Government affairs

Legislative Updates

2016 state legislative battles preview

As we continue to ring in the new year, the members of state legislatures and general assemblies are heading back to their state capitals to kick off their legislative sessions.

Such governing bodies in 32 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are now in session. Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Texas do not have regular sessions scheduled for this year, which means those states will not meet or create new laws unless their governors call for an emergency legislative session.

State legislative sessions vary in length, and each state’s session operates differently. Despite these differences, several states will be taking up issues similar in nature—some that could help, or hurt, working families.

Some states are poised to continue the assault on middle-class Americans’ pay, benefits, worker protections, voting rights and ability to bargain collectively.

Additionally, letter carriers often undertake major initiatives in their states around vote-by-mail and voter registration. NALC encourages carriers to share their progress with the government affairs team so that we can help encourage similar efforts and share best practices with other efforts getting off the ground.

NALC will continue to monitor state-level legislation that affects working families as we move forward into 2016, to keep letter carriers aware of both positive and negative state-based efforts.

To view proactive and defensive issues that are expected to be considered by state legislatures, click here.

To find your state legislators, click here. Visit the National Conference of State Legislatures website to learn more about your state’s legislative session and to catch up on the latest news.

To see when your state is in session, click here.

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