Tag: Bill (law)

John Kasich on Wednesday vetoed legislation that would make Ohio the last state in the nation to shift the burden of proof in self-defense cases from the defendant to prosecutors. The term-limited Republican governor’s decision to veto House Bill 228 is likely to be the first in a series of battles with the GOP-dominated legislature over legislation passed during his final days in office. HB 228 would also loosen a number of Ohio gun-control rules – including allowing individuals to challenge local gun-control ordinances in court. Kasich indicated earlier on Wednesday that he intended to veto the legislation “Why would I sign a bill that gives more power to the gun advocates?” the governor said during a Columbus Metropolitan Club luncheon. “For the first time in my lifetime, the possibility of somebody coming through that door and shooting us exists,” he continued. It now remains to be seen whether proponents of the bill can get enough votes in the Ohio House and Senate to override Kasich’s veto. While the bill needed only a majority to pass, a veto override requires the support of 60 percent of lawmakers in each chamber. Right now, state law only allows no duty to retreat when defendants are in their home or vehicle. Last week, lawmakers passed a number of other bills that Kasich is also expected to veto, including a pay raise for lawmakers and other elected officials and a “heartbeat bill” that bans abortion when a fetal heartbeat can be detected (which can be as soon as 6 weeks into a pregnancy). The Ohio General Assembly also sent Kasich a second abortion bill that would ban the procedure used for almost all second-trimester abortions.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s three big policy proposals may be gaining momentum in the House. But could the marijuana reform bill she introduced earlier this year actually pass in the Senate? And he’s trying to make it happen this week. “The votes are there,” Gardner told Bloomberg in an interview Monday. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) discusses his bill that would allow banking for the marijuana industry https://t.co/1JMHPdAEto pic.twitter.com/MSHjjlQt0u — Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) December 17, 2018 The STATES Act, which Warren and Gardner introduced in June, would amend the Controlled Substances Act so that the federal prohibition on marijuana does not apply in states that have legalized the drug, like Colorado and Massachusetts. According to The Denver Post, Gardner’s plan is to introduce the bill as an amendment to the federal criminal justice reform bill that the Senate plans to debate Monday night. Gardner told the Post that introducing the STATES Act as an amendment to the criminal justice bill is “by far and away the best shot” to advance his and Warren’s own bipartisan cause. “I can’t think of a more appropriate piece of legislation than this bill to try as an amendment to,” he said adding that “the president supports this legislation, and in its purest form [the STATES Act] is sentencing reform.” The STATES Act has picked up a total of 10 co-sponsors in the Senate since it was introduced — five Democrats and five Republicans. Gardner says it also has the support to pass a simple-majority vote in the chamber. Trump said in June that he “really” supports Gardner and “probably will end up supporting” the STATES Act.

The bill (HB 107) would apply to texting while driving and to talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving. Current law bans using a cell phone while driving as a secondary offense, which means law enforcement officers can only pull over or cite a driver if they’ve committed another infraction. Toledo, whose district covers parts of Tampa and Hillsborough County, referred to 9-year-old Logan Scherer of Riverview, who was killed in 2016 when a distracted driver plowed into his family’s SUV on Interstate 75. “The death of my son could have been prevented,” said Brooke Scherer. “I don’t want to see another parent endure the pain we have experienced by losing a child to someone engaged with their phone while driving.” Forty-three other states already have texting-while driving bans in place. The ban is supported by most law enforcement agencies. “Distracted driving continues to be responsible for an increasing number of accidents and even deaths in Hillsborough County,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. Wilton Simpson is sponsoring the bill in the Senate this year. He says it’s time to give law enforcement officers the tools they need to make roads safer. The school district also backed the 2013 bill that made texting while driving a secondary offense.

Scott Walker signed all three sweeping lame-duck bills into law in Green Bay on Friday, concluding an eleventh-hour effort by Republican legislators to roll back some of the next governor’s authority. Walker, who has faced national scrutiny and calls from Democrats and some Republicans to reject the legislative package entirely, said during the bill signing he was approving the three bills in full, without line-item vetoes. “The overwhelming executive authority that I as governor have today will remain constant with the next governor,” Walker said in front of a faulty Venn diagram trying to show how Evers and Walker would continue to have the same powers to introduce budgets and veto bills, among other powers. However, the diagram didn’t explain key changes included in the bills that limit Evers’ power over economic development, lawsuits and administrative rules. +2 Walker’s signature on the bills provides a victory to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, who championed the controversial package that will strip some powers from the governor and attorney general, and limit early voting to two weeks before an election. Vos in a statement lauded Walker’s signature on the legislation as an acknowledgment of “the importance of the legislature as a co-equal branch of government.” Evers, along with other Democrats and some Republicans, including former Gov. For example, lawmakers originally proposed to allow the Legislature to override the attorney general by appointing its own counsel in cases where state law was challenged. One of the most contentious measures in the package will take away Evers’ authority to allow the state to drop out of ongoing lawsuits and give the Republican-controlled Legislature the right to join ongoing litigation without the permission of the attorney general. Republicans have argued the measure would provide consistency in early voting statewide, because municipalities have had more freedom in choosing when to allow in-person absentee voting. The liberal group One Wisconsin Now, which has challenged previous Republican-led restrictions on early voting, is planning swift legal action to address the early voting measures in the lame-duck legislation.

A small, bipartisan group of representatives introduced a bill Thursday that aims to greatly increase transparency of political spending. 7267), sponsored by U.S. Representatives Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), would require any organization that runs political ads to disclose its top donors and tighten rules preventing candidates from coordinating with super PACs on independent expenditures, among other changes. “For too long, we’ve allowed outside money to play an outsized and arcane role in our politics, blurring the lines between special interest groups and the candidates they support,” Rice said in a statement. It’s unclear whether the measure, if passed, would work as intended. More than $800 million in dark money has been spent on elections since the landmark Citizens United Supreme Court decision, 75 percent of which came from just 15 groups, according to an Issue One analysis of Center for Responsive Politics data. The bill would clarify that outside groups and campaigns cannot coordinate on communications that mention a candidate starting 120 days before a primary and through the general election. “Strengthening the law requiring independence of candidates from outside groups is critical to loosening the influence that megadonors who fund super PACs holdover candidates and officeholders,” said Trevor Potter, President of the Campaign Legal Center and former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission. Liberal donors Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer each spent around $60 million toward independent expenditures supporting Democratic candidates. The bill also aims to end misuse of leadership PACs by clarifying that the “personal use” restriction on campaign funds applies to all committees, including leadership PACs.

To view this page ensure that Adobe Flash Player version 10.2.0 or greater is installed. Bill and Hillary Clinton are selling discounted tickets to events on their speaking tour after reports of sparse crowds at their premiere performance. Discounted tickets for at least nine “An Evening with The Clintons” events have appeared on the Groupon website, which offers discounted deals on activities, goods and services. Among the deals: Tickets to an April 11 talk at the Beacon Theatre in New York – normally priced $287 – are going for $145 on Monday. Tickets to an April 12 Detroit talk, originally listed for $220.70, are going for $95. Bush comes after the Clintons' premiere performance in Toronto last month, which drew critical coverage over its sparse attendance as well as comparisons with the sold-out book tour of former first lady Michelle Obama. Bush and his family at the funeral this week. But a search on second-party sites, like StubHub, revealed tickets going for as low as $7. Tickets to see Obama reportedly have ranged from $300 to $2,500. Obama also canceled her event stops in Paris and Berlin last week to attend Bush's funeral.

Most of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition would be pleased to have the issue go away. Lieberman was supposed to be the side that would retreat on the issue out of fear he would bring down the coalition if he didn’t. But at a time when Netanyahu is impressing Lieberman’s core constituency of Israeli Russian voters with his visits to the Kremlin and close ties to Putin, Lieberman isn’t going to let them down on the draft issue that is so dear to them. There are those who believe that legislation can do the trick, such as Prof. Yedidya Stern of the Israel Democracy Institute. “Just as Israel decides how much money it allocates in defense, highways and education, budgets for yeshivas are also a public good,” Stern said. “A decision that the government is ready to allocate money to yeshivas so long as they reach a certain number of enlistees is a legitimate political decision.” He said sanctions would give the yeshivas the stark choice of either encouraging students to serve in the army or allowing them to fall into deep poverty because there is no longer any government aid. “The government needs to exert gradual financial pressure and set realistic targets. Ofer Shelah, the Yesh Atid MK who played a significant role in formulating the 2014 military draft legislation, is skeptical about assigning the role of deciding on sanctions to the army and Defense Ministry. The army’s role is to take for service those whom the State of Israel has given it as soldiers,” he told TheMarker last week. “It has formed all-Haredi units, where they can serve without women and keep kosher – all to show that they can serve and remain observant when they leave.”

Rally in support of teachers gather in Frankfort to protest the recent pension bill. Many Kentucky educators have vowed to vote out lawmakers who supported the pension bill, which Republican Gov. Although the governor indicated that the Kentucky Education Association is the problem, not average teachers, his comments angered and united many educators. A lot is online, sharing things and also talking at school,” Foudray said of teachers’ recent political organizing. “Education issues cut across party in a way few social welfare policies do,” he said. Voss also noted that government workers’ unions have stayed strong in recent years. The night the pension bill passed in Frankfort, Gray said she was there with other concerned teachers and noticed a Republican representative who came out after the vote to where they were demonstrating and “smirked.” “You’re creating an enemy that you do not need to create,” she said of such behavior. “I think there was a lot of frustration specifically with the teachers' unions and I think sometimes that came across as frustration with teachers, which it wasn’t," Watson said of Republican officials' comments during recent debates. Potential pitfalls If teachers want to vote out incumbent legislators who supported the pension bill or cuts to public education, Voss indicated that it’s vital for them to avoid alienating other voters. They organized those disruptions well, timing the demonstrations to when legislators were in Frankfort making decisions that impact public education.