Since joining in July 2014, he has specialized in accountability journalism, shining a light on lobbying and political spending at the Capitol and the murky legislative process that often takes place during the closing hours of the session. In recent years it has been cited as one of only two states in the country where the population has been on the decrease. The Court stated that such a requirement did, in fact, impede upon an individual’s 2nd Amendment rights. Property taxes are levied by local governments – particularly school districts and state lawmakers are under pressure to act, either by forcing local governments to spend less, or by subsidizing them with state sales and income taxes. Louisiana remains ranked among the worst states in several health quality indicators, including obesity, heart disease, sexually transmitted infections, and other ailments.

Robert Gehrke has been covering politics and government for nearly two decades, beginning his career with the Associated Press and joining The Salt Lake Tribune in 2005. Now it wants more stringent teacher evaluation and a longer track to tenure. @RickRmgreen. Reputation Building a positive reputation for your organization amongst stakeholders and the public.

Minority Republicans and a handful of Democrats formed a majority-voting bloc to send it to the governor. Click to Tweet New York’s top policy issues, Zack Fink, NY1 News Assessment of a child must indicate the need for residential care, and each child’s treatment must be regularly reviewed. Metro found 27 problems with power cables or connections during the shutdown. However, lawmakers have increased funding in recent years for some of the governor’s initiatives, including programs focused at disadvantaged students in elementary school.

John Bel Edwards has signed an executive order to expand Medicaid in the coming budget year, but some Republican lawmakers remain opposed to the prospect. On one hand, the governor came up with a plan that raised no taxes.

But the lottery-funded program hasn’t been able to keep up with the demand, forcing lawmakers to cut back on some of the incentives. For the fourth year in a row, Wyoming lawmakers have rejected expanding Medicaid, which would have ushered in $268 million in federal assistance to help healthcare providers and low-income patients alike. Roads and bridges are aging, particularly in the Portland metropolitan area where traffic congestion has gotten worse. Few rules are universal. Area lawmakers questioned the system publically and commuters were left wondering about the systems safety.

Similarly, public universities and community colleges are receiving no public support. Montana exports much of its electricity generated in Colstrip, a series of coal-fired power generating units, out of state. Legislators have worked on a fix to the state’s crumbling infrastructure for more California will be refining the legislation in the coming year, but other states are likely to be watching and will be considering some of the same requirements, among them that consumers be: States have long taken the lead in consumer privacy and security matters, such as security-breach notification laws. The Democratic leadership in the State House, unhappy with Hogan’s cuts, is pushing legislation that would usurp the governor’s power to prioritize transportation spending.

State lawmakers are scrambling to catch up with the epidemic, passing criminal laws and adding funds for prevention Opponents of the new health spending tried to unseat members of the legislature who voted for it. Agriculture – farming and ranching – is a backbone industry in the state. The governor argues that without a reliable source of revenue going forward, the state will be forced to make devastating cuts to critical programs and services that rely on state aid.

One lawmaker is continuing his push for workplace protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. County governments again asked South Dakota lawmakers for another revenue source to offset the costs of incarcerating criminals and caring for the indigent. Democrats have also proposed a new scholarship program for students at community and technical colleges. It won’t be there for you.”. Plunging energy prices have cut state severance tax collections on natural gas and coal to about 50 percent of projections, creating a $145 million shortfall in the state’s $4.3 billion General Revenue budget. This issue surfaces in debates over the huge gaps in the Freedom of Information Act, non-partisan redistricting, and the regulation of political ethics. On top of that, some 130,000 low-income students promised state tuition aid are not getting their grants. A study by Maryland’s Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education recommended a 10 percent pay hike for teachers after it discovered teachers made 25 percent less than comparable professionals with similar education and responsibilities.

The Democrat’s $19.87 billion budget proposal relies on cuts to the state’s social safety net and workforce reductions, which Malloy says are unavoidable in the lethargic economic recovery. Now more money – $3.5 billion over the next 10 years – is likely on the way. And legislators paved the way for the first step of an expansion of Atlanta’s MARTA mass transit system. There have been a number of broad issues for debate in American public policy, but in a more specific way public policy issues will vary widely depending on the place where they are applied. The state legalized medical marijuana by the slimmest of margins in 2010.

Martin Hawver

Dannel P. Malloy has ushered in a new and painful era of austerity with his plan to cut $500 million in state spending. Hubbard remains in office while awaiting trial in late spring 2016. That option may not be available next year. What is a Master's of Public Administration. For instance, take an issue like land use. We also don’t know what effect the election of more than an average number of new legislators will have, nor what the record number of newly elected women will mean for legislation. The transportation department says it needs $1 billion more a year to build and maintain roads and infrastructure. Energy prices in Massachusetts are among the highest in the nation – hurting residents and businesses. Edward Coles and the Vote to Forbid Slavery in Illinois. Hawver is the dean of the Kansas statehouse press corps, having covered the beat for almost four decades. Many teachers’ pay is so low they qualify for government benefits and must take on second or even third jobs just to make ends meet.
In 2011, he established Alabama’s first all internet-based news organization, alreporter.com. While most Democrats agreed that it should be easy for every citizen to vote, most Republicans believed the process shouldn’t be so easy that it is open to fraud.

Democrats are meeting with residents in those communities to come up with a plan, but Republicans want proposals focused on education disparities. A separate bill sponsored by the same Republican senator would bar anyone affiliated with an “abortion services provider” from teaching at public schools about any topic – not just abortion or sex education. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he would abide by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage after a local court deemed gay marriage unconstitutional. She has won many awards for her reporting, including honors from the Society of Professional Journalists, The Montana Broadcasters Association, and Public Radio News Directors Inc. Last year, Nebraska became the first conservative state in four decades to repeal the death penalty. Arizona is now in the eighth year of Republican control of the Capitol. “Don’t think for a minute that we can continue to have students leave our school district who are easier to educate, more affluent and without special needs, and still have the good old Little Rock School District. After the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a black man who was fatally injured while in police custody, riots and looting broke out on the streets. Free school lunch data, a measure of poverty, is relatively unchanged since the end of the recession. In response to the budget pinch, Martinez’s administration has directed state agencies to take cost-saving steps, including cutting back on non-essential employee travel and outside contracts.