Florida Lawmakers Consider ‘Whiskey and Wheaties’ Proposal
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Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Budget showdown in West Virginia; Trump budget may gut Oregon’s state environmental programs; and cyberattack in Maine and Arkansas.
ALCOHOL REGULATION | Lawmakers in Florida are considering legislation to do away with Prohibition-era rules that bar grocery and convenience stores from selling liquor. “This is something that was put in well over 80 years ago at a time when things were very, very different,” state Sen. Anitere Flores of Miami said of the so-called “whiskey and Wheaties” proposal. [Florida Times-Union]
In California, a single alcohol permit caused an uproar at a Santa Maria City Council meeting, where parishioners of the Pacific Christian Center—across the street from a Chevron— opposed the Planning Commission’s decision to let the gas station sell booze. City Council caved to the pressure and reversed the Planning Commission’s decision. No gas station in the city currently sells alcohol, even though cities can’t ban its sale at gas stations according to California law. So Santa Maria makes the sale subject to a conditional use permit instead. [Santa Maria Times]
STATE WORKERS | More than 30 employees working in the core programs of the cash-strapped Oregon Department of Environmental Quality may lose their jobs due to proposed federal cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to an internal department memo. [Oregon Public Broadcasting]
PUBLIC HEALTH | Over the years, Detroit has been ranked on plenty of lists that it would rather not be part of. The newest ranking comes from WalletHub, which has determined that the Motor City is the most stressed, unhealthiest and unhappiest city in the nation. [MLive.com]
SHUTDOWN | West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Democrat, is the latest to threaten a government shutdown if the Republican-run state legislature can’t reach a budget consensus. Some GOP leaders are “on a mission from God” to cut state government at the expense of families, he said. While Justice wants to see slight increases to sales and business taxes—as well as one on the wealthy—and DMV and toll fees to cover a $450 million budget shortfall, the Republican plan raises beer and liquor taxes and eliminates Greyhound and casino subsidies. About $150 million in cuts would be made to health and human resources and education. [The State Journal]
MINING | Lawmakers in the Montana state House are considering a bill that would require independent audits of working mines every three years. It’s pitting environmental groups and fishing interests against the mining industry. The measure would also impose new guidelines for bonds to cover mining land remediation costs. In the backdrop of the legislative debate is a proposal by Tintina Resources to build a copper mine near a stream that feeds the Smith River, a waterway known for its scenery and trout fishing. [Bozeman Daily Chronicle]
TAX MEASURES | Voters in Kansas City, Missouri, will decide April 4 on a ballot measure that would impose a citywide one-eighth-cent sales tax that would fund economic development activities along the city’s Prospect Avenue Corridor. The proposal would raise an estimated $8.6 million a year for 10 years. “We don’t think you can have a great city if the urban core is depressed,” said Gayle Holliday, a president of Freedom Inc. and a member of the group supporting the tax proposal. [The Kansas City Star]
CYBERSECURITY | Job seekers in Maine and Arkansas are among those who have had Social Security numbers and other personal information compromised by computer hacking. A contractor, America’s Job Link Alliance, said it confirmed Tuesday that its computer systems had been breached. The company, which manages online job-listings for 16 states, has asked the FBI for assistance. [Bangor Daily News; Arkansas Democrat Gazette]
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