Top Eight

Your Tuesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top eight stories for today including Texas senators passed a bill requiring energy regulators to retroactively lower prices during last month’s winter storm; A new EPA rule will reduce toxic emissions by 17,000 tons; Police officers convicted of serious crimes or fired for misconduct could be stripped of their badges under policing reforms announced by California lawmakers, and more.  

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National

1.) A new Environmental Protection Agency rule will reduce toxic emissions by 17,000 tons, but environmental groups say it doesn’t go far enough.

2.) The Senate voted 81-17 Tuesday to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Small Business Administration.

Regional

3.) Texas senators, armed with an emergency mandate from the governor, blew past typical procedures to pass a bill requiring energy regulators to retroactively lower prices during the February winter storm that knocked out power for millions.

4.) Law enforcement officers convicted of serious crimes or fired for misconduct could be stripped of their badges under policing reforms announced Tuesday by California lawmakers.  

5.) Maryland’s highest court snuffed a legal battle from Clear Channel, which painted Baltimore’s new tax ordinance on billboard advertising as an issue of free speech and freedom of the press.

6.) The head of California’s bullet train project told state lawmakers Tuesday that the state should wait to see the posture of the nascent Biden administration before committing to spending plans of their own.

7.) A federal appeals court heard arguments on Tuesday in a case hinging on whether prohibiting a nonunion professor from decision-making committees the union oversees violates her constitutional right to free speech criticizing the union.

International

8.) Belgium does not have to hear a case brought by Jordanians expelled by Kuwait during the first Gulf War, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday. 

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