All posts tagged: legislation

Polish Leader Tusk Claims Russia-Linked Crypto Firm Backed Nawrocki’s Presidential Bid

Polish Leader Tusk Claims Russia-Linked Crypto Firm Backed Nawrocki’s Presidential Bid

Published by Sam Flores

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a cryptocurrency firm built with “Russian money” had sponsored Polish politicians from the former national-conservative government as well as a CPAC ( Conservative Political Action Conference ) event in Poland last year, where Kristi Noem, the former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, openly backed nationalist Karol Nawrocki to win the Polish presidency. Tusk was speaking on Friday in the Polish parliament, before a parliamentary vote to overrule Nawrocki who had rejected regulations of the Polish crypto-asset market. Nawrocki has vetoed two separate attempts by the liberal government to regulate this market in the past six months. Tusk claimed that the blocking of regulations by some Polish politicians indicated they were serving the interests of a specific company, Zondacrypto, which had in the past provided them with financial support and which had links with Russia. “The source of this company’s financial success is not only Russian money linked to the so-called Bratva, one of the most important mafia groups in Russia, but also to Russian secret services,” …

Melania Trump Pushed for Updating a Foster Care Program During a Rare Visit to Capitol Hill

Melania Trump Pushed for Updating a Foster Care Program During a Rare Visit to Capitol Hill

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to push Congress to pass bills broadening access to services for young people in foster care, calling it a “moral imperative.” The first lady began working on foster care issues after President Donald Trump’s first term ended in 2021. Her trip followed a similar and successful lobbying effort last year to get Congress to send legislation to the president to protect women and children from online sexual exploitation. The visit came a week after Melania Trump’s surprise on-camera statement at the White House in which she denied ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his crimes, and urged Congress to hold a hearing for his victims. She also demanded an end to “lies” linking her to the late financier and convicted sex offender. On Capitol Hill, she said youngsters in foster care face barriers to housing, transportation and education and other challenges outside the classroom that affect their academic performance. “We can close this gap,” Melania Trump said. “New legislation for …

Magyar Wants to Take Over as Hungary’s Prime Minister as Early as May 5

Magyar Wants to Take Over as Hungary’s Prime Minister as Early as May 5

Published by Sam Flores

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s election winner, Péter Magyar, called Monday on the country’s president to convene the parliament to form a new government “as quickly as possible,” in hopes that he can take over from Viktor Orbán as prime minister as early as May 5. With an overwhelming new mandate, Magyar pledged to cooperate with other European countries, ending Orbán-era obstruction of Europe-wide policies, while also representing Hungarians’ wishes. At a news conference Monday in Budapest, he promised to restore rule of law and overhaul government structures to make them more independent and able to fight corruption, and to create new ministries to address acute problems in areas like public health, environmental protection and education. He said he opposes fast-track EU membership for Ukraine while the country is still in a war. But he suggested he wouldn’t veto a 90-billion-euro EU loan for Ukraine, as Orbán did, and instead wants Hungary to ″opt out″ of participating in the loan because of its own financial struggles. He didn’t immediately address his eventual relations with U.S. …

Democrats Embrace DEI as ‘American Values’ at National Action Network

Democrats Embrace DEI as ‘American Values’ at National Action Network

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (AP) — Ever since President Donald Trump started purging diversity initiatives last year, the letters “DEI” have faded from corporate boardrooms and Democratic stump speeches. But that wasn’t the case for the past few days at the annual National Action Network conference in New York, where Democratic politicians and potential presidential candidates repeatedly made the case for diversity, equity and inclusion policies that seemed to have fallen out of favor. “We have the high ground on this issue,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared to a packed audience of Black activists. He criticized Republicans as “extremists” who “are trying to do an all-out assault on civil rights, on voting rights, certainly on diversity, equity and inclusion.” “They’re not trying to celebrate merit, they’re trying to elevate mediocrity,” Jeffries contended. “They want to suggest that diversity, equity and inclusion are foreign values. They’re not foreign values, they’re American values.” DEI initiatives became widespread in workplaces, colleges and government agencies after Black Lives Matter protests over the murder of George Floyd in 2020. But Republican …

Arizona’s drop in SNAP participation signals potential nationwide impact of Trump legislation

Arizona’s drop in SNAP participation signals potential nationwide impact of Trump legislation

Published by Sam Flores

More than 400,000 Arizonans have lost their SNAP benefits since July — the largest decline in the nation by a wide margin — as an underfunded state agency administered changes called for in President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The drop represents nearly 47% of the state’s participants in the program better known as food stamps and includes about 180,000 children, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security, which administers the program. On Wednesday, the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released data through February showing that the reduction in Arizona has far outstripped other states. After Arizona, the largest loss of participants was in Florida, where less than 16% of recipients lost benefits since July, according to the center’s analysis. Arizona officials attribute the plunging caseload to swift implementation of policy changes forced by the bill, including new work requirements. But interviews suggest that Arizona’s efforts to comply, combined with cuts to the agency that runs the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, have contributed to the decline — making it …

Mobile Home Legislation in Arizona Target Utility Costs, Abandonment Rules and Manager Training

Mobile Home Legislation in Arizona Target Utility Costs, Abandonment Rules and Manager Training

Published by Sam Flores

For years, manufactured home park owners across Arizona would restrict what types of air conditioners or cooling devices people used on their mobile homes because they were noisy or ugly. That was until 2024, when a coalition of groups changed state law to make the practice illegal. Now a new legislative session is in full swing, and with it the hopes for new tools to improve the experiences of mobile home residents in Arizona. This year, she and other stakeholders around the state spent months in discussion to decide what bills felt most urgent to introduce. “We went to many, many meetings with all kinds of people,” Noble said. They held eight listening sessions with residents, utility companies and groups like anti-poverty organizer Wildfire AZ to help draft bills that would not only change state law but also add more enforcement. The Arizona Association of Manufactured Home Owners drafted one bill requiring more education for park managers, and worked with Wildfire to draft two utility bills that would prevent park owners from charging residents more …

Mississippi Lawmakers Send Bill That Criminalizes Abortion-Inducing Medication to Governor

Mississippi Lawmakers Send Bill That Criminalizes Abortion-Inducing Medication to Governor

Published by Sam Flores

People who distribute, or intend to distribute, abortion-inducing medication in Mississippi could face a criminal charge and up to 10 years in prison if convicted, under a bill lawmakers are sending to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. Experts say criminalization could lock up desperate Mississippians and scare doctors away from prescribing these medications in clinical settings for non-abortion purposes, such as stopping postpartum hemorrhaging and easing symptoms of miscarriages. Lawmakers added restrictions on abortion-inducing drugs to a drug trafficking bill that passed the House 76-38 and the Senate 37-15 on Tuesday. Republicans control both chambers. “I think we’re going to end up trapping a lot of people into the criminal justice system simply because they want to have autonomy over their own bodies,” said Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Democrat from Jackson, who voted against the bill. Rep. Celeste Hurst, a Republican from Sandhill, said she introduced this amendment to keep abortion medication, such as mifepristone and misoprostol, from entering Mississippi. “The intent is to keep doctors from out of state from circumventing our current law,” Hurst …

Ten assisted suicide cases referred to the CPS last year – showing necessity for assisted dying legislation – Humanists UK

Ten assisted suicide cases referred to the CPS last year – showing necessity for assisted dying legislation – Humanists UK

Published by Sam Flores

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has dealt with ten new cases of encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person since March 2025, including one case which went to trial and was acquitted. Three cases have been withdrawn by the police in the last year. Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision lament the House of Lords’ filibustering of the Assisted Dying Bill, which would have established a clearer, more safeguarded process for terminally ill people. New CPS data shows that, from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2026, 209 cases recorded as assisted suicide were referred to the CPS by police. This is up from 199 cases in the previous annual release, covering the period to 31 March 2025. The number of cases withdrawn by police has risen from 39 to 42, and the number of cases not proceeded with by the CPS remains unchanged at 131. These cases are often for people who have accompanied loved ones to Switzerland for an assisted death. The CPS often rules that it is …

GOP spikes DHS funding plan, extending shutdown

GOP spikes DHS funding plan, extending shutdown

Published by Sam Flores

With an end to the Department of Homeland Security shutdown in sight, House Republicans on Friday bristled at the deal their Senate colleagues sent them overnight, potentially imperiling the funding bill and threatening to extend the shutdown that’s led to worsening airport delays. The Senate early Friday morning advanced a bill to fund most of DHS, except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection, in a move to end the partial government shutdown that has disrupted air travel across the U.S., as Transportation Security Administration agents go without paychecks and miss work. That bill immediately met resistance in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La, on Friday afternoon confirmed a plan to ditch the Senate proposal and instead try to pass a stopgap funding bill for all of DHS through May 22. The stopgap measures advanced out of the House Rules Committee on Friday, teeing up a vote as soon as later this evening. “This gambit that was done last night is a joke,” Johnson told reporters. “The Senate Democrats have …

Idaho Transgender Bathroom Bill Is the Strictest in the Nation and Likely Veto-Proof

Idaho Transgender Bathroom Bill Is the Strictest in the Nation and Likely Veto-Proof

Published by Sam Flores

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers passed a sweeping bathroom ban Friday, approving legislation that would make it a crime for transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, even inside privately owned businesses. If Republican Gov. Brad Little signs the bill, Idaho will have the strictest bathroom ban in the nation, subjecting people to time behind bars if they knowingly enter a bathroom, locker room or changing area that does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and sentenced to a year in jail for a first offense, or a felony with up to five years in prison for a second offense. Private businesses are included in Idaho’s bill At least 19 states, including Idaho, already have laws barring transgender people from using bathrooms and changing rooms that align with their gender in schools and, in some cases, other public places. The LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Movement Advancement Project’s tracking of the laws shows that three other states — Florida, Kansas and Utah — …