A golf tournament at the scenic Pebble Beach Golf Links with free spa treatments. A six-day stay at an upscale resort in Maui. Tours to Spain, Portugal, Norway and Australia. Those are among dozens of free trips California state lawmakers took last year, most sponsored and attended by special interest groups with business before the […]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — One by one, South Carolina senators stood up at the Statehouse this week, saying they didn’t want to wade into the rules about paying college athletes, but they couldn’t bear to see their Gamecocks or Tigers left behind on the field or the court. South Carolina is poised to join at […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The shutdown of Wisconsin’s version of C-SPAN amid a fundraising shortfall has led to state lawmakers meeting outside of public view, fueling complaints from open government advocates and putting pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal to revive the network. WisconsinEye had broadcast every floor session of the state Senate and […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Anxious lawmakers convened Wednesday under heightened security in Wisconsin’s state Capitol, one of the most publicly accessible statehouses in the country, days after a legislator and her husband in neighboring Minnesota were shot and killed at their home and others were targeted. The tension playing out in Wisconsin and other states […]