Latest State legislature News

California legislation bans toxic chemicals in cosmetics

Sep. 30, 2020 9:29 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed legislation banning two dozen toxic chemicals from being used in cosmetics, making the state the first in the nation to prohibit the use of the hazardous ingredients for that purpose. “Children, communities of color and...

Applications for mail-in ballots are seen at a satellite election office at Temple University's Liacouras Center, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Trump campaign threatens to sue over Philly election offices

Sep. 30, 2020 8:31 PM EDT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump's campaign threatened a lawsuit Wednesday if it does not gain access for its campaign employees to observe activity inside newly opened satellite election offices in Philadelphia, where people can register to vote, apply for mail-in ballots and fill them out. A...

This image made from video from the Office of the Governor shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom signing into law a bill that establishes a task force to come up with recommendations on how to give reparations to Black Americans on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, in Sacramento, Calif. The law establishes a nine-member task force to come up with a plan for how the state could give reparations to Black Americans, what form those reparations might take and who would be eligible to receive them. (Office of the Governor via AP)

California to study reparations for Black Americans

Sep. 30, 2020 7:25 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will develop a detailed plan for reparations under a new law signed on Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, making it the first state to mandate a study of how it can make amends for its role in the oppression of Black people. The law creates a nine-member task force to...

FILE - In this July 13, 2019, file photo, fans watch the racing sausages during a baseball game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Francisco Giants in Milwaukee. The chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, Andrew Hitt, is warning Milwaukee's chief elections official that it would be illegal for any Milwaukee Bucks or Brewers players or mascots to participate in early voting events planned at their stadiums in the days leading up to the election. Milwaukee plans to allow for in-person absentee voting at Miller Park and Fiserv Forum between Oct. 20 and Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

Republicans don't want Bucks, Brewers at early voting sites

Sep. 30, 2020 5:45 PM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party warned Milwaukee's chief elections official that it would be illegal for any Milwaukee Bucks or Brewers players or mascots, including the Brewers' famous racing sausages, to participate in early voting events planned at their stadiums in...

DHHS CEO Dannette Smith speaks during a news conference in Lincoln, Neb., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. Nebraska will officially offer expanded Medicaid coverage to low-income people starting Thursday after years of political battles in the Legislature, a statewide ballot campaign to force the issue and a nearly two-year rollout that left some residents in health care limbo. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Expanded Medicaid begins in Nebraska after years of dispute

Sep. 30, 2020 5:34 PM EDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska will officially offer expanded Medicaid coverage to low-income people starting Thursday after years of wrangling over it in the Legislature, a statewide ballot campaign that led voters to approve it and a nearly two-year rollout that left some people in health care limbo. The...

House GOP pushes ahead plan for 'election integrity' panel

Sep. 30, 2020 5:31 PM EDT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A proposal to set up a Republican-majority state House panel to review the fall election, with subpoena power and money to operate, was muscled out of committee Wednesday over loud Democratic objections. The resolution would establish a Select Committee on Election Integrity to look...

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2016 file photo, Sarah Collins Rudolph and her husband, George Rudolph, discuss their worries about the upcoming Donald Trump presidency in their home in Birmingham, Ala.. Rudolph, the survivor of the 1963 church bombing that killed four little girls, is seeking an apology and restitution from the state of Alabama. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

Alabama governor apologizes to '63 church bombing survivor

Sep. 30, 2020 5:31 PM EDT

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has apologized to a survivor of a racist 1963 church bombing that killed four Black girls, calling the blast an “egregious injustice,” but declining Wednesday to pay restitution without legislative involvement. Ivey, responding to a request submitted by an attorney for Sarah...

FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2020, file photo, a sign promoting Native American participation in the U.S. census is displayed as Selena Rides Horse enters information into her phone on behalf of a member of the Crow Indian Tribe in Lodge Grass, Montana. A complete count of Montana’s households could come with a big reward: a second seat in Congress and millions of federal dollars annually. But the 2020 census deadline remains in flux, making it uncertain if census takers will finish counting the vast, rural state. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Montana presses to finish census, eyeing 2nd House seat

Sep. 30, 2020 5:28 PM EDT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A complete count of Montana’s households could come with a big reward — a second seat in Congress and millions of federal dollars annually. But the 2020 census deadline remains in flux, making it uncertain if census takers will finish counting the vast, rural state....

FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump greets Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, left, at the podium at the Governors' Ball in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, has rejected an effort by the campaign of President Donald Trump and Republican groups to block Montana counties from holding mostly-by-mail elections this November, saying the campaign's claim that the election may fall prey to widespread voter fraud is

Judge rejects Trump challenge to Montana's mailed ballots

Sep. 30, 2020 5:09 PM EDT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday rejected an effort by President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and Republican Party groups to block Montana counties from holding the general election mostly by mail, saying claims that such a system could be marred by widespread...

Editorial Roundup: Pennsylvania

Sep. 30, 2020 2:50 PM EDT

Recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Pennsylvania’s newspapers: The county Election Bureau needs fixing and quickly The Citizens' Voice Sept. 26 Luzerne County is taking an unfortunate turn in the national spotlight after a joint federal/county investigation found at least seven...

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