Year: 2021
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A look back at government responses to the coronavirus pandemic, April 27-May 1, 2020
Although the first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was confirmed on Jan. 21, 2020, it wasn’t until March when the novel coronavirus upended life for most Americans. Throughout March and April, states issued stay-at-home orders, closed schools, restricted travel, and changed election dates. Many of those policies remain in place today. Here are the…
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Union Station: Indiana bill covering union resignations and payroll deductions signed
Holcomb signs bill allowing Indiana teachers to resign from unions at any time, requiring annual authorization for payroll deductions Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed Senate Bill 251 on April 22. The bill allows teachers to resign from their union at any time and requires teachers to authorize union payroll deductions on a yearly basis. …
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Louisiana voters to decide special elections for appeals, BESE, state leg races
Louisiana is holding special general elections on April 24. The general elections became necessary after no candidates received a majority of the votes in the primary election on March 20. Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than…
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Missouri House of Representatives unanimously expels Rick Roeber
The Missouri House of Representatives voted unanimously on April 21 to expel Rep. Rick Roeber (R). On April 19, the House Ethics committee released a 13-page report following its investigation into allegations that Roeber had abused his children. The Committee found the testimony and allegations of Roeber’s now-adult children to be credible and recommended Roeber’s…
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Special election to be held in Connecticut House district
A special election is being held on April 27 for District 145 of the Connecticut House of Representatives. Corey Paris (D) and J.D. Ospina (R) are running in the general election. The winner will serve until January 2023. The seat became vacant after Patricia Miller (D) won a special election to represent Connecticut State Senate…
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Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) signs bill increasing initiative signature distribution requirements
On April 17, Gov. Brad Little (R) signed Senate Bill 1110. The bill changed the state’s distribution requirement for ballot initiative and veto referendum signature petitions to require signatures from 6% of voters from all 35 legislative districts instead of the previous requirement of 6% of voters from 18 of the state’s legislative districts. With…
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New York voters will decide $3 billion environment and climate change projects bond measure in 2022
On April 19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed Senate Bill S2509C, which referred a $3 billion bond measure to the November 2022 ballot. The bill was part of the state budget and contained multiple other provisions. The ballot measure would issue $3.00 billion in general obligation bonds for projects related to the environment, natural resources,…
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Idaho voters to decide in 2022 if the legislature can call itself into special session
The Idaho State Legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the 2022 ballot that would allow lawmakers to call a special legislative session. The measure would authorize the president pro tempore of the state Senate and the speaker of the state House to convene a special session of the Idaho State Legislature upon receiving a joint…