As the fate of the Accordable Care Act (ACA) hangs in the balance in a federal court, states are experimenting with myriad policies affecting health care coverage and insurance costs. In a hearing in New Orleans on July 9, two Republican-appointed members of a three-judge panel of the 5 th District...

Federal Judge Blocks Three Arkansas Abortion Laws Saying they provide women with “no discernible medical benefit,” a federal judge temporarily blocks three ARKANSAS abortion laws from going into effect. The state is expected to appeal the ruling (ASSOCIATED PRESS). New York Governor...

Illinois Governor Signs SB 9 ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs SB 9 , a bill that, among several things, prohibits coal ash discharge into the environment and directs state regulators to propose new rules around the regulation of coal ash (ILLINOIS GOVERNOR’S OFFICE). Delaware Governor...

CO CONSERVATIVES PUSH TO RECALL DEMOCRATIC GOV, LAWMAKERS Conservatives in COLORADO are pushing to recall Gov. Jared Polis (D) and two Democratic state senators. The recall effort comes after a legislative session in which Democrats who now control the state’s General Assembly pushed through...

Saying “we should be protecting all of our children, including those who identify as LGBTQ, instead of subjecting them to a dangerous practice,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued Executive Order No 97 , a directive that bars state money from being used to pay for gay conversion therapy...

This session Colorado’s Democrat-led General Assembly passed legislation ( SB 42 ) adding the state to the national popular vote interstate compact. That agreement commits the signatory states’ electoral votes to the candidate in a presidential election who wins the national popular vote...

Legislation dealing with medical balance billing - the charging of patients by healthcare providers for services not fully covered at the providers’ rate by the patients’ insurance - has been introduced in 32 states this year, according to analysis by LexisNexis State Net . Seven of those...

When SNCJ reported in August 2017 on medical balance billing - the direct charging of patients by healthcare providers for services that aren’t fully covered at the providers’ rate by the patients’ insurance - nearly half of the states had passed legislation addressing the practice...

Bypassing the Trump administration, California has reached agreement with four of the world’s largest automakers to improve fuel efficiency and reduce automobile emissions that contribute to global warming. And more are likely to follow. “This is about leadership, California asserting...

FEDERAL COURT RULES CO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS DON’T HAVE TO VOTE IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE ELECTORATE The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled last month that COLORADO’s presidential electors don’t have to vote for the candidate chosen by the state’s electorate...

FEDERAL RULE COULD END FOOD ASSISTANCE FOR 33,000 IN CO A newly proposed federal rule would cut off food assistance for 33,000 COLORADO residents, including about 11,000 children. The state currently allows those earning up to twice the federal poverty level to qualify for food assistance and free...

GOP WINS SPECIAL ELECTION IN NC Republican Dan Bishop defeated Democrat Dan McCready 50.7 percent to 48.7 percent in a special election last week in NORTH CAROLINA's 9th Congressional District. The election, which was called due to allegations of fraud in the race for the seat last year, was closely...

PUSH FOR ‘JUNGLE PRIMARY’ IN FL FLORIDA billionaire Mike Fernandez, who left the Republican Party because of his opposition to President Trump, is spending millions of dollars to place a measure before voters in 2020 that would shift the state to a “jungle primary” system,...

TN PROPOSES SWITCH TO MEDICAID BLOCK GRANT FUNDING TENNESSEE unveiled a plan last week that would fund its Medicaid program through a federal block grant, limiting how much is spent on the program instead of paying for whomever enrolls, which is the way the program has operated ever since it was created...

A federal court may have struck down a Colorado city’s ordinance banning women from going topless, but ladies ought not to think they can get all half-nekkid in Oklahoma. As the Oklahoman reports , Attorney General Mike Hunter announced last week that while the 10 th Circuit’s rulings generally...

A person or persons attempted to breach West Virginia’s mobile voting system for military and overseas voters during last year’s midterm election, state and federal officials announced last week. The attack is believed to have come from inside the United States rather than from a foreign...

TROUBLED NJ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY AWARDS TAX BREAKS The NEW JERSEY Economic Development Authority has released $533 million in tax breaks for 31 companies that had been on hold since the state’s incentive programs came under scrutiny this year. Several companies reportedly complained that...

In recent years several cities, including San Francisco, Boulder, and Seattle, have imposed excise taxes on sodas and other sugary drinks with much fanfare - and much resistance from soda producers. Washington, D.C. took a different approach, quietly passing an increase in the sales tax on such beverages...

Colorado has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case concerning whether those selected to cast Electoral College votes must vote in accordance with the state’s electorate. The case stems from 2016, when three Democratic Party electors were told by then-Secretary of State Wayne Williams...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month in a case stemming from laws Republicans passed after losing control of the state’s government in last November’s election but before Democrats took office in January. Those laws, which among other things require the state’s...

Democrats who control Colorado’s General Assembly suffered a big defeat last week with the failure of Proposition CC, a ballot measure that would have allowed the state to use revenue surpluses for education and transportation instead of returning that money to taxpayers as required by the 1992...

Denver City Council Approves Regulation The DENVER City Council approves a regulation that will allow residents to leave a restaurant with an alcoholic beverage during special events. The ordinance applies to events held in pre-determined common areas such as where streets are closed to traffic (CBS...

In 2018 Texas had the most wildfires of any state, 10,541 of them, and the sixth highest number of acres burned, at 569,811, according to data compiled by the Insurance Information Institute from the National Interagency Fire Center. California had the second highest number of wildfires, at 8,054, and...

MASSACHUSETTS House and Senate Unanimously Approve HB 4210 The MASSACHUSETTS House and Senate unanimously approve HB 4210 , which would extend MassHealth coverage until age 26 for young adults formerly in Department of Children and Families custody, require insurers to maintain accurate online provider...

It’s the holiday season, and if most voters are thinking about politics at all they are probably pondering more about how to get through family festivities without a major blowup over differing political philosophies than they are about next year’s legislative agendas. But rest assured...