Public Land Battle Heats Up in Wyoming; Chicago Schools Take Credit Rating Hit
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Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: More gridlock ahead in Minn. state government; tropical bedbug worries in Florida; a Calexit for the Golden State?
PUBLIC LANDS | A group of Wyoming lawmakers voted Wednesday to advance a proposed constitutional amendment that would dictate how federal public lands would be managed if they are transferred to the state. They did so despite over two hours of testimony in opposition to the measure from conservationists and sportsmen. This is one of the latest battles in the west over who should control public land. Among the other attendees at a hearing on Wednesday: energy industry lobbyists, who did not speak publicly. [Casper Star Tribune]
BONDS | Less than a week before the Chicago school district is expected to sell hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term bonds, Standard & Poor’s dropped the district’s credit rating one level deeper into junk territory. S&P warned that an even greater downgrade was possible within a year. [Chicago Tribune]
GRIDLOCK | Republicans are poised to retake control of Minnesota’s Legislature after scoring upsets on Election Day, raising worries of political gridlock in the state capitol. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is a Democrat. A new two-year budget and changes to the state’s health insurance system are among the issues set to come up in the next legislative session. Partisan feuding over the Minnesota budget in 2011 led to a state government shutdown. [Star Tribune]
CREATIONISM | The newest Republican member of the Texas State Board of Education, Keven Ellis, is staying quiet on the question of whether Texas should keep creationism in its science standards. A debate over the issue that is set to take place early next year. A Texas Education Agency-convened panel voted to remove creationist language form curriculum standards, and now the state board will vote on whether to accept or reject that recommendation. [The Texas Tribune]
CALEXIT | Backers of the idea that California should secede from the U.S. say the election of Donald Trump as president has bolstered their cause. About a dozen supporters of a “Calexit” demonstrated in front of the state capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday. Among their chants: "What do we want? Calexit! When do we want it? Now!" [Los Angeles Times]
FLEET MANAGEMENT | A number of state and local government agencies across Florida have been found auctioning off vehicles with hazardous and potentially deadly outstanding recalls, including the Highway Patrol. [WPTV]
UNIONS | The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 61, which represents 18,500 workers, asked Iowa government for a series of base pay increases totalling 8.7 percent over the next two years. [The Des Moines Register]
BEDBUGS | A rare tropical bedbug that is capable of spreading quickly has re-emerged in Florida after a 60-year absence. "I personally believe that in Florida, we have all of the right conditions that could potentially help spread tropical bed bugs, which is the case in other southern states,” said a doctoral student studying insect. [Florida Today]
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