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  • Blog Post: Health & Science - August 5 2019

    Federal Judge Blocks Three Arkansas Abortion Laws Saying they provide women with “no discernible medical benefit,” a federal judge temporarily blocks three ARKANSAS abortion laws from going into effect. The state is expected to appeal the ruling (ASSOCIATED PRESS). New York Governor...
  • Blog Post: Biometric Data Privacy Bills Considered in Over Half of States

    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...
  • Blog Post: States Adding Biometrics to Data Privacy Battle

    At the start of this year, many observers believed states might be lining up to duplicate California’s tough new data privacy law, set to go into effect next year. That rush didn’t quite materialize, but that doesn’t mean lawmakers completely whiffed on data protection. According...
  • Blog Post: Governors in Brief - August 12 2019

    DESANTIS ORDERS PROBE INTO FL SEX TRAFFICKING CASE FLORIDA Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week ordered a state criminal probe into the actions of Palm Beach sheriff Ric Bradshaw and former Palm Beach state attorney Barry Krischer for their handling of the 2008 underage sex trafficking case involving millionaire...
  • Blog Post: Government Cybersecurity Bills Introduced in Nearly 3/4 of States in 2019

    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...
  • Blog Post: Will Government Ransomware Outbreak Spur More Legislation?

    This year more than 70 state and local governments have been targeted by hackers that have locked up their computer systems and demanded ransoms to release them. A majority of states have taken legislative action in recent years to protect data held by government agencies. But the current ransomware...
  • Blog Post: Online Sports Betting

    There was a time when, if you weren’t in Las Vegas and you wanted to put some money down on a football game – say $100 that the Rams would cover the spread on Sunday – you needed to talk to a bookie. So, you picked up your phone. That bookie – maybe a guy who looked a little...
  • Blog Post: Budgets in Brief - September 23 2019

    TN PROPOSES SWITCH TO MEDICAID BLOCK GRANT FUNDING TENNESSEE unveiled a plan last week that would fund its Medicaid program through a federal block grant, limiting how much is spent on the program instead of paying for whomever enrolls, which is the way the program has operated ever since it was created...
  • Blog Post: Rainy-Day Fund Balances Vary Widely Across States

    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...
  • Blog Post: Budgets in Brief - October 21 2019

    ‘OPPORTUNITY ZONE’ PROGRAM NOT HAVING DESIRED EFFECT IN PA A program included in the 2017 federal tax overhaul, granting a tax break for investing in economically distressed areas designated as “opportunity zones,” was supposed to be a boon for struggling Rust Belt cities....
  • Blog Post: Trump Administration Sued by Many Mostly Democrat-Led States

    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...
  • Blog Post: Kemp Plan Would Conditionally Expand GA Medicaid:

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) unveiled a plan to expand Medicaid in the Peach State, on the condition that new recipients pay monthly premiums and spend at least 80 hours a month working, volunteering, training or attending school. The expansion would be open to uninsured adults who earn no more than the...
  • Blog Post: Budgets in Brief - November 25 2019

    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...
  • Blog Post: With Feds Distracted, States Will Have Much to Ponder in 2020

    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...