Latest news with #SB230
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Stolen food stamps Bill proposed in state Legislature to reimburse funds
DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — A bill has been filed in the Alabama Legislature requiring the state to reimburse citizens who have had their food stamps stolen. In February, bill SB230, sponsored by democratic senator Vivian Figures, would require the state to reimburse citizens the equal amount of stolen SNAP benefits. Downtown Huntsville to host free Final Four outdoor watch, block party The reimbursement would help Amanda Craig, who says she was scammed by thieves for her food stamp benefits. 'I have six children and I'm a single mom and we have quite a bit of bills and things and you count on the food stamps to be there,' Craig explained. With a basket full of groceries at the checkout counter, Craig swiped her Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card only to find that her account had been hacked. 'I find out that all of a sudden there's no food stamps or money on my card which I don't know if it was stolen from me before I went into the store or what,' said Craig. 'No text message is worth your life': Police stress the dangers of distracted driving Craig says she receives $900 a month to feed her family. She is one of 16,000 Alabamians who have reported this theft, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Criminals continue to use illegal devices to steal money from debit, credit and EBT cards. The ADPH told Craig that they ended the federal reimbursement program in December. Figures said that people who were affected by the fraud that happened because of the cyberspace insecurity for the state of Alabama are not to blame for them being defrauded. 'I hope that this bill goes through because we need to feed our families,' Craig said. 'You would think by my very first card that I reported stolen in August or in January, they should have stopped it from continuing to happen. The card should have been replaced, and the system should have been locked down.' DHR reimbursed over $5 million to SNAP benefits scamming victims just in the month of November. SB230 was read for the first time in the Senate in March and will now go before the Senate. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
We're officially Utahns now!
There will no longer be a debate over whether those from Utah should be called 'Utahns' or 'Utahans', after the Legislature passed a bill to formalize the word Utahn on the antepenultimate day of the session. SB230, sponsored by Sen. Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, passed through the House on Wednesday and will now go to the governors desk for him to sign or veto the bill. The bill would officially give people the nickname 'Utahns,' not 'Utahans.' The bill had passed through the Senate unanimously but in the House it received two votes against it. 'For me, I just felt like it wasn't necessary to pass a bill to dictate how a word is spelled,' said Rep. Anthony Loubet, R-Kearns who voted against the bill. 'I think language tends to evolve naturally, and I wasn't sure this was something that needed legislation. That being said, I appreciate the conversations we had, and I respect the sponsor and the work that went into the bill.' This bill would establish Utahn as the state demonym, a word used to denote inhabitants of a particular country, state or city. The word Utahn has never been formalized before. 'While it may seem trivial, I think how we're known and how you know people see Utahns is important, and we want to make sure they spell it correctly directly,' said McKay during the bill's senate committee hearing on Feb. 12. After the bill was first introduced the Deseret News spoke with multiple people around the Capitol, asking them whether it should be spelled 'Utahn' or 'Utahan.' Native Utahns tended to spell it 'Utahn' and those not originally from the state would spell it 'Utahan.' During the Senate committee hearing, the sponsor shared that he worked with Quin Monson, a political science professor at BYU to put together the bill. 'I've noticed over the years that the way that people refer to people from Utah in various places is not consistent, but there is a very strong preference among especially native Utah residents and long time residents to spell it U-T-A-H-N and that there are other places around the country that spell it differently, and they add an extra A,' Monson said. Monson shared that in 2021 he ran a digital analysis which found that local Utah news outlets used 'Utahn' more than 90% of the time, but national news outlets mostly used 'Utahan.' His analysis found that The New York Times used 'Utahn' only 6.8% of the time. During that same year he also sent out a survey to Utah residents asking them to choose between using the extra 'A' or no extra 'A.' Monson said that 90% of residents did not use the extra 'A.' 'So Utahns, of every ideology, political persuasion, religion and other category, they all agree that this is the right spelling,' Monson said.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Smog checks every 2 years good enough under new proposal at Nevada Legislature
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Smog checks would be required once every two years instead of annually under legislation sponsored by a Democrat and a Republican in the Nevada Senate. Senate Bill 230 (SB230) would give Clark County and Washoe County residents a break from going in for an emissions test every time they renew the registration on their vehicle. Democrat James Ohrenschall and Republican John Steinbeck are co-sponsors of the bill. New car owners are already exempt from smog checks until the fourth time the vehicle is registered, but this bill would give them another break. Current law requires an annual smog check in Clark and Washoe counties, but only every two years in the state's rural counties. Hybrids are exempted until their sixth model year. The DMV exempts all vehicles made in 1967 or older. As time change nears, Nevada considers opting out of daylight saving Other bills recently submitted at the Nevada Legislature include: PEDIATRIC MEDICAL PROGRAM: SB228 would establish a Pediatric Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Transplant Program in Nevada. The state would appropriate $7 million to the Cure 4 The Kids Foundation to start the program. Nevada would also pay $2.5 million to cover the cost of the first five bone marrow transplants. In all, the state would pay the costs of operating the program during its first two years of existence, including staffing and administration costs. The bill is sponsored by Senate Democrats Julie Pazina and Fabian Doñate. SECOND IN COMMAND: Assembly Bill 41 (AB41) would provide for the designation of a deputy adjutant general in the Nevada Guard. There is no funding needed and no additional personnel required, according to Adjutant General for Nevada Daniel Waters. It just allows the Waters to designate a deputy to take over when he is not available. 'If I'm out of town, if I happen to be on vacation, a federal asset, which we have the ability to do that right now, a federal asset then becomes the commander of the state forces. This bill specifically would give us that flexibililty to have a state employee responsible for state response,' Waters said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
