Mandatory sick leave is being championed by several localities across the nation. At the same time the progressive public health measure is sparking fierce opposition in several state legislatures.
Recent moves by the republican-controlled legislature that could hurt the city's finances has raised speculation that it being targeted as part of a political vendetta.
Local and state officials believe the immigration overhaul bill will encourage those in the country illegally to come out of the shadows and turn to local services during the proposed 13-year-long pathway to citizenship.
Source: The Washington Post | Nation |
May 13, 2013
At various points over the past two years, Internal Revenue Service officials targeted nonprofit groups that criticized the government and sought to educate Americans about the U.S. Constitution, according to documents in an audit conducted by the agency’s inspector general.
In the wake of an admission by an IRS official that conservative groups had been targeted for additional scrutiny, Rep. Michael Turner will introduce legislation Monday that would increase the penalty for singling out ideological organizations —including the possibility of jail time.
The Minnesota Senate is expected to give final approval on Monday to a bill that would make the state the 12th in the United States to allow same-sex couples to marry and only the second in the Midwest.
Source: The Los Angeles Times | Nation |
May 13, 2013
The Kentucky Republican tells a crowd in Iowa he wants to be considered on his merits and escape the shadow of father Ron Paul as he explores the possibility of a Presidential run.
Trying to stem the tide of restrictive voting measures passed in recent years by Republicans, voting rights activists have successfully targeted states controlled by Democrats to win reforms expanding voting rights.
A historic vote Thursday in the Minnesota House positioned that state to become the 12th in the country to allow gay marriages and the first in the Midwest to pass such a law out of its Legislature.
Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown is expected to announce his plans to run for Governor in a speech today. The speech will also lay out several campaign priorities, including a stepped-up focus on fighting racial and other disparities in health care, education and employment.
Texas has been a monster job creator over the past ten years with steady employment growth despite massive increases in the state's labor pool and a spike in unemployment in 2009.
Source: The Sacramento Bee | California |
May 10, 2013
Two bills aimed at eliminating obstacles facing transgender people cleared the Assembly largely along party lines Thursday, including one measure to let students choose the bathroom and sports team that correlates with their gender identity.
President Barack Obama is launching a new effort to rally the public around his hotly disputed health care law, a strategy aimed at shoring up key components of the sweeping federal overhaul and staving off yet another challenge from Republicans.
Source: The Los Angeles Times | Nation |
May 10, 2013
Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee say they want more information from EPA nominee Gina McCarthy, despite having already asked her a record number of questions.
In a speech where he hinted at a possible run for governor, former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado called out Gov. Jerry Brown for his handling of prison crowding in the state, calling the policies being pursued an "early release" program.