WY: Abortion in Wyoming will continue after court ruling
After pausing Wyoming’s abortion ban in late July for two weeks, a district court judge now has placed a preliminary injunction on the law that could last months or years while the case against it wages on.
MA: Massachusetts governor signs sports betting bill into law
Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill legalizing sports betting, making official a yearslong push to bring sports wagering in the state into the light of day. Massachusetts is now the 36th state to legalize sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court declared states have the authority to legalize it.
MO: Feds intervene as wait times for Missouri Medicaid surpass 100 days
Waiting times for low-income Missourians seeking government-funded health insurance have gotten so long the federal government has had to step in to help.
CO: Colorado’s cannabis industry is enduring its first sustained downturn
Colorado dispensaries are closing. New ventures, such as delivery services and social clubs, are struggling. Tax revenues are plummeting. And across the industry, layoffs are sending marijuana workers packing. The state’s green boom is beginning to bust as more states legalize the sale and use of marijuana and inflation pinches spending.
WA: Mount Rainier’s largest glacier is melting, raising concerns about flooding and water supply in Washington
Mount Rainier’s Emmons Glacier — the largest glacier in the continental U.S. — is an important freshwater source for Washington’s Puget Sound. Although Emmons grew in size each winter for decades, its surface is now melting irregularly, which raises questions about flooding and water supply as the climate warms.
US: ‘Chaos and confusion’ in states where abortion is on again, off again
For providers and patients, legal challenges to state abortion bans have meant navigating a situation in which the procedure may be allowed one day and banned the next.
WI: Wisconsin legislature takes first steps to address sexual misconduct in the National Guard
The Legislative Council Study Committee on Wisconsin National Guard Sexual Misconduct Procedures held its first meeting, beginning its work to draw up recommendations for legislation to improve procedures for investigating sexual assault and harassment allegations in the Guard.
TX, NM: Texas anti-abortion protesters set sights on New Mexico, where the procedure is still protected
As Texans seek abortions in the only neighboring state allowing them, opponents of the procedure follow them across the border to New Mexico, hoping to create more “sanctuary cities for the unborn.”
MT: In Montana, tribal members seek to open marijuana dispensary on Crow Reservation
The Crow Tribe was the first Indigenous nation in Montana to embrace marijuana, passing an ordinance allowing dispensaries last year. The legislature granted one marijuana business license to each tribal government in Montana but opening up dispensaries on Native land has proven difficult.
OR: Views differ on how best to manage Oregon’s wild horses
Oregon is home to about 4,500 wild horses, but according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the state can only sustain about 2,700. The federal agency has proposed testing three methods of contraception on the animals, but some advocates are questioning the agency’s priorities.
MI: Tax credits for private school scholarships? Michigan initiative submits 520K signatures
A proposed ballot initiative to allow Michiganders to fund private education programs with tax credits submitted more than half a million signatures, hoping to send it to the Republican-controlled legislature. By submitting signatures after the deadline to qualify for the November ballot, leaders of Let MI Kids Learn can encourage lawmakers to take it up, as passing it that way avoids the veto pen of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
AR: Arkansas legislators approve tax cut bills
The Arkansas House and Senate accelerated the implementation of cuts in the state’s top individual and corporate income tax rates that are scheduled to be phased in during the next few years under current state law. The tax cut bills also would grant a temporary, nonrefundable income tax credit of $150 for individual taxpayers with net incomes up to $87,000 and of $300 for married taxpayers filing jointly with net incomes up to ,000.
IN: Farmland prices in Indiana hit record pace
The growing cost of farmland is affecting farmers across Indiana as prices soar for both renting and buying property. The state’s farmland prices grew as much as 34% between June 2021 and June 2022.
IA: Iowa now has dual language road signs near Indigenous land
Drivers along Iowa’s U.S. Highway 30 can now be on the lookout for road signs that read “Meskwakiinaki.” The phrase means “Meskwaki Settlement” in the tribe’s native language and marks where drivers have crossed into Meskwaki land. The road displays are the first dual language signs installed in the state by the Iowa Department of Transportation.
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