After President Donald Trump’s effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, fell flat in Congress last month Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said Republican lawmakers were out of excuses for not joining 31 other states and the District of Columbia in expanding...

Christie Vetoes Pension Bill Deriding it as handing out “a blank check,” NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) conditionally vetoed legislation ( SB 3040 ) that would have allowed Garden State police and firefighters to take control over their currently state-run pension fund. Christie called...

Saying the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to address climate change, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) issued an executive order directing the state Department of Environmental Quality to begin assembling regulations to reduce carbon emissions from Old Dominion power plants. ...

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...

LEPAGE GETS RIGHT-TO-WORK AGREEMENT IN ME MAINE Gov. Paul LePage (R) reached an agreement with the Pine Tree State’s largest public employee union that, if endorsed by members, would eliminate mandatory union fees for workers in jobs represented by unions in exchange for a 6 percent wage hike...

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...

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...

Citing “a severe and growing shortage of qualified teachers,” Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) signed an executive order last week that directs the Virginia Board of Education to adopt emergency regulations to allow institutions to offer undergraduate majors in education for teachers. Under...

SANDOVAL SAYS NV GUN LAW IS A MISFIRE NEVADA Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) and state Attorney General Adam Laxalt (R) filed court documents in early January that argue a voter-approved ballot measure that requires background checks for firearms purchases is defective and cannot be enforced. Sandoval said...

NORTHAM ISSUES VA NON-DISCRIMNATION ORDER : New VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph Northam (D) issued a trio of executive orders, including one that bars state agencies under Executive Branch control from discrimination “based on race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity...

Calling the decision by former Gov. Chris Christie (R) in 2012 to pull out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative lacking in “common sense,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) issued an executive order last week returning the state to the multi-state pact. Originally formed by then-New York...

MARTINEZ SIGNS NM ELDERLY OVERSIGHT OVERHAUL: NEW MEXICO Gov. Susana Martinez (R) signed SB 19 , legislation that overhauls the Land of Enchantment’s system for guardianship and conservatorship of the elderly by mandating open court records, more oversight and audits. (ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL) ...

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...

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...

WALKER LIKELY TO SIGN WI GOP POWER GRAB BILLS Outgoing WISCONSIN Gov. Scott Walker (R) signaled his intention to sign a package of bills passed by lawmakers in the lame duck session that are widely interpreted as a move by majority Republicans to limit the power of Gov.-elect Tony Evers (D). In a...

As of this writing, Democrats Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax and Mark Herring are, respectively, the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general for the state of Virginia. Whether any of them are in those positions by this time next week is an open question. The revelation on Feb 1 that Northam...

NORTHAM RESTORES VA FELON VOTING RIGHTS Embattled VIRGINIA Gov, Ralph Northam (D) said in a statement released last week that 10,992 Old Dominion residents with felony convictions have had their voting rights restored since he took office last year. Northam is facing calls to resign after acknowledging...

LAMONT REVISES CT SCHOOL SERVICES MEASURE CONNECTICUT Gov. Ned Lamont (D) recast a proposal to create a state commission tasked with encouraging Constitution State schools to cut costs by sharing more essential services. Many critics said SB 874 as originally worded would force school districts to...

Cooper Signs NC Pay Leave Order Saying that “parenting is often more than a full-time job,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued Executive Order 95 last week, which grants up to eight weeks of paid parental leave to many of the estimated 56,000 state employees who work in the agencies...

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...

COURT SAYS KY GOV CAN REJECT PRIVATE LAWYERS The KENTUCKY Supreme Court rules that Gov. Matt Bevin (R) and legislative leaders were within their legal authority to cancel an employment contract that Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear awarded to private lawyers to help his office sue the pharmaceutical...

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...

NH LAWMAKERS SUSTAIN VAST MAJORITY OF VETOES The NEW HAMPSHIRE Legislature upheld all but one of the 55 vetoes issued by Gov. Chris Sununu (R), including measures on gun control, renewable energy and paid family leave. The one successful veto override came on SB 88 , a measure that removes a three...

Stitt Signs Off on Record Number of Commutations Adhering to recommendations from the state Pardon and Parole Board, OKLAHOMA Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed off on the release of over 450 Sooner State prisoners, the largest single-day commutation in history. The Board had reviewed the cases of 814 low...