IL Gov. Rauner, Lawmakers Expand Medical Pot ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) and legislative leaders agreed to a compromise to extend and expand the Prairie State’s pilot medical marijuana program. Under the agreement, the program will continue to at least 2020 and add post-traumatic stress disorder...

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) announced he is creating a bipartisan, 25-person commission to create a new formula for distributing state money to local school districts. The current system, in place for the last two decades, has been widely criticized for doing a poor job of channeling funding to schools...

Court Rejects Blago Bid U.S. District Judge James Zagel rejected a request from former ILLINOIS Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) to release him from a COLORADO prison, instead reinstating his 14-year sentence on his 2011 conviction on numerous corruption charges. The 7 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed...

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) revealed details of his proposal to overhaul how the Prairie State provides health care to its poorest residents through Medicaid. Tenets would include increasing the number of Medicaid recipients covered under managed care programs, where benefits are managed by private...

RAIMONDO ISSUES RI OPIOID EXECUTIVE ORDER Citing an “alarming rate of deaths” from opioid abuse, RHODE ISLAND Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) issued an 18-point executive order aimed at coordinating state and local government efforts to combat the epidemic. Among several things, EO 17-07 will offer...

CHRISTIE PROPOSES NEW NJ OPIOID RULE NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) announced a new rule prohibiting prescribers of opioid medications from accepting meals and uncapped compensation for speaking engagements, consulting work, and other services from pharmaceutical companies. Garden State doctors...

RAUNER SIGNS TWO IL ANTI-HARASSMENT BILLS : ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed two measures last week aimed at curbing sexual harassment in the Prairie State statehouse. The measures require all lawmakers, lobbyists and state employees to undergo sexual harassment training every year, beginning...

BROWN REACHES DEAL ON CA NATIONAL GUARD USE...OR DOES HE? After a week of jousting with the Trump administration, it is still unclear if CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) will order the deployment of the California National Guard to the state’s border with Mexico to assist in battling “transnational...

CUOMO PROPOSES ELIMINATION OF NY COAL PLANTS : NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) ordered the state Department of Environmental Conservation to set new limits on carbon dioxide emissions he said would make Empire State power plants entirely coal-free by 2020. Cuomo first proposed making the state’s...

Several Republican members of the Illinois Congressional delegation signed a letter to President Donald Trump last week urging him not to grant clemency to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). The letter noted that Blagojevich’s removal from office came amidst overwhelming bipartisan support and that...

WALKER SIGNS AK RAPE KIT BILL Saying the Last Frontier has over 3,500 untested rape kits awaiting processing, ALASKA Gov. Bill Walker (I) signed a bill that requires local police to report to the state annually the number of untested sexual assault kits that remain pending. The new law also requires...

DUCEY DECRIES ‘RECKLESS’ CALLS TO ABOLISH ICE In an op-ed in USA Today last week, ARIZONA Gov. Doug Ducey (R) said calls from a growing number of Democratic officials to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency were “reckless” and “misguided.”...

DEM GOVS OPPOSE TITLE IX CHANGES COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) joined a handful of other Democratic governors in opposing the Trump administration’s plans to ensure that no federal Title IX money is used to pay for abortions. Hickenlooper said the plan would undermine gains his state has...

SCOTT DECLARES FL ALGAE EMERGENCY FLORIDA Gov. Rick Scott (R) declared a state of emergency last week after a growing “red tide” algae bloom left Sunshine State beaches covered with dead fish and marine animals. His declaration will make more resources and funds available for biologists...

For the seventh quarter in a row, polling by Morning Consult shows that the ten most popular governors in America are all Republicans. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker topped the list with a 70 percent approval rating, followed closely by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, at 67 percent. That pair has topped...

With Gov.–Elect J.B. Pritzker (D) expressing interest in working quickly to decriminalize cannabis in the Prairie State, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) took time last week to offer his fellow Dem some advice on how to keep it all from going off the rails. Speaking to the Economic Club...

NORTHAM WINS NC GOV BALANCE OF POWER BATTLE A NORTH CAROLINA court ruled last week that the GOP-controlled General Assembly unconstitutionally allowed outgoing Gov. Pat McCrory (R) to pick the leadership of the state Industrial Commission before he left office in 2016. The Commission rules in workers’...

Countering a growing trend among retailers toward accepting only credit cards or other forms of electronic payment, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed legislation last week requiring brick-and-mortar retail operations to accept cash and imposing potentially big fines on those that don’t go...

Following through on one of his primary campaign promises, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed legislation ( SB 1474 ) that bars local governments from implementing their own “right to work” statutes, which bar union shops from requiring workers to join the union as a condition of employment...

NV GOV WILL SIGN WAGE, PAID LEAVE BILLS In a statement issued last week, NEVADA Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) said he would sign legislation ( AB 456 ) on his desk that will incrementally raise the Silver State minimum wage to $12 per hour by July, 2024. The governor said he would also sign SB 312 , a measure...

PRITZKER ISSUES IL TRANSGENDER STUDENT EO ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) issued Executive Order 19-11 , aimed at protecting the Prairie State’s transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming students. The governor’s directive creates a new 25-member working group tasked with ensuring...

NEWSOM SIGNS OFF ON CA CLEAN DRINKING WATER FUND CALIFORNIA Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed SB 200 , legislation that authorizes the use of $130 million in funds initially targeted for greenhouse gas reduction to instead pay for a clean drinking water program. The funds, which will be drawn on over the...

VA GOV VOWS END TO LAWSUITS AGAINST PATIENTS VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said he would work with University of Virginia James Ryan to end the widespread practice of aggressively pursuing former patients for unpaid medical bills. A recent investigation by Kaiser Health News revealed that that UVA...

Calling it “a step in the right direction," California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said the state would closely monitor the NCAA’s decision to move toward allowing college athletes to profit from the use of their likeness, image or name. The move is a response to first-in-the-nation...

Raimondo Will Seek Legal RI Pot in 2020 Calling it “the next logical step” after legalizing medical use, RHODE ISLAND Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) said she will make another attempt to legalize adult recreational marijuana use in the Ocean State next session. Raimondo made her comments after...