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Editor’s Picks From Around the Web
CA: California lieutenant governor to lead gun control initiative
Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California will introduce a measure for next year’s ballot that aims to stanch the proliferation of gun violence, including a provision to require ammunition buyers to undergo background checks. California already has among the nation’s toughest gun restrictions, including a ban on assault weapons.
TN: Tennessee to shut down its health insurance cooperative
The Community Health Alliance cooperative will close at the end of the year, forcing about 27,000 Tennesseans enrolled in its plans to find new ones next year.
FL: Florida governor wants more tax cuts
Republican Gov. Rick Scott said he wants larger tax cuts and more money to lure companies to Florida next year. He promised $1 billion in tax cuts over two years when he was re-elected in 2014, and he still owes about $600 million on the pledge.
OH: New push among Ohio legislators to ban abortions
Ohio abortion opponents are pushing lawmakers to make it illegal for doctors to perform an abortion after 20 weeks’ gestation and to ban the procedure at any time if a woman is trying to avoid having a baby with Down syndrome.
MA: Massachusetts lawmakers call for a board to eliminate worthless boards
Massachusetts is plagued with unnecessary state boards, and hundreds of seats on them are going unfilled. So some lawmakers are proposing a “sunset advisory board” that would evaluate other boards and recommend dissolving them.
TX, OK: In Texas and Oklahoma, plans let companies work without workers’ comp
State laws in Texas and Oklahoma allow employers to opt out of workers’ compensation and develop their own workplace injury plans. The plans generally cover fewer injuries, cut off benefits payments sooner, control access to doctors and even impose mandatory settlements, an investigation by NPR and ProPublica finds.
AR: Arkansas governor unveils plan to lower state’s obesity rate
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s initiative focuses on increased mobility, nutritional standards, physical education and access to healthy foods across all age groups in an effort to reduce Arkansas’ obesity rate, the highest among adults in the nation.
NY: State board backs casino in New York’s Southern Tier
New York’s Gaming Facility Location Board approved opening a $195 million casino in the Southern Tier region, an economically impoverished area where similar bids were previously rejected. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pushed to expand gambling in the state, where there are five Indian casinos and electronic slot machine parlors at nine racetracks.
WA: Proposed Seattle law would bar rent hikes in hazardous apartments
Seattle landlords would be barred from hiking rents on apartments with severe health and safety problems under legislation proposed by two council members. The members said their proposal would skirt state law, which prohibits Washington cities from enacting rent regulations.
ND: North Dakota likely to appeal fetal heartbeat abortion ban to US Supreme Court
Republican Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said he would likely ask the nation’s highest court to review North Dakota’s anti-abortion law that’s been blocked by lower court judges, though he acknowledged the move is a long shot.
AK: Santa Claus elected to Alaska’s North Pole City Council
The legally named Mr. Claus, a former president of the North Pole Chamber of Commerce, won a write-in campaign for an open seat in the 2,200-person Alaska town.
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