• California Supreme Court: Cities Can Ban Pot Dispensaries
• BY: McClatchy News   |   California   |   May 7, 2013
• The California Supreme Court gave local governments the power Monday to zone medical marijuana dispensaries out of existence, a decision that upholds bans in about 200 cities but does little to solve Los Angeles' struggle to regulate hundreds of storefront pot outlets.

• Illinois Looking to Stop Outsider Access to Pension System
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Illinois   |   May 7, 2013
• No longer just concerned with saving the state's underfunded pension system money, reform efforts now seek to stop allowing interlopers who aren't state workers into the taxpayer-supported retirement systems.
• 1 Comments

• Florida Gov. Scott Urged to Call Special Session on Medicaid
• Source: Miami Herald   |   Florida   |   May 7, 2013
• At stake is $51 billion in federal funding to provide insurance coverage to 1 million low-income Floridians. House Republicans blocked that from happening during the regular session, which ended Friday.
• 1 Comments

• Phoenix Police to Destroy Guns Before New Law Takes Effect
• Source: Arizona Republic   |   Arizona   |   May 7, 2013
• Three months before a new state law goes into effect requiring police to sell any weapon they receive, Phoenix officials plan to destroy as many guns as residents bring them.
• 2 Comments

• Michigan Teachers Opt to Work for Rest of Year -- Even Without Pay
• Source: Detroit Free Press   |   Saginaw, Mich.   |   May 7, 2013
• The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) recently decided to freeze the district’s April, May and June state aid payments after state officials discovered the district had received $580,000 in state aid for a program for incarcerated youths that the district no longer ran.

• Solitary Confinement Under New Scrutiny
• Source: Boston Globe   |   Massachusetts   |   May 7, 2013
• Over the last year, state and federal court rulings have limited the use of solitary units, which prison officials defend. State legislators, meanwhile, have proposed regulating them further.

• Freedom of '3 Strikes' Law Prisoners Varies by County in California
• Source: AP/Sacramento Bee   |   California   |   May 7, 2013
• Majorities in every California county voted last fall to scale back the state's Three Strikes law so thousands of inmates serving life sentences for relatively minor third offenses would have the chance to be set free. Five months later, there is no such unanimity among counties when it comes to carrying out the voters' wishes.

• Lottery Privatization Can Happen Without New Jersey Legislature's Approval Now
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   May 7, 2013
• Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have required his administration to get the state Legislature's approval to go ahead with a plan to privatize parts of the New Jersey Lottery.

• GAO: Nashville Spent Millions on Courthouse it Doesn't Need
• Source: Tennessean   |   Tennessee   |   May 7, 2013
• A GAO report found that 10 of the 12 planned courthouses, including Nashville’s, were not justified.

• Georgia Doled Out Economic Incentives Despite Red Flags
• Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution   |   Georgia   |   May 7, 2013
• State officials who awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to lure jobs here sometimes missed critical red flags in vetting the grant recipients.

• Christie Underwent Weight-Loss Surgery
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   New Jersey   |   May 7, 2013
• Gov. Chris Christie — whose weight has long been the subject of public worry and late-night talk show jokes — said he underwent lap-band stomach surgery in February.

• Online Sales Tax Bill Passes Senate
• BY: Ryan Holeywell   |   May 7, 2013
• It's the first time any version of the legislation, which state and local leaders have long fought for, has ever been approved by either chamber of Congress.
• 7 Comments

• Youth Unemployment Rate, Figures by State
• BY: Mike Maciag   |   May 6, 2013
• View youth unemployment figures and graphs.

• SEC Charges Harrisburg with Securities Fraud
• BY: Liz Farmer   |   Harrisburg, Pa.   |   May 6, 2013
• Pennsylvania's capital, which is under receivership after nearly going bankrupt, is the second municipality or state to get charged with securities fraud this year.
• 1 Comments

• States' Seek Limits on Undisclosed Political Donations
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Nation   |   May 6, 2013
• States are trying to figure out ways to stem the tide of the secret money that played an unprecedented role in the 2012 election cycle. The first step is to force tax-exempt advocacy organizations and trade associations out of the shadows.