The Democratic controlled cities of Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho, adopted new city flags this week that show support for LGBTQ+ people in defiance of new laws passed by their states’ Republican-controlled Legislatures.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that the Democratic governor legally used the state’s uniquely powerful veto to lock in a school funding increase for 400 years.

Lawmakers moved a state bill forward Tuesday aiming to change the school grading system, so it is no longer easier for a school to get an “A” than it is for a student.

A federal judge has found the extreme heat in Texas prisons that don’t have air conditioning is “plainly unconstitutional.”.

Once floated as the heir to Donald Trump’s GOP, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is used to getting his way in Tallahassee.

A bill that would relax restrictions on working hours for Florida teenagers is moving through the state Legislature amid an ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration.

When Fargo voters approved a unique local election system in 2018, their goal was to choose candidates with broader support to lead North Dakota’s largest city.

Utah’s Republican governor has signed a collective bargaining ban that experts are calling one of the most restrictive labor laws in the country, despite overwhelming opposition from union members.

The seventh anniversary of the massacre that killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland comes with concerns.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to let voters repeal and create state laws without legislative involvement met opposition from the Republican leaders of the Legislature, who signaled that the idea is likely to be rejected for a second time.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she will introduce legislation to expand the state’s involuntary commitment laws to allow hospitals to compel more mentally ill people into treatment.

Lawmakers have clashed in Taiwan’s legislature after members of a leading political party broke into the building overnight to occupy the speaker’s chair.

New Jersey is seeking to drastically reduce the amount of plastics and other packaging material that's tossed out once a package is opened.

Voters in some parts of the country are discovering that having their say at the ballot box is not necessarily the final word, even though this year's election was over a month ago.

A judge’s overturning of Wisconsin’s 13-year-old law that effectively ended collective bargaining for teachers and most state government employees has rekindled a battle over labor rights in a state where the first public sector unions were formed 65 years ago.

Arizona voters have approved letting local police arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the state from Mexico.

The same Michigan voters Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris needs in the critical swing state will also determine whether her party maintains its foothold on state government two years after pulling off a historic sweep.

Voters in nine states are deciding next month whether to add the right to abortion to their constitutions.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law aimed at preventing gas prices from spiking at the pump.

With ballot deadlines approaching, Nebraska and Missouri courts are weighing whether amendments on abortion will go before voters.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has upheld a 2023 state law that restores voting rights for felons once they have completed their prison sentences.

Wisconsin Republicans are asking voters to take away the governor’s power to unilaterally spend federal money, a reaction to the billions of dollars that flowed into the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democrats in the state legislative majority have rebuffed calls by New Mexico’s governor to address the “dangerous intersection” of crime and homelessness.

Utah’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of opponents of redistricting that carved up Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County among four congressional districts that have since elected Republicans by wide margins.

All over Florida, arts groups are scrambling to plug large budget gaps after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unexpectedly vetoed $32 million in arts funding.

The California Supreme Court has removed a measure from the state’s November ballot that would have made it harder to raise taxes.

An anti-abortion group in South Dakota has filed a lawsuit to block an abortion rights measure from the November ballot.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it would not hear a case challenging the state’s compact giving the Seminole Tribe of Florida exclusive rights to run sports betting in the Sunshine State.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed legislation overhauling access to the state’s public records, likely making it harder for the public and media to access some documents, according to critics.

Vermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather.

Youth services and civil rights groups are suing to block a new Washington state parental rights law that is set to take effect next month.

Some Kansas lawmakers see a chance to lure Kansas City’s two biggest professional sports teams across the Missouri border, but an effort to help the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Royals finance new stadiums in Kansas fizzed.

Florida is on the verge of repealing what’s left of a 16-year-old law that puts climate change as a priority when making energy policy decisions.

Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell says “our heart aches for the loss of life” in tornadoes that left four dead and about 100 injured in Oklahoma.

A proposed ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors in Kansas has died.

Some public school teachers could gain new powers to bring concealed guns into Tennessee schools.

Supporters of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota are welcoming federal legislation that would help cover the construction costs of the library and to showcase artifacts of the 26th president.

Unlike recent years when there was an LGBTQ+ ally in the Louisiana governor's office, nothing stands in the way this year of legislation hostile to transgender people.

A new voting rights law in New York is already having a dramatic effect, with lawsuits in several local communities seeking to reverse decades of minority voter disenfranchisement.

Nebraska’s Republican governor is calling on state lawmakers to move forward with a “winner-take-all” system of awarding Electoral College votes.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that would have banned high school transgender athletes from competing on teams that align with their gender identity.

As Kansas prepares to ban gender-affirming care for minors, students at the state's largest university taking action.

A high school teacher and two students are suing Arkansas over the state's ban on critical race theory in public schools.

California wants to pay doctors more money to persuade them to see more Medicaid patients.

New Mexico’s State Land Office will withhold lease sales indefinitely on its most promising tracts for oil and gas development in the Permian Basin as it seeks approval by the state Legislature to increase top-tier royalty rates.

South Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature has approved the creation of a video to outline the state’s abortion laws and to clarify when health care providers are legally allowed to intervene.

South Dakota's Legislature has made it easier for the city of Sioux Falls to find new homes for more than 150 taxidermy animals of its arsenic-contaminated collection.

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, has signed new legislative district maps into law that he proposed and that the Republicans who control the Legislature passed to avoid having the liberal-leaning state Supreme Court draw the lines.

Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled Legislature has passed legislative maps that were proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Nebraska state Sen_ Loren Lippincott is touting a bill that would give the Nebraska State Patrol $200,000 to hire “an ethical hacker.”.

Wisconsin Democrats are inching closer to overturning Republican-drawn legislative maps that the GOP have used to grow their majorities and advance their agenda over the past 13 years.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ lawsuit against the Republican-controlled Legislature arguing that it is obstructing basic government functions.

New Jersey's Democratic-led state government is considering legislation that would eliminate out-of-pocket costs for abortion.

Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has promised to veto a redistricting proposal that the Republican-controlled Assembly passed and that largely mirror maps he proposed, but with changes that would reduce the number of GOP incumbents who would have to face one another in November.

Hawaii lawmakers are opening a new session of the state Legislature vowing to address glaring problems laid bare by the deadly wildfire that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina in August.

Hawaii lawmakers are due to convene this week for the first time since the burning of historic Lahaina awakened the state to the deadly and costly threat posed by wildfires in an age of climate change.

Louisiana’s newly inaugurated lawmakers are set to convene for a special session during which they will discuss items that could impact how the state conducts elections.

A federal judge has ordered a new legislative district for two Native American tribes who successfully challenged North Dakota’s 2021 redistricting map as violating the Voting Rights Act in diluting Native American voters’ strength.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is more aggressive and openly political in pushing to expand Medicaid in Kansas as the Republican-controlled Legislature prepares to open its annual session.

The liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Republican-drawn legislative maps and ordered that new ones be created.

New York’s highest court just gave Democrats a chance to redraw the state’s congressional districts, a major victory as the party tries to flip seats in the state to win control of the U.S. House next year.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request from North Dakota's secretary of state to delay a federal judge's ruling that found the state's 2021 redistricting map violated the Voting Rights Act in diluting the voting strength of two Native American tribes.

New York’s highest court has ordered the state to draw new congressional districts ahead of the 2024 elections.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recommended Florida eliminate more than 1,000 state jobs in a spending proposal released Tuesday that cuts the current budget by more $4.6 billion while maintaining popular sales tax holidays.

Louisiana lawmakers now have until the end of January to draw and pass new congressional boundaries to replace the current map that a federal judge says dilutes the power of the state’s Black voters.

A federal judge has ruled that North Dakota’s 2021 legislative redistricting plan violates the rights of two Native American tribes because it dilutes their voting strength.

Every seat in New Jersey’s General Assembly is up for grabs in Tuesday’s general election.

Donald Trump has Pennsylvania’s voting rules in his sights, and it's a familiar target.

A ruling by North Dakota’s Supreme Court has jeopardized funding for major parts of the state government.

Accusations that New Mexico’s Democratic-led Legislature unfairly diluted the vote of a politically conservative oil-producing region with its redistricting map have gone to trial.

Democrats in the Pennsylvania House will keep their one-vote majority after winning a Pittsburgh area seat in a special election.

California lawmakers have finished their work for 2023.

Oregon has taken an unprecedented step in offering psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms, to the public.

Nearly 1 million California workers would win major salary increases under a pair of bills in the state Legislature.

The Florida Supreme Court must decide whether to overrule broad abortion rights protections provided for decades under the state constitution and instead uphold a law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that bans the procedure in most cases after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Even before the newly elected justice who gave liberals a one-seat majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has heard a case, Republican lawmakers are talking about taking the unprecedented step of impeaching and removing her from office.

Record-breaking oil production in New Mexico is likely to provide state government with a new multibillion-dollar surplus during the upcoming budget year.

Construction began in June on the Theodore Roosevelt presidential library planned for the Badlands of western North Dakota.

South Carolina's newly all-male Supreme Court has reversed course on abortion, upholding a ban on most such procedures after just weeks of pregnancy.

Tennessee lawmakers are convening a special session this week that highlights the divergent response states are taking to a spate of mass shootings.

The Iowa Supreme Court says Gov. Kim Reynolds can appeal a temporary block on the state’s restrictive abortion law.

Maine will soon expand abortion access, joining a half dozen states that leave it to doctors and patients to make the decision without restrictions on timing.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto that attempts to lock in a school funding increase for 400 years drew outrage and surprise from his political opponents.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has signed off on a two-year spending plan after gutting a Republican tax cut and using his broad veto powers to increase school funding for centuries.

North Dakota higher education officials are deeply worried about losing students and revenue in 2024 when neighboring Minnesota makes tuition free for thousands of its residents at public colleges and universities.

A new California law aimed in part at increasing salaries for fast food workers has been delayed.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing an end to public disclosure of investigations of abusive and corrupt police officers.

A federal judge is blocking much of Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors from taking effect as scheduled July 1.

Wisconsin's top elections official is nearing the end of her term, and uncertainty looms over who will hold the position through the 2024 presidential election.

New York would create a commission to consider reparations to address the lingering, negative effects of slavery under a bill passed by the state Legislature.

Louisiana is poised to become the latest state to enact laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community.

Minnesota’s governor has legalized recreational marijuana for people over 21 starting in August.

The political divide affecting the United States is hitting Oregon hard.

California legislative committees in the Assembly and Senate blocked two big climate bills Thursday.

Two Republicans and an Independent in the Oregon Senate are now disqualified from reelection as a walkout has stalled hundreds of bills and triggered a constitutional amendment aimed at stopping the boycotts.

Kansas’ Democratic governor has scuttled a small legal settlement between the state and the owner of a Wichita fitness studio forced to shut down during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic and then operate under restrictions.

Rare momentum in the Texas Capitol for a tougher gun law has flickered out, days after a mass shooting near Dallas left eight people dead.

Republican state representatives' head-turning votes are helping advance a bill in the Texas House that proposes raising the purchase age for AR-style rifles.

The Michigan House has further advanced legislation that would outlaw companies from retaliating against employees for receiving abortions following its passage in the state Senate in March.

Two decades after New Hampshire’s famous Old Man of the Mountain crumbled, the state is paying tribute to the granite profile that symbolizes its independence with new geological research, poetry, a song, and a scavenger hunt.