CA Governor Signs AB 1985 Following a state audit that found significant underreporting of hate crimes, CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 1985 , which sets minimum standards for how local law enforcement agencies investigate and report those...
NH Governor Signs SB 488 NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signs SB 488 , which allows doctors at the Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center to treat veterans at private hospitals. Although VA doctors will be able to treat veterans at private...
HI Governor Signs SB 3095 HAWAII Gov. David Ige (D) signs SB 3095 , a bill that makes the Aloha State the first to ban pesticides containing the chemical chlorpyrifos. Overexposure to chlorpyrifos can cause paralysis and death (MAUI NEWS).
PA Governor Signs SB 234 PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) signs SB 234 , which allows municipal governments to set up energy improvement districts where private lenders can loan money to commercial or agricultural property owners who want to finance...
MI House Approves HB 4926, HB 4927, and HB 4928 The MICHIGAN House approves a trio of bills (HBs 4926 , 4927 and 4928 ) that collectively would legalize online gambling, including sports wagering, in the Wolverine State. The measures move to the Senate...
People not fortunate enough to live here in California often think we’re a freak show. Or an economic disaster. Or trying to steal their water. As a lifer born and bred, I can honestly say the freak show thing can be true, the economic shade is...
Much has been made of French President Emmanuel Macron being married to a woman who at one time was his high school teacher. But in a bit of gamesmanship that could only matter to President Donald Trump, Macron was not the first world leader to marry...
It was bound to happen. Last week GOP voters in Nevada’s Nye County nominated self-proclaimed and unapologetic pimp Dennis Hof to represent them in the Silver State Assembly. Hof is known to most folks as the owner of a string of brothels in Nye...
For a guy who was never in the military, Kansas Secretary of State and current gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach sure likes to act like a human GI Joe. Although the tough-talking Kobach usually saves his most vitriolic nonsense for making never-proven...
REYNOLDS SAYS SHE ISN’T BEHOLDEN TO IA GOP PLATFORM : Saying the issue of same-sex marriage has been settled by the courts, IOWA Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said last week she doesn’t have to abide by state GOP platform proposals that favor limiting...
Several Republican members of the Illinois Congressional delegation signed a letter to President Donald Trump last week urging him not to grant clemency to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). The letter noted that Blagojevich’s removal from office...
Saying the Garden State would be “a leader in the fight for common-sense gun safety,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed six gun control measures into law last week. The bills address a wide range of concerns, including requiring...
MANY STATES SHORT ON UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUNDS: Twenty-eight states don’t have enough money in their unemployment insurance trust funds to get through the next economic downturn, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor . Eleven...
New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy (D) signed a bill last Monday ( AB 4111 ) providing for the regulation and taxation of sports betting in the state. The legislation brought an end to a years-long battle to help the state’s struggling casinos that led...
Last month Seattle, Washington’s City Council unanimously approved a tax on the city’s largest employers to help address its homelessness problem. The Seattle area has the third-largest homeless population in the country, and the city spent...
RANKED-CHOICE VOTING GETS INAUGURAL STATE-LEVEL RUN IN ME: In last Tuesday’s primary election, MAINE became the first state to use ranked-choice voting, already employed in about a dozen cities, including Minneapolis and San Francisco. Although...
Last Tuesday, primary elections were held in four states - Maine, Nevada South Carolina and Virginia - and a special election was held in Wisconsin. Support for President Trump continued to be a key factor in GOP primaries. Corey Stewart eked out...
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Husted, Ohio Secretary of State v. A. Philip Randolph Institute et al last week giving Ohio and other states the go ahead to remove inactive voters from their voter rolls. While all states have procedures...
In a normal wave election - which is typical of the first midterm election of a new president - the party out of power picks up six to eight state legislative chambers. A normal wave in November could give Democrats control of both chambers in Arizona...
Lauren Arthur is not a household word, except perhaps in the neighborhood of suburban Kansas City, Missouri, where she lives. But Arthur, who on June 5 won a special election to fill a vacancy in the Missouri state senate, epitomizes the high hopes of...
Crowdfunding is one of the biggest and most effective ways of raising money, with users turning to the platform in order to fund everything from business ventures to holidays to life-saving surgery. However, the rising popularity of crowdfunding as a...
Social purpose is your brand's new best friend. Social Media Week shared the facts that prove the rise in purpose-driven brands , including growing consumer support of sustainable brands and increasing company investment in capital for social impact...
It’s easy to take certain types of content at face value and quickly dismiss them as something that does not have direct implication for your organization. One example is patent content. Unless you’re focused on ensuring your R&D budgets...
Remember Batman? Not the dark, brooding Batman of our current decade, but the outrageously fun Adam West version featuring the POW-ZING dynamic duo of Batman and Robin. We were recently talking about superheroes (of the public relations variety), and...
In spite of some tragic failures, the slow movement toward autonomous cars is rolling forward. The latest proof comes from Massachusetts, where State House News Service reports that Gov. Charlie Baker (R) recently signed off on an agreement to allow testing...