• Online Sales Tax Bill May Get Swallowed by Push for Larger Tax Reform
• Source: The Hill   |   Nation   |   February 19, 2013
• Advocates of online sales tax legislation are worried that their bill could become bogged down in the larger debate over reforming the federal tax code.

• Preschool Bill Passes Indiana House
• Source: Indianapolis Star   |   Indiana   |   February 19, 2013
• House Bill 1004, which passed the House 92-6, creates a pilot program to make early childhood education available to four-year-old children in five counties.

• Drone Privacy, Research Bills Introduced in Arizona
• Source: Arizona Republic   |   Arizona   |   February 14, 2013
• Arizona lawmakers are bidding to make the state a center for aerial-drone research, but they also want to make sure local police don’t use the unmanned surveillance aircraft to spy on Americans.

• Seattle’s New Paid Sick Leave Law Under Attack
• Source: Seattle Times   |   Washington state   |   February 14, 2013
• State Senate Republicans, who have already proposed repealing the state’s never-implemented family-leave requirement, are now targeting Seattle’s law requiring businesses to provide paid sick leave to workers. Seattle is one of three major cities in the United States to have the law.

• Unemployment Overhaul Bill Sent to North Carolina Governor
• Source: Raleigh News & Observer   |   North Carolina   |   February 14, 2013
• Gov. Pat McCrory has made clear that he intends to sign the bill, which would cut the amount of benefits that unemployed workers receive, raise state unemployment taxes paid by businesses and expand the pool of employers that pay into the state unemployment trust fund.

• Virginia House, Senate Stake Out Different Transportation Plans
• Source: Washington Post   |   Virginia   |   February 14, 2013
• The House and Senate staked out starkly different fixes for Virginia’s transportation funding crisis but were taking the first steps toward hashing out a deal.

• Compromise Bill Would Increase, Instead of Nix, Virginia Gas Tax
• Source: Washington Post   |   Virginia   |   February 13, 2013
• The measure approved by a 9 to 6 vote in the Senate Finance Committee would increase the gas tax — instead of eliminating it, as the governor had planned — and use more general fund sales tax revenue to eventually raise $900 million a year.

• North Carolina Gov. McCrory Supports Bill to Stop Medicaid Expansion
• Source: Raleigh News & Observer   |   North Carolina   |   February 13, 2013
• A Republican measure to prevent major components of the federal health care law from taking effect in North Carolina will almost certainly be approved after Gov. Pat McCrory endorsed the effort.

• Gov. Hickenlooper in D.C.: Colorado's Fracking Regulations are a Model
• Source: Denver Post   |   Colorado   |   February 13, 2013
• States — not the federal government — should lead in regulating natural gas production, Gov. John Hickenlooper told a Senate committee, angering environmentalists and drawing applause from energy groups who are fighting the Environmental Protection Agency.

• $2,000 Fine for Driving and Texting Proposed in Oregon
• Source: Oregonian   |   Oregon   |   February 13, 2013
• Two bills in the Legislature would increase the maximum penalty for using a cellphone while driving, the highest profile effort among a number of legislative attempts to rewrite the rules of the road.

• Bill to Give Felons Voting Rights Dies in Virginia
• BY: Stateline   |   Virginia   |   February 12, 2013
• Despite a push by Republican Gov. Bob McConnell, a bill that would have allowed non-violent felons the right to vote and serve on juries after completion of their sentences has failed to gain passage.

• Immigrant Tuition Bill Gets Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber's Support
• Source: Oregonian   |   Oregon   |   February 12, 2013
• Gov. John Kitzhaber, Rep. Michael Dembrow and several Oregon business leaders threw their support behind a tuition equity bill that would grant in-state university tuition rates for undocumented Oregon high school graduates who meet certain criteria.

• Abortion Battle Heating Up in Michigan
• Source: Detroit Free Press   |   Michigan   |   February 11, 2013
• At least six bills regarding abortion have already been introduced. Some are retreads of measures brought up last year; others are more controversial.

• Despite Reforms, Some Texas Elected Officials Still Lobby
• BY: The Texas Tribune   |   Texas   |   February 8, 2013
• Ten years ago, the Texas Legislature passed laws to clamp down on lawmakers lobbying state agencies on behalf of private clients. Despite the reforms, some elected officials continue to find work lobbying, or something that resembles it in the eyes of critics.

• California Democrats Seek to Keep Strictest Gun Laws in U.S.
• Source: San Jose Mercury News   |   California   |   February 8, 2013
• State Senate Democrats unveiled a 10-bill package that constitutes the single largest gun control push in decades in the Golden State, which already boasts some of the nation's strictest gun laws.
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