#hb 488

[rebuiltzine]

Maryland’s Fast-Tracked Redistricting Fight: Why Governor Moore’s Map Could Still Be Halted

By MDBayNews Staff Maryland Governor Wes Moore has made his position clear: HB 488, the fast-tracked congressional redistricting bill now racing through the General Assembly, is a priority. There is little reason to believe the governor would veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. The bill is widely viewed as a Moore-backed effort to redraw Maryland’s congressional map mid-decade, locking…

Maryland’s Fast-Tracked Redistricting Fight: Why Governor Moore’s Map Could Still Be Halted

[rebuiltzine]

Opinion: Marylanders Should Oppose HB 488 — And Put It on the Record

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland’s political class likes to talk about “reform.” When it comes to redistricting, House Bill 488 is the latest example of why voters should be skeptical of that word. HB 488 is being sold as an improvement to Maryland’s congressional and legislative redistricting process. In reality, it preserves the same structural incentives that produced one of the most…

Opinion: Marylanders Should Oppose HB 488 — And Put It on the Record

[thisisfusion]

Controversial immigration bill dies in Mississippi Senate

A Democrat-led state Senate committee on Tuesday squashed a Mississippi bill targeting undocumented immigrants. (Flickr: Ken Lund)

By JUAN GASTELUM Channel: Immigration

The Arizona-style bill, known as H.B. 488, would have required police to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during arrests involving individuals suspected of being in the country illegally, and included measures that would make it difficult for undocumented immigrants to find work in the state. Other provisions, including one that required schools to count undocumented students, were earlier eliminated from the legislation.

The bill's demise came as good news to its opponents, which included immigrant and civil rights groups, law enforcement officers, and business groups that worried the new measures would damage the state's economy.

Mississippi Republicans, however, are trying to keep some key elements of the bill alive by inserting them into other pieces of legislation still being considered in the state legislature, according the the Associated Press. But state rules against wedging issues into unrelated bills may prevent that from occurring.

Five states -- Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah -- have passed laws similar to Arizona's in the past year, prompting numerous legal challenges from civil rights groups and the Obama administration.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the administration's case against Arizona's law on April 25.