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Evening Wrap

Your daily analysis of trending topics in state government. The snark is nonpartisan.

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We'll always have the legislative process

Kansas Republicans on Wednesday donned their national security hats, approving a trio of bills designed to deter “countries of concern” by mandating divestment of state-managed investments, restricting property ownership and grounding imported drones used by government agencies, the Kansas Reflector reported.

A dash of skepticism

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed deeply skeptical of efforts to limit access to mifepristone, questioning whether a coalition of anti-abortion groups had the right to challenge the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug or a pair of decisions that broadened access to it, our D.C. bureau reported.

Boos, bills and tires

Lawmakers in Georgia are expected to consider sweeping changes to the state’s election rules before the conclusion of legislative session Thursday, leaving local officials on alert for policies that might need to be implemented ahead of November, the Georgia Recorder reported.

Large building, little substance

The U.S. House on Friday approved a $1.2 trillion spending plan to fund the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year, sending the bill to the Senate hours ahead of a midnight shutdown deadline, our D.C. bureau reported. It was unclear as of Friday afternoon if senators would approve it in time to avoid a funding lapse, though the effects of the ensuing shutdown would likely not be felt until Monday, when most federal employees return to work.

An apology note with zeros attatched

In October 2021, the state of Ohio settled a lawsuit against Centene, a Medicaid managed-care contractor prosecutors said had fleeced the state for millions of dollars by overcharging for prescription medications. The $88.3 million settlement did not come with an admission of wrongdoing, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost noted at the time

Anytime, wormhole

Donald Trump on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to grant him blanket immunity from federal charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that allowing the case to proceed would “incapacitate every future president with de facto blackmail and extortion while in office” as well as years of “post-office trauma at the hands of political opponents,” our D.C. bureau reported.

Don't worry, there's still time

In a move that should have surprised no one, attorneys for Donald Trump (and seven of his co-defendants) began the process of appealing a court decision that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue prosecuting the sprawling election interference case against them, the Georgia Recorder reported

I could tell the cats were judging me

Today’s biggest news comes from the U.S. Supreme Court, where a majority of  justices on Monday appeared skeptical of a Republican-led effort to restrict communication between the federal government and social media companies on issues like elections, COVID-19 and national security, our D.C. bureau reported.

Increasingly not fun at parties

The courts are, of course, already involved, because that is the inevitable conclusion when a major political party nominates — twice — a man who has spent the better part of his life mired in legal battles. One of those fights concluded Friday in Georgia, where a judge ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may continue prosecuting Donald Trump for alleged election interference, provided she drops her ex from the case, the Georgia Recorder reported.

TAKE NOTE

Kansas Republicans on Wednesday approved a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, arguing that puberty blockers and hormone therapy are inherently unsafe (unless they’re needed to treat developmental disorders or other health conditions in cisgender children, in which case they’re perfectly fine). The proposal, approved by the House on an 80-40 party-line vote, was expected to clear the Senate Thursday ahead of a likely showdown with Gov. Laura Kelly, who vetoed a similar proposal last year, the Kansas Reflector reported.

A problem for every problem

Lawmakers in New Hampshire struggled through the mess Monday, debating the merits of a bill that would allow any property owner to build residential units in commercial areas, effectively bypassing zoning statutes in an effort to fast-track projects that might shore up the state’s housing stock. The legislation is one of a handful of proposals seeking to override local regulations in hopes of spurring residential construction, which advocates say is necessary to meet increasing demand, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported

Let the sun shine in

Public records laws at the state level are a byproduct of the federal Freedom of Information Act, which was approved by Congress in 1966 and signed into law by a recalcitrant President Lyndon Johnson, who had long opposed the idea. (Fittingly, Johnson signed the bill in private, then issued a statement undermining most of its provisions. Ah, democracy.) The policy was fairly toothless until 1974, when a post-Watergate Congress amended it to include deadlines for compliance, penalties for withholding information and broader access for the press and the public. By the mid-1980s, most states had adopted similar provisions.