Category: State
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Former Alabama lawmaker joins the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Former Alabama Representative April Weaver was appointed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on May 18, 2020. Weaver will serve as a regional director overseeing Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, and North Carolina. She reports to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Weaver was first elected to…
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Virginia Supreme Court to hear environmental law case on oyster fisheries
On May 18, 2020, the Virginia Supreme Court announced that it will hear a case between the City of Suffolk and a group of Virginia oyster fishermen. The original lawsuit was filed in November 2018 by C. Robert Johnson III, Lisa Lawson Johnson, Thomas Hazelwood, Johnson and Sons Seafood, and Hazelwood Oyster Farms, who sued…
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Fagan wins Democratic nomination for Oregon Secretary of State
Shemia Fagan became the presumptive Democratic nominee for Oregon Secretary of State on May 22 after her opponent Mark Hass conceded. As of May 25, Fagan received 36.2% of the votes to Hass’s 35.6%, a margin of 3,343 votes. Jamie McLeod-Skinner, received 27.5% of the vote. Fagan will face state Sen. Kim Thatcher (R) in…
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Michigan legislature asks state Supreme Court to take up lawsuit challenging governor’s emergency powers
On Friday, May 22, Republicans in the Michigan Senate and House asked the Michigan Supreme Court to consider a lawsuit filed by House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R) and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R) challenging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) emergency declarations issued in response to the coronavirus. A Michigan Court of Claims Judge ruled against…
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Illinois state representative tests positive for COVID-19
Illinois state representative Edgar Gonzales Jr. (D) announced in a Facebook post on May 18 that he had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Gonzales was appointed to represent District 21 in January, 2020, to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. Celina Villanueva (D), who was appointed to the…
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After two-month delay, Florida governor appoints two Florida Supreme Court justices
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed John Couriel and Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court on May 26, 2020. Couriel and Francis succeeded Justices Robert J. Luck and Barbara Lagoa, who vacated the seats in November 2019 after being elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Couriel and Francis will join…
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One Indiana Supreme Court justice faces a retention election in November
One Indiana Supreme Court justice, Christopher M. Goff, will face a retention election on November 3, 2020. He was appointed in 2017 by Governor Eric Holcomb (R). Currently, every justice on the court was appointed by a Republican governor. The governor appoints the five justices of the supreme court through a hybrid nominating commission where…
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In November, Californians will decide whether app-based drivers should be classified as independent contractors
At the election on November 3, 2020, Californians will decide a ballot initiative that addresses whether app-based drivers should be classified as independent contractors. In September 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed AB 5, which established criteria to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Uber, Lyft, and Doordash proposed a ballot…
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Oregon state legislative primaries see no incumbents defeated and an increase in competitiveness from 2018
May 19, 2020, was the ballot return due date for voters participating in Oregon’s 2020 primary elections. This year, 16 of the 30 seats in the state senate and all 60 seats in the state house are up for election. There were 33 contested state legislative primaries, six of which were for state senate seats…
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Maine lawsuit challenges whether voters can overturn state agency orders
A new lawsuit asks whether the Maine Constitution allows citizens to use ballot initiatives to reverse agency orders. On May 12, Avangrid Networks, Inc. asked the Cumberland County Superior Court to block a ballot initiative that aims to overturn a Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) decision to grant Central Maine Power Company (CMP) a permit…