WILDFIRE CLEANUP COULD COST CA $3B Clearing away the debris from the 19,000 homes and businesses destroyed by last month’s wildfires could cost CALIFORNIA at least $3 billion, according to state and federal authorities. That sum is more than double the state’s record wildfire cleanup expense...

The partial shutdown of the federal government which began on Dec. 22 is already affecting state and local governments. And that impact could soon grow significantly. According to Governing , mandatory programs that receive federal funding, like Medicaid and food stamps, generally won’t be...

Sixteen states led by California sued President Donald Trump on President’s Day, alleging that his proclamation of a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexican border was unconstitutional. Trump proclaimed the emergency a week earlier after expressing frustration with Congress for providing only...

Pension reformers won a narrow victory this month in the California Supreme Court, but the justices dodged a decision on the “California Rule,” a restrictive provision cherished by public employee unions. In a nationally watched case, the California high court upheld a pension reform...

MI GOV SIGNS STREAMLINED MEDICAL WEED OVERSIGHT BILL MICHIGAN Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed legislation ( SB 203 ) that requires only those with 10 percent or more of an ownership stake in a medical marijuana business to undergo the state’s background check process. Previous law required...

In his budget address in late February, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) called for a tax increase on sodas and other sugary drinks. Soda tax legislation has also been introduced this year in California, Massachusetts New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures...

By some accounts, insurance fraud has reached epidemic proportions, costing insurance companies and their policyholders tens of billions of dollars each year. State lawmakers have taken several measures in recent years to combat the problem, but this year they’re stepping up their efforts even...

Although the decennial census is a federal responsibility, with states having so much to gain from an accurate tally, 30 have established committees - either through legislation or executive order - to ensure their populations are fully counted, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures...

As of the start of this year, at least 25 states had passed laws requiring businesses that handle personal data to implement security procedures to protect that information from unauthorized access, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. LexisNexis State Net’s legislative tracking...

At least 40 states have introduced legislation in 2019 aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs, according to LexisNexis State Net ’s legislative tracking system. Fifteen of those states have enacted such measures.

In May the Board of Supervisors for the City and County of San Francisco approved an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology by all city departments. It’s the only major U.S. city to have taken such action against the emerging technology. But the measure is part of a larger and...

If you live in Detroit, Cleveland or Newark, odds are good the stress level in your world is pretty high. Conversely, if you reside in Fremont, California or Bismarck, North Dakota, life is likely a much smoother ride. Those conclusions are according to research by the personal finance website WalletHub...

At least 26 states have introduced bills this session dealing with the collection and use of biometric information, such as fingerprints, speech patterns or gait, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures and LexisNexis State Net. Three of those states - Arkansas, New York...

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...

California Senate Appropriations Committee Kills AB 161 The CALIFORNIA Senate Appropriations Committee kills AB 161 , a bill that would have banned most paper receipts at large retailers unless customers requested one (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET). Michigan Department Of Health and Human Services ...

California Governor Signs SB 276 and SB 714 CALIFORNIA Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signs two vaccine-related measures: SB 276 , which would allow the state to investigate doctors who grant more than five medical vaccine exemptions in a single year, and SB 714 , which allows a medical exemption granted before...

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...

Amid a growing number of vaping-related deaths and serious illnesses, Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California, both Democrats, launched efforts last week to ban the products. The actions come days after the Trump administration announced plans to impose a federal ban on the...

Many states have learned lessons from the Great Recession of 2007-09 and are better prepared for the next economic downturn, according to findings by the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) and other analysts. “Rainy day funds are growing as a share of state budgets,”...

WA GOV ORDERS VAPING BAN Citing a rising number of illnesses and deaths linked to e-tobacco use, WASHINGTON Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said he will ask the state board of health to adopt emergency rules enacting a statewide ban on flavored vaping products. At least four other states – MICHIGAN, NEW...

Eight states have enacted some version of the Data Security Model Law adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in 2017, according to the National Law Review. Three of the states did so in 2018, with the other five enacting measures this year. At least two other states have...

The impending California Consumer Privacy Act and other state data privacy laws have done more than motivate companies to rethink how they manage consumer data; it also has many organizations thinking more than ever about how they manage their cyber insurance coverage. Once considered a niche product...

As of Oct. 15, governors or public health agencies in seven states had imposed temporary bans on the sale of vaping products, four of which had been at least partially blocked by legal challenges, according to Time . At least five states have also introduced bills this year aimed at banning flavored...

As public health officials confront an outbreak of lung injuries linked to vaping from e-cigarettes, a patchwork of state and local responses have cropped up in lieu of federal regulation. But with a developing and not yet fully understood problem, and with several e-cigarette bans in a handful...

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...