New legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would expand the reach of U.S. creative industries — including Native Hawaiian-owned businesses — to check China’s growing advantage in cultural exports. What You Need To Know The lawmakers noted that China’s Belt and Road Initiative has aggressively expanded the country’s cultural…
It looks like Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed bell-to-bell cellphone ban has some critics among lawmakers and school administrators. Last week, Capital Tonight spoke with New York’s Superintendents’ Association and School Boards Association about why they are pushing for less stringent rules around cellphones. Both groups are open to the state Senate’s one-house budget proposal which…
Leaders from the state Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) came out Wednesday appearing to feel isolated from its members and the state as the wildcat strike its members are partaking in hit its 17th day. Executive Vice President Matt Keough acknowleged that members at this point do not trust union leadership. “Have we acted in…
HOUSTON — Former Houston Mayor and U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner has died at the age of 70. The Houston Chronicle first reported the story after current Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced the news during a Houston City Council meeting on Wednesday morning. Whitmire said Turner was working in Washington, D.C. when he was taken to…
With President Donald Trump set to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, took to the Senate floor the day before to present an itemization of what he called “one of the worst starts to any presidency in generations — and it’s not even close.” What You Need To…
DETROIT — At the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, a quote from former President Ronald Reagan is engraved on one wall. “Let the 5,000-mile border between Canada and the United States stand as a symbol for the future,” Reagan said upon signing a 1988 free trade pact with America’s northern neighbor. “Let it forever be not a point of division…
U.S. Reps. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, James Moylan, R-Guam, are making a renewed push to reform the controversial Jones Act, which they say promotes shipping monopolies that artificially inflate the cost of imported goods to non-contiguous U.S. states and territories. What You Need To Know The Congressmen recently reintroduced three legislative measures that would remove or…
Monday, led by U.S. Reps. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., House Democrats called on U.S. Office of Personnel Management acting director Charles Ezell to release a full breakdown of workers who have accepted OPM’s “deferred resignation” offer. What You Need To Know More than 20,000 federal employees are believed to have accepted the…
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — A line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas Wednesday, among the first of 10,000 officers Mexico has sent to its northern frontier following tariff threats by President Donald Trump. What You Need To Know Mexican National Guard and Army…
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, called for a unified effort Monday to reject the Trump administration’s attempt to do away with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Schatz vowed a “blanket hold” on all the president’s State Department nominees until USAID is restored as an independent agency. What You Need To Know U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz:…