State Politics & News
Coverage of state politics, elections, and conservative policy battles across all 50 states shaping America’s future.
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- News
NIH Director Warns of Unintended Consequences from Mandatory Quarantines in New York, New Jersey
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced mandatory quarantines for health workers returning from West Africa. However, such a policy could have negative, unintended consequences, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned today. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Fauci said that…Melissa Quinn -
- News
In New Jersey, an Uphill Race for Senate Resets the Gold Standard
“Hands Across New Jersey.” That was the name given to the grassroots movement that came together in response to the $2.8 billion tax increase New Jersey Gov. Jim Florio pushed through after taking office in 1990. Florio, a Democrat, had said throughout the campaign that he saw “no need for new taxes.” When he went…Kevin Mooney -
- News
In Chicago, Candidate Votes Republican, But His Vote Is Changed to Vote for Democrat
CHICAGO — Early voting in Illinois got off to a controversial start Monday, as votes being cast for Republican candidates were transformed into votes for Democrats. Republican state representative candidate Jim Moynihan went to vote Monday at the Schaumburg Public Library. “I tried to cast a vote for myself and instead it cast the vote…Paul Miller -
- News
Lockheed Martin Director Explains Why Ending Export-Import Bank Could Benefit South Carolina
The embattled Export-Import Bank received a nine-month reprieve from Congress last month, but could ending it next year actually be a good thing for some states? When asked about the agency last week, Don Erickson, a site director for defense giant Lockheed Martin in South Carolina, first contended that financing from the Export-Import Bank creates…Paul Runko -
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Indiana to Start Requiring Food Stamp Recipients Work, Be in Job Training, or Job Hunting
Next spring, thousands could be cut from Indiana’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Indiana has previously waived the federal requirement that SNAP recipients are either employed, actively seeking employment or in training for future employment. But now the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration has announced that, as of 2015, the federal requirement will be enforced…Kate Scanlon -
- Opinion
Watch This Man Get Arrested for Just Playing His Guitar in New York City
Watch out: dangerous guitar players could threaten you next! That seems to be the mindset of the New York Police Department. The NYPD recently arrested a local musician for loitering while playing the guitar in a New York subway station, despite reading word for word the law which allowed him to perform his music. The…Jordan Richardson -
- News
Hawaii Ranks Worst for Sales Tax Burden
HONOLULU—Hawaii ranks worst in three major categories in the seventh annual “Rich States, Poor States” report, which tracks states’ economic policies based on 15 policy areas. Hawaii has no sales tax; residents pay a general excise tax for goods and services, including food, medical services and medical prescriptions. The state has the highest “sales” tax…Malia Zimmerman -
- Opinion
A Big Win for Voter ID Laws in Texas
The Texas voter ID law, which was effective in November 2013 statewide constitutional elections, will be in place for the Nov. 4 mid-term election, representing a big win for voters and election integrity in Texas. On Saturday, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency petition filed by the NAACP and refused to overrule the Fifth Circuit…Hans von Spakovsky -
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On the Campaign Trail: ‘Ground Zero’ in North Carolina and the GOP Chase for College Kids
RALEIGH, N.C.–For Republicans, “ground zero” is the state where the party’s fortunes in the Senate could be won or lost. And for a Republican Party that has traditionally struggled to match the Democrats’ ground game, “ground zero” is also the volunteer-driven campaign offices dotted throughout that same state. “This is ground zero in America,” said…Josh Siegel -
- News
From California to D.C., These Cowboys Rode in Protest of Government Land Grab
A group of horseback riders and grassroots activists rode into Washington, D.C., last week after traveling nearly 2,800 miles from the California coast to raise awareness about the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to revoke their grazing rights and the federal government’s extensive ownership of land and natural resources in the West. The group, which calls…Gabriella Morrongiello -
- Opinion
Wisconsin State Prosecutors Lose Another Round in Their Outrageous Attempt to Silence Conservatives
Fortunately for the interests of American democracy, the First Amendment and citizen advocacy, state prosecutors in Wisconsin have just lost another round in their outrageous attempt to criminalize political speech and silence the voices of conservatives in Wisconsin. On Oct. 14, federal district court Judge Rudolph Randa issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the Wisconsin Government…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
California Politician Claims Obamacare Contracts Went to Agency Director’s Cronies
California’s beleaguered Obamacare exchange is once again in the crosshairs of a state senator who is demanding answers following reports that millions in contracts never went out to bid and instead were awarded to friends of the agency’s director. Sen. Ted Gaines, who also is the GOP candidate for state insurance commissioner on the November…Tori Richards -
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Big Texas Health Care Provider Can Handle Only 6 Cases of Ebola
One of the largest health care providers in Texas can handle only about six Ebola cases at any given time using current medical protocols. "What if, God forbid, we saw 8,000, as in West Africa? They had no answer," says @SenTedCruz. The startling figure was revealed by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in a Texas Tribune…Robert B. Bluey -
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Not Just Kansas Anymore: Why Voter ID Laws in These States Are Tangled Up in Courts
In the run-up to the Nov. 4 midterm elections, the courts have weighed in on voting rules, both supporting and rebuking efforts by Republican state governments to prevent fraud. The Supreme Court last week upheld a North Carolina voting law that bars same-day registration and doesn’t allow the counting of votes cast in the wrong…Josh Siegel -
- News
Hawaii Students Get Gift Cards for Participating in Controversial Sex-Ed Program
HONOLULU – Middle school students who participated in a controversial sex education program in Hawaii were rewarded with gift cards from the University of Hawaii Center on Disability Studies. The gift cards, valued at between $10 and $20 each, were issued to 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds who participate in Pono Choices. About $52,200 of a…Malia Zimmerman -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Blocks Part of Texas Abortion Law. But That Doesn’t Mean the Court Would Strike Down Law Itself.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an application to block parts of H.B. 2, Texas’s abortion law made famous by State Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour filibuster from going into effect while the case is pending. In Whole Women’s Health v. Lakey, a federal district court struck down as unconstitutional H.B. 2’s requirements that doctors…Elizabeth Slattery -
- News
Watch Louisiana Senate Hopefuls Score Job Performance of Obama, Jindal in the Same Sentence
President Obama and Gov. Bobby Jindal took a beating last night from Louisiana’s three leading U.S. Senate candidates. At their first debate, incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu, Republican challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy and Rob Maness, a retired Air Force veteran also running as a Republican, squared off over health care, Social Security and climate change. The…Kelsey Bolar -
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Tennessee Woman Jailed for Overgrown Yard
A Tennessee woman has been jailed because of her overgrown yard. Karen Holloway was cited by Lenoir City during the summer when she started to struggle to keep up with her yard work because of what she called “personal, family issues.” “With my husband going to school and working full time, me with my job,…Kate Scanlon -
- Opinion
Environmentalists Halt Obama Administration Plan to Cut Trees in Alaska
A family-owned timber firm that operates the last significant sawmill in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest has won a momentous U.S. Forest Service contract: the Big Thorne Project, which will allow the harvest of nearly 150 million board feet of wood. The Obama administration's decision marks the transition away from old-growth timber and toward a sustainable…Ron Arnold -
- News
Second US Ebola Patient Identified as Young Texas Nurse
A 26-year-old nurse named Nina Pham is the health care worker at a Dallas hospital who tested positive for the Ebola virus after helping to treat a man who later died of the disease, her family told a Dallas radio station. WFAA reported that Pham, a 2010 graduate of Texas Christian University’s nursing program, is the first person known to contract the…Ken McIntyre