Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) has opened an investigation into allegations that Gov. Eric Greitens (R) improperly sent emails through his charity to arrange political meetings as he prepared to launch his first bid for public office. Federal...
Citing “a total lack of regulation” on political social media spending, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has thrown his support behind a bill to broaden the Empire State’s definition of political communication to include paid internet...
Decrying a lack of federal action, several Northeastern governors have formed a multi-state partnership to address gun violence. The “States for Gun Safety” coalition is the brainchild of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who was joined by...
UT LAWMAKERS CONSIDER LIMITING LOBBYING BY PUBLIC EMPLOYEES: A UTAH House committee voted this month to advance a bill ( HB 391 ) restricting lobbying of the Legislature by state employees and prohibiting some state entities from taking a public position...
U.S. intelligence agencies hosted a briefing for state election officials this month on potential threats to election infrastructure ahead of this year’s elections. The briefing by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Department...
In a special election this month in Kentucky’s 49th House District, where President Trump received 72 percent of the vote in the 2016 presidential race, Democrat Linda Belcher defeated Republican Rebecca Johnson, the widow of the former representative...
MI HOUSE PASSES ‘BRAIN DRAIN’ TAX BREAK: The MISSISSIPPI House passed a bill last week that would provide graduates of four-year colleges and universities in the state who stay and work within its borders a three-year exemption from state...
Georgia’s Republican-dominated Senate Rules committee voted last week to strip a $50 million jet fuel tax exemption out of a larger tax-cut proposal already passed by the House ( HB 918 ). The move came in response to the announcement by Delta Airlines...
At 10 a.m. on April 17, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in South Dakota v. Wayfair . The case revolves around a law passed in South Dakota in 2016 , requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases from customers located...
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act are taking yet another run at the law, using the same Supreme Court ruling that previously upheld its constitutionality. In that 2012 decision the justices found that the ACA’s individual mandate, requiring...
Then why not the guy up on stage? So says the New Hampshire House, which passed a bill recently that would allow entertainers and dancers and the like performing in places that serve booze to have a few pops while doing their act. As New Hampshire Public...
Some ideas are so clearly bad ones that it would seem to just be common sense not to go through with them. But as Voltaire noted, common sense isn’t so common. Case in point comes from Chicago, where the Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois Gov...
Speaking of dogs, congrats to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the addition of a new member of the family. As Newsday reports, the gov last month held a presser to introduce Captain, a 14-week old Siberian and German shepherd mix with a “little Malamute...
Political confabs are not everyone’s cup of tea. Dealing with politicos, their handlers and – when in D.C. – arrogant Beltway reporters can be exhausting. But there is a solution: dogs. Yes, hounds. Puppies. Canines. Man’s best...
At least 29 states have introduced legislation this year aimed at reinstating the requirement that internet service providers treat all content the same in terms of price and accessibility, which was eliminated last year with the Federal Communications...
Whether you are reading this in Olympia or Atlanta, Boston or Sacramento, the rules for how this story – or the collection of bytes of data that comprise it - travels from the Capitol Journal to your laptop, tablet or phone, are the same. ...
Nothing evokes the public and personal perils of high-level corruption more powerfully than photos of the billionaire chairman of a corporate conglomerate being led to a prison bus in handcuffs. Or almost nothing. Images of his 95-year-old wheelchair...
DC Council Gives Preliminary Approval The WASHINGTON D.C. Council gives preliminary approval to legislation allowing homeowners who rent out their homes to sell them without giving their tenants the first opportunity to buy. It must clear one more...
HI House Approves HB 2739 The HAWAII House approves HB 2739 , which would allow Aloha State doctors to assist terminally ill patients to end their own lives. The measure moves to the Senate (HONOLULU CIVIL BEAT). GA Governor Signs HB 159 GEORGIA...
UT House Approves HB 472 The UTAH House approves HB 472 , which would expand Medicaid coverage through a managed health care plan for people making less than the federal poverty line — $12,060 a year for individuals and $24,600 for a family of...
HI Senate Approves SB 2334 The HAWAII Senate approves SB 2334 , which would require the state and local governments to incorporate predictions of sea level rise and other climate change hazards and mitigation opportunities into applicable plans, strategies...
HI Senate Approves SB 2384 The HAWAII Senate approves SB 2384 , which would require the department of education to develop a comprehensive plan to integrate design thinking and coding in middle, intermediate, and high school curriculums and submit...
FL House and Senate SB 7026 The FLORIDA House and Senate approve SB 7026 , which would raise the age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21, require a three-day waiting period for most gun purchases and ban the sale or possession of “bump stocks...
MARTINEZ SIGNS NM BUDGET: NEW MEXICO Gov. Susana Martinez (R) signed off on a $6.3 billion budget that includes pay raises for teachers, some state employees, judges, police and increases overall spending by about 4 percent. (SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN)...
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) ended a nine-day statewide teacher strike last week by signing legislation ( HB 4145 ) that grants Mountain State public workers and school personnel a 5 percent pay raise. Those pay hikes go into effect with the new...