Montana Senate Approves SB 329 The MONTANA Senate approves SB 329 , which would prohibit abortions on potentially viable fetuses and subject doctors to criminal charges if they failed to take steps to try and save the life of the child. It moves to...
MD APPROVES BIG INTENTIVE PACKAGE TO LURE AMAZON: MARYLAND lawmakers approved the largest incentive package in the state’s history, as much as $8.5 billion, in an effort to convince Amazon to build its second headquarters in Montgomery County...
OH House Approves HB 228 The OHIO House approves HB 228 , which would amend the Buckeye State’s so-called “stand your ground” law by removing a mandatory “duty to retreat” and shift the burden of proof in self-defense...
OK Governor Signs Off On Emergency Rules OKLAHOMA Gov. Mary Fallin (R) signs off on emergency rules issued by the Board of Health which ban the sale of smokable marijuana products in the Sooner State. The Board also endorsed a requirement that medical...
A recent audit of the University of California revealed that the prestigious public higher-education system has been giving preferential admissions treatment to out-of-state and foreign students, who pay higher tuition than residents of the state. But...
Nearly 90 percent of the income tax revenue California collected in 2013 came from the top one-fifth of earners, those making $91,000 or more. And 45 percent of the state’s income tax revenue came from the top 1 percent of earners, those with an...
WISCONSIN Gov. Scott Walker (R) signs AB 308, which protects a person from civil liability if they break into a vehicle to remove a person or domestic animal they reasonably believe is suffering or would suffer imminent bodily harm if they did not forcibly...
Drones – small, remotely operated aircraft – are just about everywhere these days. That fact has sent many a current and aspiring lawmaker into apoplexy in recent years, with bills to regulate their use finding lots of popular support in statehouses...
California state Senator Steve Glazer added a sweaty punctuation to the usual daily session adjournment last week. Upon the final gavel, Glazer – joined by nine of his colleagues – dropped and did 22 push-ups. No, he wasn’t pushing a...
The California contingent may have been banished to the hinterlands at the recent Republican National Convention, but state Republican Party chair Jim Brulte made the best of it. As the Sacramento Bee reports , Brulte took advantage of being holed up...
Last year the North Carolina General Assembly declared that the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles and its 400 employees would have to vacate their aging headquarters building in downtown Raleigh by October 2020, due to leaks, asbestos and inadequate...
Last month it looked like Connecticut might become the second state, after Washington, to enact a public health insurance option, with Gov. Ned Lamont and Democratic legislative leaders announcing their support for a bill ( HB 7267 ) that would create...
Rejecting a recently-approved pay hike as inadequate, almost 300,000 teachers in Oklahoma went out on strike last week seeking even greater raises and a significant increase in state education funding. The strike came less than a week after Gov. Mary...
In the Hot Issues section of the Feb 20 SNCJ we inadvertently misidentified CO SB 55 as SB 155. We regret the error.
Amid growing concern about the prospect of hackers breaching America’s voting systems, President Obama’s homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco said at a Justice Department event last month that it would be difficult for hackers to actually...
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) says he has high expectations for the commission he put together to delve into the aftermath of the often-violent protests in Ferguson last summer after an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a white police officer...
Last week Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) unveiled his long-awaited plan to address the state’s multi-billion budget deficit, resulting from plunging oil prices and reduced oil production in the state. The proposal includes several measures that are...
PA House Approves HB 2050 The PENNSYLVANIA House approves HB 2050 , which would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion based on the belief the expected child is likely to have Down syndrome. It moves to the Senate (PENNLIVE). PA House...
NY Governor Signs AB 5200 NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signs AB 5200 , anti-hazing legislation that bars certain physical contact or physical activity in any organization’s initiation ceremony when such activity creates a substantial risk of...
CA Building Standards Commission Unanimously Approves The CALIFORNIA Building Standards Commission unanimously approves rules that make the Golden State the first in the nation to require new homes to be powered by solar power. The regulation takes...
The LOS ANGELES City Council approves a measure to legalize and regulate sidewalk vendors. Under the newly-adopted rules, vendors must pick up trash; ensure that people can pass on the sidewalks; and do business at a minimum distance from fire hydrants...
MI Senate Approves SB 1171 The MICHIGAN Senate approves SB 1171 , legislation that would delay the state’s planned minimum wage increase to $12 until 2030. The measure, which would also limit tipped workers’ minimum wage to $4 per hour...
CT House and Senate Endorse SB 9 The CONNECTICUT House and Senate endorse SB 9 , a bill that would double the amount of renewable energy that Constitution State utilities will be required to purchase over the next decade, from 20 percent in 2020 to...
CA Governor Vetoes AB 1097 CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes AB 1097 , which would have barred smoking on Golden State beaches. It is the third straight year Brown has vetoed such a measure (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE).
If you’re like me, you’re inclined to live by the adage of “out with the old and in with the new.” Well, thankfully for Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant some folks have no use for that. As the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports , an old...