Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) unveiled a proposal last week to require Old Line State employers with 50 or more workers to provide them with at least 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. Part-time employees would need to work at least 30 hours per week to be covered. The mandate would not apply...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has unveiled a series of agenda items he plans to pursue in the new legislative session, including the repeal of a law adopted earlier this year that requires state officials to rate and rank proposed transportation projects to determine which should get funding priority...

Saying “We need to treat this crisis the exact same way we treat any other state emergency,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) declared a state of emergency last week over the state’s growing number of opioid overdose deaths. Hogan also promised to commit an additional $10 million a year...

Lending credence to the adage that the third time’s the charm, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) wrapped up his third and by far most successful legislative session last week. After two years of struggles with the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, lawmakers gave Hogan major victories by endorsing...

Nine more states last week joined the newly-created U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition to uphold the tenets of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, an international coalition aimed at combatting the impacts of global climate change. The coalition was formed by Gov. Jerry Brown of California, Jay Inslee...

HOGAN PROPOSES NEW TIMETABLE FOR MD EMISSIONS TESTS MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) proposed giving Old Line State drivers an extra year before their vehicles would have to undergo an initial emissions inspection. Current law requires the inspection at 24 months; Hogan has proposed conducting it at...

President Donald Trump said his administration is preparing to declare a federal emergency aimed at addressing the national opioid abuse crisis, but what that means to beleaguered governors seeking to quell the crisis remains unclear. The president made his remarks on Aug. 10 during a self-described...

HOGAN PROPOSES MD SENTENCING LEGISLATION Responding to what he called “out of control” violent crime in Baltimore, MARYLAND , Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he plans to introduce a major package of anti-crime legislation when lawmakers reconvene next year. That package would include a so-called...

Two GOP governors have signed executive orders making their states the latest to bar government agencies from doing business with companies that are boycotting Israel. On October 23 rd , Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signed EO 01.01.2017.25 , which requires all future state contracts to require companies...

Hoping to avoid what appears to be an imminent override, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he would in January introduce an alternative version of a paid sick leave bill he vetoed last session. That measure ( 2017 HB 1 ) requires Old Line State companies with 15 or more employees to provide those...

Saying he has “absolutely no tolerance whatsoever for these repeat violent offenders and these criminal gangs causing lawlessness in our streets,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he will introduce wide ranging legislation in January intended to address escalating violent crime in the city...

Coastal states reacted with alarm last week when the Trump administration announced it was expanding oil drilling leases in waters previously protected under the Obama administration. But when U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that after a plea from Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) he would be...

Officials in Maryland have agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit over Gov. Larry Hogan (R) blocking hundreds of people from his official Facebook page. The settlement also includes attorney’s fees and an agreement to adhere to a new policy for the governor’s social media accounts. ...

BAKER TO SEEK HARSHER PENALTIES FOR MA SEX OFFENDERS : With the release of a notorious convicted sex offender dominating headlines across the Bay State, MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said he plans to introduce legislation to increase penalties for serial sex offenders. Baker said the bill is...

The ongoing controversy over family separations at the U.S. border with Mexico has spurred a bipartisan group of governors to pull back or reject outright President Trump’s request to send National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico. Democrats Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gina Raimondo of...

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.”...

Citing “a persistent and alarming lack of accountability in local school systems across the state,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) issued an executive order last week that creates a new post in his administration: director of the Office of Education Accountability. Hogan noted an ongoing...

WALKER DECLARES NATIVE LANGUAGE EMERGENCY Saying the government must support the “revitalization” of native languages, ALASKA Gov. Bill Walker (I) issued Administrative Order 300 last week calling for indigenous place names to be shown on public signs and directing the state Department...

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...

Citing a court ruling that declared the state’s 6 th Congressional District to be illegally gerrymandered, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) created a nine-member commission tasked with taking politics out of drawing the district’s lines. The executive order Hogan issued calls for the commission...

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...

BULLOCK SIGNS MT REINSURANCE BILL MONTANA Gov. Steve Bullock (D), signed legislation last week that will create a reinsurance program to help reimburse insurers for high-cost claims so those costs aren't included in determining individual marketplace premiums for the following year. Under SB 125...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) wasted no time last week addressing the final batch of bills lawmakers sent to him this session, vetoing eight and letting another 10 become law without his signature. Most of the measures Hogan vetoed would have imposed spending mandates or new regulations, or in some cases...

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...

BAKER URGES PATIENCE WITH MA WIND POWER In an address to the wind power industry, MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said the Bay State has a responsibility to get it right and to position the offshore wind industry for long-term success. Baker said the two things he hears the most about the state’s...