Latest Politics Headlines
All the headlines from our Politics Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Higher DUI Fines OK’d by Montana Senate
Apr 20 2015 // Montana senators have endorsed a proposal to double DUI fines. Seven Democrats joined 20 Republicans Saturday to approve House Bill 488 on a 27-23 vote that reversed the Senate’s Friday opinion against the bill. The...
Oklahoma Ridesharing Bill Passes Senate Without Discrimination Protections
Apr 17 2015 // A bill that sets up a regulatory framework in Oklahoma for ridesharing programs such as Uber and Lyft passed the state Senate, but not before a provision protecting gay and transgender passengers from discrimination was...
Obama Likely to Veto Republicans’ Estate Tax Repeal Bill
Apr 15 2015 // The White House on Tuesday said Democratic President Barack Obama’s advisers would recommend that he veto a pending Republican-authored bill to repeal the estate tax. A vote on the bill in the House of...
Texting While Driving Ban OK’d in Oklahoma Senate
Apr 13 2015 // Oklahoma drivers could be pulled over and ticketed for texting while driving under a bill passed overwhelmingly in the state Senate. The Senate voted 38-6 for the HB 1965, which now returns to the House for...
Florida Senate Passes ‘Waldo Bill’ Banning Traffic Ticket Quotas
Apr 10 2015 // Traffic ticket quotas for law enforcement agencies would be illegal under a bill passed by the Florida Senate. The so-called “Waldo Bill” (SB 264) passed unanimously with no debate Wednesday. It must still pass...
Georgia Senate Sends Ridesharing Bill to Governor
Apr 6 2015 // The Georgia Senate has expanded the requirements ridesharing companies must meet to operate in the state. The Senate voted last Thursday to add a requirement for drivers of companies such as Uber to display certificates of...
Nevada Senate Passes Bill Allowing 80 Mph Speed Limits
Apr 6 2015 // A bill allowing Nevada to increase speed limits up to 80 mph has passed out of the state Senate. Senators voted to approve SB 2 on Thursday in a 16-4 vote. The bill now moves to the Assembly. The bill is sponsored by...
Insurance Agent One of 4 Democrats Vying for Vacant Texas House Seat
Apr 1 2015 // Voters in western San Antonio are choosing a successor for state Rep. Jose Menendez, who left office in February to become a Texas senator. Four Democratic candidates squaring off are former San Antonio City Council member...
Controversial Ridesharing Legislation Makes it Through Georgia Senate
Mar 30 2015 // The Georgia Senate has passed a slightly tweaked substitute measure to a House bill that apparently clears the way for Uber, Lyft and other ridesharing companies to keep operating in the state. The substitute, which makes...
New Hampshire Senate Delays Workers’ Compensation Reform Deal
Mar 27 2015 // New Hampshire state senators have pushed off a deal to reform New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation insurance laws. The chamber voted Thursday to send a tentative deal, which would’ve given providers...
California Senate Approves $1B Water Plan Amid Drought
Mar 26 2015 // The state Senate has approved a $1 billion proposal to speed up spending on water projects in drought-stricken California. The Senate this week voted 35-1 on the package to accelerate infrastructure spending. An...
Maryland House, Senate Pass Fracking Bills
Mar 26 2015 // Legislation that limits when and how fracking could take place in Maryland passed Tuesday in both chambers of the state legislature. Senators voted 29-17 for a bill that holds drilling companies strictly liable for...
Retooled Medical Marijuana Bill Gets OK from Georgia Senate
Mar 26 2015 // After two rancorous years of squabbling, confusion and heated debate, Georgia appears on the verge of having a medical marijuana law after the state Senate passed a sweeping bill Tuesday that would allow cannabis oil to be...
House Republicans Plan Vote on Estate Tax Repeal
Mar 24 2015 // The House Ways and Means Committee plans to vote this week on a bill to repeal the U.S. estate tax, said Doug Andres, a spokesman for committee chairman Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican. The move to repeal the estate tax...
Georgia Senate Committee Approves Ridesharing Bill
Mar 24 2015 // A bill that would give Uber and other ride-sharing services clear sailing to keep operating in Georgia on passed the state Senate’s powerful Science and Technology Committee late last week. The bill by Republican...
N.H. Senate Committee Not Backing Workers’ Comp Fee Schedule
Mar 23 2015 // A key policy committee in the New Hampshire Senate is backing a workers’ compensation reform bill that it says will reduce costs by 7.5 percent without imposing a price-fixing mechanism backed by business...
Obama Administration Releases Regulations on Fracking on Federal Lands
Mar 22 2015 // The Obama administration issued the first federal regulations for fracking since the drilling technique fueled a domestic energy boom, requiring extensive disclosures of the chemicals used on public land. After years of...
Colorado Senate Passes Condo Builder Liability Measure
Mar 20 2015 // A bill to make it harder to sue condominium builders has cleared its first hurdle in the Colorado Legislature. The measure would make it harder to sue builders of single and multifamily homes for defective construction. It...
N.J. Senate OKs Electronic Proof of Insurance, Reverse Rate Evasion Bills
Mar 19 2015 // New Jersey’s state Senate on March 16 passed a bill (A-3905) that would allow motorists to display proof of auto insurance in either physical or electronic format. The bill was previously approved by the state...
Arkansas Senate OKs Plan to Create New Agency to Regulate Title Insurance
Mar 19 2015 // The Arkansas Senate is backing a proposal to set up a new commission that would supervise the title insurance business. The body approved Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson’s bill on a 20-11 vote on March 17. The bill had failed...
