• Will Air Quality Rules Put Power Reliability At Risk?
• BY: Daniel Lippman   |   February 8, 2012
• Do new air quality rules announced by the EPA raise the risk that some electrical utilities could have reliability issues in keeping the lights on? That was a chief question debated by attendees at a utilities forum in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.

• Texas Primary Likely Delayed as Court Redraws District Maps
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Texas   |   February 8, 2012
• Last-ditch negotiations to save the April 3 Texas primary appeared dead Tuesday, throwing the state's messy redistricting battle back to a federal court that must now sort through a widely panned partial deal and pick a new primary date.

• MSU Requiring Freshmen to Have Health Insurance or Join Its Plan
• Source: Detroit Free Press   |   Michigan   |   February 8, 2012
• If Michigan State University freshmen don't prove they have health insurance by the end of the month, the university will automatically enroll them in a plan and tack the cost onto their tuition bills. The state's second-largest public university is the first in Michigan to make such a move -- and it isn't going over well with Republicans in the Legislature.

• Virginia Gov. Signs Bill Requiring Insurance for Autistic Children
• Source: Washington Post   |   Virginia   |   February 8, 2012
• Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed a bill — again — to provide insurance coverage for families with autistic children McDonnell had originally signed a bill into law last spring, but Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli determined that the legislation contained imprecise language that legislators needed to correct. At least 29 states require insurance coverage for autism treatment.

• Pennsylvania Gas Drilling Fee Bill Debate Ends Without Vote
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Pennsylvania   |   February 8, 2012
• Pennsylvania, the only major gas-producing state that does not tax the taking of natural gas from its soil, moved closer Tuesday to imposing a fee on the drilling in the vast Marcellus Shale reserves that have transformed the state in recent years.

• Colorado Court Nixes Medical-Pot Use for Probationers
• Source: Denver Post   |   Colorado   |   February 8, 2012
• Probationers in Colorado may not use medical marijuana, even if they have a medical-marijuana identification card authorizing them to do so, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled.

• Report: State K-12 Education Funding Should Rebound in 2012
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   February 7, 2012
• State K-12 education funding seems to have bottomed out in 2011 and should recover overall this year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center on Education Policy.

• South Carolina Sues Feds for Blocking Voter ID Law
• BY: The Associated Press   |   South Carolina   |   February 7, 2012
• The U.S. Justice Department was wrong to block South Carolina from requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote, the state's top prosecutor argued in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
• 5 Comments

• Appeals Court: California's Gay-Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
• BY: Caroline Cournoyer   |   California   |   February 7, 2012
• The court's ruling likely sets the stage for a U.S. Supreme Court showdown.

• New State Voting Laws Focus of Civil Rights March
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Alabama   |   February 7, 2012
• Civil rights, labor and immigration activists say they are returning to Selma, Ala. next month to protest state laws they say will largely prevent black and Latino voters, the poor, students and the elderly from voting.

• Obama Announces Funding for Science and Math Teachers
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   Nation   |   February 7, 2012
• Prior to President Barack Obama's hosting of the White House Science Fair, the White House announced a series of new funding opportunities and priorities focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers.
• 1 Comments

• Gov. Perry Returns to Texas Public Eye
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Texas   |   February 7, 2012
• Making his first speech in his home state since abandoning his foundering presidential run nearly three weeks ago in South Carolina, the governor invoked his alma matter, Texas A&M, saying "all Aggies have a really interesting way of admitting defeat. You know, we've never been outscored, we just ran out of time.
• 1 Comments

• Feds Reject California's Plan to Charge Medi-Cal Co-Payments
• Source: Sacramento Bee   |   California   |   February 7, 2012
• Federal health officials rejected California's bid to charge Medi-Cal co-payments for everything from drugs to hospital visits, dealing a new blow to the state budget but relief to low-income patients and their providers. Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers relied on mandatory Medi-Cal co-payments to save $511 million in last year's state budget and presumed that the state would continue saving in future years.
• 1 Comments

• Virginia Lawmakers Vote to Lift Handgun Purchase Limit
• Source: Washington Post   |   Virginia   |   February 7, 2012
• The Virginia Senate voted to lift the state’s one-per-month limit on handgun purchases, eliminating a 19-year-old cap that critics called outdated but gun-control activists credited with tamping down weapons trafficking. Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has indicated that he will sign the legislation.
• 3 Comments

• States Try to Help Veterans Find Jobs
• Source: Stateline.org   |   Nation   |   February 7, 2012
• With U.S forces out of Iraq and combat troops slated to leave Afghanistan in 2013, states are readying for an influx of returning troops who will be looking for work.

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Comments

• Deal Is Closer for a Plan on Mortgage Relief
  
  "We do not need big banks. Community banks will do just fine. Each state can charter their..."
• Indiana Joins Right-to-Work Ranks as Governor Signs Bill
  
  "IronManCC, the Right-to-work law is basically what you suggest at the end of your comment...."
• South Carolina Sues Feds for Blocking Voter ID Law
  
  "I don't detect any consistent set of principles among the proponents of these laws. On..."
• Term 'States' Rights' Heard Anew in Election Cycle
  
  "Obama isn't a Marxist. If he were, the federal government would have taken permanent..."
• Virginia Lawmakers Vote to Lift Handgun Purchase Limit
  
  "Count me as a liberal "wacko" as you will, but a large number of handguns are..."

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