#state-senate

#state-senate

It is now legal to purchase a pistol without a permit in North Carolina after the state's Republican-led legislature overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.The state House voted to override Cooper's veto of Senate Bill 41 by 71-46 on Wednesday, a day after the state Senate voted 30-19 to do the same.

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.

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.

The Michigan Republican Party sparked criticism Wednesday after the organization used imagery from the Holocaust to argue against what it says are Democrats' restrictive gun proposals.In a social media post published Wednesday morning, the Michigan GOP used a photograph of wedding rings taken from Holocaust victims by Nazi Germany with text over it that reads, Before they collected all these wedding ringsthey collected all the guns.

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.

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 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.

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.

Politics Vermont is one of 10 states that allow medically assisted suicide, but only one, Oregon, allows non-residents to do it.MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Lynda Bluestein has terminal cancer and knows she'll likely die soon, but until Tuesday, she didn't know if she'd be able to choose how or when and whether her family, friends and dog would be with her when the time comes.

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.

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.

For many people of a certain age, being sent to the principal's office for an infraction and being paddled was just something that happened.Until relatively recently, corporal punishment in schools was not only accepted, it was applauded by many parents who felt schools should offer strict discipline, just like many parents did at home.

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.

Longtime Chicago-area political operative Patrick Doherty didn't mince words a few years ago when an associate brought up the prospect of doing business in the notoriously corrupt suburb of McCook."It's all contingent on what you can give," Doherty told the associate, Omar Maani, about the obligatory campaign donations to Doherty's boss, then-McCook Mayor Jeffrey Tobolski, according to court records.

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.

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.

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.

Three years after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis shifted tens of thousands of office workers into permanent remote working, New York City faces a situation where it has far more vacant offices than occupied ones.What does the city do with millions of empty square feet of commercial office space that likely won't be filled with workers again?

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida gained control on Friday of the board that oversees development at Walt Disney World, a move that restricts the autonomy of Disney, the state's largest private employer, over its theme-park complex and strips some perks enjoyed by the company for 56 years.The changes are the result of a bill that the Florida Legislature approved at the urging of Mr. DeSantis, who fought with Disney last year over an education law that limits the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

In a major breakthrough in the five-week strike that shut down classes and unleashed grading turmoil, the University of California and 36,000 graduate student workers reached a tentative labor agreement Friday that would boost their pay and improve benefits.If approved by members, the agreement will resolve what had been the nation's largest-ever strike of academic workers - 48,000 teaching assistants, tutors, researchers and postdoctoral scholars across the 10-campus UC system.

A recent poll found that 61 percent of Floridians oppose the bill, which is backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.A Florida International University professor, joined a group of the University students, staff and community members during the 'Fight for Florida Students and Workersâ' protest against Gov. Ron DeSantis on February 23, 2023.

(CNN)A selfie taken by Gabby Petito weeks before her death shows she had facial injuries on the day she and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, were stopped by police investigating a domestic disturbance call, according to her family's lawyer.The photo was released Monday by a law office representing the Petito family.

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.

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.

As the city gears up for its big overhaul of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, local politicians are urging the federal Department of Transportation to keep the roadway at two lanes in each direction, rather than widening it back to six full traffic lanes.The Adams administration is working to finalize its proposal to redesign the decrepit Triple Cantilever portion of the BQE in Brooklyn Heights, and plans to request funding for the project from Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal through the U.S. DOT.

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.

The firm building former US president Barack Obama's presidential library suspended operations after a noose was found at the construction site in Chicago and the police were called.A $100,000 reward was offered by the construction company to help find who was responsible.Lakeside Alliance, a partnership of Black-owned construction firms, said it reported the incident to police and will provide any assistance required to identify those responsible.

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.

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.

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.