Latest State legislature News

President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony for H.R. 1957 –

Mail-in ballots sent to Trump, First Lady in Florida

Aug. 13, 2020 9:55 PM EDT

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has requested a mail-in ballot for Florida’s Tuesday primary election, despite weeks of criticizing the practice. Ballots were mailed on Wednesday to both the president and First lady Melania Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort, which Trump lists as his...

FILE - In this May, 8, 2013 file photo, Illinois Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, speaks at the Capitol in Springfield, Ill. Link was charged in federal court Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020 with filing a false tax return, the latest Illinois lawmaker to face public corruption charges. Link reported an income of $264,450 in 2016 when the

Longtime Illinois state senator hit with federal tax charge

Aug. 13, 2020 6:41 PM EDT

CHICAGO (AP) — Longtime state Sen. Terry Link was charged in federal court Thursday with filing a false tax return, the latest Illinois lawmaker to face public corruption charges. Link reported an income of $264,450 in 2016 when the "defendant knew that the total income substantially exceeded that...

Jaquenette Ferguson from Oxon Hill, Md., gestures as she gets her picture taken beside a portrait of the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., near the East Front Steps of the U.S. the Capitol, Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

7 seek to follow Lewis in House, but long-term prospects dim

Aug. 13, 2020 4:46 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia special congressional election for a successor to the late John Lewis is likely to produce someone who will hold the seat only for a short time, possibly only weeks. Seven candidates qualified Friday for the Sept. 29 election, but declining to run is replacement Democratic nominee...

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp looks on during a coronavirus briefing at the Capitol Friday, July 17, 2020, in Atlanta. Kemp sued the city of Atlanta over its face-mask requirement just after President Donald Trump arrived in the city without wearing a mask, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Friday. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Georgia governor to drop lawsuit over Atlanta mask mandate

Aug. 13, 2020 4:38 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday said he’s dropping a lawsuit against the city of Atlanta in a dispute over the city’s requirement to wear masks in public and other restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. Kemp had sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the...

FILE - In this March 14, 2012, file photo, a player runs across the NCAA logo during practice in Pittsburgh before an NCAA tournament college basketball game. A court decision the NCAA says will hurt college sports by allowing student-athletes to be paid “vast sums” of money will go into effect. That's after the Supreme Court declined Tuesday to intervene at this point. Justice Elena Kagan denied the NCAA’s request to put a lower court ruling on hold at least temporarily while the NCAA asks the Supreme Court to take up the case. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Senators lay out plan for college athletes bill of rights

Aug. 13, 2020 12:26 PM EDT

A group of senators led by Cory Booker of New Jersey and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut on Thursday released a plan for reforming college sports with an athletes bill or rights. The legislative plan calls for college athletes to have the ability to earn money for their names, images and likenesses with...

FILE - Missouri Gov. Mike Parson speaks during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in St. Louis. A proposal by the Republican governor to give the attorney general the power to prosecute murders in St. Louis is spurring backlash. Parson's directive was widely seen as criticism of St. Louis' first Black prosecutor, Kim Gardner. Parson has said the goal is to help combat a surge in violent crime. Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King says Republicans are trying to undermine Gardner. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, file)

Missouri bill targeting Black prosecutor spurs backlash

Aug. 12, 2020 6:06 PM EDT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s contested call to give the attorney general the power to prosecute homicides in St. Louis has spurred backlash and led state lawmakers to delay work on crime legislation he wants. Parson on Monday asked lawmakers working on sweeping crime bill to...

Supporters take photos with construction executive Marjorie Taylor Greene, background right, late Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, in Rome, Ga. Greene, criticized for promoting racist videos and adamantly supporting the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, won the GOP nomination for northwest Georgia's 14th Congressional District. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Greene, who made racist videos, wins GOP nod in Georgia

Aug. 11, 2020 11:32 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Marjorie Taylor Greene, a businesswoman who has expressed support for the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon and been criticized for a series of racist comments, has won the Republican nomination for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Greene beat neurosurgeon John Cowan in a...

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2019, file photo, former Vice President Al Gore, left, founder of the Climate Reality Project, and the Rev. William Barber II, president of the Repairers of the Breach, visit Lowndes County resident Charlie Mae Holcombe to talk about the failing wastewater sanitation system at her home in Hayneville, Ala. An anti-poverty coalition led by Barber is scheduled to hold a virtual march Saturday. The Mass Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington aims to build upon the nation’s principles to pursue solutions to poverty — something advocates say is getting especially severe in rural areas. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett, File)

'Poor People's Campaign' eyes low-income voters in 13 states

Aug. 11, 2020 11:43 AM EDT

RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — A coalition of activists, unions, and religious leaders inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last organizing effort said Tuesday new data suggest low-income voters in key states could swing some U.S. Senate races. The Poor People’s Campaign said it’s...

The House works to adopts rules during a special session of the state Legislature at the Capitol in Salem, Ore., Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. Oregon lawmakers discussed unemployment benefits and police reform bills as they returned to the Capitol for a special session that was largely supposed to be focused on the state's $1 billion budget hole due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Brian Hayes/Statesman Journal via AP)

Cuts, reserve funds help lawmakers balance Oregon budget

Aug. 11, 2020 11:40 AM EDT

Oregon lawmakers cut hundreds of millions of dollars from state agencies and tapped emergency reserves to help plug a $1 billion budget deficit due to COVID-19 shutdowns and also further restricted police choke holds during a testy, day-long special session. Some leading lawmakers had hoped to focus the special...

The House works to adopts rules during a special session of the state Legislature at the Capitol in Salem, Ore., Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. Oregon lawmakers discussed unemployment benefits and police reform bills as they returned to the Capitol for a special session that was largely supposed to be focused on the state's $1 billion budget hole due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Brian Hayes/Statesman Journal via AP)

Lawmakers adjourn special session, restrict choke holds

Aug. 11, 2020 2:36 AM EDT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A measure further restricting the use of choke holds by police passed the Oregon Legislature by wide margins Monday night as lawmakers concluded a special session called to fix a billion-dollar budget deficit due to COVID-19. House Bill 4301 prohibits the use of choke holds by police or...

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