Legislature
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota lawmakers can adorn their office with a crucifix, but they can’t pound the nail into the state Capitol’s wall, a legislative oversight board clarified on Tuesday as part of a policy regulating how religious symbols can mark the state’s seat of government.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — High schoolers in New Mexico could one day need fewer class-unit credits to get their diploma, as state legislators began to overhaul graduation requirements Tuesday for consideration by lawmakers in early 2023.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A $474 million winter heating relief proposal that would provide $900 checks to most families will be considered by lawmakers as emergency legislation, Democratic Gov.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The state of Vermont is going to begin offering paid family and medical leave to its 8,000 employees next summer as part of a voluntary program that in following years will be expanded to private businesses and individuals, Gov.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The city of Pawtucket is lifting restrictions on political campaign signs under a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, officials said Tuesday.
A U.S. Supreme Court case involving North Carolina’s congressional districts could have ramifications for the way voting districts are drawn in other states.
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green took the oath of office on Monday and immediately vowed to address homelessness and housing, and ask the Legislature to help eliminate the state’s tax on food and medication.
California could become the first state to fine big oil companies for making too much money. The proposal is a reaction to the oil industry’s supersized profits following a summer of record-high gas prices in the nation’s most populous state.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas House Republicans on Monday promoted their No. 2 leader into the top job of speaker, while Democrats picked a veteran of state and local politics to lead them over a much younger relative newcomer.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota legislative panel refused on Monday to change a rule that creates a moratorium on electronic pull tab machines at gas stations and liquor, grocery and convenience stores.
The Supreme Court is about to confront a new elections case that could dramatically alter voting in 2024 and beyond.
Jim Kolbe, who represented Arizona in Congress for more than two decades, has died. A statement from Arizona Gov.
SEATTLE (AP) — Jennifer Bereskin dropped out of high school when she was 17. Her family was homeless, and she needed to get a job to buy food and afford bus fare.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Philadelphia’s elected prosecutor asked a state court Friday to halt a Republican-led effort to remove him from office, arguing that the process ended when the Legislature’s two-year session ran out earlier in the week.
Florida’s top lawmakers are considering changes to a law to clear the path for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president without giving up his post.
Democrats who control the Illinois General Assembly have approved followup clarifications to their watershed criminal justice overhaul.
MIAMI (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials are being sued in federal court by immigrant rights groups who challenge the constitutionality of the state’s migrant relocation program.
A proposed referendum aimed at restricting foreign government influence on Maine elections has enough signatures to appear on the 2023 ballot, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Thursday.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — One of a shrinking number of Democrats in the West Virginia Legislature announced Thursday that he is changing his party affiliation to Republican.
Emboldened by the results of November’s midterms, abortion rights supporters say they are preparing for even bigger fights in state legislatures and pivotal elections to come.
An Oklahoma man is preparing to try to gather over 173,000 signatures and millions of dollars in fundraising to put abortion access up for public vote in a state with one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Democrats said Wednesday they’re taking the next steps in their redistricting fight, including asking the state’s highest court to immediately take up their lawsuit challenging new Republican-drawn boundaries for state legislative and congressional districts.
SOUTHINGTON, Conn. (AP) — They say every vote counts. In one Connecticut town, it really did. A race for a seat in the state Legislature has been decided by a single vote.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The secretary of state’s office has certified an adequate number of voter signatures for a referendum on a proposal to replace Maine’s privately owned electric utilities with a consumer-owned Pine Tree Power Company.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota lawmakers will return to Bismarck next week to prepare for the 2023 Legislature, where they will lobby for prime committee assignments and get briefings on legislative procedures and ethics.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Democratic state lawmaker convicted in August of repeatedly texting 911 during non-emergencies is now jailed on a stalking charge related to a Facebook post.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies filed a request Tuesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to impose an emergency order to stop California from enforcing a ban on flavored tobacco products that was overwhelmingly approved by voters earlier this month.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s State Board of Elections certified the results of the November general election on Tuesday after an extensive canvassing process designed to ensure the votes have been tabulated correctly.
A Kansas lawmaker who was forced out of one of the state Senate’s most powerful jobs following a drunken driving arrest is planning to leave the Legislature in early January.
A federal trial to determine whether South Carolina’s congressional maps are legal is closing with arguments over whether the state Legislature diluted Black voting power.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation Tuesday that extends Connecticut’s soon-to-expire 25-cent-per-gallon gas tax holiday for another month.