State Highlights: Strong Gun Safety Proposals Make Headway In More Than 12 States; Health Industry Joins Contributors To Massachusetts Attorney General

Stateline: Another Big Year Expected For Gun Control In The States
After a significant year for the gun control movement in 2018, momentum for stricter firearms laws in states across the country likely will accelerate this year. In states where Democrats made big gains in the November elections, lawmakers are quickly moving legislation to raise the buying age for guns and to ban assault-style weapons. Other measures, including bills to limit gun access for domestic abusers and people who may harm themselves or others, have increasing bipartisan support. (Vasilogambros, 2/7)

Texas Tribune: Santa Fe Survivors Want Texas To Pass Bills To Prevent Another Mass Shooting
Since the shooting, survivors like Rice have taken part in the school safety conversation that’s all but certain to make waves at the Texas Capitol over the next several months. Lawmakers have already filed a bevy of bills aimed at preventing — or at least mitigating — another gun tragedy. Victims and their loved ones are hoping that by the time the Legislature adjourns in May, the bills they’ve been advocating for will make it to the governor’s desk. (Samuels, 2/7)

Boston Globe: Healey Gets Boost From Health Insurers, Hospitals For Inauguration Fête
Attorney General Maura Healey, whose broad responsibilities include enforcing the state’s health care laws, got a boost from two of the industry’s most influential interest groups amid an array of developers, banks, and others who bankrolled her inaugural celebration last month. The Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, which shares an adviser with Healey, and the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association combined to give the Charlestown Democrat’s inaugural committee $5,000 on the same day last month, records show. (Stout, 2/6)

The Associated Press: Judge: Give Me Weeks For Decision In Big Flint Water Case
A judge said Wednesday it will likely take weeks for him to decide whether Michigan’s former health director will continue to face involuntary manslaughter charges arising from the Flint water crisis. The issue for Genesee County Judge Joseph Farah is whether to overturn a ruling last summer by a judge in a lower court. Nick Lyon, who led the Department of Health and Human Services until Jan. 1, has been ordered to trial in the deaths of two men who had Legionnaires’ disease. (2/6)

Los Angeles Times: California Lawmakers Try Once Again To Make It Easier To Prosecute Police Officers For Killing Civilians
A year after the failure of legislation that would have made it easier to criminally prosecute police officers for killing civilians, California lawmakers will once again debate stricter legal standards for officers who use deadly force. This week, legislators are introducing two competing bills on the issue, setting up a renewed clash between civil-liberties organizations and law-enforcement groups. One bill, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union and similar groups, would allow district attorneys to more easily prosecute police officers for killing civilians. The other, which has the support of police unions and management, would instead focus on internal department policies and training. (Dillon, 2/6)

North Carolina Health News: Mistreated Adults Need Support From State, Not Just Counties And Feds, Advocates Say
When a doctor’s office, neighbor or relative reports mistreatment of an older person in North Carolina, the call to investigate rings at one of the 100 county departments of social services. Counties pay more than four-fifths of the cost of looking into reports and finding solutions to those reports, with a federal social services block grant making up about 18 percent, and the state roughly .01 percent, according to the state Division of Aging and Adult Services. (Goldsmith, 2/7)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County Was Warned Of Health-Care Crisis In Jail Weeks Before First Inmate Died
One year ago, few people outside the Cuyahoga County jails knew of any problems behind the bars, in part because state inspectors routinely gave the county facilities passing grades. That changed on May 22, when a County Council committee heard testimony about a health-care crisis at the jails: a severe shortage of nurses, an inability to hire more nurses and conflicts between the jail director and the medical staff. (Astolfi, 2/6)

Sacramento Bee: Transgender Troops Continue To Serve In CA National Guard
One of the highest-ranking officers in the California National Guard told lawmakers on Tuesday that the state is not removing transgender soldiers and airmen from its ranks despite efforts by the Trump administration to bar transgender people from the Armed Forces. (Ashton, 2/6)

Health News Florida: Bill Implementing Vaping Amendment Passes, Despite Debate
A bill implementing a constitutional amendment that bans vaping in businesses passed its first committee Tuesday. But as Blaise Gainey reports, legislators, advocates and critics must now answer the question – What is vaping? (Gainey, 2/6)

KQED: New Bill Aims To Ban Cosmetic Surgery For Intersex Infants
Senate Bill 201 would prohibit medical providers from performing cosmetic surgeries on intersex babies — individuals born with natural variations in sex characteristics or genitalia — until they can make their own decisions. Some of the surgeries that advocates say are medically unnecessary include reducing a clitoris, creating a vagina or removing healthy gonadal tissue. (Medina-Cadena, 2/6)

Georgia Health News: Where Do Our Tobacco Settlement Dollars Go?
According to state figures recently compiled by the Georgia Center for Oncology Research & Education (CORE), just $14.1 million of the Georgia allotment of $151 million in fiscal 2019 went to deal with cancer. That’s less than 10 percent. In contrast, the state’s cancer spending share in fiscal 2001 was 27 percent. Advocates for increased cancer funding say the state Legislature should provide more money to these efforts. (Miller, 2/6)

Arizona Republic: Gov. Doug Ducey Orders More Protection For Arizonans With Disabilities
After a patient’s rape at a Phoenix long-term care facility, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday issued an executive order calling for more state protection of people with disabilities. Ducey is ordering three state agencies to strengthen protections for some of the state’s most vulnerable residents. (Innes, 2/6)

Arizona Republic: Fight Over ‘Cage’ Tests Rules On Safety For People With Disabilities
It was the way the bed looked. More like an oversized crib, or even a cage, than a bed. Its tall wooden slats, locks and hinged doors screamed “restraint” to state health officials who saw it in the bedroom of Julianna Wadsack, a teenager with severe disabilities. But to Julianna’s parents, it was a safe place for their daughter to sleep, a guard against her wandering when caregivers were pre-occupied, lest the child walk into walls or, worse, collapse on the floor from a seizure. (Pitzl, 2/6)

Sacramento Bee: UCD Offers Less-Invasive Fix For PDA Defect In Preemies
Weighing little more than 3 pounds 7 ounces, tiny Marcellus Brown had a life-threatening problem with his blood flow, one that is common for preemies. To fix it, surgeons at most medical centers cut into these infants’ delicate chests and spread them open to work. Dr. Frank Ing made just a needle prick to perform a procedure that repaired the problem. (Anderson, 2/5)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Cherokee County Parents Warned Of Two Pertussis Cases
Parents of students at two Cherokee County schools received letters this week warning them that their child may have been exposed to whooping cough. Tuesday’s letters were sent to families whose children attend Free Home Elementary School and Creekland Middle School in Canton. One student at each of the schools has been diagnosed with whooping cough. (McCray, 2/6)