State Legislatures

State Focus On Social Issues Worries GOP

The New York Times | Posted 04.21.2012

Fiscal issues and union rights were front and center in many Republican-controlled legislatures last year. But this year, with the nation heading into...

Dave Jamieson

Tea Party Stands With Unions Against Controversial Bill

HuffingtonPost.com | Dave Jamieson | Posted 03.19.2012

WASHINGTON -- Subscribers to an Atlanta Tea Party email list received an alert Monday morning urging them to take a stand against SB 469, a controvers...

Pay Hike for Albany Legislators? Nah

Dan Collins | Posted 03.26.2012

Dan Collins

Talk about a non-starter. This week the top Democrat in the New York state legislature floated the idea that the lawmakers deserve to get pay raises.

John Celock

GOP Lawmakers Propose Radical Changes

HuffingtonPost.com | John Celock | Posted 12.22.2011

A group of Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire have recently proposed state constitutional amendments that have the goal of overhauling aspects of t...

Max J. Rosenthal

States Attack Voting Rights

HuffingtonPost.com | Max J. Rosenthal | Posted 11.16.2011

WASHINGTON -- More than one million students attend colleges, universities and technical schools in Texas. But because of the state's new voter identi...

Progressives Begin Turning the Tide at 2011 National Legislative Summit

Tim Judson | Posted 10.12.2011

Tim Judson

The primary story that emerged from this year's NCSL summit was one of common sense prevailing over the economically disastrous and socially divisive proposals that have received so much of the spotlight in the states this year.

Jon Ward

Republican Strategist Plans To Recruit 100 Hispanic State Legislature Candidates For 2012

HuffingtonPost.com | Jon Ward | Posted 09.17.2011

WASHINGTON – The same Republican strategist who presciently focused his party's resources on winning state legislatures in the last election is now ...

How Educated Is Your State Legislator?

Dr. Jeffrey H. Toney | Posted 09.12.2011

Dr. Jeffrey H. Toney

How educated is your state legislator? The answer varies considerably from state to state. While many lawmakers hold a college degree, support of public higher education, it seems, has always been a challenge.

Cash-Strapped States Turn To Budget Cuts Over Higher Taxes To Patch Shortfalls

The Wall Street Journal | Leslie Eaton And Kris Maher | Posted 09.06.2011

Forty-six states began a new fiscal year Friday after lawmakers spent the spring hashing out budgets that largely avoid big tax increases in favor of ...

Tyler Kingkade

Immigration Reforms Backfire On States

HuffingtonPost.com | Tyler Kingkade | Posted 08.24.2011

WASHINGTON -- Gov. Nikki Haley added South Carolina to the list of Republican-controlled states to implement harsh immigration laws when she signed he...

Nominees Wanted: Local Immigration Hall of Shame

Amy Novick | Posted 07.26.2011

Amy Novick

Do you know of a local or state politician who is spreading fear about immigrants, proposing Arizona-style laws, or obstructing immigration reform?

Think Congress's Anti-Choice Legislation Is Extreme? Look at the States.

Michael B. Keegan | Posted 07.11.2011

Michael B. Keegan

The House GOP's attempts to restrict women's rights are for show, yes. But while Congress rattles its saber, pro-choice advocates should not be distracted from the real fights it has inspired in the states.

Sunshine Week: The Forecast is Mostly Cloudy

Kenneth F. Bunting | Posted 05.25.2011

Kenneth F. Bunting

Open government laws, in state after state, are being damaged and weakened, with increasing frequency, by new exclusions, loopholes and crazy exemptions that promote more secrecy and a lot less transparency.

Amanda Terkel

More Than 270 State Legislators Nationwide Declare Support For Wisconsin Protests

HuffingtonPost.com | Amanda Terkel | Posted 05.25.2011

WASHINGTON -- More than 270 state legislators from 44 states and two territories have signed a letter standing with the Democratic state senators in W...

Across the U.S., GOP Lawmakers Build States of Denial

Michael Winship | Posted 05.25.2011

Michael Winship

In the name of austerity, newly elected Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker is attempting to stamp out public workers' collective bargaining rights. But despite his dire claims, his state had been coping better than most.

Montana Considers Repealing Reality in the Interest of Economic Development

Peter H. Gleick | Posted 05.25.2011

Peter H. Gleick

Montana Representative Joe Read's bill, "An Act Stating Montana's Position on Global Warming," repeals the laws of nature and the realities of science.

States Caught In Crossfire Over Guns In Churches

Posted 05.25.2011

By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service The way Rev. Jonathan Wilkins sees it, members of his Baptist church in Thomaston, Ga., should have the righ...

Dem State Lawmakers Defecting To GOP Post-Election

AP | SHANNON McCAFFREY | Posted 05.25.2011

ATLANTA — Staggering Election Day losses are not the Democratic Party's final indignity this year. At least 13 state lawmakers in five states ha...

GOP Makes Massive Gains At State Level

AP | JENNIFER C. KERR | Posted 05.25.2011

WASHINGTON — From New Hampshire to Minnesota and down to Alabama, Republicans knocked Democrats out of the majority in key state legislative cha...

How Democrats Could Sweep Gubernatorial and State Legislature Races

Paul Abrams | Posted 05.25.2011

Paul Abrams

A little-discussed provision of the Affordable Health Care Act provides an extraordinary opening for Democratic candidates to deliver a simple message that will resonate with voters and sweep them into office. Yes, this year.

Colorado: A Blueprint for Electoral Success?

Rob Witwer | Posted 05.25.2011

Rob Witwer

While the national environment hasn't been kind to Republicans, Colorado progressives can take credit for consistently outperforming the generic environment. So what's the secret sauce?

Scavenging for Organs: Why the Donor Famine Justifies A Radical Harvest

Jacob M. Appel | Posted 05.25.2011

Jacob M. Appel

18 Americans die every day while waiting for an organ transplant, yet the American political establishment has been unwilling to champion non-traditional methods of expanding the organ supply.

State Legislatures Take Aim at Women

Tamar Abrams | Posted 05.25.2011

Tamar Abrams

State legislatures are often fertile ground for contentious or ribald behavior. And, while great strides have been made in the past decade to diversif...

Transparency in New Mexico: The 2010 Legislature

Avelino Maestas | Posted 05.25.2011

Avelino Maestas

This year brings a landmark for the Sunlight Foundation. We've been hinting for some time that we're going to make a serious play in state government,...

Jason Linkins

Rapper Issues Profane Tribute To Halle Berry In Louisiana Legislature (VIDEO)

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.25.2011

One thing not many Americans know about the State of Louisiana's legislature is that you are basically allowed to do whatever the hell you want when y...