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A deeply diluted version of an ambitious public option health care bill moved through the House Tuesday, drawing bipartisan support but abandoning once-hopeful plans to impose a state mandate and arrange discounted coverage for small businesses and individuals. The final measure included a requirement that health care providers submit annual reports on the prices they impose, the costs they incur and the payments they receive. (Carlesso, 6/4)

The Maine Legislature voted Tuesday to legalize assisted suicide, with supporters declaring it in line with the state's tradition of individualism and opponents insisting the practice tempts fate. The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has 10 days to act on the bill and has not indicated whether she will let it become law. Her office said she has not yet taken a position. (6/4)

After a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007, a bill to require mandatory background checks for arms purchases at gun shows failed to make it out of committee in the Virginia State Senate. It was blocked by all of the Republicans on the committee and two Democrats, who controlled the chamber at the time. Now, more than a decade later, and after a gunman killed 12 people in Virginia Beach last week, a similar background check bill is being proposed as part of a package of legislation to be considered in a special session, which Gov. Ralph Northam called for on Tuesday. (Robertson, 6/4)

The proposed state budget up for a vote this week in the N.H. Senate includes money to address PFAS chemical contamination issues. The increasing awareness of PFAS contamination has already been costly for the state, towns and water utilities. (Ropeik, 6/4)

State and federal officials say Nashua’s drinking water supplies are safe from contamination by a long-dormant Superfund site.That's despite recent tests showing elevated levels of toxic PFAS chemicals in the groundwater at what's called the Sylvester site. (Ropeik, 6/4)

In his first public bill signing following the end of this year's legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott signed five bills Tuesday, measures that aim to combat human trafficking, eliminate the state's rape kit backlog, and expand resources for survivors of sexual assault. (Byrne, 6/4)

Senate negotiators on a six-member conference committee will try to convince their House colleagues to agree to a $5 million program aimed at reducing the death toll from the opioid epidemic. The proposals, including greater access to overdose-reversing drugs and ways to test for the presence of deadly opioid fentanyl, stem from recommendations made this year by a high-level commission that explored possible new steps state government could take. (Lisinski, 6/4)

It’s been an unenviable position for years: Workers at the Division for Children, Youth and Families have some of the highest average workloads in the country. This week, a bill hoped by lawmakers to address that became law. On Monday, Gov. Chris Sununu and Senate President Donna Soucy signed off on Senate Bill 6, a measure to dramatically increase the staffing at the agency, adding funding for 77 new positions over two years. The governor also signed a second bill, Senate Bill 14, seeking to fund preventative programs to better divert children from dangerous situations. (DeWitt, 6/4)

As court battles continue about whether the state is properly carrying out a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana, the Florida House is again trying to weigh in. House attorneys Friday gave notice that they will appeal a Leon County circuit judge’s ruling that blocked the House from intervening in a lawsuit to help defend a controversial 2017 law that was designed to carry out the constitutional amendment. The move came as the House also is asking the 1st District Court of Appeal to allow it to intervene in another case about the 2017 law. (Saunders, 6/4)