Latest Legislation News
Kansas governor vetoes ban for transgender school athletes
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday vetoed a Republican measure that would have made Kansas the latest state with a GOP-controlled legislature to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's school sports. Kelly's action was widely expected...
New Mexico among states grappling to reform policing
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and protests that followed, state lawmakers in New Mexico have eliminated police immunity from prosecution in state courts and enacted a flurry of reforms aimed at addressing racial inequities. The...
Wine giant fights South Carolina's quirky liquor laws
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The biggest winemaker in the United States wants to open an East Coast bottling and distribution center in South Carolina, investing $400 million and hiring up to 500 people. But it isn't the taxpayer money and other typical incentives being...
Database will track officer complaints, disciplinary action
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will create a database to track disciplinary actions and excessive force complaints against law enforcement officers, a measure aimed at weeding out “bad apples” in the profession. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed the bill to...
Lawmaker says harassment by colleague was 'unacceptable'
BEND, Ore. (AP) — A Republican state lawmaker who says she was subjected to sexual harassment by Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, said he responded inappropriately when she asked him to support a bill. “I asked for a yes vote,” Rep. Vikki Breese Iverson of Prineville...
Michigan board deadlocks on measure to repeal emergency law
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's elections board deadlocked Thursday on certifying a veto-proof initiative that would enable the Republican-led Legislature to wipe from the books a law Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used to issue sweeping pandemic orders last year. The 2-2 vote...
Indiana bill approved to ban government vaccine passports
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — State or local governments in Indiana will be prohibited from issuing or requiring COVID-19 vaccine passports under a bill approved by state lawmakers. The Republican-dominated House and Senate voted Thursday by wide margins to approve a wide-ranging...
EPA funds help South Carolina upgrade diesel school buses
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As congressional Democrats introduce legislation to electrify the nation's school bus fleet, South Carolina is getting nearly half a million in federal funds to upgrade some of the state's older diesel school buses. A $480,000 grant from the U.S....
Talks narrow on a compromise to changes in US policing laws
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bolstered with new momentum, Congress is ready to try again to change the nation’s policing laws, heeding President Joe Biden’s admonition that the guilty verdict in George Floyd’s death is “not enough” for a country confronting a legacy of police violence. ...
DC statehood approved by House as Senate fight looms
WASHINGTON (AP) — A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took a further step Thursday as the House of Representatives approved a bill to make the nation's capital the 51st state. Voting along party lines with minority Republicans in opposition,...
