An Ohio law prohibiting cities from banning the sale of flavored tobacco products is unconstitutional, a judge has ruled. The state is expected to appeal the ruling issued Friday by Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Serrott, who had issued a temporary restraining order in April that stopped the law from taking effect. The … Read more
ROME — Some journalists at Italy’s state-run RAI went on strike Monday to protest budget streamlining and what they said was an increasingly repressive atmosphere in Italy for media under the government of Premier Giorgia Meloni. The 24-hour RAI strike is the latest protest by Italian journalists against what they say are threats to freedom … Read more
ATLANTA — Pay raises for Georgia’s public school teachers and state employees were never in doubt politically from the moment Gov. Brian Kemp proposed them, but lawmakers finally clinched the deal on Thursday, passing a budget that also boosts spending on education, health care and mental health. Senators and represenatives worked out their differences on … Read more
South_agency | E+ | Getty Images House Republicans unveiled a plan this week that calls for raising the Social Security retirement age. Meanwhile, Democrats and advocates for the program are ramping up their calls to tax the rich to enhance benefits. “On the right, there is a line in the sand against tax increases,” said … Read more
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the 2025 budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2024. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday defended President Joe Biden’s 2025 fiscal budget proposal as Republican senators said they feared taxes would rise for the … Read more
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is issuing a budget plan Monday aimed at getting voters’ attention: tax breaks for families, lower health care costs, smaller deficits and higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Unlikely to pass the House and Senate to become law, the proposal for fiscal 2025 is an election-year … Read more
TOPEKA, Kan. — When Lilly Miller was in elementary school, teachers told her parents they needed to immediately sign up their youngest daughter, who has Down syndrome, for a wait list so the state would pay for a day program when she grew up. The teachers predicted a six-year wait. The Millers have been waiting … Read more
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri senators on Wednesday voted against amending the state’s strict law against abortions to allow exceptions in cases of rape and incest. The state banned almost all abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortions currently are only legal “in cases of medical emergency.” Democratic state … Read more
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom released details Wednesday of a new $291 billion state spending plan for the 2024-25 budget year that accounts for an estimated $37.9 billion deficit. Newsom, a Democrat, proposed covering the shortfall by tapping $13 billion from reserves, trimming $8.5 billion from programs, deferring some spending to the future … Read more
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., conducts a news conference featuring remarks by college students about antisemitism on college campuses, in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, December 5, 2023. Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Senate Republicans repeatedly said this week that a short-term spending bill may be necessary to keep … Read more
