California Signs AB 1158 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 1158 , which requires manufacturers to increase carpet recycling from 11 percent now to 24 percent by 2020 (SACRAMENTO BEE). California Vetoes SB 51 Also in CALIFORNIA , Gov. Brown...
One of the highlights of this year’s DEFCON - one of the world’s largest hacker conferences, held each summer in Las Vegas - was a Voting Machine Hacking Village, where attendees were invited to infiltrate more than 25 different voting machines...
In 2000, every state in the nation imposed an estate tax or inheritance tax, otherwise known as “death taxes.” Now just 19 states do. And Delaware and New Jersey will eliminate their estate taxes next year. The repeal trend began after...
Government officials all over the world are feverishly working to figure out ways to mitigate the worst impacts of global climate change. In the meantime, we poor peons have to learn to deal with a rapidly warming globe. But if you think you have it bad...
Just a week before the end of the legislative session, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is working on wide-ranging legislation that would establish a framework for regulating the state’s medical marijuana industry. Lawmakers gutted and amended several...
The HAWAII Dept. of Agriculture approves new rules that would define what constitutes a dangerous wild animal and bar the import of such animals “for exhibition or performance in public entertainment shows such as circuses, carnivals and state fairs...
The WEST VIRGINIA Board of Pharmacy announces it will ask all Mountain State prescription drug wholesalers to report on pharmacies that order a “suspicious” number of pain pills or other controlled substances. Those reports will then be forwarded...
A couple of weeks ago, North Carolina state Rep. Paul Tine changed his political party designation from Democrat to unaffiliated. "Independent fits for me, and I think when you look at voter registration, it's fitting for a lot of people,"...
A special prosecutor and grand jury has recommended that Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane (D) face criminal charges for allegedly leaking secret information to a newspaper. The grand jury's recommendation stems from a 2010 investigation of the theft...
WY House Approves HB 145 The WYOMING House approves HB 145 , which would abolish capital punishment in the Equality State. It moves to the Senate (ASSOCIATED PRESS).
WHITMER VOWS VETO OF MI INSURANCE OVERHAUL Saying the legislation “creates more problems than it solves,” MICHIGAN Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said she would veto a bill (SB 1) approved in the Senate that would fundamentally change auto insurance...
After passing the House in March, a bill championed by Gov. Laura Kelly (D) to expand Medicaid in the Sunflower State appears to have died in the GOP-controlled Senate. Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley forced a procedural vote to move HB...
California Vetoes SB 649 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes SB 649 , which would have limited the fees local governments could charge telecommunications companies and the discretion those municipalities have in rejecting plans for the placement...
In May the White House released a framework for President Trump’s promised $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan calling for an outlay of $200 billion in federal funding to “incentivize additional non-Federal funding,” including...
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said last week that the GOP is broken and needs to be fixed. If that doesn’t happen, he said, he might not be a Republican much longer. Appearing on the CNN show “State of the Union,” Kasich lamented the...
On the one hand, honoring African-American soldiers who fought in the Civil War sounds like a great idea to South Carolina Reps. Bill Chumley and Mike Burns, who recently pre-filed legislation to do just that. But on the other hand, creating a monument...
U.S. Senate Republicans abandoned their last-ditch effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act last week ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline to do so with a simple majority of 50 votes. That decision came after U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) joined...
NY LAWMAKERS OPENING AVENUE TO TRUMP’S STATE TAX RETURNS The NEW YORK Senate passed a bill that would create a pathway for three congressional committees - the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee...
Florida state government has long been under GOP rule. But this year, the state’s Republican legislative majority, energized by three new conservative state Supreme Court justices, new legislative leaders and a new governor, accomplished a few items...
Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) said he will soon issue an executive order making the Constitution State the first to bar people on the federal no-fly list from buying guns. Malloy’s actions come barely a week after Congress rejected legislation...
California Allows AB 2863 The CALIFORNIA Legislature opts to allow AB 2863 , a bill that would have legalized Internet poker in the Golden State, to die without a vote (LOS ANGELES TIMES). California Signs SB 1062 Also in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Jerry...
Seeking to mitigate fast-rising prescription drug prices, Massachusetts health leaders have asked the Trump administration for permission to limit the number of drugs that will be covered in its Medicaid program, including “drugs with limited or...
Since the passing of former First Dog and national celebrity Sutter Brown in 2016, current First Dog Colusa has been a tad lonely. But no more! California Gov. Jerry Brown reported last week that Colusa has a new buddy, a poodle and Border collie mix...
US Attorney General Declares U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R) declares that the Trump administration will now allow federal prosecutors to prosecute marijuana businesses in states where weed has been legalized for either medical or recreational...
California Signs SB 179 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs SB 179 , which will require the state to offer a gender-neutral option on state documents for those who are transgender, intersex and others who do not identify as male or female (LOS ANGELES...