LEGISLATURE

Wisconsin Republicans have begun circulating legislation to specify which crimes would be affected by a proposed constitutional amendment to tighten bail restrictions.

This comes two days after Gov. Greg Abbott voiced his most explicit support yet of a new school choice policy at a Parent Empowerment Night event in Corpus Christi.

This comes two days after Gov. Greg Abbott voiced his most explicit support yet of a new school choice policy at a Parent Empowerment Night event in Corpus Christi.

The Arkansas House on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban public schools from allowing transgender students into bathrooms that do not correspond to their biological sex.

Prisha Mosley, who is detransitioning back to a woman, gives her take on Utah becoming the first state to ban transgender care for kids on "America Reports."

The future of the nation's nearly $900 billion trucking industry could be shaped in California.

Laura Herrera’s salary has barely gone up in her 20 years of teaching — about $700 in all.The San Antonio-area teacher takes home about $3,700 a month.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

The COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and burnout have pummeled teachers in the last few years. Lawmakers from both parties agree they should get a pay bump — but it won’t happen without some negotiation.

Utah's Republican governor, Spencer Cox, on Saturday, signed a bill banning minors from receiving gender-affirming surgery unless they've been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

The New York legislature passed a constitutional amendment enshrining anti-discrimination rules for abortion and gender identity into law.

The South Dakota House has approved a $200 million housing infrastructure fund, with the spending package now going to Republican Gov. Kristi Noem for final approval.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has announced a series of proposed gun laws in a state already considered one of the strictest for firearms ownership.

South Dakota lawmakers rejected a proposal for a constitutional amendment banning ballot measures from reconsideration if they failed in the previous election cycle.

The substantial change in the way the state’s market works will first be reviewed by the Legislature.

Confederate Heroes Day often coincides with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. One lawmaker says it's time to end that incongruity.

AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Gov.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

The Montana legislature is considering a proposal that would interpret the state’s constitutional right to privacy to mean that it does not protect the right to an abortion, a move that would echo others in several states to severely restrict or ban abortion. Sen. Keith Regier, the proposal's sponsor, argued during a committee hearing Tuesday that the phrase “individual privacy” in the state Constitution should also refer to unborn babies that are individuals who have rights that should not be infringed upon. State efforts to regulate abortion became more urgent after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June — in the Dobbs v. Jackson case — to leave abortion rights up to the states.

Republican Greg Abbott is starting a record-tying third term as Texas governor promising safer classrooms.

Republican Wisconsin lawmakers on Tuesday rejected calls from Gov. Tony Evers and other Democrats to ask voters whether the state should continue to ban abortions, opting instead to advance a ballot question on welfare eligibility. The advisory referendum on welfare proposed by top Republicans is nonbinding, meaning it wouldn't change state law, but supporters said they want the public's feedback on the issue. Democrats argued that Republicans were just trying to increase GOP turnout for a pivotal state Supreme Court race that will determine the ideological balance of the court and is also on the April ballot.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is calling for new gun control laws and greater accountability for firearm manufacturers while denouncing recent drive-by shootings against politicians in Albuquerque and what she called a national scourge of violence.

In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with James and Patrick about the fight over Democrats chairing committees in the Texas House and other highlights of the first week of the legislative session.

Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs wants to undo a massive expansion of a school voucher program championed last year by her GOP predecessor and other Republicans that lets students apply to use public money for private-school tuition and other education costs. In releasing its budget proposals Friday, the governor’s office said the expansion is siphoning money from underfunded public schools and would cost $1.5 billion dollars over the next decade. Hobbs staffers estimated the move would save the state $135 million next fiscal year.

Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed his first bill of the 2023 legislative session Thursday, which focused on simplifying tax filing and more broadly providing tax relief.

The redistricting process this year is mostly procedural and is not expected to produce very different results from the most recent process completed in 2021.

When a group of unhinged extremists call themselves a "freedom" caucus you can be sure they believe in just the opposite.

The pay raise plan that gives Illinois lawmakers an 18% annual salary hike started in the governor's office.

The state leads the way in student athlete safety rules, but advocates say it isn’t enough to require defibrillators at schools.

Newly released documents from the House Jan. 6 committee show that the former Wisconsin Republican Party chairman testified that U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson spoke to him weeks before Joe Biden assumed the presidency about having the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature, rather than voters, choose Wisconsin’s presidential electors.

The former chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party said Republican Sen. Ron Johnson spoke to him weeks before Joe Biden assumed the presidency about having the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature, rather than voters, choose Wisconsin’s presidential electors, according to newly released documents from closed-door testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee. Johnson, in a statement Tuesday, said he had no recollection of the conversation with Andrew Hitt and accused the committee investigating the 2021 Capitol insurrection of attempting to “smear" him by selectively releasing text messages. Hitt, who resigned as state party chairman in July 2021, testified before the Jan. 6 committee on Feb. 22.

Peak demand for electricity during the freeze reached nearly 10 megawatts above what ERCOT forecast.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz is pledging to make the largest investments in public education in Minnesota history as he begins his second term.

The election contests of 2022 may have been held and decided, but Ohio’s political maps remain far from settled.

Federal proposals that would have significantly boosted security funding for election offices and heightened penalties for threatening their staff failed to advance this year.

The committee urged lawmakers to pay special attention to rural areas. But its lone proposal on guns would not have made a difference in the Robb Elementary shooting.

Guam’s Legislature has passed a bill prohibiting most abortions

The Republican leader of the Wisconsin Senate said Thursday that he opposes spending any state money to help Madison bring a passenger rail line that would connect the capital city to Milwaukee, joining the state's other top GOP legislative leader in opposition to the project. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu told The Associated Press that he opposes state funding for the project but had not been briefed by Madison city leaders on what they were attempting. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos was blunt last week when asked about it, saying only “No state funding.”

Hundreds of businesses have sought tax savings from the state before the Chapter 313 program expires. Two companies say they are missing out despite being eligible.

A Texas Democrat is proposing a constitutional amendment stopping future abortion restrictions. Voters would have to approve it — but Republican lawmakers aren’t likely to put it in front of them.

Representative Jared Patterson is following a long legislative tradition of trying to troll the capital city.

Polling tells us that voters would support a measure to stop Texas lawmakers from restricting abortion—which is why it’ll never pass.

Lt. Gov.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

California lawmakers will begin working on a proposed penalty against oil companies that saw supersized profits from record-high gas prices.

California could become the first state to fine big oil companies for making too much money.

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.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday unveiled his priorities for the 2023 legislative session, which include reducing property taxes, tackling improvements for the state’s power grid and going after certain elected officials.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday unveiled his priorities for the 2023 legislative session, which include reducing property taxes, tackling improvements for the state’s power grid and going after certain elected officials.

Election wins for abortion rights and Democrats could translate into abortion protections in some states.

Texas legislators are off to the races, filing more than 850 bills on Monday, the first day of filing season for the 88th session, which begins Jan.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

Two Republican board members of a rural Arizona county who initially demanded their election director to count midterm ballots by hand are now withdrawing their lawsuit.

Two Republicans who control the board in a rural southeastern Arizona county have decided to withdraw a lawsuit they filed early this week seeking to force their own elections director to hand-count all the ballots cast in-person on Election Day.

A Montana judge has temporarily limited the number of wolves hunters can kill near Yellowstone Park. Each hunter can now only kill five instead of 20.

Texas community groups that treat children for mental illness fear they’re not a...

As public debate intensifies over how the state will divvy up billions in new money, community groups that treat children for mental illness fear they’re not a priority.

There is no doubt that hydrogen will play a key role in our nation's energy future. Texas has a chance to lead the pack.

Republicans in Minnesota were decimated by a Democratic blue wave, conceding full control of the state government to Democrats for the first time in eight years.

Abortion rights supporters won in the four states where access was on the ballot.

The ballot measures came months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion it guaranteed to women.

Voters in reliably red Kentucky rejected a ballot measure aimed at denying any state constitutional protections for abortion while voters in battleground Michigan enshrined abortion rights in their state’s constitution.

Endemic to our state, bluebonnets grow from central Texas’ Blackland Prairie to the Big Bend, thriving in the Edwards Plateau’s arid conditions and often forming expansive carpets in pastures and along highways. Ennis, south of Dallas, is the state’s “Official Bluebonnet City,” and Burnet in the Hill Country is the “Bluebonnet Capital of Texas.” Portrayals of bluebonnets grace Texas galleries and living rooms, none more treasured than the original oil paintings of W.A. Slaughter, 1923-2003, a self-taught as a landscape painter. So, it is fortunate the 1901 Legislature turned down a proposal for the cotton boll to be the state flower, choosing instead Lupinus subcarnosus. Otherwise, historian Jack Maguire’s ode could not have been written: “The bluebonnet is to Texas what the shamrock is to Ireland.”In time, other bluebonnet species were identified, so the 1971 Legislature designated the most striking one, Lupinus texensis, in addition to the 1901 choice and “any other variety of bluebonnet not heretofore recorded.”

Our official state symbols include Texas’ own unique version of a centuries-old domino game. The online Texas State Historical Association handbook notes two enterprising youngsters invented “42” in 1887, mimicking the card game they were forbidden to play by the culture in their small North Texas community at the time. Four-handed Texas 42, which involves bidding and playing for points, spread by word-of-mouth to family parlors, picnic tables, and backrooms at small town cafes before being exported by Texas soldiers to the front lines of World War II. It was an early favorite in Texas A&M dormitories that housed students from rural areas. The Legislature’s 2011 resolution noted Texas 42 “is a true Lone Star original and a testament to the ingenuity and fun-loving nature of Texans, making it a most fitting symbol for our state.”

The Legislature’s resolution designating the northern mockingbird as Texas’ official state bird states the case in detail. In 1956, the Texas Ornithological Society selected the more striking scissor-tail flycatcher as its official bird. In the 1927 Legislature’s reasoning, northern mockingbirds are full-time residents statewide instead of using Texas as a migratory waystation. Mockingbirds diving after squirrels like wartime fighter pilots is a familiar sight in Texas backyards. Their repertoire of incantations includes numerous chirps, tweets, whistles, and trills, combining mimicry with original notes.

A Kilgore Rangerette drill team’s white felt hat with white leather chin strap is in the Smithsonian Museum. Houston Oiler NFL Coach Bum Phillips sported his outsized Stetson at away games, as did his renegade players when they patronized Gilley’s honky-tonk of the movie Urban Cowboy fame. However, Phillips eschewed his hat for home games in the Astrodome because his “mama” taught him not to wear one indoors. Production moved to Missouri and finally to Texas, where Stetsons are fabricated at Hatco Inc. in Garland. Hatco also mass-produces another huge U.S. brand of cowboy hats, Resistol, worn by Texas Highway Patrol officers.

A Kilgore Rangerette drill team’s white felt hat with white leather chin strap is in the Smithsonian Museum. Houston Oiler NFL Coach Bum Phillips sported his outsized Stetson at away games, as did his renegade players when they patronized Gilley’s honky-tonk of the movie Urban Cowboy fame. However, Phillips eschewed his hat for home games in the Astrodome because his “mama” taught him not to wear one indoors. Production moved to Missouri and finally to Texas, where Stetsons are fabricated at Hatco Inc. in Garland. Hatco also mass-produces another huge U.S. brand of cowboy hats, Resistol, worn by Texas Highway Patrol officers.

Republican Glenn Hegar is seeking his third term. He’s running against Democrat Janet Dudding, a certified public accountant.

Idaho Republicans are confident they will retain statewide elected offices this election. Meanwhile, Democrat Stephen Heidt is running a relatively low-key campaign for governor.

Pennsylvania's high court says officials aren't allowed to count votes from mail-in or absentee ballots that lack accurate, handwritten dates on their return envelopes.

The declaration empowers Gov. Greg Abbott’s office to make certain choices faster.

Oregon voters are being asked to decide whether the state should be the first in the nation to amend its constitution to explicitly declare that affordable health care is a fundamental human right.

Kansas voters are being asked to give their legislators greater power to overturn regulations written by state agencies and boards.

In some battleground state legislative races, Republicans have been making overtures to those who believe the ban as too extreme. They have said they are open to revising the ban to include the exceptions — and even voiced confidence that the Legislature will do so when it reconvenes in January.

Rogers was on parole when he voted in the 2020 primary election.

Attorney General Ken Paxton pursued charges against Rogers, who was on parole when he voted in the 2020 primary election. But a judge tossed the case after a higher court said Paxton can’t unilaterally prosecute election crimes.

Residential treatment centers are meant to be a last resort for children in the state’s care, reserved for those with histories of severe trauma caused by neglect or abuse.

Until 2016, Florida law allowed trial judges to impose a death sentence if a majority of the jurors agreed. But now, anything less than 12-0 means an automatic sentence of life without parole.

This story was originally published by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.

Former President Donald Trump wants the Supreme Court to weigh in on his legal battle against the Justice Department over documents the FBI seized during a search of his Mar-a-Lago home. Scott MacFarlane explains.

Local election officials across the United States are bracing for a wave of confrontations on Election Day in November.

Years before he became Mississippi governor, Tate Reeves served as the state's treasurer and had a hand in delaying funds for water system repairs in the capital city of Jackson.

Public school advocates who oppose a massive expansion of Arizona’s private school voucher system have filed enough signatures to block it from taking effect.

A federal judge in Phoenix has blocked enforcement of a new Arizona law restricting the filming of police.

Seventeen states that tie their vehicle emission standards to rules established in California must decide whether to follow that state’s strict new rules.

Hundreds of thousands of people have signed initiative petitions for ballot measures in several states that would expand voting access, ensure abortion rights and legalize recreational marijuana.

The utility that oversees California’s last operating nuclear power plant is taking steps to seek federal approval for an extended lifespan, just hours after the Legislature opened a pathway for a run that could last through 2030.

New Mexico's governor has signed a new executive order that pledges $10 million to build a clinic that would provide abortions and other pregnancy care.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is proposing a $600 million annual tax cut, an election year proposal that Republican legislative leaders are rejecting as a “vote-buying ploy.

Democrats in 1995 enacted lawsuit reforms that limit the amount of damages plaintiffs collect.

Primary elections are being held in six states on Tuesday.

New Mexico’s governor says direct spending by production companies on films, TV series and other media has never been higher in the state, topping $855 million in fiscal year 2022.

Physicians and researchers are urging New Mexico legislators to allow the use of psychedelic mushrooms in mental health therapy aimed at overcoming depression, anxiety, psychological trauma and alcoholism.

Wisconsin’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court handed Republicans their newest weapon to weaken any Democratic governors in the battleground state.

Arizona’s Republican attorney general says that a pre-statehood law that bans all abortions is enforceable.

Red flag laws likely remain a nonstarter among Republican leaders in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott already faced a conservative backlash after he asked the Legislature to consider them four years ago.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum’s expensive effort to influence the GOP primary and reshape the Legislature with more people who support his spending and policy goals was a mixed bag.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had asked House leaders to support his push for arming school police officers with bulletproof shields after the Uvalde shooting. House Speaker Dade Phelan is also asking for more money for mental health and school safety programs.

Louisiana's Democratic governor says he'll call the state's Republican-dominated Legislature into special session to draw up new congressional districts.

An Arizona judge has declined a request by the state Republican Party to block most mail ballots for the 2022 election, preserving the voting method used by the overwhelming majority of voters.

The mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are again putting the focus on gun control measures such as waiting periods to buy firearms.

The New York Legislature has approved a milestone environmental measure designed to tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining operations that burn fossil fuels.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican leaders signaled an openness to some gun restrictions after recent mass shootings. But in the last several years, lawmakers have eased gun laws, most notably by passing a permitless carry bill last year.

New York’s political landscape for the next decade is being quickly retooled by a rural judge and out-of-state expert after a court ruled Democrats controlling New York's legislature bungled the job.