHOMA -based tribes rejected Gov. Kevin Stitt’s (R) call to renegotiate their...
Minnesota Governor Signs HF 2A MINNESOTA Gov. Tim Walz (D) signs HF 2a , an omnibus jobs and economic development package that will also make it a felony in some cases for employers to withhold workers’ wages. The new law, which went into effect...
Florida Board of Education Enacts New Rules The FLORIDA Board of Education enacts new rules that require Sunshine State schools to provide students with at least five hours of mental health instruction, beginning in the 6 th grade. The instruction...
Missouri Governor Signs HB 260 MISSOURI Gov. Mike Parson (R) signs HB 260 , an anti-poaching measure that significantly raises fines for those convicted of illegally taking game species and other native wildlife. Fines will range up to $5,000 for each...
New Jersey Governor Signs Trio of Opioid-Related Bills NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signs a trio of opioid-related bills: AB 3292 , a bill that makes the Garden State the first to require opioid prescriptions to have a warning label to inform patients...
New Hampshire Governor Signs HB 399 and Vetoes SB 88 NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signs HB 399 , which allows anyone who convicted of possession of a small amount of weed before Sept. 16, 2017 to petition the court to have that conviction removed...
Berkeley California City Council Approves Ordinance The BERKELEY , CALIFORNIA City Council unanimously approves an ordinance to bar the use of natural gas in new buildings. The law takes effect on Jan. 1 2020 (BERKELEYSIDE). San Diego City Council...
Famed evangelist Billy Graham might be dead, but his grip on Magnolia State politics is apparently still pretty strong. As Mississippi Today reports , a second gubernatorial candidate – former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. –...
A bill working its way through the California Capitol that would make most gig workers into employees has got the major rideshare companies all a tither. So much they’ve been pushing their drivers to publicly oppose the bill. That effort took an...
If you live in Detroit, Cleveland or Newark, odds are good the stress level in your world is pretty high. Conversely, if you reside in Fremont, California or Bismarck, North Dakota, life is likely a much smoother ride. Those conclusions are according...
In May the Board of Supervisors for the City and County of San Francisco approved an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology by all city departments. It’s the only major U.S. city to have taken such action against the emerging...
Local governments in at least four states have passed ordinances in 2018 or 2019 restricting the use of surveillance technology by government entities, according to the American Civil Liberties Union’s Community Control Over Police Surveillance...
California became the first state to provide healthcare coverage to adult undocumented residents when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation last week making those between the ages of 19 and 25 eligible for the state’s Medicaid program. (Children...
Earthquakes and wildfires are probably the environmental hazards Californians worry about most. But by the end of the century, another threat may be keeping residents awake at night: rising sea levels. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey...
HI GOV VETOES VACATION RENTAL TAX BILL HAWAII Gov. David Ige (D) vetoed a bill ( SB 1292 ) that would have required websites like Airbnb to collect and remit taxes on behalf of vacation rental “hosts.” The governor said he was concerned...
Last week Alaska legislators gathered at the state Capitol in Juneau for their second special session of the year. They also gathered at a middle school in Wasilla for the same reason. Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) called for the July 8 session in the...
NY ENACTS LAW ALLOWING ACCESS TO TRUMP’S TAX RETURNS NEW YORK Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (R) signed a bill last week that will allow the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation to access...
Saying “There is no rationale why women should not get paid what men get paid,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a pair of bills last Wednesday designed to strengthen the Empire State’s wage equity laws. Cuomo signed the measures...
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) has committed $86 million from the sale of General Electric’s Boston headquarters to an effort to create more affordable Bay State housing. Baker’s plan would commit $60 million toward the creation...
TWO DOZEN GOVS RESIST TRUMP CLEAN CAR ROLLBACK Two dozen governors – including three Republicans – signed a letter to President Donald Trump last week urging his administration not to move forward on a plan to roll back auto emissions standards...
Wisconsin Governor Signs SB 152 WISCONSIN Gov. Tony Evers Signs SB 152 , which imposes regulations on e-scooters in the Badger State. Under the new law, e-scooters must weigh less than 100 pounds and abide by a 15 mile-per-hour speed limit. Local governments...