As governors loosen long-lasting coronavirus restrictions, state lawmakers across the U.S. are taking actions to significantly limit the power they could wield in future emergencies.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The state Senate has unanimously passed a bill to create a dedicated fund to prevent and fight wildfires in Washington.
MIAMI (AP) — The mere whiff of a scandal once unraveled political careers with stunning speed. Not anymore.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Federal prosecutors said Friday that they have charged three Southern California women with using prison inmates' names to bilk a state agency out of a combined nearly $1.25 million in coronavirus-related unemployment benefits, the latest allegations in an ongoing scandal that has cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Friday a $7.4 billion general fund spending plan for the coming fiscal year that boosts state funding for public education, early childhood services and more — while using her veto pen to assert sole authority over $1.6 billion in new federal pandemic relief funding.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers took the unusual step Friday of ordering workers to remove all concrete slabs hanging over the entrances and exists of the University of Wisconsin System headquarters building, days after two slabs fell off the facade and crashed to the sidewalk outside the building's main doors.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed three education bills on Friday to help address learning loss incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and expand access to in-state tuition for military dependents whose parents were reassigned to another location.
LONDON (AP) — Prince Philip will be laid to rest with all the honors due a prince of the United Kingdom and a consort to Queen Elizabeth II.
ROME (AP) — Italian prosecutors have accused a top World Health Organization official of lying to them about a spiked WHO report into Italy’s coronavirus response, revealing private communications Friday that are likely to embarrass the U.N. health agency.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — One rural southern Nevada county could step ahead of the state and approve lifting mask mandates and business capacity limits enacted as pandemic prevention measures more than a year ago.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will authorize $536 million toward forest management projects and efforts to reduce wildfires before the worst of the fire season strikes later this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders said Thursday.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — In the largest program of its kind, New York lawmakers have created a $2.1 billion fund to aid workers who lost jobs or income during the coronavirus pandemic but were excluded from other government relief programs because of their immigration status.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Senate approved a bill Thursday that designates religious activities as essential services and prohibits any restrictions on them during a declared emergency.
PHOENIX (AP) — Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday appointed Brig. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck to be the first female leader of the Arizona National Guard and the state's emergency management agency as it enters a second year on the front lines in combatting COVID-19.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed bills Wednesday directing federal relief money for big-ticket items including clean-water projects and repayment of a federal unemployment insurance loan.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A union complaint about whether an Oklahoma meatpacking plant is doing enough to protect workers from the coronavirus could test the industry's response to the pandemic because Seaboard Foods says it is following recommendations from the government and trade groups.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico health officials on Wednesday reported more progress in getting residents vaccinated as the state continues to lead the U.S. in the vaccine rollout.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont Gov. Phil Scott wants the state to use some of the more than $1 billion in federal COVID-19 assistance money to help improve access to broadband internet services and other wireless connectivity.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has led the nation’s most populous state through the pandemic using complicated metrics, county-by-county rules and a color-coded tier system dictating what people and businesses can do.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Republican attorneys general of Kentucky and Tennessee have added their voices to those in several other states who are objecting to a provision in the $1.9 trillion pandemic aid plan that bars states from using relief money to offset tax cuts.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Dr. Amy Acton, who led Ohio's early pandemic response, says she won't run for US Senate.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The COVID-19 vaccination center at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison will be able to increase the number of doses delivered by 2,100 a week thanks to new staffing support from the federal government starting on Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers announced.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and vast sums of government aid will accelerate global economic growth to a record high this year in a powerful rebound from the pandemic recession, the International Monetary Fund says in its latest forecast.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has approved $4.7 billion in state aid for national carrier Air France as it struggles through the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a decision the French government welcomed as “good news.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell downplayed a new infusion of federal relief for his home state's government, questioning the need Monday as the economy looks to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
