Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an education reform bill into law on Tuesday that will have long-reaching implications for the state’s education system.
House Bill 1285 does several things, including addressing school districts with “Turn-Around” status, repeals the Florida College System’s employment equity and accountability program and requires the State Board of Education to establish specialized teaching certificates for classical school educators.
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State agencies across the commonwealth gather data on jobs, employment, and the economy — but they struggle to share it, hamstringing how useful it is.
Legislators have taken notice and are looking to compel some digital cooperation.
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There is now a legal challenge to Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding veto.
The WMC Litigation Center on Monday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up their challenge to the governor’s summer veto that increased per-pupil funding for the next four centuries.
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Tens of thousands of Connecticut state workers could be getting a bump in their paychecks with lawmakers advancing a proposal to give them a 2.5% across-the-board pay raise.
A proposal approved by the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee on Friday would authorize a 2.5% wage increase for an estimated 46,000 state employees that was hammered out in negotiations earlier this year by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, which represents unionized workers.
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A new report found Michigan school districts spent their COVID-19 funds similarly to their general budget, with nearly half spent on employee compensation and benefits.
A Mackinac Center for Public Policy report shows how school districts have spent $2.5 billion of the $6 billion in federal pandemic aid between the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.
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Federal legislation has been proposed, led in part by a North Carolina congressman, to increase the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and military survivors under the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act, known by the acronym COLA Act, could go into effect as soon as Dec. 1, with adjustment parallel to the annual COLA adjustment to Social Security benefits, as determined by the Social Security Administration.
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A record number of students are skipping school, propelling chronic absenteeism to a national crisis, according to an analysis of public-school attendance data.
The analysis comes as public school districts nationwide are laying off teachers, citing high inflationary costs, budget deficits, and spending decisions related to federal COVID-era funding, which is running out after schools received windfalls in federal subsidies for three years.
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A Republican-led Congressional committee says a scientist and top advisor to Anthony Fauci used his personal email to hide evidence related to the origins of COVID-19.
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the National Emerging Infectious Disease Institute asking for more information about these communications.
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States with lower tax rates, lower debt and fewer government restrictions generally have stronger economic outlooks, according to the latest report that ranks states from best to worst based on how friendly their policies are to economic growth.
The American Legislative Exchange Council released its “Rich States Poor States” report Tuesday. The report ranks states based on “economic outlook” using 15 factors.
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Georgia Democrats want an investigation after they said a state audit surfaced questions about whether Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration circumvented state contracting requirements, potentially for political gain.
It’s not immediately clear which state or federal agencies might lead the probe, and Democrats said they haven’t formally requested an investigation.
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Lucas County and the city of Toledo, along with one of the city’s largest health care providers, reached an agreement to wipe out more than $222 million worth of medical debt for area patients.
State Rep. Michele Grim, D-Toledo, made the announcement that is expected to impact 108,737 residents. ProMedica is the second health care provider in the area to abolish debt.
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Gas prices are steadily rising around the U.S. again, leaving many cash-strapped Americans struggling to keep up.
According to AAA, the current average price for a gallon of regular-grade gas nationally is $3.63. That is a sharp increase from $3.39 just one month ago. Crude oil prices have risen steadily over the last 30 days, from about $77 per barrel to $85 per barrel.
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The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security will be holding a hearing next Tuesday to examine the Department of Homeland Security’s fiscal 2025 budget request.
It will hear testimony from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is scheduled to testify for the first time since he was impeached in February. The committee’s chairman, U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., led the charge to impeach Mayorkas on two counts, making him the first sitting cabinet member to be impeached in U.S. history.
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A bill that would allow Tennessee Department of Tourism to keep mega-event contracts hidden for up to 10 years headed to the desk of Gov. Bill Lee this week, where it’s expected to be signed.
The department currently has $25 million in a mega-event fund to use to lure events such as a push to hold the 2028, 2029 or 2030 Super Bowl to the new Nissan Stadium.
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The federal government has awarded a $1.2 million grant to a three-county planning council in the Charleston area to study transit-oriented development tied to a bus rapid transit line slated to open in five years.
The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments will use the federal tax dollars for the third phase of a TOD study. The study will focus on implementing affordable housing strategies along the proposed 21.3-mile-long Lowcountry Rapid Transit line.
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The Arizona Board of Regents has two new appointees from Gov. Katie Hobbs.
United Way of Northern Arizona CEO Liz Archuleta was appointed as a regent after Lyndel Manson’s term expired. Jadyn Fisher of Northern Arizona University was appointed as a student regent to step in after Katelyn Rees two-year term finished.
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The federal officials tasked with tracking down widespread fraud during and after the COVID-19 pandemic want more time and more money to finish the job.
The Justice Department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, made up of nearly 30 federal agencies, released its 2024 report on Tuesday. The report details the efforts of the task force in response to fraud involving COVID-19 relief programs.
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As the public awaits more details of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s higher education reform plans, Republican legislators offer some ideas of their own.
During a Wednesday press conference, a gaggle of House and Senate leaders pushed for the creation of a grant program that offers scholarships to students who commit to stay in Pennsylvania. They also want to launch a similar deal for out-of-state students to get in-state tuition if they put down roots in the commonwealth.
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It’s not just college athletes’ name, image and likeness on the radar of the Ohio House of Representatives.
Normal Ohioans could receive protection from unauthorized use of their identities under a new bill that addresses the growing use of artificial intelligence.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed five bills on Wednesday designed to protect children from sexual predators.
The new legislation ranges from House Bill 1545, which protects children from grooming activities and other sexual offenses to Senate Bill 1224 which strengthens the role of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office while implementing training requirements for law enforcement to assess a domestic violence situation properly.
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House Republican Leader Matt Hall asked Michigan’s Office of the Auditor General to audit a Gov. Gretchen Whitmer administration program that offers up to $500 in monthly rent assistance to certain people for up to 12 months.
The letter from Hall, of Richland Township, urged Auditor General Doug Ringler to examine eligibility determination.
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Connecticut has never had a “faithless” elector who refused to certify the results of a presidential election, but some state lawmakers argue there needs to be a law preventing it.
A legislative proposal, which recently cleared a key committee, would nullify the electoral vote of a so-called “faithless” presidential elector in Connecticut who fails to cast their ballot for the candidates that the elector ran on the official ballot.
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A federal judge has granted a motion to dismiss a challenge to Georgia’s citizenship verification process, state officials said.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross granted Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s motion to dismiss.
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The U.S. federal government has borrowed about $6 billion per day so far this fiscal year with little indication of slowing down.
The U.S. Treasury Department released its figures for the month of March showing it borrowed $236 billion in March alone, bringing the total to $1.1 trillion for this fiscal year, which runs from October to September.
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A year after language was approved for a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage in Ohio, organizers are still collecting signatures to get the issue on the ballot.
A coalition, Raise the Wage Ohio, received approval for the proposed amendment nearly a year ago from the Ohio Ballot Board and has been collecting the more than 413,000 signatures since.
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Ohio’s former chairman of the Public Utilities Commissioner, facing charges in the state’s biggest corruption case, has been found dead. The body of Sam Randazzo was discovered late Tuesday morning in a building he owned in Columbus. He was 74.
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A coalition of states has filed a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s latest executive effort to forgive a portion of Americans’ student loan debt.
The lawsuit comes after Biden on Monday announced the plan, which the states in question say is an overreach of executive authority. The White House claims that Biden has so far canceled at least some of the debt for 4 million Americans, totalling $146 billion so far.
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Penalties for those who expose law enforcement officers to fentanyl are set to increase in the Sunshine State after new legislation was signed Monday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate bills 718 and 66. The first creates a second-degree felony for any adult individual who recklessly exposes first responders to fentanyl that results in an overdose or serious bodily harm.
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A project housed under the Wisconsin Department of Education is using federal special education funds to pay speakers to provide instruction to teachers on race, equity and Black queer feminist methodology.
Wisconsin’s Educational Equity Network’s virtual events feature presentations from authors and activists, including notable and controversial writers such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, about racism, inequity and marginalized gender or sexual identities.
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The reopening of a three-mile section of Route 611 through the Delaware Water Gap – shut down since December 2022 due to rockslides – has been complicated by a combination of nature and red tape.
In the meantime, area residents pay tolls multiple times a day along a detour that crosses into New Jersey and business owners struggle to keep their doors open.
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While the discussion continues following the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, several opportunities to improve operations and processes have emerged.
Officials at Georgia’s and South Carolina’s ports have vowed to help however they can.
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A Michigan report says up to 700,000 people could leave the state by 2050.
An April report, which does not measure inbound migration, from the Michigan Center of Data and Analytics says Michigan’s population has shifted to mostly older people and more residents are dying than being born.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at El Paso area ports of entry seized a large amount of drugs being smuggled into the country in novel ways. One female was caught hiding fentanyl inside her body, another in a hamburger.
In the past two weeks, CBP El Paso POE agents seized more than 62 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 25 pounds of fentanyl, and more than 158 pounds of marijuana.
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Ohio law and the planned date for the Democratic National Convention could keep President Joe Biden off the state’s November ballot.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s chief legal counsel wrote Ohio Democratic Party Chairwoman Liz Walters over the weekend, explaining the deadline to certify a presidential candidate in Ohio is Aug. 7.
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More cities have hit the $1 million mark amid rising home prices, especially in California.
A year ago, real estate marketplace Zillow found 491 cities where the typical home value was $1 million or more. That number grew to 550 cities this year, according to Zillow.
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School districts across the country are laying off teachers, citing high inflationary costs, budget deficits, and federal COVID-era funding running out after receiving windfalls in federal subsidies for three years.
The federal COVID-era subsidies were funded through ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) grants administered by state education agencies. Financed through the CARES Act and supplemental appropriations, the grant funding expires Sept. 30.
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The federal government reported hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in improper payments last fiscal year and trillions over the last two decades.
According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, the federal government reported $236 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2023. The true number, though, is actually much higher, but federal reporting is often lacking.
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The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure listened to a proposal to keep alternate jurors on even after deliberations begin in a criminal case during its Friday public meeting.
Circuit Court Judge Russ Parkes said the proposal came so cases did not have to be delayed or declared a mistrial if a juror becomes ill or is unable to continue after deliberations have begun in a case.
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Two Ohio lawmakers want to make sure state schools follow federal law and allow groups like the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts to be present during the school year.
Proposed legislation in the House of Representatives requires schools to allow U.S. Title 36, which permits patriotic organizations to provide information to students. Those organizations could be the Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, 4-H, Future Farmers of America, Civil Air Patrol, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and many other groups.
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Requiring publicly traded companies to make climate-related disclosures has voluntarily been put on hold by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC’s move came before a decision was reached by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. John Rady, counsel for the SEC in the case, notified the court in a letter.
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A Tennessee bill banning incentives for companies from countries of concern advanced in Senate committee after another costly part of the bill was removed.
Senate Bill 2426 previously banned tax credits for companies already receiving credits that are from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela or Syria, along with adding tax credits for research and development from energy and tech companies.
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People living in states with more Republican voters were more likely to report COVID-19 vaccine side effects than those in states that lean blue.
That’s according to a new study that looked at 620,456 COVID-19 vaccine adverse event reports from adults reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The study was published in JAMA.
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Arizona House Democrats faced yet another resignation on Thursday with Rep. Marcelino Quiñonez of Phoenix stepping down.
“I have had the fortune of being here for three sessions, and I take so many lessons with me,” the Legislative District 11 Democrat said on the House floor. “Amongst them, we cannot let perfection be the enemy of progress.”
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Though lawmakers applied pressure to the governor this week by publicly calling on him to act, companion bills creating a Prescription Drug Affordability Board for Virginia were conspicuously missing from the list of 150 bills he signed on Thursday evening.
The Senate bill, introduced by veteran Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, is meant to reduce the price of expensive medications for Virginians. SB 274 would authorize an appointed board to restrict what the state and other payers pay manufacturers for certain drug products in the commonwealth. Those medications are then sold to wholesale distributors, government purchasers, or pharmacy benefit managers, next to pharmacies, and finally, to the consumer.
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State Auditor Keith Faber placed a southwest Ohio school district in fiscal emergency Friday after it projected an operating fund deficit of nearly $11 million.
A fiscal analysis by the Auditor of State’s Local Government Services Section certified a projected operating deficit of $10.8 million for the Mt. Health City School District in Hamilton County, near Cincinnati. The figure represents 26% of the district’s general revenue funds for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
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A Georgia Public Service Commission hearing officer has ruled a railroad can take private land from several Sparta property owners, saying its proposed rail spur “serves a legitimate public purpose.”
The Sandersville Railroad, a Class III short line railroad that has served the area since 1893, petitioned the PSC on March 8, 2023, to condemn land for a proposed 4.5-mile-long spur. The railroad subsequently moved to condemn additional land.
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A plan to more stringently scrutinize voter registration data and citizenship verification during Ohio’s elections sits before the Ohio House of Representatives.
The proposed legislation, which has yet to be assigned to a committee, also focuses on security of individual voting machines and would require the state’s board of voting system examiners to contain a person with cybersecurity expertise and credentials.
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The South Carolina Senate did not pass a measure aimed at stemming lawsuit abuse, likely killing the push for the legislative session.
Senate Bill 533, the South Carolina Justice Act, would have amended the South Carolina Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act and moved the state toward a model in which a defendant is financially liable based on their percentage of fault. Proponents say this would reduce excessive damage awards in civil cases.
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Pennsylvania’s orphan oil and gas well problem has gotten much attention in recent months.
So too has the commonwealth’s legacy of hazardous mine lands. Now, the federal government is sending hundreds of millions of dollars to deal with them.
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The State Bar of Wisconsin isn’t ending its diversity clerkship that faced a federal discrimination lawsuit, instead it is changing the definition of diversity.
The State Bar agreed to tweak the program and make it about the diversity of ideas and experiences, rather than base the clerkship on race and gender.
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