Category: US Governors

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Jerry Brown is coming off a blockbuster year of liberal wins: He secured an extension of landmark climate change legislation, signed off on an increase in California’s minimum wage, expanded family leave laws, toughened gun laws, and persuaded voters to both soften sentencing laws and reject a ballot measure that would have threatened two of his legacy projects. Yet Brown delivers his State of the State address Tuesday facing far more precarious circumstances than a year ago, largely due to circumstances beyond his control.

Minnesota governor collapses during speech

JULY 28: Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton delivers remarks on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 28, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received the number of votes needed to secure the party’s nomination.

Nikki Haley Easily Confirmed as UN Ambassador

The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations, making her the fourth member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to be approved even as Republicans and Democrats battle angrily over the pace of confirmations. Republicans are upset at what they complain is a deliberate effort by Democrats to slow walk approval of Trump’s top government executives and argue the GOP was much more cooperative when President Barack Obama got seven Cabinet members confirmed on the day he was sworn in back in 2009.

Pompeo confirmed as CIA chief

JANUARY 12: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the director of the CIA, Rep.Mike Pompeo attends his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on January 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mr. Pompeo is a former Army officer who graduated first in his class from West Point.

Minnesota Gov. Dayton, 69, collapses during speech

Gov. Mark Dayton collapsed while delivering his State of the State speech on Monday, striking his head on a lectern. The 69-year-old Democrat appeared to be conscious as he was helped into a back room several minutes later, and a top staffer said he walked out of the Capitol under his own power.

Vice President Mike Pence, right, swears in CIA Director Mike Pompeo, …

Mike Pompeo was sworn in Monday night as director of the CIA at a crucial time for U.S. national security as intelligence – traditionally a nonpartisan issue – has been thrust into the political arena. “You are stepping up to lead the finest intelligence-gathering operation the world has ever seen,” Vice President Mike Pence said during the nighttime swearing-in ceremony.

New Jersey set to hand over millions in tobacco cash

Gov. Chris Christie has dedicated his final year in office to addressing the opioid epidemic, but the state’s failure to spend on smoking cessation efforts when thousands of people still die annually from tobacco-related illnesses has drawn derision from advocates and public health officials. Instead of spending millions from a landmark 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry on smoking cessation efforts, New Jersey this year will begin repaying hundreds of millions of dollars to bondholders after converting the settlement money into $90 million to fill a budget hole in 2014.

KanCare problems never end

In Gov. Sam Brownback’s State of the State address on Jan. 10, he lauded KanCare as an innovative Medicaid program that’s gaining national traction: “Fortunately for our budget, Kansas had the foresight to reform Medicaid – a policy others are following.

More deaths reported after 16 die amid Southeast tornadoes

Emergency responders rushed to answer new reports of deaths and injuries Sunday evening in southern Georgia as violent storms already blamed for killing 16 people in the Southeast continued to inflict destruction. An apparent tornado blew through a mobile home park early Sunday in southern Georgia’s rural Cook County – sheering off siding, upending homes and killing seven people, local authorities said.

Little is known on status of US student held in North Korea

There’s been little public word about what has happened to an American college student detained in North Korea, as a new administration takes over one year later amid deep U.S. concerns about the hostile country’s nuclear and missile development. North Korea announced last Jan. 22 it had detained Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, earlier that month for alleged anti-state crime.

Is Cuomo going to abandon New York taxpayers? :0

Halfway through his second term as New York’s chief executive, Gov. Cuomo could be approaching a fiscal turning point. Cuomo’s six-year budget record has mixed tax cuts and tax hikes, shrewd economizing and outright waste, sound financial practices and objectionable gimmicks.

Nation-Now 28 mins ago 1:02 p.m.At least 11 killed as storms roar through Georgia

Eleven people were killed and more than 20 injured as violent storms rolled through parts of Georgia over the weekend, hours after deadly storms swept through southern Mississippi, authorities said Sunday. Catherine Howden, spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, told USA TODAY that seven people were killed in Cook County and two each in Brooks and Berrien counties.

Trump Adviser Kellyanne Conway Says Obamacare – Penalty’ Will End

Kellyanne Conway, a key adviser to President Donald Trump, said the new administration plans to end the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most people have health insurance, a step that could destabilize the law’s markets. Conway, in an interview airing Sunday on NBC News’ “Sunday Today With Willie Geist,” appeared to indicate that the law’s requirement that most employers offer coverage to their full-time workers would also end.

Repeal of Obamacare without a replacement would increase US debt

Here is the problem Republicans face with their opposition to the 2010 health-care law signed by President Barack Obama: Getting rid of it without approving a substitute would increase the federal debt, provide wealthy people with a tax cut and cause as many as 20 million Americans to lose their health care. Although Vice President Mike Pence told CNN last week that “step one is to repeal the taxes and the mandates” in the law known as Obamacare and “at the same time pass a replacement bill,” neither he nor congressional Republicans have provided specifics of a plan.

Editorial: A message from Kansans: Stop embarrassing us

If you asked a few politically minded Americans how they would characterize our state, how do you think they would answer? Would they admire the prudent, bipartisan governance that has guided us through the past few years? Or would they say something about Gov. Sam Brownback’s 26 percent approval rating, Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s obsession with voter fraud, the reckless campus carry law that will take effect this year and a fiscal situation that can only be described as a disaster? This is the image of Kansas that has crystallized across the country.

Indiana residents hope Pence keeps their interests in mind

When Fort Wayne needed expensive airport improvements, its mayor contacted an influential Indiana native – then-Vice President Dan Quayle – to help secure federal funding. Now that former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is the new vice president, residents are hopeful his home state could again reap some benefits.

Pence promises ‘Hoosier common sense,’ thanks supporters

Incoming Vice President Mike Pence has thanked his Indiana supporters at the state’s inaugural ball, promising he will “bring Indiana’s example and Hoosier common sense” to Washington. The former Indiana governor addressed his home state’s inaugural ball on the eve of his swearing-in Friday as vice president.

Republican Governors Worried About Obamacare Repeal

On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, nearly a dozen Republican state executives traveled to Capitol Hill to share with GOP senators their concerns about the impact repealing the health care law would have on the poorest beneficiaries in their states. More than a dozen Republican governors accepted, to varying degrees, federal funds offered under the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid coverage in their states.

Lack of Latinos in Trump Cabinet draws ire for ‘setback’

President-elect Donald Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania Trump, waves as they arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, ahead of Friday’s inauguration. President-elect Donald Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania Trump, waves as they arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, ahead of Friday’s inauguration.

VP Mike Pence announces that the transition team did their job

With just one day left until president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, Vice President-elect Mike Pence announced that the transition team finished their job “on schedule and under budget”, using the same like Trump has used several times, when talking about his real estate projects. The VP announced that there’s still “some 20 percent of taxpayer funding” left and they’re planning to return it to the U.S. Treasury, according to ABC News .

Perry regrets call to eliminate Energy Department

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Energy Department, said Thursday he regrets his infamous statement about abolishing the federal agency and insisted it performs a critical function. Perry told a Senate committee that if confirmed, he will be a passionate advocate for the department’s core missions and will seek to draw “greater attention to the vital role played by the agency,” especially in protecting and modernizing the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

Inauguration Eve: Trump juggles work, play, preps to party

Ready for his big moment, Donald Trump traded in his beloved private plane for a military jet Thursday and swooped into Washington for three days of inaugural festivities. As the president-elect left New York behind, the capital braced for an onslaught of inaugural crowds and demonstrators numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

The Latest: LGBT activists hold dance party near Pence home

In this Dec. 1, 2016, file photo, President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence wave as they visit to Carrier factory in Indianapolis, Ind. Donald Trump enters the White House on Jan. 20 just as he entered the race for president: defiant, unfiltered, unbound by tradition and utterly confident in his chosen course.

Thursday’s Trump Cabinet confirmations: What to watch

Donald Trump’s Cabinet confirmation hearings continue Thursday, just one day before the President-elect is set to take the oath of office. Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, is scheduled to face the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET, according to the committee’s website.

Trump taps former Georgia governor for agriculture secretary

After weeks of speculation , former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue was selected to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary, according to an official knowledgeable of the nomination but not authorized to speak publicly. Some agriculture leaders see Perdue, who grew up on a farm and earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine, as a strong supporter of farmers and ranchers who understands the issues facing rural America.