The rules vary widely from state to state, and they do little to prevent policymakers from pushing costs into the future unsustainably. A couple of states are trying to take a longer-term view.
Scores of bills have been introduced to limit or forbid classroom discussion of topics at the heart of modern civic life, including race and gender. Even if most won’t become law, they’re putting educators on edge.
The bill allows workers at businesses of 26 or more employees to take up to two weeks paid time off to recover from the disease or address COVID-related responsibilities, and will be retroactive to Jan. 1 and expire on Sept. 30.
The rules for conducting elections aren’t the only thing being debated in state legislatures. Some want more control over the entire process. The bills reflect a growing loss of trust in democratic systems.
A joint Assembly hearing focused on the state’s 11 ports and the exporters they serve and how the global shipping crisis has hurt the state’s farming interests. Due to the immensity of the problem, there must be many solutions.
Partisan control of most chambers has stayed the same since 2010. Don’t look for many red or blue states to change their colors in the coming decade.
West Virginia lawmakers approved the lifting of the nuclear power ban. But debate continues over the human health criteria for wastewater discharges, continuing discussions from last year’s session.
State legislators from both sides of the aisle have voted to table the proposed bill that aims to make the state a hub of hydrogen energy. Gov. Lujan Grisham worries that, without the bill, the state may miss its climate goals.
For decades, American vehicles have been growing heavier and taller. They are also deadlier, killing more pedestrians in the past 10 years. Better regulations and traffic calming can help. But the pace of change is slow.
Some legislatures have been banning reporters from their lawmaking chambers. But given how statehouse coverage has changed in recent decades, the reality is that we've simply traded one flawed system for another.
The bill would require private companies to allow medical, religious and “natural immunity” exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine and it would allow unvaccinated employees to instead get weekly testing.
State legislatures will have a lot on their plates. They’ll deal with issues in wildly differing ways. We set the context for the 2022 session with an overview of everything from abortion to taxes.
State and local governments are still trusted more than Washington, though they’re having their own brushes with incivility and polarization. But they’re still the best bet for preserving our traditions of governance.
Legislation that would have enacted minimum standards for wages, working hours and work conditions across the fast food industry fell short of passing the state Assembly last year by just three votes. Some hope the bill becomes law during this year's legislative session.
Ohio’s new redistricting process, which is being used for the first time after voters approved it as a state constitutional amendment in 2015, is totally untested.
Both chambers of the state’s Legislature have passed a bill that would limit police presence and prohibit electioneering within 100 feet of ballot drop boxes on election day, in an effort to discourage voter intimidation.
Most Read