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Editor’s Picks From Around the Web
CA: California governor signs ‘nation’s toughest’ equal pay bill
A new California law, described as the toughest equal-pay measure in the nation, bars employers from paying women less than men for “substantially similar work.” It also closes loopholes in existing antidiscrimination law that made it difficult for people to challenge their employers or prove they were being paid at different rates because of gender.
OR: Oregon taxpayers to get ‘kicker rebate’ on income taxes
Taxpayers will get a credit on their 2015 state income taxes of 5.6 percent, about $120 typically, as a result of Oregon’s unique “kicker” law that is triggered when state tax revenue exceeds the forecast made at the start of the two-year budget cycle by 2 percent or more.
MI: Roadside drug testing project approved by Michigan Senate committee
The bill would create a pilot program allowing Michigan State Police officers to take both a Breathalyzer and a saliva sample during a traffic stop to determine if a person could be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
DC: DC plan to give 16 weeks paid family leave would be most generous in US
Under the legislation, almost every part-time and full-time employee in the nation’s capital would be entitled to 16 weeks of paid family leave to bond with an infant or an adopted child, recover from an illness, recuperate from a military deployment or tend to an ill family member.
CO: Colorado governor creates task force on American Indian mascots
Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper signed an executive order creating a commission to discuss whether Colorado public schools should be allowed to have American Indian mascots.
US: US to release 6,000 inmates from prison
The U.S. Justice Department is preparing to release roughly 6,000 inmates from federal prisons starting at the end of the month as part of an effort to ease overcrowding and roll back the harsh penalties given to nonviolent drug dealers in the 1980s and ’90s. About a third of the inmates are undocumented immigrants who will be deported.
KS: Kansas governor’s office calls Medicaid expansion ‘morally reprehensible’
In an email to supporters, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s press office blasted Medicaid expansion as “morally reprehensible” and an “Obamacare ruse.” Kansas hospitals have sought expansion of the federal-state program that provides health care for low-income and disabled Americans.
OH: Ohio attorney general sues city of Toledo over marijuana ordinance
Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine argues the new, voter-approved city ordinance that reduces penalties for marijuana possession and other drug crimes contradicts Ohio state law.
OK: Ten Commandments monument removed from Oklahoma’s Capitol grounds
The Ten Commandments monument was removed from the Capitol grounds at night after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled having the religious monument on public property violated the state’s constitution.
WI: Wisconsin attorney general, legislators introduce child abuse legislation
Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel and a group of Republican legislators have put together a package of bills aimed at cracking down on child abusers by making repeated abuse a new type of criminal charge in Wisconsin and expanding reporting requirements.
MT: Judge blocks Montana from using drug in executions
A Montana district judge has blocked the state from using a particular barbiturate in lethal injections, effectively halting executions until an adequate substitute can be found or lawmakers change the law.
TX: Texas lawmakers jump into tussle over God’s trust
A furor involving a small-town Texas police department and a national secular organization has reached the state attorney general’s office, and may well wind up in court after that. At issue: do “In God We Trust” stickers on police patrol cars violate the U.S. Constitution?
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