Arizona’s Republican governor on Tuesday vetoed a state bill that would have made it harder for students to learn about sexual and gender identity in schools, but issued an executive order requiring schools to be more transparent about their proposed curriculum on the topics. Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed SB 1456 nearly a week after the…… MORE
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday signed a bill legalizing simple possession of marijuana beginning this summer, making it the first Southern state to do so and accelerating a revamp of cannabis laws that have disproportionately jailed Americans of color for nonviolent offenses. The bill, signed a day after April 20 — marijuana’s unofficial holiday…… MORE
In the months after George Floyd’s death, Minneapolis Police Department officers reported using force on far fewer people — but then use of force spiked late last year, a CNN analysis of department data found. And after Floyd’s death, Black people are still subject to use of force by Minneapolis officers at a highly disproportionate…… MORE
President Joe Biden’s ability to galvanize global momentum faces its first major test this week when he convenes 40 of his foreign counterparts for talks on combating the climate crisis. At the virtual summit’s center will be an aggressive new pledge to halve US carbon emissions, according to administration officials, a target number that has…… MORE
The New York state legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that would automatically restore voting rights to people convicted of a felony once they are on parole. The bill is intended to improve upon a 2018 executive order granting voting pardons to the 35,000 New Yorkers on parole, according to Assembly member Daniel O’Donnell, a…… MORE
Senate Republicans on Wednesday declined to change their conference rules that ban their use of earmarks, an issue that divides the GOP conference and will be a test for how the party will operate over the next several months with Democrats in control of the US Senate. Not a single senator offered an amendment to…… MORE
Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a former public liaison official inside the Trump White House, will meet with the former President at Mar-a-Lago next week as he finalizes his plans to launch a campaign for New York governor. “I will be down there next week for a…… MORE
The GOP-led Arizona House on Tuesday passed legislation that would make changes to the mail-in voting process in the state, including stopping some voters from automatically receiving ballots. The bill, a part of the ongoing Republican effort to restrict voting across the country, passed on a party-line vote and comes months after former President Donald…… MORE
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general in a narrow 51-49 vote after Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined with Democrats in support of President Joe Biden’s Justice Department nominee. Vice President Kamala Harris was on hand for a procedural vote Wednesday morning in case she was needed for a possible 50-50…… MORE
The Justice Department is launching a probe into policing practices in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd and the murder convictions for ex-cop Derek Chauvin, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday. In a speech last week, Garland had vowed to examine the practices of police departments that commit civil rights violations. Garland at the…… MORE
