Former Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and other ex-officials have been told they’re being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal. Snyder was governor when state-appointed managers switched Flint’s water to the Flint River in 2014.
The Governor’s Office for New Americans released a statement saying that Nevada’s COVID-19 vaccination program cannot share personal information with federal agencies. The statement came in response to growing concerns in Nevada, notably among the immigrant community, over privacy protections provided by the program.
As hospitals across Arizona grapple with dwindling capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state has no immediate plans to use 235 patient beds at St. Luke's Medical Center in Phoenix, though it has spent $6.68 million so far getting the shuttered facility ready.
Some Washington state lawmakers chose to carry their own personal firearms for additional protection on the legislature’s opening day. House and Senate rules do not prohibit the concealed carrying of firearms by legislators.
Oregon business owners who have struggled to pay rent during the coronavirus pandemic will soon get some help from the state. The Oregon legislature’s Emergency Board voted to allocate $100 million toward a new commercial rent relief program.
District of Columbia Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered indoor restaurants and museums to remain closed until two days after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, in a mayoral fiat meant to both curb the rising coronavirus infections in the city and make Washington less hospitable to visitors considering traveling to see Biden sworn in.
Both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly passed the Legislative Black Caucus’ broad education proposal that makes changes to statewide education laws from early to higher education. The first piece of the caucus’s wide-ranging social justice agenda is now just a signature from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker away from becoming law.
Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said he will launch “a sustained effort” to push for a less partisan redistricting process, an effort he has failed to get through the General Assembly for the past six years.
In the wake of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and planned protests across the country, New Jersey Assembly Democratic district offices will be closed through Jan. 20, a spokesperson said.
A heavier police presence was in plain view at the Missouri Capitol, as officials responded to threats of violence triggered by President Donald Trump’s election loss. Officers from the Missouri Highway Patrol and other agencies patrolled the corridors, occasionally stopping in one of the chambers to view the proceedings of the House and Senate.
Ohio hospitals have been instructed to complete their vaccinations of health care workers by this weekend to clear the decks to begin helping to administer doses to the 420,000 Ohioans age 80 and older beginning next Tuesday.
Arkansans age 70 and older and employees of schools and child care centers will be eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines starting Monday, GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced. The move will expand the state's vaccination efforts, which have so far focused on health care workers, staff and residents of long-term care facilities, and police and firefighters.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, has some advice for Vermonters considering participating in armed rallies at the Statehouse: “Don’t be played.” He said extremists behind the armed rallies are taking advantage of people with “strong feelings” to further the insurrection.
North Carolina will consider expanding the number of people eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said. But Cooper also expressed frustration with the timing of the new directive, and particularly with the shifting advice.
An attorney has filed a complaint against South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson for promoting legal “falsehoods” that allegedly helped lead to last week’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. A spokesperson for Wilson called the effort political, noting that he is a Republican and that the lawyer is a Democrat who works for a prominent Democratic law firm.
Now, at least when it comes to grocery and retail stores, the New Hampshire Department of Justice recommends calling local law enforcement if a customer refuses to wear a mask without a reason listed as an exception in the emergency order.
A federal judge has upheld the validity of hundreds of undated mail ballots cast in Allegheny County, ruling in favor of a Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Senate whose win was previously certified by the state. GOP leaders in the chamber last week refused to seat the winner.
Violent threats against Minnesota's political leaders are growing in frequency and intensity, a trend that started long before last week's storming of the U.S. Capitol cheered on by a crowd in St. Paul. The rise came as lawmakers grappled with responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer last summer.
Kansas legislators began the process to oust a newly elected lawmaker over multiple issues that include the 20-year-old’s rhetoric on Twitter and allegations that he harassed and threatened girls and women.
Idaho lawmakers will consider a bill that would prevent disaster declarations from shutting down businesses and qualify all workers as essential. It would also require that the governor’s emergency declarations expire after 30 days, with the option for state legislators to extend the emergency.
A bipartisan bill aimed at increasing police accountability and enacting criminal justice reform received early support from Indiana’s legislators, law enforcement leaders and community groups, following calls for action from the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus.
The Trump administration told states to open COVID-19 vaccinations to all people 65 and older, but Rhode Island doesn't intend to follow suit. Under the state’s plan, all adults 75 and older will not start getting vaccinated until February or March.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, issued a joint statement urging residents not to attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. They cited security and public health threats during the COVID-19 pandemic.
