A federal judge has tossed a challenge to a Connecticut law banning firearms in state parks, saying the lawsuit lacks standing because the regulation isn’t enforced.
The ruling by U.S. District Court Janet Bond Arterton, issued on Wednesday, upholds a more than a century-old Connecticut law prohibiting lawfully licensed firearm owners from packing in state parks and wildlife preserves.
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Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) signed into law legislation this week that eliminates the requirement of parental consent for 16-17-year-old minors to be provided cross-sex hormones to change their physical appearance to correspond to their gender identity at a given point in time.
L.D. 535, titled an Act Regarding Consent for Gender-affirming Hormone Therapy for Certain Minors, states “a health care professional may provide gender-affirming hormone therapy and follow-up care to a minor without obtaining the consent of the parent or guardian of the minor,” with the requirements being that the minor is at least 16 years old; has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria; has been judged by a healthcare professional to be experiencing “harm” from not obtaining cross-sex hormones; and the minor’s parents do not support the hormone treatment.
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Nearly 400 Pennsylvania State University professors have signed a letter that defends antiracism teaching and administrative practices targeted in a lawsuit objecting to giving black students inflated grades.
The four-paragraph “Letter in Support of Antiracist Faculty at Penn State” denigrates a recent lawsuit filed against the university by Zack De Piero, who taught English at the school’s Abington campus and has since filed a lawsuit that alleges he was discriminated against because of his race. He is white.
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A former Yale University student who beat back rape accusations can sue his accuser for defamation, the State of Connecticut Supreme Court ruled recently.
Saifullah Khan’s lawsuit can proceed after the court ruled on June 27 that the former Yalie, who was expelled, can sue his accuser because the university’s sexual assault proceedings did not resemble actual judicial procedures.
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Conservative firebrand Kari Lake is coming back to her home state to stump for Trump, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is paying cash for campaign contributions, and Chris Christie says he’s got the meat.
Here’s a look at the latest news from the presidential campaign trail in our Road to ’24 Roundup.
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Pennsylvania officials will soon have a five-year action plan for how to build out universal broadband service across the state.
As federal funds roll out nationally, however, demand for labor will be high and could make the task harder.
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Former President Donald Trump continues to crush the competition, but political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy is swiftly rising in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, according to a new Morning Consult poll.
Trump is polling at 56 percent, distantly followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, at 17 percent, according to the poll of more than 3,600 potential Republican primary voters.
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In a letter to House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester), a group of 15 Republican women serving in the N.H. House of Representatives condemned a profanity-laced attack on a conservative women’s group by one of his members. The GOP women legislators also asked Wilhelm to take “resolute action” on the matter.
“We write to express our strong condemnation of the recent attacks on Moms for Liberty by New Hampshire Democratic State Representatives,” the GOP legislators wrote. “We stand united in our support for these mothers and denounce the offensive and baseless statements made against them.
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Both chambers of the General Assembly officially left Harrisburg for the summer — an ominous sign that the bipartisan wound won’t heal anytime soon.
The development comes nearly two weeks after the Senate recessed until mid-September, furious over Gov. Josh Shapiro’s default on a $45.5 billion budget deal — complete with a new $100 million school choice program he helped draft — amid resistance from Democratic leadership in the House.
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New survey results suggest many residents don’t know much about elected leaders in Pennsylvania.
Aside from Gov. Josh Shapiro, most respondents said they either “never heard of” or were “unsure” about the performance of certain administration officials and legislative leaders — including Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, Democratic House Speaker Joanna McClinton, and Republican Senate President Kim Ward.
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Connecticut’s craft beer makers are getting a break on their excise tax bill as part of a broader measure aimed at fostering the brewing industry.
The state’s excise tax on beer dropped by 16.7% beginning on July 1, which lowered the tax on a 31-gallon barrel of beer to $6, from $7.20 previously, and the excise tax on wine from $0.24 to $0.20 per gallon.
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Gov. Josh Shapiro touted federal money for broadband expansion in western Pennsylvania on Friday, arguing for bipartisanship and efficient governance.
“I wanted to be here today because Beaver County’s got its act together,” Shapiro said. “Folks want people in government — regardless of what party they’re in — to find ways to work together, to come together and actually solve problems, and to get stuff done.”
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With Iowa Republicans scheduling their first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses for Jan. 15, 2024, it’s now New Hampshire’s move.
While it’s likely the Granite State will set its 2020 presidential primary eight days after the Hawkeye Cauci, it’s still very much a fluid situation.
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GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley says her campaign has banked $15.6 million since she launched her bid for the White House in February.
The former South Carolina governor on Monday announced that her campaign raised $7.3 million in the second quarter of the year, which wrapped up June 30.
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Connecticut is coming up short on revenue from a controversial highway tax on truckers, with the state bringing in less money than expected during the first few months of the new levy.
Figures from the state Department of Revenue Services show the Highway Use Tax generated only $18.6 million from January through April, roughly half of what state budget writers had anticipated.
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A state-backed hydroelectric plant is on track to come to the former steel town of Braddock, but permitting delays have slowed the project and driven up costs.
The Thursday meeting of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, an independent public financing entity that funds “clean, advanced energy projects,” featured upbeat officials on the success of their funded projects, but also noted the slow pace of bureaucracy can slow down a project.
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A poll published last week by German-owned Politico Magazine insists that “most Americans — including a large number of Republicans … “ agree that the former President Donald Trump’s trial on federal charges he mishandled classified documents should take place before the Republican Party primary.
And nearly half, according to the Ipsos poll of more than 1,000 “adults,” believe Trump is guilty.
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Pennsylvania’s state council to control healthcare costs is staring down a $1 million deficit within its own budget.
The most significant costs above funding came from contracted services and salaries and benefits for council staff. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council is an independent agency that aims to limit cost increases through competition in the health care market.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be a long-shot candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, but he appears to be hauling in the kind of campaign cash that could give President Joe Biden and his re-election efforts some heartburn.
The Kennedy Jr. campaign last Friday announced its first million-dollar day just hours before the close of the critical July quarterly reporting period.
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Connecticut has joined a handful of states banning utilities from passing on the costs of lobbying the state government to energy consumers.
A new law, tucked into a package of bills signed by Gov. Ned Lamont last week, will prevent large investor-owned utilities from recovering the costs associated with lobbying, as well as legal fees, memberships, dues or contributions to a business or industry trade associations or groups, among other changes.
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Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro says he plans on dropping his push for private school vouchers from the state budget amid opposition from teachers unions and members of his own party.
The budget passed the state House and Senate on Wednesday after discussions had been deadlocked on the $100 million voucher program, local outlet Spotlight PA reported.
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A new survey suggests the price residents pay to live in Pennsylvania tempts younger generations to move.
Results from the Commonwealth Foundation poll conducted last month show more than half of respondents between the ages of 18 and 44 have considered moving to another state – or know someone who wants to do the same.
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The smallest baby ever born at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, was celebrated by staff across the hospital as she was discharged last week following four months in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“Born at just 22 weeks, Baby Zahraliz Francis Angueira, the smallest baby ever born at Saint Francis Hospital, graduated from our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after four months and headed home today!” the hospital posted to Instagram. “Our colleagues from across the hospital gathered to provide well wishes to the family and celebrate their story of hope.”
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Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley returns to the Granite State on Thursday for another packed schedule of campaigning, this time a three-day swing through New Hampshire’s North Country.
Haley will host three town halls, a meet-and-greet and be a special guest at a summer house party.
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Teacher compensation across Pennsylvania grew over the past decade, despite claims from officials that low salaries and high stress scare educators from the state in droves.
The data, gleaned from a recent report from the National Education Association – one of the country’s largest labor unions – found that teachers in Pennsylvania earned an average of $73,072 during the 2021-22 school year – the 11th highest rate in the nation.
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New Hampshire tax collections soared in May, according to the latest Department of Administrative Services numbers.
For the month, New Hampshire brought in a total of $152.2 million for the general and education funds, a 28.8% increase representing $34.1 million over the fiscal year 2023 plan, said Charles M. Arlinghaus, commissioner of the department.
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A new survey suggests the price residents pay to live in Pennsylvania tempts younger generations to move.
Results from the Commonwealth Foundation poll conducted last month show more than half of respondents between the ages of 18 and 44 have considered moving to another state – or know someone who wants to do the same.
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Pennsylvania State University employees racially discriminated against a white professor who resigned in opposition to race-based grading and diversity trainings that argued white people are racist, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
Zack De Piero, who taught English at the school’s Abingdon campus, left in 2022 after working there for four years, according to the suit, which describes his departure as a “constructive termination,” arguing the school more or less forced him to resign.
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Scarlett Johnson says she has never seen anything like it.
The parental rights activist has gotten used to nasty language and overheated rhetoric from the left. But she said the hatred she experienced last week in the City of Brotherly Love was “insane.”
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Members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation are touting hundreds of millions of dollars for the state in a new military spending bill.
The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, approved by the Senate Committee on Appropriations last week, includes more than $331 billion for Connecticut submarine building facilities and veterans’ services, according to lawmakers who pushed for the funding.
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by Brent Addleman Five of six New England states have earned praise through a new report examining electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Massachusetts led the way in the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s report “2023 State Transportation Electrification Scorecard,” just edging out Vermont in the newest rankings. “We are seeing incremental progress, not transformational progress,” Peter Huether, senior research analyst and lead author of the report, said in a statement. “States will have to move far more aggressively to do their part to enable the electric vehicle transition that the climate crisis demands. Auto manufacturers are expanding their EV options and consumers are increasingly choosing them, but supportive state policies are needed to ensure that the electric grid is ready and that all households and businesses, including those in underserved communities, can use EVs and have adequate access to charging.” The Bay State, fourth in the nation, scored 57.5 out of a total of 100 possible points in the report. Vermont came in fifth with 57 points, while Maine came in 11th with 43.5 points. Connecticut earned a score of 42.5 and Rhode Island came in 19th with 29.5 points. New Hampshire did not register a score in…
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by Michael Graham If you’re at one of the many Fourth of July celebrations across New Hampshire this week and happen to spot Congresswoman Annie Kuster in the crowd, please loan her your copy of the Declaration of Independence. In particular, this part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Kuster does not concur. Instead, Kuster declared on the eve of Independence Day weekend that she believes some people are more equal than others. Kuster made the statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling that racial preferences violate the “all men are created equal” principles of the Constitution. Rather than celebrate equal treatment, Kuster attacked the Court and defended the race-based policies Harvard and the University of North Carolina used to reject qualified applicants based on their skin color. In particular, Kuster supports the policy of turning away qualified Asian students in the name of “diversity.” Why does Annie Kuster support anti-Asian discrimination? You’ll have to ask her. (Kuster will not respond to questions on the topic from NHJournal.) It’s…
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Gov. Ned Lamont has signed a bill to reel in Connecticut’s rising healthcare costs through stronger regulation of hospitals and drug prices.
The legislation, signed on Tuesday, calls for banning the use of anti-competitive healthcare contracting practices, improving transparency in pricing for medical treatments, limits on hospital “facility fees” and multi-state bulk purchasing program to lower prescription drug costs, among other changes.
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Pennsylvania is set to receive almost $42 million in federal funds to offset rising prices of food for school meals.
States will receive about $1.3 billion for school meals overall, and another $1 billion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for food banks and community kitchens.
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The second week of the disbarment trial of Trump attorney and constitutional scholar John Eastman concluded Friday, with testimony from the State Bar of California’s (SBC) expert witnesses Justin Grimmer and Jonathan Brater, director of the Michigan Bureau of Elections (MBE). Grimmer is a political science professor at Stanford.
Much of SBC attorney Duncan Carling’s questions to Grimmer consisted of asking him to debunk claims of election fraud, prompting First Amendment attorney Mark Fitzgibbons to tweet, “Am I wrong, but isn’t this bizarre CA Bar trial of Trump lawyer Dr John Eastman hearing more evidence than all the pre-Jan 6 election litigation challenges combined?” Analyzing election fraud claims did not come up in the 2020 election cases, since the judges dismissed them on technicalities without getting to the merits.
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A Republican-backed school choice program stalled Thursday after House Democrats adjourned without voting on it.
Later, in a statement provided to The Center Square, House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Norristown, said he won’t entertain the proposal as part of budget negotiations.
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Cosmetologists could soon stand on equal footing with barber shops across the state.
A law that allows barber shops to rent space to freelancers, but prohibits salons from doing the same, has drawn attention from state legislators – and they want to see it changed.
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Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) has fueled the ire of many Catholics for asserting the teachings of the Catholic faith justify her claim that Catholics may support and promote ending the lives of unborn babies.
“I am a Catholic—baptized, raised, and confirmed,” DeLauro tweeted. “The fundamental tenets of my faith compel me to defend a women’s right to access abortion. I am proudly part of the faithful large majority of US Catholics who support legal protections for abortion access.”
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Across the country, Democrats reacted swiftly — and angrily– to Thursday’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s race-based admissions systems. Justices found they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Writing for the six-member majority, Chief Justice John Roberts noted race was the determinative factor for a “significant percentage” of Black and Hispanic applicants accepted by Harvard, with a similar admissions process used at UNC. Under its affirmative-action system, well-qualified Black applicants were 4 to 10 times as likely to be admitted to Harvard than similarly qualified Asian Americans, Roberts noted.
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When New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signed legislation making more families eligible for Education Freedom Accounts, he called the program a “tremendous success.”
But despite the popularity of EFAs — with more than >>> families accessing them — Granite State Democrats continue to denounce the policy, arguing parents can’t be trusted to choose educational alternatives for their kids.
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A boom year from natural gas impact fees in 2022 could be followed by a dramatic drop in payments, according to a recent analysis.
The data suggests that, rather than setting a new floor and bringing in steady funding in the future, recent record-setting payments are a blip.
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Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave is under criminal investigation by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit for allegedly misusing public money for trips to Florida with a woman who is not his wife.
The source of that information? Sheriff Brave himself.
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Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley recently announced key additions to her presidential campaign in New Hampshire, the “building blocks of a winning campaign in the Granite State.”
Haley is among several GOP presidential hopefuls making the rounds in New Hampshire this week, including the party’s sparing frontrunners.
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New England communities unserved and underserved in high-speed internet are sharing more than $1.097 billion in federal funding.
From $42.45 billion of high-speed internet grants in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, Maine will receive $271 million, Vermont $228 million, New Hampshire $196 million, Massachusetts $147 million, Connecticut $144 million and Rhode Island $108 million.
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Just four days remain until June 30, Pennsylvania’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget deadline and much still divides Republicans who control the state Senate from Governor Josh Shapiro and his fellow Democrats who control the House of Representatives.
The school-choice debate is among the most concerning facets of budget negotiations so far for the GOP. Shapiro indicated last year that he wanted the commonwealth to create “lifeline scholarships,” i.e. a private-school choice program for economically disadvantaged students in poorly performing schools. Republicans hoped they could coalesce with him around the policy’s enactment.
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GOP businessman Russell Prescott is preparing to make another run for Congress in the First Congressional District, multiple sources tell NHJournal. He would be the first Republican to take concrete steps toward entering the race.
Prescott, 62, previously served as a state senator and executive councilor. His political claim to fame is that he defeated U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan in head-to-head state Senate races — twice — most recently in 2010. However, he finished in fourth place with 10 percent of the vote in the 2022 NH-01 primary.
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Pennsylvania’s Senate State Government Committee on Monday recommended confirming secretary of the commonwealth nominee Al Schmidt.
The panel voted 10-1 to back the Republican acting secretary and former Philadelphia city commissioner. In a subsequent, off-the-floor meeting, the committee approved a bill to facilitate removal of Pennsylvania from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a controversial multi-state data-sharing program supporters say helps states maintain accurate voter rolls. The bill would permit the state to use the Social Security death database and change-of-address records to identify voter-registry errors.
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Democrat lawmakers in the Maine House narrowly voted Thursday night to approve Gov. Janet Mills’ (D) radical late-term abortion bill, one that Planned Parenthood spent heavily in Mills’ and other Democrats’ 2022 campaigns to bring to fruition.
LD 1619, dubbed “An Act to Improve Maine’s Reproductive Privacy Laws,” passed by a vote of 74-72 in the state House, but the Senate, which had been expected to vote to approve the measure on Friday and send it to Mills’ desk for signature, adjourned without doing so.
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A former New Hampshire Democrat lawmaker who became the first openly transgender state House representative was arrested Thursday in Nashua on charges he allegedly distributed child sexual abuse images.
The Derry Democrat, who goes by the name Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, was also charged with three additional counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images, according to a press statement from the Nashua Police Department.
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A lawmaker is urging his colleagues to back a bill he is sponsoring to ensure Pennsylvania parents get notified when sexually explicit content is distributed in their children’s K-12 schools.
State Representative Russ Diamond (R-Jonestown) announced he will introduce a companion bill to a Senate measure authored by Senator Ryan Aument (R-Lititz). The legislation would mandate that schools note sexually explicit texts and other media assigned or displayed as part of students’ coursework. The bill would further instruct schools to tell parents when a book their child accesses from their school library features sexually frank content.
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