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State and local law enforcement officials spoke out Tuesday against part of a bill aimed at making it easier for drug addicts to exchange dirty needles for clean ones, but they oppose the measure for different reasons. Under current law, hypodermic needles and syringes can be dispensed only by pharmacists, and possessing a used syringe with heroin residue on it is a felony. But a bill before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee would legalize residual amounts of heroin on used syringes and would allow nonprofit and community groups to create needle exchange programs. (Ramer, 3/16)

Terminally ill patients with only six months left to live could be prescribed life-ending medication under a bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature. The Minnesota Compassionate Care Act would make the state the sixth in the nation to enact so-called "Right to Die" legislation. Hundreds of people packed into a Senate hearing room on Wednesday afternoon with many opponents donning red shirts and stickers and bill proponents dressed in bright yellow. (3/16)

Medicaid officials from the Iowa Department of Human Services shared with state senators on Wednesday how the department plans to make sure Medicaid recipients are safe and receive necessary services, once the Iowa's Medicaid system is privatized on April 1. (Boden, 3/16)

About 75 disabled New Yorkers and their caregivers are lobbying legislators to cover higher reimbursements should they enact a $15 state minimum wage. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Assembly are pushing to raise the wage over three years in the New York City area and five years statewide. (3/17)

Michigan's tax on health insurance will continue under legislation signed by Gov. Rick Snyder. The bill enacted Tuesday extends the health insurance claims assessment, which helps pay for Medicaid for low-income residents, until July 2020. The tax would have gone away in two years if the legislation were not adopted. (3/17)

A bill to help anguished parents get a child seizure treatment failed to get a vote amid a hastily adjourned Senate session, even though a majority of senators support the proposal. (Stein and Spivak, 3/16)

The state Supreme Court plans to decide whether the mere smell of marijuana is enough to justify a search by police in the wake of Arizona's legalization of medical marijuana. The justices agreed Tuesday to consider appeals of contradictory rulings by the Phoenix and Tucson divisions of the state Court of Appeals. (3/16)