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TX: Texas Republicans take battle against blue cities to a new level
This could be the most productive legislative session yet for Texas Republican lawmakers looking to rein in the state’s largest cities and counties, most of which are run by Democrats. Their ideas include enhancing state oversight of county-run elections, taking aim at progressive judges and prosecutors, slashing local officials’ emergency powers and restricting the regulations cities and counties can enact.
KS: Walgreens won’t dispense abortion pills in Kansas after AG’s warning
In the latest development over abortion in Kansas, Walgreens has announced it will not dispense abortion pills after receiving a letter from Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach. The move comes six months after Kansas voters affirmed abortion rights in August.
CA: California bills would tax guns, push housing and penalize Big Oil
Now that their deadline for introducing legislation has passed, California lawmakers have more than 2,000 bills to consider, not to mention a special session on oil company price gouging and a budget deficit of more than billion.
IN: Indiana ‘don’t say gay’ bill changed to target transgender youth
Indiana lawmakers essentially killed the state’s “don’t say gay” bill, instead transforming it into legislation that would prohibit schools from calling students by names or pronouns “inconsistent” with their sex assigned at birth without written permission from parents. It would also require schools to tell parents if their child requested such a change.
CO: Colorado office designed to help find missing Indigenous people falls short, advocates say
Colorado lawmakers created the Office of Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives last year. Backers hoped it would bridge the gap between law enforcement and the Indigenous community, but this year, they’re fighting to strengthen the office.
GA: Georgia cities might run their elections, with help from a fake elector
A multicity movement in Atlanta’s northern suburbs is trying to take over local elections from Fulton County, an effort led in part by one of Georgia’s phony presidential electors and the president of a Republican Party group.
FL: Florida leaders renew interest in the death penalty as execution looms
As Florida readies for its first execution in three years, Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis aim to roll back laws regulating death sentences. Lawmakers have introduced bills in the Florida House and Senate that would make an 8-4 vote the rule in death penalty cases and allow judges to override a jury’s recommendation for a life sentence.
VT: Vermont state government bans TikTok on its devices
The executive branch of the Vermont state government has banned the use of the popular social media app TikTok on all state-owned devices, following similar moves by at least 27 other states and the federal government. The ban applies to all state-issued electronic devices used by executive-branch staff and contractors.
MA: Massachusetts governor refuses to release call logs, emails
For decades, Massachusetts governors have claimed the state’s public records laws don’t apply to them. Late last year, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said she would break from that tradition, but now she says she will evaluate requests for her records on a “case-by-case basis.”
NJ: New Jersey moves to crack down on predatory Medicaid nursing home advisers
A New Jersey bill with bipartisan support would prohibit Medicaid advisers who are not attorneys from charging for their assistance to nursing home residents and their families.
NV: Nevada’s vast lithium deposits offer economic opportunity, difficult decisions
For years, state officials have positioned Nevada as the central node in the domestic lithium supply chain, a place to extract, recycle and market the metal. But the new increasing demand — how it plays out and where mining is permitted — could have major consequences for local communities, the environment, public land and water management.
OR: Oregon lawmakers push ‘transformational’ bipartisan plan to speed housing construction
Oregon’s handling of home construction could be headed for big changes under a bipartisan proposal moving fast through the Democratic-controlled legislature. A proposal calls for the state to annually estimate the amount of new housing needed in each city with at least 10,000 residents. It would hold cities accountable if they do not take action to boost development to those levels.
WI: Republicans unlikely to fund University of Wisconsin free-tuition promise program
The long-term prospect of a tuition promise program for low-income University of Wisconsin System students is in jeopardy after a top lawmaker said the Republican-controlled legislature is unlikely to fund it.
MN: Minnesota legislators want to crack down on ‘deep fake’ disinformation
The proposal represents a first attempt from Minnesota lawmakers to clamp down on the spread of disinformation through deep fake technology, particularly when it comes to influencing elections or in situations where it’s used to distribute fake sexual images of someone without the person’s consent.
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