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NJ: New Jersey OKs bill to legalize sports betting
The future of sports betting in New Jersey is now in Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s hands. The New Jersey Assembly and Senate unanimously passed bills that will legalize sports betting at the state’s casinos and racetracks, pending approval by Murphy, who has 45 days to act.
LA: Louisiana spent over $1 million defending abortion laws
Louisiana has paid more than $1 million to defend its abortion restrictions against a series of lawsuits since 2014, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. The state is set to spend even more as the cases drag on while Louisiana fights to implement abortion policies that have been halted by the courts.
MI: Michigan bill would force Medicaid recipients to work 80 hours a month
Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said he is ready to sign a bill headed to his desk that would require many Medicaid recipients to work at least 80 hours a month. The new rules would apply to an estimated 540,000 beneficiaries, according to the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency.
UT: Suicide rates rising in Utah
Utah has the fifth-highest overall suicide rate in the country,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s a crisis that has led Republican Gov. Gary Herbert to create a youth suicide task force and state lawmakers to fund a new study on the issue.
OH: Ohio House OKs payday lending limits after long delay
A bipartisan proposal capping interest rates on short-term loans has cleared the Ohio House after languishing for more than a year. The bill prohibits charging more than 28 percent interest plus monthly fees of 5 percent on the first $400 loaned, or a maximum of .
WI: Wisconsin taxpayers reimbursed lawmakers nearly K worth of travel expenses
Taxpayers paid nearly six figures in out-of-state travel expenses for Wisconsin Assembly lawmakers since 2015, newly released records show. The information was released by the Assembly speaker at a time he is under scrutiny for his own out-of-state traveling.
WA: Legislature met its duty on public schools, Washington state Supreme Court says
After some six years of debate and political jousting, ending in billions of dollars of extra money for schools, raises for teachers and a significant revision in the state’s property tax system, the Washington Supreme Court said the state has met its constitutional obligation to provide for public education. The court’s order also ends a $100,000 a day penalty for failing to meet those obligations.
RI: Bill would mandate screenshots of Rhode Island vendors’ computers every 3 minutes
Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a bill that would track contractors’ billable computer hours. It would require vendors to use software that would automatically take a screenshot of state-funded activity at least once every three minutes and make the screenshots available to the agency or an auditor.
NC: North Carolina bill would help bright, low-income kids
The North Carolina House passed a bill that would require public schools to place in advanced math classes any students who scored the highest level on state end-of-grade math exams. A News & Observer and Charlotte Observer investigation found that thousands of bright, low-income students were being excluded from advanced classes.
PA: Pennsylvania to require gas drillers to reduce air pollution
Pennsylvania’s new permits will begin requiring the Marcellus Shale exploration industry to use more advanced equipment to reduce methane emissions and other air pollutants, control emissions from a broader array of sites, and check for leaks more frequently along pipelines and connections.
CA: Tax break for undocumented immigrants pushed by California Democrats
Assembly Democrats want Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to expand California’s Earned Income Tax Credit in such a way that state residents who do not have Social Security numbers can apply for it. Last year, a household with two children and an income of $22,309 would have received a $2,467 credit.
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