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The legislation would limit use of facial recognition to investigations of certain violent crimes, human trafficking offenses or ongoing threats to public safety. If passed, it would be the state’s first limitation on the tech.
Fast-food companies have collected enough signatures to force a referendum on a state law intended to boost wages for restaurant workers and an effort to overturn an environmental safety law has qualified for the ballot.
Republican state lawmakers dissolved a nonpartisan group that ensured tax dollars were properly spent in February 2021. But with tax revenues flush, it may be time to bring back the division.
The General Assembly will study the two-year budget that includes about 25 percent more spending annually than the current year’s budget, including $2.3 billion on roads and $717 million on bridges.
President Joe Biden urged lawmakers to “finish the job” on a range of economic and social issues in his second State of the Union address.
When it comes to addressing gun violence, local governments are on the front lines. But a successful decades-long campaign by the NRA for state laws preempting localities from regulating firearms is undercutting them.
The practice is more eco-friendly than traditional burial or cremation options and a group of state legislators are working on crafting a bill to, hopefully, get voted upon this session. Five states have already legalized the practice.
The town has a backlog of issues that must be addressed in the coming years, like increased service costs and city vehicle replacements. Officials are considering raising taxes by several cents to offset the costs.
City Council President Paul Krekorian believes that when it comes to establishing a redistricting commission, state lawmakers may not be aware of or understand the nuances of making good policy at the city level.
It’s easy to run against the downtown establishment, but neighborhood revival is a difficult process. Only a few mayors have been able to achieve success as both downtown promoters and neighborhood advocates.
Republican and Democratic legislators can be counted on pulling in opposite directions on ESG investing, police reform and LGBTQ issues, where the focus will be on transgender rights and school curriculum.
By some estimates, the state will have $69 billion of “new money” to spend, but it is still unclear how the funds will be used, if it gets spent at all. This year’s proposed budgets don’t show much deviation from prior years.
The state has ambitious goals to end natural-gas usage over the next several years as a way to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. But storms and fires are more routinely causing residents to go days or weeks without power.
The first year of the state’s Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 was marked by billions being pledged on facilities to help the state meet that goal. But there still is a lot of work to be done.
The second-largest appraisal district in the state struggled for 72 days after their computers, emails and website were hacked on Election Day. The district is now increasing its cybersecurity safeguards.
Nine Democratic candidates are vying for Mayor Jim Kenney’s seat and nearly all of them have said they would declare a citywide emergency for gun violence. But what would this local government declaration actually do?
When he addresses the nation, the president will talk about top-down solutions from Washington. But the real progress on the problems we face is coming from 50 state capitols.
With Joe Biden delivering his third State of the Union address this week, our resident humanities scholar set out to make sense of the American presidency. Each president campaigned and governed to suit their respective times with a mix of shared and unique traits.
Almost three years ago, the federal government agreed to send billions of dollars in extra Medicaid funding to states on the condition that they stop dropping people from their rolls. Now the support is ending this year.
The attention highlight the millions of dollars going toward connecting every resident and business, as well as the benefits of broadband for education, the workforce and economic development.
The governor promised to make preschool available to every family in Illinois that wanted it but did not lay out details for the pledge. One report estimates it would cost $505 million to enroll low-income children alone in pre-K.
Lawmakers want to impose new limits on early and mail-in voting to ensure that all ballots are received by the county election office on Election Day to avoid delaying results, which, they claim, sows doubt in the process.
The state Senate passed the “Temp Worker Bill of Rights” after a monthslong saga that included a thrice-delayed final vote. The bill will give temp workers the right to basic information in their native language and eliminate agency fees.
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit has had a good week. Two major financial wins will give the system millions of dollars to come and its ridership continues to rebound, with two days seeing the highest ridership rates since COVID began.
With more than 1,000 civilians being killed by cops every year, mayors and city councils can’t be equivocal about ending the warrior approach to policing.
The pandemic-induced emergency order will end on May 11 and will trigger a variety of changes, including people will likely have to pay more out of pocket for COVID-19 care while Medicaid and CHIP eligibility will be re-evaluated.
The state’s Senate Finance Committee will look at transferring millions in federal COVID-19 funds to the Governor’s Office Gifts, Grants and Donations Fund, which already has more than $17 million.
The program offers companies tax breaks based on the number of employees they hire and where those jobs are located. A report found the program costs more to operate than the tax revenue it generates.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s affordable housing plan would give the state power to bypass local zoning laws, but local officials want to maintain control of what is built in their communities. The state is in historic need of more housing.
Private companies and corporations can much more easily ban workers from using TikTok on work-issued devices than government agencies. But it’s unlikely an employer could ban an employee from using the platform entirely.
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