Acting New York Governor Signs 1790 Acting NEW JERSEY Gov. Sheila Oliver (D) signs SB 1790 , a bill that imposes fines and possible jail time on employers found guilty of failing to pay workers the full wages owed to them. Employers who are found to owe a worker $5000 or more will also now be subject...

OR GOV SIGNS ELECTION BILLS OREGON Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed legislation this month that will allow Oregonians to mail in their election ballots for free starting with the November 2020 contests. Brown also signed a measure that will require so-called “dark money” groups to disclose large...

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...

Portland City Council Approves The PORTLAND City Council approves charging landlords an annual $60 registration fee, with the funds designated to go to a new city agency that tracks tenant complaints about negligent landlords and enforces fair housing laws (ROUTE FIFTY). Sacramento City Council...

IL Governor Signs SB 75 ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs SB 75 , an omnibus bill that, among several things, extends legal sexual harassment protections to contract workers, limits the use of contract provisions designed to prevent workers from reporting sexual harassment, and bars employers...

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia will abide by a deal reached in July by California and four major global automakers to require new vehicles to average approximately 37 miles per gallon by 2026. The Trump administration, meanwhile, is seeking to freeze mileage standards at 2021 levels of...

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...

Lawmakers in at least three states have introduced legislation this year that would impose a tax on corporations that pay their chief executive officers far more than their average workers, according to Inequality.org, a project of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies. Four states...

It’s a good time to be a CEO in America. Various studies show that CEOs of major corporations made hundreds of times what their workers earned in average pay last year. According to data compiled by the Associated Press , average CEO compensation at Fortune 500 companies rose to $12 million...

At least 37 states have introduced legislation this year dealing with the cybersecurity of government agencies, 24 of which have enacted such measures, according to information from the National Conference of State Legislatures and LexisNexis State Net. The measures deal with a range of issues, including...

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...

At least 18 states allow sports betting either in-person at casinos and other gambling facilities, or online via computer or mobile phone, according to the website BettingUSA.com. Eleven of those states allow both, while six allow only in-person sports wagering and one, Tennessee, allows such betting...

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...

Wyoming has the largest estimated fiscal year 2019 rainy-day fund balance as a percentage of total state expenditures, at 109 percent, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers’ Spring 2019 Fiscal Survey of States . California has the largest FY 2019 rainy-day fund balance...

NY LOBBYING DISCLOSURE LAW RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL A federal judge has struck down a law passed in NEW YORK in 2016 requiring nonprofits that lobby to disclose more information about their donors than had previously been required. Judge Denise Cote ruled that the law was too broad and infringed on...

Oregon Liquor Control Commission Imposes Six-Month Moratorium The OREGON Liquor Control Commission imposes a six-month moratorium on the sale of flavored nicotine and cannabis vaping products. The ban comes in the wake of a national outbreak of vaping-related illnesses that have sickened at least...

RAIMONDO NOT OKAY WITH RI DMV WAITING FEES RHODE ISLAND Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) said she is not in favor of a plan pitched by the Ocean State DMV to charge customers a $15 walk-in fee for conducting license or registration renewals that could be done online or by mail. Raimondo said she would not be...

As of October 17, 68 lawsuits had been initiated against the Trump administration via a complaint or petition filed by multiple states, according to data compiled by Dr. Paul Nolette, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, for the website AttorneysGeneral.org . Democrat...

AK Local Governments to Collect Online Sales Taxes ALASKA cities and boroughs that levy sales taxes have initiated a plan to collect those taxes from online retailers. Under the plan, local governments will join a cooperative agreement creating a statewide sales tax commission that will collect the...

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...

OR Facing Big Wildfire Mitigation Costs OREGON will have to spend $4 billion now to mitigate its wildfire problems, according to a report from the Council on Wildfire Response appointed by Gov. Kate Brown (D). The report said alternatively the state will be forced to spend billions of dollars a year...

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...

CA Budget Surplus Could Grow to $26B by 2021 A report from CALIFORNIA’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office indicates the state’s cash reserves could reach a record $26 billion by 2021. Over a quarter of that sum would be unrestricted funds that state lawmakers could spend as...