• Supreme Court Rejects Arizona's Citizenship Requirement for Voters
• BY: J.B. Wogan   |   June 18, 2013
• A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court blocks proof-of-citizenship requirements on federal voter registration forms, but leaves open the possibility of amending the form to include Arizona's stricter standard for verifying citizenship.

• Illinois Governor Signs Fracking Regulations into Law
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Illinois   |   June 18, 2013
• Gov. Pat Quinn has signed signed sweeping legislation to regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing, better known as "fracking," in Illinois. The legislation includes some of the tightest restrictions on companies in the nation.

• States Go Different Directions on the Death Penalty
• BY: Stateline   |   Nation   |   June 18, 2013
• Supporters and opponents of capital punishment agree: The current death penalty is expensive, inefficient, and arbitrary. Some state legislatures have reacted to those faults by abolishing the death penalty, while others are trying to speed it up.

• Florida Blocks Local Votes on Mandatory Paid-Sick-Time Measures
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Florida   |   June 18, 2013
• Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Friday that would block local governments from enacting mandatory paid-sick-time measures, such as the one pending in Orange County.

• Report: U.S. Teacher Training System is Broken
• Source: Reuters   |   Nation   |   June 18, 2013
• The U.S. teacher training system is badly broken, turning out rookie educators who have little hands-on experience running classrooms and are quickly overwhelmed by the job, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality.
• 4 Comments

• National Shortage of Large Air Tankers Hampers Firefighting Efforts
• Source: The Denver Post   |   Nation   |   June 18, 2013
• A growing challenge for fire commanders attempting to slow and contain dangerous fires is a continued shortage of large air tankers that are available to them.

• Florida Governor Signs Bill to Speed Up Executions
• Source: The Tampa Bay Times   |   Florida   |   June 18, 2013
• Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill into law Friday aimed at accelerating the pace of the death penalty process in Florida, which could make the governor the most active executioner in modern state history.

• Fracking Fuels Water Battles in Drought Plagued States
• Source: AP/Politico   |   Nation   |   June 18, 2013
• In Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, the vast majority of the counties where fracking is occurring are also suffering from drought, according to an Associated Press analysis of industry-compiled fracking data and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s official drought designations.

• Choice of Health Plans to Vary Sharply By State
• Source: The New York Times   |   Nation   |   June 18, 2013
• Under President Obama’s health care law, it is becoming clear that the millions of people purchasing policies in the exchanges will find that their choices vary sharply, depending on where they live.

• States Rush to Cash in on Cybersecurity Boom
• BY: Stateline   |   Nation   |   June 17, 2013
• As data dragnets and information breaches dominate the news, states are scrambling to cash in on a rapidly expanding business sector by offering tax incentives to firms that protect sensitive information from outside attacks.

• Texas Enacts Unemployment Drug-Testing Law
• BY: The Texas Tribune   |   Texas   |   June 17, 2013
• Gov. Rick Perry has signed a bill that will subject Texans applying for unemployment benefits to a drug test if their responses to a screening questionnaire indicate possible drug use.
• 5 Comments

• New England States Look to Increase Hydropower
• Source: The Boston Globe   |   Massachusetts   |   June 17, 2013
• Hydropower could play a larger role in New England’s energy mix as five of the region’s states, including Massachusetts, move to import more of it -- most likely from Canada -- and at least one has passed a law that could allow electricity from large-scale hydroelectric dams to be classified as green as wind or solar energy.

• California's Inland City Budgets Remain Weak
• Source: The Sacramento Bee   |   California   |   June 17, 2013
• California's monthly report on jobs and unemployment includes a county-by-county breakdown that shows a sharp east-west economic split with cities along the coast recovering well from the recession while inland cities remain mired in deficits and high unemployment.

• Some GOP Lawmakers Refuse to Answer Constituent Questions on Obamacare
• Source: The Hill   |   Nation   |   June 17, 2013
• Constituents frequently contact their Congress members with questions or requests for help with Medicare, Social Security and other government programs. But when it comes to Obamacare inquiries, some GOP lawmakers say they won't assist constituents or will forward the calls to the Obama administration.
• 2 Comments

• Police Increasingly Using State Photo-ID Databases
• Source: The Washington Post   |   Nation   |   June 17, 2013
• The faces of more than 120 million people are in searchable photo databases that state officials assembled to prevent driver’s-license fraud but that increasingly are used by police to identify suspects, accomplices and even innocent bystanders in a wide range of criminal investigations.

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• Nonprofits Draw States' Money, But Not Much Oversight

• Supreme Court Outlines Limits on Right to Remain Silent
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Comments

• Supreme Court to Reexamine Church-State Separation at Government Meetings
  
  "There is everything in the constituation that says laws may not be written such that your..."
• Texas Enacts Unemployment Drug-Testing Law
  
  "How about testing for alcohol too?
  How about testing for smoking too? People on unemployment..."
• Report: U.S. Teacher Training System is Broken
  
  "The education establishment is an industry unto itself. Between insular teacher "training&quot..."
• Maine Gov. LePage Vetoes Medicaid Expansion Bill
  
  "It's frustrating when politicians (and demagogues)avoid explaining their rationale. So,..."
• Bill to Keep Dead, Imprisoned People Off Welfare Becomes Michigan Law
  
  "Snyder should also make sure to sign a law restricting dead people from getting driver's..."

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