Latest news with #lawmakers
Wall Street Journal
4 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
California Expands Film and TV Tax Credits to Lure Production Back to Hollywood
California state lawmakers approved an expanded $750 million tax credit program to bring film and TV production back to Los Angeles. The legislators voted Friday to increase the tax credits up from the $330 million currently available. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had proposed expanding the incentive program, is expected to sign it into law.
Fox News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Supreme Court upholds Texas law requiring age verification on porn websites
Print Close By Alexandra Koch Published June 27, 2025 The Supreme Court of the United States on Friday upheld a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify visitors' ages to protect minors from sexually explicit content online. Justices ruled 6-3 that requiring adults in Texas to verify their age does not violate the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, noting at least 21 other states imposed similar regulations on sexual material that could be harmful to minors online. Texas and other states prohibit the distribution of sexually explicit content to children in brick and mortar stores, but online content remains largely unregulated. 'WE WON': SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS OVER SCOTUS RULING DEALING 'FATAL BLOW' TO TRANSGENDER SURGERIES ON MINORS Lawmakers from the Lone Star State enacted a bill requiring certain commercial websites that publish sexually explicit content to verify the ages of those entering the site, which the justices upheld as constitutional, noting at least 21 other states imposed similar regulations on sexual material that could be harmful to minors. Those who visit sexually explicit websites will need to use government-issued identification or a "commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data." Sites can perform verification themselves or through a third-party service. SCOTUS RULES ON STATE BAN ON GENDER TRANSITION 'TREATMENTS' FOR MINORS IN LANDMARK CASE If website owners knowingly violate the law, the Supreme Court ruled the Texas attorney general can sue and collect a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day that the site is non-compliant. They can also collect an additional penalty of up to $250,000 if any minors accessed the covered sexual material as a result of the violation. TEXAS BILL PUSHES STRICTEST SOCIAL MEDIA BAN FOR MINORS IN THE NATION Justices wrote in their opinion that internet access has drastically changed since 1999, when only two out of five American households had a computer. In 2024, 95 percent of American teens had access to a smartphone, with 93 percent reporting frequent internet use. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan argued speech that is obscene for minors is often not obscene for adults. "So adults have a constitutional right to view the very same speech that a State may prohibit for children," Kagan wrote. "And it is a fact of life—and also of law—that adults and children do not live in hermetically sealed boxes. In preventing children from gaining access to 'obscene for children' speech, States sometimes take measures impeding adults from viewing it too—even though, for adults, it is constitutionally protected expression. "But what if Texas could do better—what if Texas could achieve its interest without so interfering with adults' constitutionally protected rights in viewing the speech H. B. 1181 covers? That is the ultimate question on which the Court and I disagree." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Pornhub and other pornography giants have stopped service in Texas and other states where regulations are in place. Print Close URL
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
German lawmakers vote to suspend family reunions for many migrants
BERLIN: German lawmakers voted Friday to suspend family reunions for many migrants, part of a drive by the new conservative-led government for a tougher approach to migration. Parliament's lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have 'subsidiary protection,' a status that falls short of asylum. At the end of March, more than 388,000 people living in Germany had the status, which was granted to many people fleeing Syria's civil war. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more police at the border and said some asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe's biggest economy would be turned away. The bill approved Friday is the first legislation on migration since Merz took office. It will suspend rules dating to 2018 that allowed up to 1,000 close relatives per month to join the migrants granted limited protection, with authorities making case-by-case decisions on humanitarian grounds rather than granting an automatic right for reunions. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told lawmakers that the change would result in 12,000 fewer people being able to come to Germany each year and 'break a business model' for smugglers. People often know they won't get full recognition as refugees, 'but they set off for Germany because it is known that, even without asylum recognition ... you can have your family follow,' Dobrindt said. 'That is a significant pull effect and we are removing this pull effect today.' Dobrindt said 'our country's capacity for integration simply has a limit.' Liberal opposition lawmakers decried the government's approach. Marcel Emmerich, of the Greens, described the legislation as 'an attack on the core of every society, on a truly central value — the family.' 'Anyone who wants integration must bring families together,' he said. The far-right, anti-migration Alternative for Germany described the move as a very small step in the right direction. German governments have for years faced pressure to curb migration as shelters across the country filled up. The administration of Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz, already had taken some measures including the introduction of checks on all Germany's borders. Asylum applications declined from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
German lawmakers vote to suspend family reunions for many migrants
BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers voted Friday to suspend family reunions for many migrants, part of a drive by the new conservative-led government for a tougher approach to migration. Parliament's lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have 'subsidiary protection,' a status that falls short of asylum. At the end of March, more than 388,000 people living in Germany had the status, which was granted to many people fleeing Syria's civil war. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more police at the border and said some asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe's biggest economy would be turned away. The bill approved Friday is the first legislation on migration since Merz took office. It will suspend rules dating to 2018 that allowed up to 1,000 close relatives per month to join the migrants granted limited protection, with authorities making case-by-case decisions on humanitarian grounds rather than granting an automatic right for reunions. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told lawmakers that the change would result in 12,000 fewer people being able to come to Germany each year and 'break a business model' for smugglers. People often know they won't get full recognition as refugees, 'but they set off for Germany because it is known that, even without asylum recognition ... you can have your family follow," Dobrindt said. "That is a significant pull effect and we are removing this pull effect today.' Dobrindt said 'our country's capacity for integration simply has a limit.' Liberal opposition lawmakers decried the government's approach. Marcel Emmerich, of the Greens, described the legislation as 'an attack on the core of every society, on a truly central value — the family.' 'Anyone who wants integration must bring families together,' he said. The far-right, anti-migration Alternative for Germany described the move as a very small step in the right direction. German governments have for years faced pressure to curb migration as shelters across the country filled up. The administration of Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz, already had taken some measures including the introduction of checks on all Germany's borders. Asylum applications declined from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year.
Washington Post
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
German lawmakers vote to suspend family reunions for many migrants
BERLIN — German lawmakers voted Friday to suspend family reunions for many migrants, part of a drive by the new conservative-led government for a tougher approach to migration. Parliament's lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have 'subsidiary protection,' a status that falls short of asylum.
