Tag: house bill

Georgia Representative Mike Cameron Supports New Legislation to Combat Illegal Immigration

Debra McClure
Mike Cameron

House Bill 1105, called “The Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act of 2024,” is proposed legislation that aims to bolster public safety and security for Georgia communities through increased communication and information sharing by state and local officials and federal immigration agencies.

State Representative Mike Cameron (R-Rossville) expressed his support for HB 1105 in a press release on Friday, stating he “was proud to cast a ‘yes’ vote to support this important legislation to address illegal immigration” and that it was the responsibility of state legislatures “to protect the citizens we serve and enforce the rule of law in communities across the state so that senseless tragedies, like the murder of Laken Riley, won’t happen again under our watch.”

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Less than Half of Arizona School Districts and Charters Affirm They Teach Students About the Holocaust

Debra McClure

Only 322, or 43 percent, of the roughly 750 Arizona school districts and charters surveyed confirmed that they are teaching students about the Holocaust and other genocides.

The completed survey, due to the Arizona Department of Education by January 24, 2024, asked schools to show evidence that students were receiving the required Holocaust education. “We surveyed districts and charters to find out if they are following the law, but more than half did not respond,” said Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne in a statement on Monday. He believes new legislation could help.

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New Ohio Law Gives All Women Access to Preventive Breast Screening

Hannah Poling

House Bill (HB) 371 “The Breast Cancer Bill” was signed into law Friday by Governor Mike DeWine. The new legislation brings more access to additional breast cancer screenings for all women throughout the state.

“The bill originally passed the Ohio House with zero opposition testimony, and 89 representatives voting in favor and only two against – a rarity for politics, even in Ohio. With bipartisan support, and unanimous support from Ohio’s medical community, HB 371 is a powerful example of what laws can accomplish,” the bill’s joint sponsor and State Representative Sedrick Denson (D-Cincinnati) said.

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Bill Looks to Provide Benefits for More Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Injured on the Job

The Center Square
Jim Struzzi

Pennsylvania state Rep. Jim Struzzi is trying to expand a law that provides for firefighters and police who are injured on the job to cover other types of public servants.

The Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act of 1935 allows police officers and paid firefighters medical and wage benefits if they are temporarily disabled because of an injury on the job.

The Enforcement Officer Disability Benefits Law of 1954 was passed to provide police, park guards, and paid (but not volunteer) firefighters full income replacement when injured in the line of duty.

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Legislation Expands Options for Pennsylvania Home-School Students

The Center Square

The Pennsylvania House has advanced legislation introduced by Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford, to expand educational offerings for home-school students.

House Bill 1041 amends the Public School Code of 1949 to permit home education students to take advantage of their local high school by attending up to four academic courses in a school day and participating in co-curricular activities. They also would have access to programs offered at career and technical education centers.

Pennsylvania home-school students currently are permitted to participate in extracurricular activities at the high school in their district.

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House Approves Bill Aiming to Address Anti-Asian Hate Crimes; Biden Has Previously Pledged to Sign

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Person with "stop Asian Hate" sign on Capitol steps

The House of Representatives on Tuesday decisively passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, a bill that seeks to address hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.

The House approved the measure in a 364-62 vote. The legislation, which had been passed last month in the Senate by 94-1, will head to President Biden who has previously pledged to sign it.

“For more than a year, far too many Asian Americans have woken up each morning increasingly fearful for their safety and the safety of their loved ones,” Biden said in an April statement. “They have been scapegoated, harassed, and assaulted; some have even been killed. It has been over a year of living in fear for their lives, as acts of anti-Asian bias and violence have accelerated from coast to coast — an unconscionable burden our fellow Americans have been forced to bear, even as so many Asian Americans serve their communities and our nation tirelessly on the front lines of the pandemic.”

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Gov. Kemp Signs Georgia Lodging Tax, Income Tax Credit for Teachers Bills

The Center Square
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp

Hotels, motels, short-term rentals and most lodging facilities in Georgia will be required to pay a $5-a-night excise tax as of July 1.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 317 into law. It imposes the fee on all lodging facilities and rooms except those that do not provide shelter and extended-stay rentals. Extended-stay rentals allow guests to occupy a room or facility for at least 30 consecutive days.

HB 317, which Kemp signed Wednesday, also requires online short-term rental companies such as Airbnb to collect hotel and motel excise taxes and pay them to local governments.

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Arizona House Passes Bill Banning Abortions Based on Genetic Abnormality

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Susan B. Anthony List State Policy Director Sue Liebel

The Arizona House passed a bill Thursday that bans abortions based on diagnosis of genetic abnormality, such as Down syndrome.

S.B. 1457 states that the rights of “an unborn child at every stage of development” must be acknowledged and prohibits abortions based on the sex, race, or genetic abnormality of the child. The bill makes exceptions for medical emergencies.

“A person who knowingly” performs such an abortion “is guilty of a class 3 felony,” according to the legislation.

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Committee Reviewing 1,043-Page Bill Raises Issue Over Minnesota’s Omnibus Process

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  With the May 20 end of session looming, Minnesota lawmakers remain far apart on reaching a deal on the next state budget. The House and Senate each passed their own spending plans, and a conference committee began meeting late last week to hash out differences over a 1,043 page House Omnibus bill that increases spending on health and human services and has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. Budget talks broke off late Monday. The Senate version of the bill is significantly shorter, and while it calls for no increased taxes and focuses on reform measures, it still spends $1.6 billion more than the current budget, which ends June 30. Omnibus bills involve legislation that contain more than one substantive issue, or several minor issues combined as one bill. When criticized over the length of the omnibus bill, House Speaker Melissa Hortman said, “I fought hard in private negotiations with Sen. [Paul] Gazelka for us to have an education policy bill, an environment policy bill, a health policy bill, an elections policy bill, an energy policy bill. And he prefers that we put those things in the larger public bills.” Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, said there is…

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Ohio 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms State Can ‘Defund’ Planned Parenthood

Andrew Shirley

The Ohio 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 11-6 Tuesday that Ohio has the right to withhold public funds from abortion providers, most notably Planned Parenthood. On Feb. 21st, 2016, then-Republican Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 294. The bill’s intent is to prevent the use of public funds for elective (a.k.a. “nontherapeutic”) abortions. Before the law, roughly $1 million a year in state health funding went, primarily, to organizations like Planned Parenthood. This law denied that funding. Three months later,  Judge Michael R. Barrett of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued a restriction, preventing the law from being implemented in Ohio. He argued that if the law went into effect, it could cause “irreparable harm” to citizens who rely on non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood. Later, he outright declared the law unconstitutional, setting off a series of appeals. The latest of these appeals decided on Tuesday, affirmed that Ohio has a constitutional right to cut funding for Abortions. The majority opinion, written by Judge Jeffrey Sutton, noted that a state: …may choose not to fund a private organization’s health and education initiatives. Private organizations do not have a constitutional right to obtain governmental funding to support their activities. The State also…

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Half-a-Million Low-Income Ohioans With Suspended Licences Could Be Eligible for Relief With New Program

Andrew Shirley

For many low-income Ohioans who have lost their drivers licenses for minor or unintentional offenses, there is no greater frustration than paying your debt to society, only to be denied your ability to drive legally because you can’t afford a government fee. Thankfully, relief is in sight for thousands of these individuals. House Bill 336 (HB 336), passed late last year, officially went into effect January 31. The bill established the Reinstatement Fee Amnesty Initiative, a six-month program intended to reduce or waive reinstatement fees in certain conditions. This program could remove a tremendous burden for more than 400,000 Ohioans. To even be considered for the program, the charge that led to the loss of your license cannot involve “alcohol, a drug of abuse, combination thereof, or a deadly weapon.” In addition, the individual must have completed any and all court requirements related to the offense beyond the fee. This could be anything required by the court from a mandatory driver’s improvement program to community service. Lastly, it must be at least 18 months since the end of any court-ordered suspension. This program, however, will only wave all fees in specifics instances. If an individual completed all of the above requirements and can prove that they are “indigent,” in a state of…

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