Last year, 19 states enacted a total of 43 provisions limiting access to abortion -- half the number that went into effect the previous year, but still the second-highest number since 1985.
There were tremendous differences among the states in 2010. Fifty-eight percent of students in Nevada and 60 percent in Washington, D.C., completed their high school education in four years. By comparison, 91 percent of students in Wisconsin and Vermont did, according to a government report.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Wisconsin |
January 22, 2013
A federal court of appeals upheld Wisconsin's law repealing most collective bargaining for most public employees, handing a victory to Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans who put the law in place amid tumult two years ago.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune | Utah |
January 22, 2013
A state lawmaker said he would unveil legislation giving local sheriffs the power to arrest any federal agent attempting to seize firearms from Utah residents.
Source: AP/Idaho Statesman | Idaho |
January 22, 2013
Idaho lawmakers, motivated by the potential for new revenue and the appeal of having more authority over how those lands are managed, are gearing up to follow the lead taken by Utah and Arizona in 2012.
Source: Los Angeles Times | Mendocino County, Calif. |
January 22, 2013
Mendocino County is fighting efforts by federal prosecutors to get records on medical marijuana growers who signed up for a program intended to sanction their businesses under state law.
BY: McClatchy News | Washington state |
January 21, 2013
After much dithering, Congress earlier this month gave a lift to wind-power producers by renewing a tax credit worth more than $12 billion over the next decade.
Source: Arizona Republic | Arizona |
January 21, 2013
The Department of Homeland Security updated guidelines for Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that are intended to end months of debate about whether undocumented immigrants who receive federal work permits through the program are eligible for state-issued driver’s licenses.
Source: Los Angeles Times | California |
January 21, 2013
A court-appointed monitor said that Gov. Jerry Brown's quest to end judicial oversight in state prisons is "not only premature, but a needless distraction" from improving care for mentally ill inmates.
Lost in the chaos of Congress's last-minute passage of legislation to avoid the fiscal cliff this month was the farm bill -- ever the undercard -- and the reality that the hodgepodge of food and agriculture provisions is still sitting on the U.S. House's proverbial desk, expired and needing reauthorization.
Source: Oregon Statesman Journal | Oregon |
January 18, 2013
Immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children may obtain Oregon driver’s licenses if they participate in a federal program approved by President Barack Obama.
Source: Raleigh News & Observer | North Carolina |
January 18, 2013
Young illegal immigrants participating in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should be eligible for driving privileges in North Carolina, said the state Attorney General.
Source: AP/Huffington Post | Nation |
January 18, 2013
From Oregon to Mississippi, President Barack Obama's proposed ban on new assault weapons and large-capacity magazines struck a nerve among rural lawmen and lawmakers, many of whom vowed to ignore any restrictions – and even try to stop federal officials from enforcing gun policy in their jurisdictions.
Source: Indianapolis Star | Indiana |
January 18, 2013
A federal judge threw out a union’s lawsuit seeking to overturn Indiana’s “right to work” law, saying such a challenge should remain at the state level.