Libertarian think tank rates Oklahoma fifth-freest state

By JULIE DELCOUR Associate Editor on Jun 9, 2013, at 2:04 AMUpdated on 6/09/13 at 7:34 AM Norman Meyer carries his fair tax sign during the Tea Party rally on the south steps of the state Capitol in April 2010, in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoman file Oklahoma at No Continue reading

Vt. lawmakers weigh apologizing for eugenics

MONTPELIER, Vt.If the state of Vermont had carried out a plan to sterilize his grandmother, Don Stevens said Tuesday, he “wouldn’t be here.” Many Vermonters of mixed French Canadian and Native American heritage, like Stevens’ grandmother, as well as poor, rural whites, were placed on a state-sanctioned list of “mental defectives” and degenerates in the 1930s and placed in state institutions like the Home for the Feeble Minded in Brandon. Some had surgery after Gov. Stanley Wilson in 1931 won enactment of a sterilization law Continue reading

Amendment could keep medical school out of Cameron County

The location of the Rio Grande Valleys prospective medical school is now the center of debate. The conversation now is about the medical school’s location. Cameron County officials have collected 42 pages with 800 signatures in just one day. Continue reading

Future of health care is big issue missing from campaign

But the prospect is diminishing that governments will be able to meet that demand without significant reforms to the way we provide care and the infusion of a lot more money than taxpayers seem willing to provide to keep afloat the public system as we now know it. Continue reading

Restoring sand to Venice and Anna Maria beaches

Published: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 6:37 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 6:37 p.m. The state Legislature this week is poised to approve the final plank of funding to renourish Venice and Anna Maria Island beaches, both ravaged last year by Tropical Storm Debby. Continue reading

Lawmakers mull constitutional amendment on beaches

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A Texas House panel on Monday debated where private property rights end and public beaches begin, as lawmakers considered a proposed constitutional amendment and another measure that could reverse two contentious state Supreme Court rulings on coastline boundaries. Rep Continue reading

Colorado aerospace takes center stage at state capitol

Many of Colorado’s aerospace organizations, companies and educational institutions gathered Monday at the state Capitol for Aerospace Day in an attempt to raise the visibility of Colorado’s aerospace industry and send a message to Washington. Area businesses and universities set up booths near the rotunda before and after the House and Senate passed Joint Senate Resolution 20, officially making March 25 Colorado Aerospace Day. “We are trying not to be a secret,”said Joe Rice, director of government relations at Lockheed Martin Space Systems and a former state representative. Continue reading

UCR MEDICAL SCHOOL : Funding bill passes committee

SACRAMENTO For several years, the states deep budget problems have thwarted attempts by supporters of a school of medicine at UC Riverside to get the Legislature to appropriate $15 million for the school. State finances are improving. Now a labor dispute could complicate the effort Continue reading

Health care providers oppose Republican resolution to not expand Medicaid

Topeka Allowing more low-income people to get health coverage will save lives and boost the economy, health care providers said Friday as they urged legislators to reject a resolution that says Kansas isn’t interested in expanding Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. But several Republican legislators supported the resolution, saying Medicaid expansion would be too costly, drive up the federal deficit, and they expressed general displeasure with the ACA, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama and is known as Obamacare. Continue reading

Senators: Health care funding to hit budget

The two state senators who represent Jackson County as the 2013 legislative session nears see challenges for the General Assembly in funding increased health care costs in the wake of passage of the Affordable Health Care Act. Sen Continue reading

Cayman Islands governor appoints new premier

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (Reuters) – The Cayman Islands’ governor appointed Deputy Premier Julianna O’Connor-Connolly as premier of the British Caribbean territory on Wednesday, refusing a request by the ousted premier to dissolve parliament and call early elections. O’Connor-Connolly, 51, succeeds McKeeva Bush, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote of the legislature on Tuesday, a week after his arrest on suspicion of corruption. British-appointed Governor Duncan Taylor said he appointed O’Connor-Connolly on the advice of a majority of lawmakers from the ruling United Democratic Party, which holds nine seats in the 15-member Legislative Assembly. Continue reading

Libertarian candidate: ‘I wasn’t the spoiler’ in Hillsboro’s House District 30

By Kyle Markley The race for House District 30 was expected to be close, with first-term Republican incumbent Shawn Lindsay facing Democrat challenger Joe Gallegos in a district where Democrats enjoy a 7 percent advantage in voter registration. Both campaigns were vigorous. According to ORESTAR (the campaign finance database maintained by the secretary of state’s office), the Gallegos campaign had total expenditures exceeding $600,000 and the Lindsay campaign over $500,000 Continue reading

Arkansas moves forward on health overhaul

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas officials say the state is moving forward with implementing parts of the federal health care law after an election that provided clarity on the federal level but uncertainty in the state Legislature about the political future of the controversial legislation. Continue reading

Nine states launch religious freedom caucuses to promote tolerance

Holly Bruce holds up a sign during the Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally in front of the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 23, 2012. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Enlarge photo WASHINGTON Legislative leaders from nine states Tuesday, citing a growing polarization on the issue of religious freedom, announced the formation of state religious freedom caucuses Continue reading