#state-senate

#state-senate

On Tuesday afternoon, the Nevada State Senate voted 13-8 in favor of the A's proposal for roughly $380MM in public funding to construct a stadium in Las Vegas.Jacob Solis, Sean Golonka and Tabitha Mueller of the Nevada Independent were among those to cover the news.It's a notable hurdle cleared for A's ownership.

The businessman at the center of the allegations that led to the impeachment of the Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, has been arrested and was scheduled to appear in federal court in Austin on Friday, according to federal prosecutors.The man Nate Paul, a real estate investor in Austin and a donor to Mr. Paxton's campaign was taken into custody Thursday afternoon by the Travis County Sheriff's Office on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to jail records.

The Texas Legislature gave final approval on Sunday to a new round of voting bills to increase penalties for illegal voting and expand state oversight of local elections specifically in Harris County, which includes Houston, where Democrats have become dominant.The measures, which now head to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign, include a bill that would upend elections in Houston a few months before the city's mayoral race in November by forcing the county to change how it runs elections and return to a previous system.

South Dakota is set to prohibit nearly all forms of gender-affirming treatment for transgender minors after a proposed law gained sweeping approval through its state legislature.The state Senate passed a House bill banning surgical and non-surgical gender-affirming treatment for minors on Thursday in a 30-4 vote, advancing the legislation to Gov. Kristi Noem's desk.

The federal pandemic-related program to give every student free meals expired last September.A school lunch at a public elementary school in New Jersey, featuring a hamburger, milk, apple sauce and smiley-faced french fries.James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images The Democratic-led Nevada State Assembly has passed a bill to provide student breakfasts and lunches in schools throughout the state, ensuring that school-aged children will remain fed, regardless of their income levels, through at least the next two school years.

The bill only requires the Secretary of State to believe - not prove - election discrepancies occurred.People wait in line to vote at a polling place on the first day of early voting on October 22, 2018 in Houston, Texas.Loren Elliott / Getty Images Republican lawmakers in the Texas state Senate have advanced a bill that would allow the state Secretary of State to overturn election results specifically in Harris County, a Democratic Party stronghold and the most populous county in the state.

Republican lawmakers in Arizona have attempted to ban critical race theory three times so far.Katie Hobbs holds a campaign event at the Carpenters Local Union 1912 headquarters on November 5, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona, ahead of her gubernatorial win.Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) recently vetoed a Republican-backed education bill that would ban public K-12 schools from teaching critical race theory (CRT) to students.

Illinois law now allows workers to accrue paid leave to use "for any reason of the employee's choosing."Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pictured on March 31, 2021.Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images Millions of workers in Illinois are now guaranteed the right to take paid leave for any reason they choose, after Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law on Monday mandating paid time off for nearly all workers in the state.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign the bill into law later this month.Pro-choice supporters gather outside the Michigan State Capitol during a "Restore Roe" rally in Lansing, Michigan, on September 7, 2022.Jeff Kowalsky / AFP via Getty Images Both houses of the Michigan state legislature have passed a measure that repeals portions of a 1931 anti-abortion law that dealt with the use and distribution of abortion medication.

The bill forbids the state from sharing information with others over who has traveled to Nevada to obtain an abortion.Nevada Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo stands at the podium at a Republican midterm election night party at Red Rock Casino on November 08, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

PROVIDENCE Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee signed a bill into law Thursday that would let state funds be used to pay for health insurance plans that cover state workers and Medicaid recipients seeking abortions.The signing ceremony was held almost immediately after the state Senate approved the measure, also Thursday, on a 24-12 vote following less than an hour of debate in the chamber.

Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo on Wednesday vetoed three Democratic-led gun control bills that attempted to increase the age to possess certain firearms and restrict who can obtain them.I will not support legislation that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans, Lombardo said in a statement defending the first vetoes of his tenure.

Hundreds of striking UC academic workers - whose massive five-week walkout has disrupted finals week and stirred angst among students and faculty about term grades - converged on the UCLA campus Wednesday shouting for better pay and benefits and a swift end to the contract dispute.Tom Morello, former guitarist with Rage Against the Machine, stood on the flatbed of a truck and led the workers in songs that included lines like, "Sí se puede!" and "Hold the line!"

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday signed a bill into law that will limit most abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.South Carolina now joins a list of Republican-led states that have championed sweeping abortion restrictions in the wake of last year's Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a controversial bill that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks, setting up a likely override effort from the state legislature, where Republicans have a supermajority.Cooper's swift veto comes just over a week after the Republican-controlled state Senate advanced the bill to his desk in a party-line vote.

Democratic South Carolina Sen. Ronnie Sabb speaks against a bill restricting how teachers discuss race in K-12 classrooms on Wednesday, May 11, 2023 in Columbia, S.C.James Pollard (AP) South Carolina Republicans are one step closer to restricting how teachers discuss race in K-12 classrooms.As conservatives nationwide push bans on so-called critical race theory, the state Senate passed a likeminded effort Wednesday in a late night 27-10 vote after nearly six hours of debate.

North Carolina's Republican-led General Assembly moved Tuesday to ban most abortions after 12 weeks, voting to override a veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.The state House voted 72-48 along party lines hours after the state Senate voted 30-20 to do the same.A three-fifths vote in both chambers, where Republicans hold supermajorities, was needed to override the governor's previous rejection of the measure.

The Florida Legislature passed a bill on Tuesday that would shield the travel records of Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top elected officials from public view, a significant change to the state's vaunted sunshine laws as Mr. DeSantis explores a potential presidential campaign.Though the law purports to shield Mr. DeSantis's and other top officials' travel records under the umbrella of increasing threats and operational security, it also includes a sweeping retroactive clause that would block the release of many records of trips already taken by Mr. DeSantis and other officials, as well as those taken by their families and staff members.

Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation Thursday that further enshrines the right to abortion and gender-affirming care into law and another that bans so-called conversion therapy.The new legislation enhances existing state law that makes access to abortion and gender-affirming care legal and opposes conversion therapy.

The Kentucky legislature enacted new restrictions Wednesday on the rights of transgender youth, overriding the governor's veto of a bill that places bans on gender-affirming care for minors, on discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in school, and on transgender students using bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

(CNN)Florida lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to a proposal to give Gov. Ron DeSantis more control over the future of Disney's Orlando-area theme parks, the latest escalation in the Republican leader's feud with the entertainment giant.The GOP-led state Senate voted 26-9 Friday on a bill to let the state take over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the government body that has given Disney unique powers in Central Florida for more than half a century.

South Carolina's Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has called the state legislature back for a special session Tuesday to continue to work on a bill that would ban most abortions as early as six weeks and other legislation.I have called the General Assembly back for an extra legislative session to take up enhanced penalties for illegal gun possession, pass bond reform, protect life, and pass a budget, McMaster said in a tweet on Friday.

Missouri lawmakers passed two bills Wednesday that would bar transgender athletes from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender and ban gender-affirming care for minors, the latest state to advance such legislation as transgender rights have become a marquee issue for the Republican Party.

Days after the state legislature proposed hundreds of millions of dollars in new investments for City University of New York, close to 100 students and faculty members rallied for additional funding as they seek a tuition-free CUNY and a better quality of education.Marchers, joined Sunday by a bevy of local elected officials, called on the State Senate, Assembly and Governor Kathy Hochul to enact the New Deal for CUNY legislation that would fully fund CUNY, improve faculty-to-student and advisor-to-student ratios and make undergraduate education tuition-free again.

New York moved one step closer to enshrining abortion rights in its state constitution Tuesday when both chambers of the state legislature passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for the second time.The amendment was first passed by the state legislature during a special session convened by Governor Kathy Hochul last June in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, essentially kicking decisions over the legality of abortion back to individual states.

On a hot summer day, a woman walked into a gas station in the Bronx and spent $1.99 on a bag of TGI Fridays Sour Cream & Onion Potato Skins chips.She tore into the snack, looking forward to the potato skins, as they were marketed on the packaging in 2018, according to court documents.But they were just regular chips, she discovered.

ALBANY, N.Y.The State Senate's extraordinary rejection of Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to head New York's highest court on Wednesday has placed the state's leaders in uncharted territory, clouding Ms. Hochul's first full term in power.The uncertainty stemmed from the unprecedented rejection; the Senate's vote against Justice Hector D. LaSalle to lead the Court of Appeals marked the first time that lawmakers have refused a governor's pick for chief judge.

Democrats in New York were clinging to their supermajorities in the State Legislature as of Wednesday morning, with a handful of competitive races still too close to call, stalling Republican hopes of curbing Albany's leftward tilt.Democrats retained control of the 63-seat State Senate, but it remained unclear if Republicans  who won seats on Long Island and flipped another in the Hudson Valley  had netted the two seats necessary to eliminate Democrats' veto-proof supermajority.

(Eugene Garcia / Associated Press)

California state Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who is running for Congress next year in a competitive Orange County district, was released from Sacramento County jail Wednesday, according to Sacramento Sheriff's Department records.Min said in a social media post that he was cited with drunk driving.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday appointed Lee Herrick, a Fresno-based writer and professor, to be the state's poet laureate, citing a body of work that "explores the diversity and vitality of the California experience and the exhilarating success of the American experiment."Herrick, 52, was born in Daejeon, South Korea, and adopted when he was 10 months old by parents from Northern California.

Jones grew up on his family's farm in Michigan before earning law and medical degrees from Duke University.After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he joined the Navy and served as a flight surgeon for a Marine helicopter squadron in Iraq.Afterward, he got a master's degree in public administration and served for a year as a White House fellow in the Obama administration, working with the secretary of Health and Human Services on improving care for veterans.

On Wednesday, Florida's House of Representatives passed three anti-transgender bills, one of which could put parents' custody of their trans kids in jeopardy.The move came a day after a protest at the state Capitol building that reportedly resulted in several trans and nonbinary children being temporarily separated from their parents and guardians.

The SF Board of Supervisors overturned their own 2016 ban on doing business with states who've passed anti-LGBTQ legislation, restrictive abortion laws, and engaged in voter suppression, concluding the ban did more harm than good.If you followed the months-long $1.7 million Noe Valley toilet saga, you may recall that the way SF supervisors lowered the cost of the project was by taking a donated, pre-fab outdoor toilet from a manufacturer in Nevada.

ALBANY - Dr. James McDonald, an upstate New York native, was nominated Friday by Gov. Hochul to lead the state Health Department.McDonald has been serving as the acting commissioner of the department since Dr. Mary Bassett stepped down at the beginning of the year to resume her previous position with the Harvard Chan School of Public Health in Massachusetts.

The Nebraska State Capitol, located in Lincoln, Nebraska.RJ Sangosti / The Denver Post via Getty Images A bill that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth in Nebraska was able to advance in the state legislature on Thursday, in spite of filibusters by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (D) slowing down all business since the start of the legislative session.

Democratic state Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh has even filibustered through a bout of strep throat to keep her promise.An eagle statue is pictured outside the state capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska.ArmadilloCommander / iStock / Getty Images Plus A Nebraska state lawmaker has filibustered every piece of legislation that has been brought up for consideration in the state's unicameral legislature, fulfilling a vow she made three weeks ago to do so until Republicans agree to drop legislation seeking to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and abortion rights in the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down the landmark federal abortion rights case Roe vs. Wade led to a flurry of new laws in California, even though abortion rights already are solidly protected in the state.Still, 2022 proved to be a fairly measured year when it comes to the number of bills approved by the California Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, perhaps a continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic lull in recent years.

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday submitted proposed changes to controversial criminal justice measures slated to take effect on New Year's Day.Changes to some of the language of the sweeping reforms, known as the SAFE-T Act, were anticipated by the Democratic-controlled state legislature after the majority party found itself under attack by the law's opponents in the months leading up to the Nov. 8 election.

The New York Safety Net Hospital Coalition, as well as hospital staff, held a press conference at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn on Friday, demanding Governor Kathy Hochul improve the Big Apple's outdated Medicaid reimbursement system, and calling for additional funds for safety net hospitals in the FY 2024 budget.

It's the redistricting process that never ends!The state's Independent Redistricting Commission last week unanimously voted to approve and release a new draft Assembly map that could make some big changes to Brooklyn's representation in the lower chamber.New York's once-a-decade redistricting process has stretched on for months as the parties battle it out over district lines - after the Independent Redistricting Commission failed to produce new maps for the state Senate, Assembly, and the House of Representatives by their deadline in January, the Democratic-majority state legislature took over and drew their own maps.

A new face is headed to Albany to represent southern Brooklyn in the state Senate.More than a week after the midterm elections, Iwen Chu - the Democratic Party and Working Families Party candidate who started making waves last April by collecting signatures from more than 5,400 prospective constituents - has finally declared victory in the nail-bitingly close race, defeating Republican challenger Vito LaBella by just a few hundred votes, according to unofficial New York City Board of Elections results.

State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs is on very thin ice with hundreds of New York Democrats.That's at least according to a letter penned by scores of state and city lawmakers , as well as members of the state party, calling for Jacobs' ouster after the Democrats suffered several key local losses in last week's midterm elections.

Tenants of a deteriorating Crown Heights apartment building marked the one-year anniversary of their rent strike with a Halloween-themed rally on Oct. 30.Residents of 1392 Sterling Place have been refusing to pay their rent since last fall after their building management continuously failed to meet the repair demands of their decaying home, said Charlie Dulik, a tenant organizer for Housing Organizers for People Empowerment.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally speak ahead of Gov. Bill Lee's State of the State Address.Monday, Feb. 06, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.Blaise Gainey/WPLN NASHVILLE, Tenn.Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally has confirmed that for "a little while" he has been liking and leaving comments on social media photos of an openly gay Tennessee man who often poses nearly naked.

People argue as a group of anti-abortion rights protesters crashes the Women's March Action Rally for Reproductive Rights at Mariachi Plaza in Los Angeles on Oct. 8. David Mcnew/AFP via Getty Images LOS ANGELES  California will amend the state constitution to guarantee the right to abortion and contraception.

California should join 38 other states in making its state superintendent of public schools an appointed post.Legislation introduced by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, seeks to do away with the elective position that has been embedded in the state Constitution since 1849.If approved by two-thirds of the Legislature, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 9 would be put before voters on a statewide ballot in 2024.

Local Republican lawmakers in North Carolina on Wednesday advanced a bill that would restrict classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in the state's K-4 public schools.Critics decried the legislation as "broad anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum censorship" similar to Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" law, which bars the inclusion of LGBTQ teachings in early primary education.

Researchers estimate that the state of West Virginia has the highest percentage of transgender youth in the country.Advocates for transgender rights pack the West Virginia state capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, on March 9, 2023.Robb Livingood On Wednesday, House Bill 2007, a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth in West Virginia, passed the state Senate judiciary and advanced to the Senate floor.

Local MK was adored by people across the Mystic River watershed.A beloved bald eagle known throughout the Mystic River watershed died Tuesday night after it's believed she ingested rat poison."MK" was rescued Monday and taken to the New England Wildlife Centers' (NEWC) Cape Cod hospital after she was found on the ground in an Arlington cemetery.

The voting rights of thousands of convicted felons in Minnesota are poised to be restored this summer once they leave prison, instead of after they complete parole, thanks to new legislation that is poised to be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.SF26 was passed by the state Senate earlier this week after the House passed its version of the legislation earlier in the month.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Friday signed a bill that will restore the voting rights of thousands of convicted felons in the state this summer once they leave prison, instead of after they complete parole.Today, I signed a bill into law restoring voting rights for over 55,000 formerly incarcerated people the largest expansion of voting rights in Minnesota in half a century.

Jennifer McClellan, a former Virginia state senator, was sworn in on Tuesday, becoming the first Black woman to represent the commonwealth in Congress.Her ascent to the House of Representatives is a milestone for Virginia, a state that was once home to the capital of the Confederacy and is a former slave-trading center.

Voters in Virginia's 4th Congressional District will pick their next representative Tuesday in a special election that could make history in the commonwealth.State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, the Democratic nominee in this heavily Democratic district, would become the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress if she wins.

Florida lawmakers voted Thursday to give Gov. Ron DeSantis new power over the state's most iconic theme parks amid his ongoing feud with Disney.Under a fast-tracked bill that could be headed to the Republican governor's desk by the end of the week, the state would take over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the 55-year-old government body that has effectively given Disney control over the land around its Orlando-area theme parks.

Republican lawmakers in West Virginia on Friday advanced legislation to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth in the state - just a day after dozens packed the House chamber urging lawmakers to reject the "harmful" bill.Opponents of House Bill 2007, which would prohibit medical professionals from providing gender-affirming care for people under the age of 18, could endanger the lives of transgender kids.

For a third consecutive day, Montefiore has been short 3,500 nurses at their three Bronx locations, and for patients and employees who spoke with Bronx Times reporters Wednesday, those absences are starting to show.Montefiore workers said that nursing assignments have been filled by unfamiliar and inexperienced staff workers, particularly in ICU and maternity units.

Among the factors that helped John Fetterman to pull off a win over Mehmet Oz was a late endorsement from Oprah Winfrey.The endorsement mattered not just because of who she is, but because Oz came to national attention on her show.Which means that in the highest profile Senate race of the night, Oprah's endorsement proved more valuable than Trump's.