Latest news with #SB43
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alaska Legislature passes bill establishing March as Women's History Month
Mar. 28—JUNEAU — The Alaska Legislature on Friday approved a measure to establish March as Women's History Month. Senate Bill 43 states that schools, community groups, and other public and private agencies may honor "the contributions that women have made in the history of the state and the United States" with "appropriate activities." Anchorage Democratic Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson was the lead sponsor behind SB 43. The Senate unanimously passed the measure earlier in the month. The Alaska House passed the same bill on a 33-2 vote with five lawmakers absent. Republican Reps. Julie Coulombe and Mike Prax were the only no votes. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Carolyn Hall introduced the bill on the House floor. She presented a long list of women who had contributed to Alaska history — including lawmakers, community leaders, civil rights activists and dog mushers — such as Bettye Davis, DeeDee Jonrowe and Gail Phillips. "How many of us know of their accomplishments, their leadership or their fortitude?" Hall asked rhetorically. "These women are Alaska's history," Hall later said. She said that the purpose of Women's History Month "is to lift up, recognize and integrate women's experiences into our state's narrative." The Alaska House is majority women for the first time in state history. Twenty-one of the chamber's 40 members are women. Fairbanks Democratic Rep. Ashley Carrick noted that the House Tribal Affairs Committee is the first legislative committee in state history to have all women members. After the vote, Coulombe said in a brief interview that she voted against the measure because "this isn't going to help women. I want policies that actually help women." "We keep hearing that we have a majority of women in the Legislature, and I take offense that I'm a woman legislator. I'm just a legislator. I want to be treated equally," she added. U.S. Congress declared March as National Women's History Month in 1987. Since then, presidents have issued annual proclamations to honor American women. Former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola testified in "enthusiastic support" for SB 43. Peltola — the first woman to represent Alaska in the U.S. House — said Women's History Month would honor Alaska women from all walks of life. "By recognizing Women's History Month, we make it clear to women, especially young women and girls, that they should not be afraid to be the bold leaders Alaska needs to guide us into the future," she said. "We also honor the trailblazers who came before us, displayed remarkable leadership, and now serve as role models for our generation and the next." SB 43 does not create any new state holidays or new regulations. State agencies estimate no cost to establish Women's History Month in Alaska. SB 43 now advances to Gov. Mike Dunleavy's desk for his consideration.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some Judicial reform bills stalling, cast aside
Senator Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, votes 'No' during a session of the Montana Senate on February 12, 2025. (Nathaniel Bailey for the Daily Montanan) The GOP-controlled Montana Legislature laid out reining in the judicial branch as a priority at the start of the 69th legislative session currently underway, but that ambition has not smoothly born out as almost a third of its planned actions have failed. The push for judicial reform centers on a suite of 27 bills that came from the interim Judicial Oversight and Reform committee, formed by former Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, following several court decisions that went against Republicans' favored outcomes. Six weeks into the 90-day session, almost all of those judicial bills have been debated on a chamber floor, with a majority receiving at least one passing vote. However, several bills deemed most important by members of the interim committee have been foiled by a voting bloc comprising all Democrats, who chose not to participate in the committee because they did not want to legitimize its efforts, and a group of moderate Republicans. One bill that died on the Senate floor late last month was Senate Bill 44, carried by Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, which would have codified the separation of powers doctrine in the Montana Constitution into statute, and defined the powers of the Board of Regents of Higher Education and the Board of Public Education. Emrich previously said the bill is 'one of the most important bills you may see this session.' The bill passed second reading in the Senate in a 32-18 party line vote, but the next day failed on third reading 23-26 with eight Republicans switching their votes. More recently, Senate Bill 43, sponsored by Emrich, and House Bill 30 also failed to garner enough support to pass the Senate during the chamber's first Saturday floor session on Feb. 15. SB 43 would have limited the injunctive powers of courts by narrowly tailoring them to the plaintiffs of a case — instead of applying to all Montanans. 'I'm struggling with this one because I didn't fully understand the consequences of how this could be, I guess, abused,' said Ellsworth, who noted the bill came from his committee. 'We've seen activist judges across the country, and I don't think this actually solves that problem, I think it compounds it.' Two Democratic senators, both lawyers, laid out scenarios where a narrowly tailored injunction that applied to specific counties or regions could leave the rest of Montanans having to file their own lawsuits to receive the same protection from an alleged constitutional violation. 'It's unfair to all Montanans,' Sen. Andrea Olsen, D-Missoula, said. 'If you have a constitutional violation to one person, it's a violation to everybody.' The Senate voted down SB 43 in a 21-28 vote. House Bill 30, which passed by a single vote in the lower chamber, was defeated by the same one-vote margin in the Senate. HB 30 would have required the state Supreme Court to uphold legislative acts as constitutional unless challengers can prove otherwise 'beyond a reasonable doubt.' On Valentine's Day, the Senate indefinitely tabled two more bills from the House that failed to garner enough support to pass the upper chamber, but moved a few others through the process. House Bills 35 and 36, which would have moved the Judicial Standards Commission — a body that can discipline and recommend removal of judges for conduct violations — to the Department of Justice and altered its structure, also died. The Senate did pass Senate Bill 20, carried by Ellsworth, prohibiting retired judges from hearing constitutional cases. Lawmakers also approved of House Bill 39, allowing political parties to financially contribute directly to judicial candidates. The bill is now headed to the desk of Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has also called for judicial reform. HB 39 is one of three related bills seeking to make Montana's judicial elections partisan affairs, along with HB 169, which allows judges and judicial candidates to take part in political activities, and SB 42, which will require judges to declare a political party for the ballot. The Senate also passed HB 65 to perform a performance audit of the State Bar of Montana. That bill will have a hearing before the Senate Finance and Claims Committee before returning for a final vote in the Senate. That bill will have to be accepted by the House again after an amendment changed the audit from focusing on finances — as the House approved — to focusing on performance — which was initially rejected by the lower chamber's vote. Two bills have been withdrawn — SB 16 and SB 52 — dealing with legislative committee contempt subpoenas and the creation of a new court. The latter proposal, which would have created a Chancery Court to hear cases dealing with constitutional, land use and business suits, was withdrawn by bill sponsor Sen. McGillvray, who said it was getting too complicated. Instead, he is working to draft a new version of the specialized court for the session, but narrowing the scope to focus to remove the land and business portions. The new version, a 'Governmental Claims court,' would be 'more streamlined and simple, and I think it's gotten more buy-in from more parties,' McGillvray told press last week.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The week ahead: Lawmakers buried in own work but Ayotte grabs center stage
Feb. 9—The 2025 session of the New Hampshire Legislature rolls on this week, but Gov. Kelly Ayotte alone will grab center stage when she gives her state budget address to a joint meeting of the state Senate and House of Representatives. Once Ayotte presents that much-anticipated speech in Representatives Hall Thursday morning, both legislative bodies will get right back to business. They'll be holding for the first time in 2025 simultaneous sessions later that afternoon. The House is expected to have a passionate and perhaps close vote on whether New Hampshire should become the 27th state and the only one in the Northeast to pass right-to-work legislation (HB 238) that would prevent private employers from requiring any worker having to either pay union dues or fees to cover the cost of collective bargaining. The Senate returns to its debate over an anti-sanctuary city bill (SB 71) and will debate whether to end a ban on the public wearing political clothing while voting (SB 43). The latter bill from Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, would still prevent election officials from wearing anything of a political nature while working at the polls. Ayotte told reporters that while the state budget is expected to be the toughest one in at least a decade to complete, New Hampshire remains on sound economic footing. "One of the things that I have come out of this process with is my optimism that we are in a good position," Ayotte said. "We need to continue to execute and live within our means. We aren't seeing the growth in state revenues that we have seen for the past several years, so our expectations must be recalibrated." Ayotte, a new chief executive and a Nashua Republican, offered no details about her plan beyond the vow it will not lead to any increase in state taxes. Veteran state budget observers will not only be looking at the more-than-1,000 page spending plan itself, but also poring over its companion measure. This is the so-called budget trailer bill that must contain all state law changes needed to carry out the governor's budget goals. Budget trailer bill: Christmas tree is an understatement Calling this bill a Christmas tree is an understatement since it is expected to have at least a few hundred sections with impacts likely to affect all New Hampshire residents in some fashion. In 2021 after Republicans took back control of the Legislature, then-Gov. Chris Sununu and GOP legislative leaders used that trailer bill to carry out an abortion ban after 24 weeks, a prohibition on teaching discrimination in public schools and a voluntary paid and family leave program for all state workers and any private firm that wished to enroll in it. House and Senate committees will be holding public hearings on 158 bills, a big number but this is the first weekly decline in the pile of paperwork as legislative leaders race against the clock to finish up their own chamber's works by mid-April. Senate Majority Leader Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, has Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, on board with her legislation (SB 162) to be heard Tuesday that would block a "foreign country of concern" of owning any property within 10 miles of a "protected facility." Government buildings coming under that protected class are the New Hampshire National Guard headquarters and the New Hampshire Army Aviation Support Facility, both in Concord; the Readiness Center of the 197th Artillery Brigade in Manchester, the New Boston Space Force Station and the Pease Air National Guard and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. The countries blocked from this ownership under the bill were Russia, China, Iran, Syria and North Korea. Rep. Bill Ohm, R-Nashua, is joining forces with Rep. Susan Almy, D-Lebanon and the former chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, on a bill (HB 247) looked at Monday that would allow any city or town to seek a referendum on whether to allow historic horse racing machines within their borders. These machines that allow patrons to bet on randomly selected horse races that have already occurred has led to an explosion in profits for both owners and nonprofits at 10 charity casinos across the state. On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee takes testimony on a bill (SB 205) from new Sen. Pat Long, D-Manchester, to give universal access for all families to free school breakfast and lunch; currently only eligible, low-income families may receive the benefit. State officials estimate the expansion would cost the state $1.3 million a year. EFA bills going in opposite directions House and Senate panels will on Wednesday consider bills on education freedom accounts (EFAs) that go in opposite directions. New Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, is championing one (SB 295) that would end eligibility limitations and allow any family, regardless of income, to receive a taxpayer-paid EFA to send their child to a private, religious, alternative public or home school program. Rep. David Luneau, D-Hopkinton and the ranking member on the House Education Funding Committee, is proposing to make EFA grants to parents taxable under the income tax code (HB 402). Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn has prominent House and Senate GOP leaders co-authoring his proposal (HB 482) to increase the fines and punishments for anyone convicted of driving more than 100 miles per hour on state roads. For anyone driving in triple digits, the bill would create an additional fine of $750 on the first offense and $1,000 for future ones and the loss of driving privileges of 60 days the first time and up to a year if it happens again. Sen. Ruth Ward, R-Stoddard, has leading Senate Democratic members on board with her bill (SB 276) Wednesday that would raise what spending that businesses can claim for research and development as a credit against what they would owe under the state's two business taxes. The measure would raise from $7 million to $10 million how much the state could award in credits during a single year and give individual businesses credits of up to $100,000, twice the cap under current law. Rep. Janet Wall, D-Durham and serving in her 20th term, gets this week's quirkiest bill (HB 387) that would outlaw the release of balloons that have "lighter-than-air" gases. Wall said these balloons always fall back to earth and become not only litter but a potential health hazard to both animals on land and sea. klandrigan@
