#state-senate

#state-senate

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 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 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at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn on Friday, demanding Governor Kathy Hochul improve the Big Apple's outdated Medicaid reimbursement system, and calling for additional funds for safety net hospitals in the FY 2024 budget.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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(CNN)Florida's statewide prosecutor will have new power to go after people for election-related crimes under a bill now headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk.The bill, which passed the state House of Representatives on Friday on a 77-33 vote, is a top priority for the Republican governor, who last year approved the creation of a controversial new Office of Elections Crimes and Security as part of a sweeping voting overhaul.

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.

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.

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.

All Michigan state senator Mallory McMorrow wanted was to flip her chamber of the legislature towards Democrats.McMorrowwho won national attention for her viral response to right-wing smears  knew that abortion would be pivotal to almost all races in the state.In addition to the governor's race and house races, Michigan voters were also weighing Proposal 3, a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to protect abortion rights.

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.

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.

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.

(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.

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.

Ever since Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to become New York State's top judge was blocked by a Democratic-led committee in the State Senate last month, the governor has been weighing whether to sue her fellow Democrats and compel the Senate to take a full vote on her nominee.On Thursday, following a three-week standstill, a lawsuit was filed not by Ms. Hochul, but by a Republican state senator.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.