Lawmaking

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.
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• 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.

• 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.
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• GOP Race Turns to Colorado, Minnesota
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Nation   |   February 6, 2012
• Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is looking toward the next states that hold GOP nominating contests as main rival Newt Gingrich brushes aside any talk of abandoning his White House bid -- all but ensuring the battle will stretch into the spring if not beyond.

• Nevada Governor Staying Out of GOP Endorsement Game
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Nevada   |   February 3, 2012
• Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is staying out of the nomination fight despite his rising stature in the GOP — or perhaps because of it.
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• Ron Paul: States Should Resolve Land Management Issues
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Nation   |   February 3, 2012
• Republican Rep. Ron Paul railed against the federal government during campaign stops in Nevada on Thursday, saying states are in the best position to resolve conflicts over the management of wild horses and roads on public lands.
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• Governors' Speeches Reflect States' Cautious Mood
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Nation   |   February 2, 2012
• Glimmers of economic optimism. Deep concerns about jobs and health care costs. These are among the recurring themes as governors across the nation deliver their annual State of the State addresses. And the speeches have this in common, too: a striking absence of grand and costly proposals.

• Washington State Senate Approves Gay Marriage
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Washington state   |   February 2, 2012
• The Washington state Senate passed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage, setting the stage for the state to become the seventh to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. The measure now heads to the House, which is expected to approve it.

• Romney Using Nevada as Springboard for February Contests
• BY: The Associated Press   |   February 2, 2012
• Mitt Romney expects Nevada's caucuses to kick off a month of primary and caucus contests to keep momentum on his side in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

• Indiana Joins Right-to-Work Ranks as Governor Signs Bill
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Indiana   |   February 1, 2012
• Indiana is the first Rust Belt state to enact the contentious right-to-work labor law prohibiting labor contracts that require workers to pay union representation fees, after Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the bill Wednesday afternoon.
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• Dean, Engler Call for Changes in Political Leadership
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   Nation   |   February 1, 2012
• Reflecting on the political climate facing state and local governments in 2012, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and former Michigan Gov. John Engler pointed to a lack of leadership in Washington as a hindrance.
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