State legislature news and stories by mail.com

State legislature

Ex-treasurer to Democrats receives 8-year sentence
A former Democratic campaign treasurer was sentenced Wednesday to more than eight years in federal prison for defrauding high-profile clients such as ...
Suit targets 'locator' chips in Texas student IDs
To 15-year-old Andrea Hernandez, the tracking microchip embedded in her student ID card is a "mark of the beast," sacrilege to her Christian faith — ...
Sweeping changes suggested for Pa. child abuse law
Pennsylvania should enact sweeping changes to its child abuse laws, including stronger penalties for failing to report the crime, a legislative ...
Another blow for state's anti-eavesdropping law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday delivered another blow to a 50-year-old anti-eavesdropping law in Illinois, choosing to let stand a lower court ...
Disabled parents face bias, loss of kids: report
Millions of Americans with disabilities have gained innumerable rights and opportunities since Congress passed landmark legislation on their behalf ...
Singers continue long Wis. tradition of protest
Every weekday as the clock strikes noon, dozens of demonstrators pass out songbooks inside the Wisconsin Capitol. Office workers who know what's ...
Powerful supermajorities elected to statehouses
There's a new superpower growing in the Great Plains and the South, where bulging Republican majorities in state capitols could dramatically cut taxes ...
Nev. brothel owner rides to victory in county race
Lance Gilman is a thriving businessman with dozens of employees. That those workers include a good many prostitutes didn't faze the people of a rural ...
Oregon has nation's 1st lesbian legislative leader
An Oregon woman will be the first openly lesbian lawmaker to lead a state legislative chamber in the U.S. Democrats in the state House Thursday night ...
Foreclosure starts down on annual basis in October
U.S. homes are entering the foreclosure process at a slower pace than a year ago, and fewer properties are being repossessed by lenders, new data show
With pot legal, police worry about road safety
It's settled. Pot, at least certain amounts of it, will soon be legal under state laws in Washington and Colorado. Now, officials in both states are ...
Minn. settles last 35W bridge case
Minnesota's five-year legal battle over the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge has ended with an $8.9 million settlement involving a California design ...
Texas inmate who admitted rapes seeks compensation
When Michael Blair was sent to death row for the infamous murder of a 7-year-old Texas girl, he insisted he never killed anyone. More than a decade ...
Coming to Texas ballots: another Bush in 2014?
George P. Bush, a rising star among Hispanic conservatives and the grandson of one president and nephew of another, has taken the first step toward ...
Washington voters approve gay marriage
Washington state has approved gay marriage, joining Maine and Maryland as the first states to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote. With about ...
Seemingly endless Wis. election cycle eases to end
Candidates approving this message have been at it for two years in Wisconsin, along with the robocalls, angry commercials, emails begging for campaign ...
New Faces: Newly elected US senators
A look at the newly elected U.S. senators from Tuesday's election: ARIZONA Republican Jeff Flake, the congressman who won Arizona's open U.S.
Republicans fall short in another governor's race
Republicans who had lofty ambitions for taking over governors' offices this year fell short in another one of their targeted states Wednesday and ...
Democrat Heitkamp wins Senate race in North Dakota
Democratic candidate Heidi Heitkamp has won the U.S. Senate race in North Dakota, defeating Republican Rep. Rick Berg. Heitkamp won the race by fewer ...
Ex-wrestling executive pinned in Conn. Senate race
Big-spending former wrestling executive Linda McMahon was smacked down again in her bid for a U.S. Senate seat Tuesday, losing on a night when sports ...
Republicans try to pick up more governors' offices
North Carolina voters elected their first Republican governor in two decades Tuesday as the GOP sought to broaden its hold on governor's mansions ...
Obama on the road: a study in self-assurance
In his days in the state Senate in Springfield, Ill., Barack Obama was known as a pretty good poker player. While he might have known how to mask a ...
AP NewsBreak: Obama backs Murphy in new TV ad
President Barack Obama is appearing in a new TV ad, urging Connecticut voters to support Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy for the U.S. Senate.
Texas trooper in chopper shooting returns to work
The Texas trooper who fired on a fleeing pickup truck from a helicopter near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing two illegal immigrants hiding in the bed, ...
Mo. Sen. McCaskill using Romney in new TV ad
Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill ventured into Republican-leaning southern Missouri on Thursday, warning voters that challenger Todd Akin would be ...