Page 22 - While Senate News Today

Credit Trump Campaign A plan to dedicate a stretch of state highway in Cimarron County "President Donald J. Trump Highway" hit a speed bump this week. With an omnibus highway dedication bill up for a floor vote, Oklahoma City Democratic Sens. Kay Floyd and Carri Hicks pointed out under state law, most people must have been dead three years before they’re honored with a highway dedication. Sen. Rob Standridge (R-Norman) claimed the legislature makes exceptions regularly and could do so for the...

Racing to get out of town by Friday, lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on new restrictions on voting, a clampdown on social media companies and a plan to end a traditional pension plan for teachers, police officers and other government workers. But while lawmakers decide the fate of a slew of contentious bills and bring a pandemic-curtailed legislative session to a close, lobbyists, activists and watchdog groups mourned not only the death of bills, but also of "sunshine."  Pand...

As we reported in  January, Illinois judgment interest statute imposes post-judgment interest in tort actions at the rate of 9 percent per year from the date of the judgments entry through the date of the judgments satisfaction.  See, 735 ILCS 5/2-1303(a) (Section 1303). Prejudgment interest currently is not recoverable. The Illinois General Assembly aimed to change this through its passage of House Bill 3360, which sought to amend Section 1303 to impose prejudgment interest in tort actions.�...

New Mexico Senate Bill 2 Allowing Expungement Of Cannabis-Related Criminal Records Heads To Governor By Robert Nott SFNM A bill that would create a path for expunging criminal records tied to cases involving cannabis-related charges is on its way to the governor today after both chambers of the Legislature approved the The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 23-13, while the House of Representatives approved it 41-28.  While Senate Bill 2 does not eliminate conviction records, it would set up ...

"Children in rural Oklahoma deserve to have a high quality education and HB 2078 potentially jeopardizes that." How did HB 2078 change Oklahoma school funding? Stitt signed House Bill 2078, which passed the Oklahoma Senate on a vote of 27-19, with 11 Republicans and eight Democrats voting against. The proposal incited fierce debate and a slew of questions on the Senate floor.  “You know it’s a big day when bills pass off the floor, and the governor has them on his desk ready to sign th...

Following the lead of conservative politicians in nearly a dozen other states, Texas lawmakers are pushing a bill that would effectively ban most abortions by prohibiting the procedure once a fetal heartbeat can be detected — typically before a woman is aware she is pregnant. Federal courts have halted attempts in other states to implement such laws, but the architects of the proposal moving through the Texas Legislature believe that the bill they’ve crafted could withstand the same legal ...

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed a controversial school funding bill. House Bill 2078 changes the way state funding is calculated for school districts.

The Providence Journal PROVIDENCE — The effort to make reductions of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions mandatory in Rhode Island took a big step forward Tuesday with Senate approval of the Act on Climate bill.   The landmark legislation that environmental groups, public-health experts and citizen advocates say is necessary for the state to do more to fight climate change won passage in a 33-to-4 vote.  "Climate change is real, and its impacts will continue to be devastating if we do...

The New New Deal? U.S. House Of Representatives Passes Sweeping Labor Reform With Significant but Uncertain Future Friday, March 12, 2021 Unions are back in the news. On March 9, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives successfully passed the Protect the Right to Organize Act (the PRO Act), legislation designed to overhaul the current labor relations framework—touching on issues including independent contractors, joint employers, employee arbitration agreements, and new union organi...

Have Democrats Learned Their Lesson? Party leaders like Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer say they won’t repeat the missteps of Barack Obama’s first term. They haven’t proved it quite yet. Drew Angerer/Getty Images There is a rapidly consolidating consensus among the liberal commentariat that Democrats have learned from mistakes made during the Obama years and updated their thinking to adapt to new political realities. For once, it seems, Democrats may be in array. The design and passage of Jo...