Gov. Ned Lamont (D) this week signed legislation suspending Connecticut’s 25-cent-per gallon gasoline tax.
The gas-tax holiday passed both houses of the state legislature unanimously and will last through the end of June. Also to ease Nutmeggers’ economic woes in light of skyrocketing inflation, the state is also providing free bus service to residents throughout April.
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Despite the eagerness of the corporate media to soft-pedal or outright ignore the toxic consequences of his policies, Joe Biden’s job approval numbers continue to be low. And even as the fourth estate tries desperately to spin the news, one story cannot be spun and is therefore largely omitted and ignored: immigration. That’s because on immigration, Biden, his agencies, and his policies have been getting clobbered in federal courts across the land.
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Two leaders of the Ohio Republican Party told The Ohio Star and The Star News Network Thursday that it is time for Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to get involved in reforming the Ohio GOP. “I don’t understand why Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the national Republican committee hasn’t looked into these issues, and gotten back to us, and backed us getting answers to our questions regarding the financial activities of the Ohio Republican Party,” said Mark A. Bainbridge, a member of the state party’s central committee, and one of five members of the central committee suing the state party, its Chairman Robert A. Paduchik and Treasurer David W. Johnson. Bainbridge, a certified public accountant, now in private practice, retired from Ernst & Young as a partner after three decades at the Big Four accounting firm, is at the forefront of exposing more than $3 million in accountable funds, including a $1.7 million write-off of retained earnings. The lawsuit asked the court to restore Bainbridge and others to their committee assignments after Paduchik summarily took them off those assignments, order an audit of the Ohio GOP books going back to 2017, and claw back funds Paduchik transferred to campaigns…
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Greater Georgia, an organization focused on registering new voters and started by former Senator Kelly Loeffler, detailed an effort between Atlanta Public Schools and New Georgia Project to teach students about “restrictive” voter identification laws.
The New Georgia Project, which has close connections to Democrat Stacey Abrams, targeted approximately 2,000 high school students.
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U.S. District Court, Western District of Virginia Judge Norman Moon has issued a temporary injunction in a lawsuit by 12 parents of children at high risk due to COVID-19, blocking enforcement of Virginia’s new law and executive order requiring school mask mandate opt outs. The injunction is narrowly focused on the plaintiffs, and the order is careful to clarify that both the executive order and the law remain in effect in Virginia.
“E.O. 2 and S.B. 739 are the law in Virginia and they remain in force, affording parents the choice whether their children should wear masks to school, notwithstanding any school rule that would require students to wear masks.
The Court’s decision and injunction today directly impact only the twelve Plaintiffs in this case. The Court enjoins Defendants from enforcing E.O. 2 and S.B. 739 only as against these Plaintiffs in their ability to ask for (not definitely to receive) from their schools some amount of masking as a reasonable modification,” Moon wrote in the order issued Wednesday.
The founder and president of Restoration PAC told The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network the committee’s new ad buy reminds Georgia voters that their Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock supports President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his energy policies that led to skyrocketing gasoline prices.
“We were energy independent and gas prices were in the $2-per-gallon range until Joe Biden and Rafael Warnock came along,” said Doug Truax, who leads the Downers Grove, Ill., based Restoration PAC. The ad began running Thursday.
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Democrat Incumbent U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes recently intimated to supporters in a Zoom call that her Black GOP opponent was only in the campaign because of his race.
Hayes also recently told supporters that if she loses her race in November, then Democrats all around the country are in trouble. Sources tell The Connecticut Star that Hayes is feeling the pressure in Connecticut’s highly competitive Fifth Congressional district contest.
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On Wednesday, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives shared photos that apparently depict the Border Patrol releasing hordes of illegal aliens into several towns in southern Texas.
The Daily Caller reports that Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) shared the photos on Twitter, showing Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents releasing illegals into the towns of Uvalde and Carrizo Springs. Gonzales said that the illegals were released because all of the detention facilities “in the area” run by the Border Patrol are “over capacity.”
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday the state of the state is strong but challenged the General Assembly to do more for mental health, addiction issues, state parks, children, highway safety, law enforcement and violent crime.
DeWine also asked lawmakers to invest more for economic development, addiction treatment and downtown redevelopment in the state’s 32-county Appalachian region.
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Chief executives of several major airlines told President Joe Biden to end COVID-19-related federal transportation restrictions in a Wednesday letter.
Leaders of American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, FedEx Express, UPS Airlines and more said pandemic restrictions, including the federal mask mandate and COVID-19 testing requirements for international flights, no longer made sense in the letter shared by The Washington Post.
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The Biden administration is likely to make more than 200,000 detentions at the U.S.-Mexico border in the month of March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preliminary data obtained by The Washington Post.
The increase will mark the highest monthly total since August 2021, the Post reported. CBP detained nearly 7,500 migrants per day in custody in February.
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Technology giant Apple now allows Arizonans to keep a copy of their driver’s license and other state ID in their digital wallets.
Apple announced Wednesday that most iPhone and Apple Watch users with Arizona state documents are now able to upload digital copies in the same manner as credit or debit cards, making it the first state to do so.
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Claiming government officials violated state election law, a lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the acting mayor, the former mayor and the city clerk of Milwaukee, Wisc.
Milwaukee voter Jim Engstrand, represented by the Thomas More Society, filed the complaint before the state’s Elections Commission.
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On Thursday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced in a press release his proposal for a 30-day suspension of state and local grocery sales tax to provide “direct financial relief to Tennesseans amid surging inflation nationwide.”
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Weaver’s “Parent Bill of Rights Act,” filed as HB2451, was assigned to the Health Subcommittee as its first stop. While the bill got a motion by Rep. David Byrd (R-Waynesboro), it failed to get a second for the merits of the bill to even be discussed or debated.
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In the early days of Russia’s war on Ukraine, President Joe Biden boldly declared he was ready to seize “ill-begotten gains” of the region’s oligarchs.
But in the years before Moscow twice invaded Ukraine, Democrats enriched themselves politically and personally from such oligarchs and businesses in the region while empowering Vladimir Putin with energy and technology deals that still haunt America today.
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As part of the hearings for her confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was asked by a Tennessee Senator to define the word “woman.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn pressed Jackson for a definition, which the judge said she could not provide. The following is the transcript of the dialogue between the pair:
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“We have two parties… One is the Evil Party and the other is the Stupid Party… Occasionally the two parties get together to do something that’s both evil and stupid. That’s called bipartisanship.”
— M. Stanton Evans
The Stupid Party strikes again.
Just one short month ago, Republican leaders and strategists were salivating over the prospect of a GOP blowout in the approaching midterms, as Joe Biden lurched from disaster to disaster. The debacle of our withdrawal from Afghanistan, raging inflation, an uncontrolled invasion at the southern border, crushing vaccine and mask mandates, and the utter failure to control COVID as promised all contributed to an apparent death spiral in the polls for Biden. With even mainstream media outlets acknowledging that the president’s polling numbers had rapidly cratered to unprecedented lows (with no bottom in sight) only one year into a new administration, it appeared that all Republicans needed to do to win big in November was to stay out of the way while the Democrats self-destructed.
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On Friday, officers with the Athens Police Department responded to a residence on Sweetfield Valley Road “in reference to a subject with a firearm threatening to harm people at the residence,” according to a press release by the department.
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Tennessee Stands executive director Gary Humble officially announced his run against Tennessee Senate Republican Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) in a primary for SD27.
Humble told The Tennessee Star that he is challenging Johnson because that he is running because of what he says is a lack of true constituent representation and deferral to special interests. “Leadership – I just don’t feel that, in general in our legislature that we have strong leadership representing the people.” he said. What I see in our legislature is there too many bills that are championed by special interests and lobbyists. What I find is rare are legislators that stand up for the people and champion things that are simply in their interest.”
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Senator Jon Lundberg to the newsmaker line to clarify what the BEP funding does and how it correlates with LEAs.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in-studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed national political editor for The Star News Network Neil W. McCabe to comment upon the hearing of SCOTUS nominee Kentanji Brown Jackson.
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First it was Governor DeSantis blasting Disney, now Florida Democrats have decided to take a shot at the mega-corporation that employees over 60,000 Floridians.
The Florida Democratic Party said Tuesday that it is moving its major fundraising event from a Disney World venue due to pressure from the LGBTQ community. The event was initially scheduled to take place on June 18.
The move comes after the Florida Democratic Party’s LGBTQ caucus called on candidates to oppose the party’s gala at Disney amid the fallout from the controversial “Parental Rights” bill.
“Scheduling Leadership Blue at Disney during Pride Month this year is nothing but tone deaf. To put it another way: FDP — read the room,” Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus President Stephen Gaskill said prior to decision to move the event.
In addition, Disney has been faced with employee staged walkouts and social media campaigns in response to the Florida legislation.
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A bill that was referred to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Finance Committee last week would amend the state Constitution to allow voters to reject any state-level revenue hike.
The legislation, introduced by State Rep. David Rowe (R-Mifflinburg), would place a question on the primary ballot regarding any new tax or fee or any new increase in such levies. Should Pennsylvanians reject a revenue increase, the legislature could attempt to override the voters but would need support from two thirds of its members to succeed.
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In conjunction with Franklin County, the city of Columbus is inviting opioid-addicted residents to order free naloxone, also known as Narcan, to help them reverse overdoses.
“Narcan distribution is part of our comprehensive programming to address the addiction crisis – and it is highly effective,” Columbus’ Director of Communications Kelli Newman told The Ohio Star. “Last year, through the Columbus & Franklin County Addiction Plan, we provided 24,144 Narcan kits (48,244 doses) and conducted 624 community trainings. As a result of Narcan being dispensed by bystanders, friends and family members, there were 3,699 overdose reversals in our community last year. Simply put, Narcan saves lives.”
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Proposed legislation in the Minnesota Senate would establish a searchable public database on criminal sentences, if passed and signed into law.
The chief author of SF 3356, Sen. Mark Koran of North Branch, introduced the bill on Monday. Its co-sponsors as of Tuesday afternoon include President of the Senate David Osmek, Deputy Majority Leader Mark Johnson, and Sens. Andrew Mathews and Paul Utke.
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A Yavapai County Superior Court judge blocked Section 4 of HB2839, following a lawsuit from the Republican Party of Arizona.
The new law, passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Doug Ducey in early March, changed the way political party precinct committeemen were selected.
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Former Delegate Lashrecse Aird announced her candidacy for the 2023 Democratic nomination in the new Senate District 13, setting up a primary battle with State Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond), who intends to move into the district and run for the seat. “In just one month, I’ve watched our Commonwealth torn apart due to hateful and divisive politics,” Aird said in an announcement video. “But the truth is, I know Virginians are more alike than different. Alike in wanting schools they can be proud to send their children to. Alike in wanting a livable wage and good-paying jobs so have their share and shot at a strong quality of life. And alike in wanting access to quality health care, especially at times like these when it’s needed the most.” As a delegate, Aird sponsored bills that became law, including a ban on no-knock search warrants that became law and a broad ban on law enforcement using facial recognition technology, although that ban was ended in the 2022 session. In her role on the House Appropriations Committee said she would prioritize the financial problems facing the city of Petersburg. She also co-authored an op-ed citing a need to lower energy costs as…
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a measure Wednesday to give a one-time tax refund to eligible Georgia taxpayers.
Taxpayers who are single or married and filing separately will receive a $250 refund under House Bill 1302. Heads of households will receive a $375 refund, while married taxpayers who file jointly will receive a $500 refund.
The Georgia Department of Revenue will credit taxpayers with the refund once they file their 2021 taxes, which are due April 18. Taxpayers who already have filed their 2021 taxes will receive a refund based on what they indicated on their tax returns.
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The U.S. Supreme Court blocked new redistricting maps for Wisconsin’s state legislature, while upholding the state’s new federal congressional boundaries.
Previously, Republican members of the legislature filed the lawsuit, claiming the state judges “did not and could not have concluded that drawing districts based on race was required by federal law and satisfied strict scrutiny.”
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Several thousand Connecticut residents flooded the steps of the state Capitol building in Hartford Wednesday for the first-ever Connecticut March for Life pro-life rally and peaceful demonstration that celebrated life from the moment of conception to natural death.
“It’s just incredibly significant to have Connecticut’s first March for Life,” Jeanne Mancini, president of the national March for Life Defense and Education Fund, told The Connecticut Star.
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The Star News Network National Political Editor, Neil W. McCabe spoke with Larry Cirignano of The Children First Foundation about why a pro-life movement is stalled in Washington, D.C. yet seeing growth in the states.
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Former Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Hala Ayala announced her campaign for the Democratic nomination for the new Senate District 33 in Prince William and Fairfax Counties. She will face former Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy, another Democratic heavy-hitter, who lost the nomination for governor to Terry McAuliffe in 2021.
“Right now, too many Virginia families are feeling squeezed,” Ayala said in a press release obtained by Blue Virginia.
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The theft of catalytic converters has become a big problem in Arizona, and State Rep. Diego Espinoza (D-Tolleson) is sponsoring legislation to expand the law against it. Current law only prohibits buying or selling a used catalytic converter outside of regular transactions; HB 2652 goes beyond that to make it illegal to possess, solicit, or advertise a used catalytic converter outside of regular transactions. It would also mandate reporting sales to DPS and tracking.
HB 2652 looks very likely to pass, as 49 members of the House voted for it and only 10 Republicans voted against it. It passed the Senate Committee on Transportation and Technology 9-0, and is now headed for the Senate Rules Committee.
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According to several Wednesday reports, scammers are targeting Pennsylvanians in an attempt to profit off the tragic deaths of two state troopers.
“It’s disgusting to even have to issue this statement, but our members and others are reporting to us that they’re receiving phone calls from people alleging to represent law enforcement organizations that are raising money to benefit the families of our fallen brothers,” Pennsylvania State Troopers Association (PTSA) President David Kennedy reportedly said.
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New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has unveiled his redistricting plan for the state’s two congressional districts.
This comes after Sununu, a Republican, promised to veto the GOP-controlled legislature’s approved redistricting plan.
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Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker is asking attorneys to file briefs about the potential effects of recently passed SB 524 on an existing lawsuit regarding last year’s SB 90 on election integrity. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has yet to sign SB 524 but it will make further changes to Florida’s elections process.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued a proclamation declaring University of Virginia swimmer Emma Weyant the rightful national champion in the 500-yard freestyle women’s swimming national championship. The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) declared national champion is Lia Thomas, born William Thomas, who was born a man and identifies as a transgender female.
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Wisconsin taxpayers will pay $883,000 for a new agricultural exports program to promote dairy products.
The tab results from a bill signed by Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday, which was National Agriculture Day.
Wisconsin Act 207 (Senate Bill 827) requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection to apply the existing, unused appropriation for a newly created agricultural exports program.
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A $1.3 million business incubator is in the works, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said.
Lamont announced the anticipated approval from the Connecticut State Bond Commission for the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut’s Thames River Innovation Center which will focus on job growth in the state.
The center, according to a release, will be located in New London and will give businesses and workers an innovation center and working space, in addition to the site being used for training, technical apprenticeships, and business development.
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Mandy Van Gorp was confident that her employer of 18 years, Eli Lilly and Company, would treat her fairly when she objected to its company-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The pharmaceutical giant had promised to exempt employees with valid health or religious objections to the policy and she believed she had had both.
Despite presenting a doctor’s note in support of her exemption, citing an auto-immune disease, the company denied her request for a medical exemption. To add injury to the insult she felt, she tested positive for COVID-19 the day after receiving her rejection letter. She then appealed for a six-month deferral on grounds of the positive test. Lilly also denied that request. When she then raised her religious concerns, Lilly said she had missed the application deadline – a deadline that had lapsed several weeks before Lilly replied to her initial accommodation request.
The “toughest night was when we were sitting at the dinner table and my 12-year-old was sobbing, hysterically begging me to get the vaccine so I could keep my job,” recalled Van Gorp, a 42-year-old sales representative and mother of three. “I had to explain that my choice was not about money and that I felt God was leading me not to follow a mandate. It’s hard to explain that to a 12-year-old.”
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On Tuesday, another Republican governor vetoed a popular bill passed by the state legislature that would have prohibited so-called “transgender” athletes from competing on sports teams of the opposite gender.
As reported by Axios, Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R-Utah) justified his veto by saying that “rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few.”
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A group of parents in Rochester, Mich., are demanding a dramatic change in school leadership.
Parents expressed their anger at Rochester Community Public Schools administrators and school board members during a Monday meeting. Parents are demanding the school board fire Superintendent Robert Shaner, then tender their resignations.
The parents’ pique was prompted by revelations school employees were monitoring parents’ social media accounts, compiling dossiers of publicly disgruntled mothers and fathers, and phoning parents’ employers, which, in the case of Elena Dinverno, resulted in her firing.
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On Tuesday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to ban almost all abortions in the state, a bill that would be even more restrictive than Texas’s six-week ban.
Axios reports that the Oklahoma House passed HB 4327 by a margin of 78-19. The bill would ban any and all abortions, with the sole exception of abortions that must be carried out in order to save the life of the mother. The bill would also provide incentives for private citizens to sue anyone who is suspected of providing abortions or helping people get abortions, with rewards of up to $10,000 for each abortion that a suspect has performed.
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A prominent gun rights group Wednesday endorsed 13 incumbent members of Congress who reside in districts that could flip towards Republicans in November.
“Below are our latest U.S. House endorsements, and they represent candidates in some of the most competitive districts in the country,” Giffords said in a press release. “In order to continue making progress on this issue — investing in community violence intervention programs, funding gun violence research, closing domestic violence loopholes, passing universal background checks, and so much more — we must send these incumbent representatives back to Capitol Hill next January.”
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A power company that intended to build a natural gas power plant in Southeast Virginia will move the project to either West Virginia or Ohio, citing regulatory issues and opposition from environmental groups in the commonwealth.
Chickahominy Power LLC, which planned to build the plant in Charles City County, had been working on the project for more than five years, according to a company statement. The company has officially terminated its project.
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Two Democrat incumbent members of the U.S. House are running against each other in a primary for Illinois’ 6th Congressional district, leaving an opening for a possible Republican pickup in November.
Representatives Sean Casten and Marie Newman are set to face off in the June 28 Democrat primary.
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A federal judge ruled Tuesday against the Biden administration’s attempt to halt certain Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations.
The ruling comes in response to a joint lawsuit filed by Republican Attorneys General from multiple states, including Arizona’s Mark Brnovich, Ohio’s Dave Yost, and Montana’s Austin Knudsen, against the Biden administration over its rollbacks on some deportations of noncitizens.
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JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon told President Joe Biden he needs to produce a “Marshall Plan” to increase domestic energy production, Axios reported.
Dimon met with Biden on Monday, urging him to make plans for the government to increase domestic gas and other energy sources to offset soaring prices resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Axios reported. Dimon reportedly informed the president and his top economic advisors that additional domestic energy production is necessary for securing both American and European energy security.
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