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A Florida Republican, discussing the possibility that Casey DeSantis will run to replace her husband Ron next year, when the governor is term-limited. Rep. Byron Donalds, a close ally of President Trump, has openly talked about running, but many donors and GOP operatives are hoping that Casey DeSantis will run and say that scenario is becoming increasingly likely. Last year, she said, “When people start talking about, ‘Oh, you know, you should run,’ that’s because Gov. DeSantis is a rock star and that’s because people are so proud of everything that he’s done for this state.” (NBC News)
A tense fight over party control of the Minnesota House ended with a power-sharing agreement this week. But hard feelings could remain.
GOP state Rep. Rachelle Smit, a former local clerk, continues to spout false claims about the 2020 election. She’s now the chair of the Michigan House’s newly renamed Election Integrity Committee.
A reentry program near Waco, Texas, has proven successful. Not only does every participant come out with a job, but their recidivism rate is 73 percent lower than incarcerated women throughout the state as a whole.
Solutions include funding the federal agency properly, requiring states to share a larger burden of the responsibility and removing barriers to resilience.
At stake in a case from Oklahoma is whether the court will expand the boundaries of government aid to faith-based institutions. It would be a sea change in education law.
Kentucky state Sen. David Yates. He supported the personal income tax cut approved by legislators on Wednesday but warned that if income taxes keep getting cut and revenues decline, other forms of taxes will have to increase. (Associated Press)
Voters approved $9 billion in school construction bonds last fall. The district must rebuild schools destroyed or damaged by smoke or fire and intends to make them more resilient.
The city was already in the grip of an affordability crisis — last month’s massive fires just made everything worse. What can L.A. learn from other disaster recovery efforts?
It’s an opportunity for state lawmakers. The public hates these surprise charges, and they put businesses that price their services transparently at a disadvantage.
A visa program created under NAFTA allows Canadian and Mexican professionals to work in the U.S. with minimal red tape. But to take advantage of it, states need to look at the Catch-22 situation created by their occupational licensing requirements.
The program is designed to offer solar power to households in low-income and disadvantaged communities. Grant recipients received notice from the federal government that funding was put on pause with no indication when or if they might receive it.
“The removal of critical health information from governmental public health sites is chilling and puts the health of the public at risk,” said Richard Besser, a former acting director of the CDC.
GOP governors and lawmakers have set up their own government efficiency task forces and committees to find ways to cut state spending.
Dr. James Williams, arguably America’s leading expert on the firing squad. He has testified in courtrooms across the U.S. about the effectiveness of the firing squad as a method for executions (always on the side of prisoners, never the state). In an interview with The Marshall Project, Williams explained how he got started in this line of work: “A friend in the firearms community introduced me to death row public defenders, and I had the right resume: I had trained police and military on how to shoot more effectively … I also dealt with countless gunshot wounds as an emergency room doctor. In 2016, some men on death row were thinking about asking for the firing squad, but wanted to know what would happen when the bullets hit their body. I met with two of them. I felt a sense of privilege, to meet them face-to-face as human beings and say they do not need to fear a prolonged and painful death as they might with a lethal injection. I said, in effect, ‘You’ll be OK. I mean, you’ll be dead, but you’ll be OK.’” (The Marshall Project – Feb. 4, 2025)
The average rate increase State Farm, California’s largest insurer, is asking the state to approve for policy holders. The insurer says the recent L.A. fires have imperiled its finances, and it wants these rate increases as an “emergency” cash infusion as it attempts to pay out claims.
State and local public health departments rely on federal funding to operate. With those dollars at risk amid the Trump administration’s federal funding freezes, they’re bracing for the future.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has proposed a new refundable child tax credit and increases in child care and children’s health funding, along with full funding for public schools.
Fremont is set to pass an anti-encampment ordinance. Its broad language could penalize nonprofit groups that provide services to homeless populations.
Red states are in sync with the Trump administration’s efforts, but some Democratic governors are reminding districts to protect immigrants’ legal rights.
By empowering them to bargain and providing other protections, policymakers can address frustration over flat wages and inflation, while strengthening local economies.
The number of Oregon state employees who make more money than Gov. Tina Kotek. The governor earns $98,600 a year, which is less than all the governors save those in Maine, Colorado and Arizona. Her relatively modest salary means that one in every five state employees in Oregon make more money than the governor. (The Oregonian)
Indiana state Sen. Rick Niemeyer. He’s sponsored a bill to require farms that confine animals for feeding to have an additional inspection every five years. Farm groups complained that this would raise costs for them, but Niemeyer said their neighbors have concerns about pollution and smell. He said he recognizes that odors are part of livestock farming, but the “magnitude of manure” can be “tremendous.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
For years, states strictly limited the amount of time people could be institutionalized. With homelessness rising, some policymakers want to do more.
A combined federal and state effort to redesign the boondoggle-prone economic development program could also provide the blueprint for rebuilding devastated communities.
Pregnant women who are incarcerated will move into the facility next week. For now, only women with 18 months or less to serve can participate but the program may expand over time.
Understaffed police departments and concerns over public safety are spurring greater use of private security guards. But they aren't a perfect substitute.
President Trump, who calls FEMA “not good,” has issued an executive order and established a commission to look at ending the agency. He favors having states respond to their own disasters, but they may not have adequate resources.
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