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NV: Fifteen states join Nevada in suit to force drug firms to support death penalty work
Fifteen states are siding with Nevada in a state Supreme Court fight against drug companies suing to prevent the use of their products to execute a condemned inmate. The 15 attorneys general, in a friend-of-the-court brief, argue that drug companies are waging a “guerilla war against the death penalty.”
MA: Massachusetts Legislature mostly white and likely to stay that way
In Massachusetts, there’s little chance that the Legislature — already one of the least diverse in the country — will look much different next year than it does now. While there are about two dozen legislative candidates of color running, nearly half of them are seeking seats already held by minority politicians. And many of them are running against each other.
IA: Governor drops Medicaid adviser who spoke up for disabled Iowans after services were cut
Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, has dropped an outspoken Medicaid adviser who repeatedly voiced concerns about how private management companies were treating Iowans with disabilities. David Hudson spent two years monitoring the state’s shift to private management of its $5 billion Medicaid program.
CA: California moves to safeguard vehicle emissions rules from Trump rollback
A California Air Resources Board proposal would force automakers to meet the state’s existing standards on car and truck pollution, even if weaker ones are adopted by the Trump administration. The standards California and its allies are fighting to keep aim to increase the fuel economy of cars and trucks to about 36 miles a gallon by 2025.
PA, MD: Maryland: ‘We’re drowning in Pennsylvania’s trash’
Heavy rains and flood waters that flowed into the Chesapeake Bay in July might have exposed a serious problem along Maryland’s border: Pennsylvania.
ND: North Dakota lawmaker seeks info on governor’s security costs
A North Dakota Democratic lawmaker is seeking information about the costs to protect Republican Gov. Doug Burgum through a records request, saying the increased security implemented during the Standing Rock protests have continued long after.
MD: Maryland senators ask panel to probe Russian ties to election contractor
Less than three months before early voting begins, Maryland’s U.S. senators have joined the chorus of elected officials warning that the November elections could be threatened by a Russian oligarch’s stake in a firm that manages some of the state’s most critical electoral systems.
WV: West Virginia House committee moves to impeach all Supreme Court justices
The West Virginia Supreme Court justices are charged with “unnecessary and lavish” spending of state taxpayer dollars to renovate their offices. All four also are charged with failing to develop and maintain court policies regarding the use of state resources, including cars, computers and funds in general.
NY: Business interests urge veto of New York paid family leave expansion
The Business Council of New York State is leading a coalition in opposition to an expansion of the state’s paid family leave law that would create a bereavement leave benefit. The state Legislature approved the bill, but the group wants Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to veto it.
WI: Wisconsin business group to create health plan touted by Trump
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business group, says it will offer cheaper health insurance to its members under a change made possible by President Donald Trump. Critics say the way they’re doing it — through what are called association health plans — will undermine the Affordable Care Act and could destabilize the insurance market.
NC: University of North Carolina textbook will remove claims about cancer, Holocaust
A controversial textbook for a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill fitness course has been revised for this fall, university officials say. Among other changes, the publisher has confirmed that “references to the Holocaust and to cancer as ‘a disease of choice’ had already been removed from the fall 2018 edition.”
LA: Louisiana collects K in fines from Medicaid managers
The private companies that manage care for most of Louisiana’s Medicaid patients recently paid $250,000 in fines for inaccurate record-keeping, the state health department said, on the eve of a legislative hearing digging into agency oversight of the companies.
FL: Florida governor invested in firms that did business with Venezuelan regime
As Florida governor, Republican Rick Scott has been very critical of the “brutal and oppressive” Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela. But Scott and his wife, Ann, held substantial investments as recently as last year in three firms that have done business in Venezuela: Goldman Sachs, Invesco and BlackRock.
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