RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina on Monday became the 40th state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the latest sign of how Republican opposition to the health measure has weakened more than a decade after President Barack Obama signed it into law. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, signed legislation expanding the state’s Medicaid […]
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MONTAUK, N.Y. — New York’s Native American tribes fought bitterly with former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over his efforts to tax their tobacco sales and seize a sizable share of their gambling proceeds, and they blamed him for the deterioration of a stretch of interstate that slices through tribal lands. So when Mr. Cuomo resigned in […]
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From a distance, it is hard to tell whether the three figures walking the salt playa are human, bird or some other animal. Through binoculars, I see they are pelicans, juveniles, gaunt and emaciated without water or food. In feathered robes, they walk with the focus of fasting monks toward enlightenment or death. This was […]
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NASHVILLE — On a Sunday in January 2022, a Glock 9mm pistol, serial number AFDN559, disappeared from a Dodge Charger parked near a Midtown Nashville bank after someone smashed in the rear driver’s side window. Ten months later, Nashville police officers arrested three teenagers suspected in a series of shootings, and discovered a cache of […]
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Members of the Florida Legislature moved this week to shield Gov. Ron DeSantis’s travel records from the public, proposing to change the state’s public information laws just as the governor ramps up what is expected to be a 2024 presidential campaign. The bill, which was advanced by state senators in both parties, includes a sweeping […]
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Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming — at least temporarily — after a judge on Wednesday ordered that a newly enacted ban be blocked until further court proceedings in a lawsuit challenging it. After a three-hour hearing, Judge Melissa Owens of Teton County District Court granted a temporary restraining order, pausing a law that took […]
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For more than a decade, Western Michigan’s food and commercial workers union has been in a defensive crouch after Republicans made union membership optional in a state once synonymous with organized labor. The union shifted from expansion and organizing to just trying to hold down attrition as workers opted out of paying their dues. On […]
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Child marriage is legal in 43 states, according to a recent tally by The Washington Post, and in seven of these there’s no minimum age at all. Where procedural restrictions are imposed in states that allow child marriage it’s usually only that the child receive permission from a parent (or, in some cases, a judge). […]
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In an insult to New Yorkers suffering from spiraling rents and home prices, both houses of New York’s Democratic-controlled Legislature rejected an ambitious set of proposals from Gov. Kathy Hochul last week that would begin to address the crisis in available housing. The legislators appear to be capitulating to the panic of their suburban members, […]
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When Andrea Reeb was hired last June as a prosecutor investigating the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the film “Rust,” she emailed the district attorney in charge of the case that an announcement of her role “might help” her campaign for a seat in the state legislature. Ms. Reeb, a former […]
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ALBANY, N.Y. — Residential parking permits in New York City. Higher taxes on the rich. No changes to the state’s bail laws. The series of proposals unveiled on Tuesday by the State Legislature shows just how far apart ruling Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul may be on reaching a timely deal on the state’s […]
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NASHVILLE — The metropolitan government of Nashville sued the State of Tennessee on Monday, asking a judge to block a new law that would slash the size of its governing body to 20 members, from 40. The standoff has emerged as a particularly stark example of flaring tensions between liberal-leaning cities and conservative state lawmakers […]
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LANSING, Mich. — Democrats in Michigan pressed ahead with a torrent of liberal measures on Wednesday, the boldest assertion yet of their new political power since taking full control of state government this year for the first time in four decades. In the course of a single afternoon and evening, and despite loud objections from […]
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One exception is Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who addressed the complexity of the debate in an email: Higher ed and K-12 are different. States are on much firmer ground in seeking to establish or constrain what gets taught in K-12 education, where the concept of academic freedom simply doesn’t […]
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WASHINGTON — Two of the most consequential Supreme Court cases this term may fizzle out, recent orders from the justices suggest, meaning the court may not rule on the role of state legislatures in conducting federal elections or on whether Republican-led states may challenge a pandemic-era immigration measure. The end of the term, probably in […]
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The higher education bill would, among other things, ban gender studies majors and minors, prohibit public colleges and universities from spending money on activities that “espouse diversity, equity and inclusion,” allow tenure reviews of faculty members at any time and allow presidents and trustees to hire faculty without considering recommendations from existing faculty. The defamation […]
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NASHVILLE — A bill signed into law this week in Tennessee makes staging “adult cabaret” on public property or anywhere a child could see it a criminal offense. The law forbids performances in those places by topless, go-go or exotic dancers, strippers, or male or female impersonators who, as the law defines it, “provide entertainment […]
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Ms. Willis must now decide whether to bring a case to a regular grand jury, which can issue indictments. A decision could come as early as May. Understand Georgia’s Investigation of Election Interference Card 1 of 5 The potential charges. Experts say that Ms. Willis appears to be building a case that could target multiple […]
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Taken together, those ideas make a “national divorce” seem, if not likely, then at least plausible. But there’s a problem. States are not actually singular political communities. There are partisan divides between states, even large ones, but they do not represent fundamental differences of culture and interest. And although states play an important role in […]
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Mark Brnovich, a Republican who served as Arizona’s attorney general until January, buried the findings of a 10,000-hour review by his office that found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, newly released documents reveal. The documents were released on Wednesday by Mr. Brnovich’s successor, Kris Mayes, a Democrat who took office […]
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During an interview on Monday night in Sheboygan, Justice Kelly said only legislators could overturn the state’s 1849 abortion ban, enacted decades before women were allowed to vote. He said that complaints about the maps amounted to a “political problem” and that they were legally sound. Yet in the same interview, conducted in the back […]
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Andrew Jacobs contributed reporting. Fact-checked by Susan Lee. The Daily is made by Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, […]
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But Jacobs has plenty of defenders, including county leaders across the state, who believe he’s an upgrade over his somnolent or domineering predecessors and has a realistic view of what it takes to win beyond the liberal confines of New York City. “It’s hard for me to understand this rancor from certain individuals, by the […]
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JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s struggling capital has been a favored target of Republican leaders since the G.O.P. took total control of the state a decade ago. But perhaps none of the slings and arrows flung at Jackson has provoked as much outrage as the one the state House of Representatives loosed earlier this month. Legislators […]
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Russel Neiss glanced down at his Apple Watch. The screen glowed bright red, warning of something he already knew: Though he was sitting stock still, waiting to testify before state senators, his heart was hammering. Mr. Neiss hates everything about his family’s regular trips to the Missouri statehouse. He hates trying […]
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Two years ago, a class of eighth-graders in North Andover, Mass., led an effort that resulted in the exoneration of a woman who had been accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Now it’s Connecticut’s turn to atone. A joint resolution that was introduced in January would name and apologize to the people who […]
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ALBANY, N.Y. — The State Senate’s extraordinary rejection of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s nominee to head New York’s highest court on Wednesday has placed the state’s leaders in uncharted territory, clouding Ms. Hochul’s first full term in power. The uncertainty stemmed from the unprecedented rejection; the Senate’s vote against Justice Hector D. LaSalle to lead the […]
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For the first time since the fight over abortion access was kicked to the states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, newly elected legislatures around the country are coming into session and are putting the polarizing issue at the top of their agendas. Around 300 bills in 40 states have been proposed so […]
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The fight over Justice LaSalle has devolved into the most contentious battle in recent memory over a nominee for chief judge, who besides sitting on the Court of Appeals is also tasked with overseeing the state’s complex court system, which has thousands of judges and staff. The governor in December selected Justice LaSalle, who would […]
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A Risky Wager Hard-fought deals for casinos gave many tribes a critical economic lifeline. When the doors opened to widespread sports betting, others wanted in on the gambling business. By David W. Chen, Mark Walker and Kenneth P. Vogel David W. Chen, Mark Walker and Kenneth P. Vogel visited tribal leaders, reviewed court cases and spoke […]
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Last year, at the urging of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Legislature revoked Walt Disney World’s designation as a special tax district — a privilege that Disney held for 55 years, effectively allowing the company to self-govern its 25,000-acre theme park complex. “I will not allow a woke corporation based in California to run our […]
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