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US: As more women run for state office, child care remains a hurdle
Experts predict more women will again run for office in 2020 like they did in 2018, and child care remains a hurdle for many of them. Only six states have laws specifically allowing campaign money to be used for child care. Five states are considering it.
CA: Californians have new online privacy rights
The internet is going to look, and work, a little different. That’s because Californians have new rights over how their personal information is gathered, stored and sold by any company operating in the state.
MO: Governor says Missouri will continue accepting refugees
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s decision came months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order giving governors the option to refuse to accept refugees. The order put some Republican governors like Parson in a tough position, weighing input from immigration hard-liners against efforts by faith-based groups and others.
IL: Celebrations mark first hours of Illinois recreational marijuana sales
Thousands celebrated a new year by waiting in long lines to be among the first to legally buy marijuana for recreational use in Illinois on the day the state lifted its long-standing prohibition.
GA: Georgia’s film and TV incentives could become part of a 2020 budget battle
Georgia’s generous tax credits to film and TV production companies have sparked a billion-dollar studio boom. The question now is whether the financial lure will remain a sacred cow in a season of widespread cuts to the state budget.
LA: Louisiana governor’s race most expensive in state history
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards may have been considered the “accidental governor” of Louisiana when he was elected in 2015, but about $73 million was spent on his re-election — or to get rid of him — making the 2019 race the most expensive in state history.
VA: Under Trump, voter turnout surges in Virginia’s off-year elections
Since President Donald Trump took office, voter turnout has surged in Virginia, the state that holds elections every year, leading analysts to conclude that even local races have turned into referendums on the president.
MD: Opioid-related deaths continue to decrease in Maryland, according to state data
Fewer Marylanders died after opioid-related overdoses in the first nine months of 2019 than in the same period in 2018, according to state data released this week, mirroring trends that show a plateau in the national crisis.
CT: Tax changes, mental health parity among new Connecticut laws
A host of new laws take effect in Connecticut this week, including expanded sales taxes, mental health parity requirements for insurers, an effort to help rehabilitate more blighted properties, and extended periods between driver’s license renewals.
OK: Oklahoma tribes sue governor over renewal of gaming compacts
Oklahoma’s three largest gaming tribes have filed a lawsuit against GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt, asking a federal judge to rule that the tribes’ gaming compacts automatically renew. The Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations filed the lawsuit in Oklahoma City federal court.
RI: Rhode Island considers permanent ban on flavored vape products
Rhode Island’s health department issued a public notice that it wants to make the temporary ban on flavored vaping products currently in effect permanent.
NY: New York to phase out tipped wages in some industries
New York’s labor department will issue an order bringing some tipped employees, such as hairdressers and car wash workers, up to the standard minimum wage. The change will cover more than 70,000 people.
WV: Holocaust education planned after West Virginia jail guard Nazi salute
West Virginia plans to begin training its corrections department staff about the Holocaust after a photograph of correction officer cadets giving Nazi salutes led to dozens of firings and widespread outrage. The move comes a day after Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced that more than 30 trainees seen in the photo were being fired.
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