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Editor’s Picks From Around the Web
AZ: Arizona governor vetoes bill shielding the names of police
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey rejected legislation that would have kept secret for two months the names of Arizona police officers involved in serious or deadly shootings. The bill was inspired by last summer’s fatal police shooting in Ferguson, Mo.
CT: Connecticut governor bans state-funded travel to Indiana
Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy banned government-funded travel to the Midwestern state. Connecticut is the first state to issue a travel boycott to protest of Indiana’s new “religious freedom” law. Two cities, Seattle and San Francisco, also have issued bans.
US: Pharmacist group opposes providing drugs for state executions
In a move that could raise the hurdles states face in attempting to execute prisoners, the American Pharmacists Association has discouraged its members from providing drugs for use in lethal injections. The group says providing the drugs runs contrary to the role of pharmacists as health care providers.
IA: Iowa forfeiture: $43 million taken in last six years
Police in Iowa have seized cash or property from thousands of people since 2009, using state and federal forfeiture laws. The bulk of the forfeitures resulted from traffic stops, often for minor violations and involving vehicles with out-of-state plates.
TN: Tennessee House approves bill allowing guns in public parks
The bill would allow people with handgun-carry permits to go armed in any local park in Tennessee, regardless of local ordinances banning them in cities such as Memphis and Nashville.
WV: Pain pills lead to heroin epidemic in West Virginia
West Virginia has the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation, and law enforcement and healthcare professionals say that the current heroin epidemic stems from the abuse of prescription painkillers, which create a similar high.
WA: Lawmakers seek prison for Washington’s mentally ill
The $189 million facility would have 700 beds for state prisoners who are diagnosed with mental illnesses. The prison, which wouldn’t open until at least 2020, also would ease overcrowding in the Washington state prison system.
KS: Kansas lawmakers defend issuing $1 billion in pension bonds
Kansas is considering issuing $1 billion or more in pension bonds because it has a chance to improve the state retirement system’s financial health, not because officials want to back off short-term funding commitments, key lawmakers say.
AR: Bill to drug test welfare recipients passes Arkansas House
The measure would create a two-year pilot program allowing for “suspicion-based” drug screening and testing for applicants who are eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Drug tests would be given if the welfare applicants are suspected of using drugs, as determined by their written responses to questions.
KY: A third of Kentucky’s rural hospitals in bad financial shape
A new state audit finds one of three of Kentucky’s rural hospitals are in poor financial health, raising concern about adequate access to care in rural areas, where hundreds of thousands of people have recently received coverage under Medicaid for the first time.
FL: Florida legislature opens door to for-profit mental-health services
Efforts to reform Florida’s system would end the state’s dependence on not-for-profit managed care providers and open the door to for-profit managed care companies to compete for the $506 million in state business.
CA: California’s Death Row has just about run out of room
Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown is asking the legislature for more than $3 million to open 100 new cells for condemned men at San Quentin Prison.
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