Year: 2024
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Federal Register weekly update: Significant documents count reaches 40 in first days of February (2024)
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions. From Jan. 29, 2024, through Feb. 2, 2024, the Federal Register grew by 2,178 pages for…
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Governors in states with divided government vetoed the most election legislation in 2023
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed more election-related bills than any other governor in 2023 in terms of total bills and the percentage of election-related bills introduced in her state. Hobbs vetoed 21 bills, or 29% of all election-related bills introduced in the Arizona legislature last year. Arizona has a divided government, with Republicans controlling…
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Biden ends January with presidential approval at 41%, three points lower than this point during the Trump administration
Polling averages showed President Joe Biden (D) with an average 41% approval rating at the end of January 2024. Fifty-five percent of voters disapproved of his performance. This was two points higher than his approval rating at the end of December. Throughout January, Biden’s approval rating ranged from 40% to 41%. The lowest approval rating…
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Joe Biden (D), Donald Trump (R) lead noteworthy presidential candidates in fundraising
Former President Donald Trump (R) leads the field of Republican presidential primary candidates in fundraising with $79.6 million in cumulative receipts. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (R) follows with $36 million, and then businessman Ryan Binkley with $10.2 million. The chart below shows total receipts, contributions, and disbursements for each noteworthy Republican presidential candidate through…
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164 candidates are running for Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts—the most since 2016
This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in Texas was Dec. 11, 2023. One hundred sixty-four candidates are running for Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts, including 63 Democrats and 101 Republicans. That’s 4.3 candidates per district, the lowest number since 2016, when 3.5 candidates ran. In 2022, the first election after the number…
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OIRA reviewed 45 significant rules in January (2024)
The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in January 2024 reviewed 45 significant regulatory actions issued by federal agencies. OIRA approved three of these rules with no changes and approved the intent of 38 rules while recommending changes to their content. OIRA reviewed 40 significant regulatory actions in January 2023 and 26…
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South Carolina lawmakers advance unemployment insurance indexing bill
South Carolina lawmakers on January 25, 2024, advanced a bill out of committee proposing to index the length of unemployment insurance benefits to the state’s unemployment rate. House Bill 4710 would reduce the maximum number of benefit weeks to 12 when the unemployment rate is at or below 5.5%. The bill would cap the maximum…
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State agriculture commissioners join ESG pushback
Agriculture commissioners from 12 states sent a letter on January 29 to the heads of six banks, arguing that ESG efforts to promote net-zero carbon policies would hurt farmers and inflate consumer food prices. Ballotpedia tracks support for and opposition to the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing movement. To learn more about arguments…
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New RCV bans on the table, but bills supporting ranked-choice outnumber opposition legislation in 2024 sessions
Republican legislators have introduced new ranked-choice voting (RCV) prohibitions in five states so far this year. These efforts come after three states approved Republican-sponsored bans last year. The number of active bills supporting RCV continues to outnumber those banning or repealing its use. Of the 75 RCV bills currently active in state legislatures: Twenty-three of…