A series of new laws expanded workforce programs through high schools, community colleges and apprenticeships.
Two state representatives have introduced a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to register as voters starting next year. A similar bill was introduced last year, but ultimately died on the session’s last day.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Voters in Black and Latino communities face longer lines at polling places, limited access to mail-in balloting and poor communication of redistricting changes. Spanish speakers make up about 12 percent of the state’s population.
A group of bipartisan state legislators have announced support for 13 bills that would ease permitting, zoning or other regulations to increase housing availability. Some estimate Washington currently needs 150,000 new housing units.
The Alaska governor introduced two bills that would create a regulatory framework for geologic storage of carbon dioxide and for selling carbon offset credits, and could earn billions for the state. Many details are still unclear.
There's no question that a responsive, innovative government is more critical than ever. Here are some issues that are top of mind for state and local technology leaders as we take on the new year.
The number of deaths on the state’s roads last year was the highest in more than 30 years. There is bipartisan support for legislation to increase Washington’s road safety and lower the blood alcohol limit.
State Sen. Barry Finegold used the artificial technology software to draft a bill that would regulate generative AI models and would require companies to obtain “informed consent” from individuals before using, collecting or disclosing their data.
State lawmakers from the Connecticut Reproductive Rights Caucus in 2023 have introduced several bills that would increase funding, protection and access to reproductive care for residents and out-of-state travelers.
The state is the nation’s fourth-largest producer of marketed natural gas, but it powered just 4 percent of the state’s net electricity generation in 2021. The legislation would designate suitable sites for natural gas electric generation projects.
Due to the state Legislature’s rush to fix an oversight in a previously passed property tax reform package, the property tax rollback rate is higher than it should be, which could mean relief for taxpayers and millions less for localities.
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