TN: Tennessee GOP expels two Democratic members over gun-safety protest
Ten days after a shooter unloaded 152 rounds inside a Nashville school and killed six people, Tennessee House Republicans expelled two Black Democratic lawmakers for breaking House rules and mounting a gun-safety protest on the chamber’s floor. The House failed by one vote to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to kick out a third Democrat, a White woman.
AR: Arkansas legislature passes social media age verification bill
Social media platforms would have to start verifying the ages of Arkansans creating accounts and new users under age 18 would need the consent of a parent or guardian to create online profiles under a bill headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She is expected to sign it.
KS: Kansas lawmakers send bill restricting gender-affirming care for minors to governor
The Republican-controlled Kansas legislature approved a bill that would ban hormone therapy and gender transition surgery for minors. The votes fell well short of a veto-proof majority, and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly will likely reject the bill.
OH: Groups sue to stop Ohio from leasing state parks for oil and gas drilling
Four environmental groups are suing to stop a new law requiring Ohio to accept private petitions to drill for oil and gas underneath state parks. The measure, which Republicans passed in the final days of the last legislative session, changed Ohio’s code to require rather than authorize state agencies to lease the lands they own for oil and gas development.
SC: South Carolina House narrowly passes horse-race gambling bill
A bill that would legalize online wagering on horse racing to fund grants for South Carolina’s beleaguered equine industry squeaked across the finish line in the House of Representatives. The bill marks something of a watershed moment in a state and legislature that have been strongly resistant to legal gambling for decades.
NM: New Mexico governor signs 3 crime bills into law
New Mexico Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed three public safety bills into law that aim to curb shoplifting and catalytic converter theft and to punish people who buy guns for someone who is legally barred from owning a firearm.
TX: Texas Senate OKs bill to rein in progressive prosecutors
The Texas Senate gave final approval to a proposal seeking to remove from office any prosecuting attorney who refuses to litigate certain crimes, sending a stern warning to district attorney offices that are contemplating not bringing charges under the state’s near-total ban on abortion.
OR: Oregon lawmakers pass semiconductor incentives, may sweeten the deal with tax credits
The Oregon House signed off on a $210 million package of support for chipmakers, a bipartisan bill that also gives Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek authority to bypass land-use laws and designate rural lands for industrial development. Already, though, lawmakers have begun work on a potentially more contentious set of incentives that would award tax credits to offset the cost of semiconductor research undertaken by companies in Oregon.
MI: Nearly 4 in 10 Michigan nurses say they plan to quit, new survey shows
About 39% of Michigan nurses surveyed for a new University of Michigan study said they intend to leave their jobs in the next year, revealing the depth of a shortage of nurses in a state that’s been struggling for years to hire enough health care workers to keep hospital beds open. Even more concerning is that 59% of newly trained nurses younger than 25 reported they planned to leave the profession in the coming year.
AK: Some Alaska House lawmakers stage brief walkout over education funding
Members of the Alaska House’s mostly Democratic minority caucus brought meaningful action on the state budget to a crawl after they left the Capitol in protest and raised procedural actions after returning. They opposed a budget amendment that links a temporary funding increase for public schools with a separate vote needed to use state savings for a budget deficit.
DE: Delaware governor to end public health emergency order in May
Democratic Gov. John Carney says he plans to end Delaware’s COVID-related public health emergency order that went into effect in March 2020 on May 11. It coincides with the ending of the federal public health emergency.
WA: Speed cameras will soon be allowed in Washington state highway work zones
Speed enforcement in Washington state work zones will soon become more advanced. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed into law a bipartisan bill authorizing the use of automated camera enforcement in work zones on state roads, responding to pleas from labor to crack down on drivers zooming dangerously close to crews.
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