Archive for the ‘Attorney General News’ Category
AG Race gets attention in Kentucky
Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 11:49 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 31 May 2011 11:49
From Courier-Journal.com:
While the Kentucky governor’s race has the highest profile in this year’s election, the contest for attorney general is a not-too-distant second.
The race pits Democratic incumbent Jack Conway against Hopkins County Attorney Todd P’Pool. And it’s the obsession of the state Republican Party.
“There is blood in the water and everyone smells it,” said Ted Jackson, a Louisville businessman who has run Republican congressional and gubernatorial campaigns in Kentucky.
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Challenges to Health Care law go to Appeals Court
Last Updated on Monday, 9 May 2011 01:43 Written by rslcpol Monday, 9 May 2011 01:43
From PilotOnline.com:
Just down the hill from Virginia’s Capitol, state and federal lawyers will renew their arguments this week over the constitutionality of the nation’s health care overhaul.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Tuesday in two cases challenging the constitutionality of the year-old Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
A three-judge panel will hear a lawsuit filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who has received national attention for leading the state’s effort to thwart President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy initiative. The same three-judge panel will hear arguments in a separate lawsuit filed by Liberty University, which is challenging the constitutionality of both the individual and employer insurance mandates in the health care law.
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CT AG Qualifications Bill Debated
Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 April 2011 01:02 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 13 April 2011 01:02
The bill, nicknamed the ‘Bysiewicz Bill’ after failed Democrat Secretary of State candidate Susan Bysiewicz.
From Courant.com:
The current law says the attorney general must have put in at least 10 years in the “active practice” of law in Connecticut. Last year, in the Republican Party’s court challenge against Bysiewicz’s qualifications, the state Supreme Court interpreted that vague language as requiring that the candidate have “at least some experience litigating cases in court.” Because Bysiewicz had no such experience, the court disqualified her as a candidate. George Jepsen went on to win the Democratic nomination and then the election.
Brady told the legislature’s judiciary committee that the current law is both unclear and too restrictive.
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MO Lt. Governor Kinder on Attorney General Koster Filing Amicus Brief in Florida Case
Last Updated on Monday, 11 April 2011 12:48 Written by rslcpol Monday, 11 April 2011 12:48
From Lt. Governor Kinder’s office:
JEFFERSON CITY – Lt. Governor Peter Kinder today released the following statement after Attorney General Koster filed an amicus brief in the Florida case:
“After thirteen months of inaction and indecision, Attorney General Koster has joined me in declaring the individual mandate to be unconstitutional. However, AG Koster fails to recognize what Judge Vinson clearly articulated and ruled, which is that the individual mandate is not severable from the Health Care Act and therefore the entire law is unconstitutional. AG Koster’s amicus brief in the Florida case, while welcome, is a day late and a dollar short. It does not adequately defend the Missouri Health Care Freedom Act or respond to the resolution passed by the Missouri General Assembly.
With the exception of AG Koster now agreeing that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, we are otherwise disappointed in AG Koster’s course of action. His filing of an amicus brief in the Appellate Court hearing the Florida case does not effectively advocate for the interests of Missouri citizens. I continue to urge AG Koster to join the lawsuit that I and other Missouri citizens have filed in federal court in Missouri. This case is the only case in the nation specifically defending the Health Care Freedom Act and rights of Missourians.
It is crucial that leaders of our state are willing to get in the battle for Missourians’ constitutional rights and freedoms, and not just comment from the sidelines.”
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Why do state elections matter to the RSLC?
Last Updated on Monday, 21 March 2011 12:50 Written by rslcpol Monday, 21 March 2011 12:50
Check out the first installment of RSLC President Chris Jankowski’s President’s Perspective – Notes from the States:
Democratic legislators in Wisconsin and Indiana did not flee their jobs because Republican Governors proposed bold comprehensive reforms to balance their budgets and create job growth in their states. These Democratic legislators fled their jobs because there were new Republican legislative majorities poised to enact these comprehensive reforms in Wisconsin and Indiana. State legislative elections matter.
Elections for state Attorneys General also matter as we saw when Republican Attorneys General rallied to challenge the overreaching Obama healthcare law. As home to the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association (RLGA), the RSLC knows elections for Lieutenant Governors matter as we cheered just weeks ago when Republican Lt. Governor Bill Bolling of Virginia cast the tie breaking vote on an amendment to Senate Bill 924 that will require new regulatory standards to protect the health of patients in Virginia’s abortion clinics.
MT: Legislators Want AG to jump into Health Care Fight
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 01:34 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 16 March 2011 10:13
From Billings Gazette:
Republicans are making it clear they will send the governor a bill that aims to force the attorney general to join an ongoing lawsuit challenging the federal health care law.
House Republicans heartily endorsed the plan Tuesday in an initial vote. It faces one more largely procedural vote before going to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who has not yet said if he will sign it.
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KS: AG Applauds Expedited Health Care Appeal
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 01:34 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 15 March 2011 01:08
From wibw.com:
Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Gov. Sam Brownback both say the decision to fast-track an appeal of the federal health care reform law is needed to end uncertainty for businesses and governments trying plan for their financial obligations.
A federal appeals court granted a request Monday by Kansas and 25 other states to expedite its review of a district court decision that the federal health care law is unconstitutional. Oral arguments on the law could be heard as early as this summer.
“It is important to resolve this lawsuit as quickly as possible. States are in the midst of building their budget plans and need to know now whether they should begin preparing for the tremendous financial burden of the federal health care law,” Brownback said. “I am pleased states will not endure years of litigation. A quick resolution by the Court will provide finality for states, businesses, health care providers and citizens, and possibly avoid the implementation of the costly, burdensome and overreaching bill.”
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Attorney General in Wyoming Sworn in
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 01:33 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 15 March 2011 12:40
From BillingsGazette:
Greg Phillips has been sworn in as Wyoming’s 35th attorney general.
The 50-year-old Phillips took the oath of office Monday from Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kite at the Supreme Court building in Cheyenne.
Gov. Matt Mead nominated Phillips. The Wyoming State Senate confirmed him earlier this month.
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New California AG now an Obama Ally in Health Care Fight
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 03:03 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 9 March 2011 01:37
From LegalNewsLine.com:
First, President Barack Obama supported Kamala Harris’ campaign for California attorney general. Now, she’s defending Obama’s federal health care reform package that has twice been ruled unconstitutional.
Harris led a group of state attorneys general in an amicus brief filed Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which is hearing the federal government’s appeal of a ruling in favor of the state of Virginia. A federal judge ruled in December that the health care law is unconstitutional.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli argued in his lawsuit challenging the law that a mandate requiring citizens to purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual penalty is unconstitutional and flies in the face of Virginia law.
Harris and nine other attorneys general disagree with Cuccinelli, who has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the appeal instead of the Fourth Circuit in the interest of a quick resolution.
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EPA’s Decision could cost Oklahoma
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 03:03 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 8 March 2011 02:42
From NewsOn6.com:
A decision by the EPA could end up costing Oklahomans a lot of money. The EPA has rejected part of Oklahoma’s plan to clean up the air.
OG&E officials told the Oklahoma Impact Team during an investigation last year that to make the kinds of changes the federal government proposed Monday, it could increase customer’s electric bills by 20 percent.
A year ago the state presented it’s plan to reduce pollution in the state, and specifically return the Wichita mountains to it’s “natural state.”
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