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Editor’s Picks From Around the Web
AK: Falling oil prices will cost Alaska $400 million
Alaska is on pace to end the fiscal year with $400 million less revenue than expected because of falling oil prices, state revenue commissioner Randall Hoffbeck said. Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services recently lowered Alaska’s credit rating because of the state’s poor fiscal outlook.
LA: Planned Parenthood sues Louisiana over cut to Medicaid funds
Planned Parenthood asked a federal judge to stop Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration from ending Medicaid payments to the organization’s Louisiana clinics. Jindal announced plans this month to cut off Medicaid funding to the group’s Baton Rouge and New Orleans health centers, citing hidden-camera videos that accuse the organization of profiting from fetal tissue sales after abortions. Planned Parenthood denies the allegations.
FL: Now the Florida Supreme Court has to figure out redistricting
A circuit court judge said he doesn’t have authority to resolve Florida’s legislative impasse over congressional redistricting and will ask the state Supreme Court for guidance.
IN: 36,000 in Indiana could lose food stamps
About 36,000 Hoosiers could lose access to food stamps unless they start meeting newly reinstated federal work and job training requirements. The state had received a waiver from those requirements in 2009, but with Indiana’s improving unemployment rate, it no longer qualifies.
NJ: Federal appeals court denies New Jersey’s effort to legalize sports betting
New Jersey won’t be able to offer gambling on professional and college sports at its casinos and racetracks. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that doing so would violate the 1992 federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.
OH: Judge tosses most of challenge to using Ohio Turnpike tolls on other projects
A federal judge threw out most of a lawsuit that challenged the state’s decision to use $930 million of Ohio Turnpike tolls to pay for non-turnpike highway and construction projects, saying the money benefitted users of the turnpike even if it wasn’t used for maintenance of the toll road.
CA: California Assembly approves measure limiting drones over private property
The measure would prohibit flying a drone less than 350 feet above private property without consent in California. The bill now heads to the Senate for final approval.
MD: Maryland restricts racial profiling in new law enforcement guidelines
Eight months after the Justice Department announced new curbs on racial profiling, Maryland became the first state to follow suit, with guidelines aimed at severely restricting law enforcement officers from singling out suspects based on traits including race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
KS, SC: Kansas, South Carolina governors vow to fight Guantanamo transfers
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback joined with fellow Republican Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina in pledging to take any action within their power to prevent the transfer of inmates from Guantanamo Bay to federal military prisons their respective states.
CO: Colorado’s birth control program kept afloat by $2 million in temporary funds
Roughly $2 million has been pledged in temporary funding to keep afloat a hot-button Colorado program that provides long-acting reversible contraceptives to low-income and uninsured teenagers and women. Officials say money for the initiative, which is aimed at reducing teen pregnancy and abortion rates, is coming from more than a dozen organizations.
WV: West Virginia state employees file grievances over state’s payroll switch
By switching from 24 pay periods to 26 this year, West Virginia sparked a series of grievances filed by state employees who discovered they will receive 25 paychecks in the switchover and apparently will not be paid their full salaries.
MO: Missouri tax amnesty program starts Sept. 1
From Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, Missourians who owe taxes can pay their debts to the state without interest or penalties. The taxes eligible for amnesty include individual and corporate income taxes, corporate franchise tax, employer withholding tax, sales tax, use tax, vendor’s use tax and the fiduciary tax.
TX: Texas regulators uphold betting on old races
The Texas Racing Commission’s decision to allow gambling on electronic simulations of past races is a victory for racetracks — and a rebuff to legislative opponents who threatened to kill the commission’s budget if it failed to outlaw so-called “historical” racing.
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