Latest news with #Legislation
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill to end Texas Lottery Commission goes to Gov. Abbott
AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Legislation to abolish the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) is closer to becoming law. Friday night, Senators accepted House amendments to Senate Bill 3070, sending the bill to Gov. Greg Abbott for approval. SB 3070 would allow lottery games to continue, but would abolish the TLC and hand over control of the Texas Lottery and Charitable Bingo to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). The decision comes amidst a host of scandals for the commission, resulting in investigations from both the Texas Rangers and the Attorney General's Office. State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, filed the legislation, after originally filing a bill to eliminate the lottery entirely. The final version of the legislation calls for the incoming Texas Lottery division of TDLR to undergo a sunset review to see how they're functioning under the new department. It sets a decision on whether to abolish the lottery completely in 2029.' 'Specifically, sunset will assess whether TDLR has sufficient tools to ensure the integrity of the game,' Hall said Friday on the Senate floor. Hall said TDLR will not pay out a lottery prize unless the winner submits forms required by the IRS, and that information is verified. The bill also calls for lottery mobile applications to end. If Abbott signs the bill into law, the lottery will have this summer to transition to TDLR before the TLC is abolished on Sept. 1. Because the TLC is up for sunset anyway, a Abbott veto would still mean the TLC is abolished on Sept. 1, but the Texas Lottery would go with it. After the vote earlier this month in the House, the commission issued a statement saying it will follow the direction of the legislature. 'The TLC is prepared to fully support the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation with ensuring that a smooth, seamless and successful transition occurs for both the administration of the lottery and the regulation of charitable bingo,' the commission's statement read. Hall has previously said that he would prefer that the state get out of the lottery business altogether. On Friday, he suggested more legislation could come in the future. 'Senate Bill 3070 represents a new chapter in our efforts to protect Texans from a vice that takes advantage of the poorest people in our state. But this is not the end of the story,' Hall said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Controversial B.C. ‘fast-track' bills headed for vote
Vancouver Watch MLAs are set to vote on a pair of bills that have drawn widespread condemnation from First Nations leaders.
Bloomberg
22-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
House Speaker Johnson Aims to Get Tax Bill to Trump by July 4
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks after President Donald Trump's signature tax bill won approval on the House floor in a 215-214 vote Thursday morning. (Source: Bloomberg)
ABC News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
WA's new parliament crossbench considers power as Labor's total control comes to end
As WA's new legislative councillors take their seats today, there will no doubt be a few nerves in the chamber. The March election might not have delivered a change of government, but it has resulted in a significantly reshaped upper house. Labor has lost its 'total control' of state parliament, meaning it will once more have to negotiate with friends and foes to get its legislation passed. More than half of members were not there before the election — with both Nationals MPs swapped out, three new Greens members and the return of a crossbench of five members. For the only returning crossbencher, Legalise Cannabis MP Brian Walker, the change could not have come soon enough. "People said it was a democracy, but it was actually an autocratic dictatorship. There was no real debate," he said of the last four years. "The people who write these laws are actually very skilled but they don't cover everything, and so when you do examine it in detail, as we should, you find little things coming up which make a big difference." The example often pointed to by critics was the government's failed attempt to re-write Aboriginal cultural heritage laws, which was wound back in the weeks after Roger Cook became premier. From today, the government will have three options to get support for its legislation: the Greens, the opposition or the five crossbench MPs. Traditionally, the Greens would most closely be aligned with Labor's priorities — with leader Brad Pettitt declaring his group of four would be focused on housing, cost of living and climate action. It's that final point where the duo's alignment might come under pressure, especially with journalist-turned-politician Sophie McNeill leading the party's climate charge. McNeill was escorted out of oil and gas giant Woodside's AGM earlier this month after protesting the company's climate action. The incoming leader of the opposition in the upper house, Nick Goiran, said he would continue being open to working with the government to pass legislation where there was common ground. "But it's in those minority occasions where you want to have some improvement and some enhancements. Let's be honest, no government produces flawless pieces of art to the parliament that cannot be critiqued," he said. "Of course they can be critiqued. That's the job of the opposition and we intend to do it." If Labor does not want to take either of those options, the crossbench is its final resort. Brian Walker would at least be a familiar face and while his party's name highlights a major focus, it is not his only one. "My particular issue is wellness — physical, mental, social and financial wellness," he said. But he is hoping to make headway on his push for people to be allowed to drive with medicinal cannabis in their system. "People who are not impaired are declared to be impaired unfairly and [left facing] a lot of consequences," Dr Walker said. Joining Dr Walker will be two One Nation MPs — leader Rod Caddies and Philip Scott. Mr Caddies, whose work experience spans construction, child protection and Army Reserves, has been elected on his third attempt. "When I look at homelessness and the rental crisis, things like that, I think that for me is a major thing I want to look at," he said. Immigration would be on the agenda in the context of its impact on resources and infrastructure, Mr Caddies said, but he promised his first priority was the "the people of this country". "It won't be about what our party wants, it'll be about what the people need," he said. Maryka Groenewald is the Australian Christians' first MP to be elected since the party was created in 2011. The operation of WA's Equal Opportunity Act, including the ability of schools to "employ staff that share their values" and how to stop "gender centres" from prescribing "life-altering medication for minors" were top of her priorities. The UK's Cass Review last year recommended significantly limiting the prescription of puberty blockers for people aged under 18 while the Queensland government has paused new transgender patients under the age of 18 from accessing the state's public health system while a review is completed. "We can't just put our heads in the sand and go 'this is an issue that's not going to affect children and young people', because it is," Ms Groenewald said "We can't be prescribing life-altering surgeries and medication to kids who just don't have the emotional or psychological capacity to understand what they're doing." The former community development worker said she was already thinking about trying to establish a parliamentary inquiry into the issue. It is in that space where the non-government parties could wield the greatest influence in the upper house. If the Liberals, Nationals, Greens and crossbenchers voted together, they would have the numbers to establish parliamentary inquiries or refer legislation to a committee for review. Animal Justice Party MP Amanda Dorn rounds out the crossbench but did not respond to the ABC's enquiries. A former City of Swan councillor and real estate agent, her profile on the party's website describes her as being "deeply committed to protecting the natural environment and fostering a more compassionate society". The page lists her previous campaigning on issues including factory farming, climate change and wildlife conservation.
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Iowa Adopts The Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA)
Front shot of Iowa Capitol in Des Moines. getty On May 19, 2025, the Iowa governor, Kim Richards, signed into law the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA) which makes Iowa the 12th state to have done so. This gives Iowa an A-grade Anti-SLAPP law to protect the free speech and related rights of Iowa citizens. The full Iowa UPEPA may be found here. Reviewing the Iowa UPEPA, it seems to be a pretty clean enactment ― I could not easily spot any significant non-uniform provisions in my first cursory review of the new statute. Prior to the adoption of the UPEPA, Iowa had no Anti-SLAPP law at all. This meant that Iowa citizens were exposed to having meritless lawsuits brought against them to silence their free speech rights, or retaliate against them for having done so, through the use of the litigation process itself. The UPEPA allows for an early dismissal of such cases and for an award of attorney's fees to make the defendant in such a case whole. Passage of uniform acts like the UPEPA do not happen on their own. To the contrary, a great deal of work is put into the legislative process by a number of folks, including the local state sponsors of the bill, the floor managers, various proponents of the legislation who submit written materials and testify before committees, and of course the legislators themselves. Behind the scenes, the enactment of the UPEPA in all the states so far has largely been because of the impetus provided by Kaitlin Wolff, the Legislative Program Director of the Uniform Law Commission, who has done yeoman's work in getting the UPEPA passed, including testifying herself at hearings on the UPEPA, rounding up witnesses to testify before the various judicial committees, and putting the spurs to the local ULC legislative liaison to push the UPEPA to their legislators. We on the UPEPA drafting committee may have given birth to this Anti-SLAPP law which is now bringing greater protections for free speech to literally millions, but it was Kaitlin Wolff who nurtured it to enactment and is overdue for recognition and kudos. The UPEPA has proven to be a wonderful out-of-the-box tool for states like Iowa that did not have previously have any Anti-SLAPP legislation at all, as well as for states which had defective Anti-SLAPP laws which required a full replacement instead of merely an overhaul. As I recently wrote in my article, Free Speech Rights: Anti-SLAPP Laws Of The U.S. Ranked By Quality (March 26, 2025), less than one-third of the states have no Anti-SLAPP law at all and slightly less than one-fifth of the states have very poor Anti-SLAPP laws. But these numbers are now slowly decreasing due to the enactment of the UPEPA. It is entirely possible that before this decade ends, the states with no or poor Anti-SLAPP laws will be reduced to only a handful. And that is a very good thing for free speech rights of all Americans.
