ICYMI: Top stories of the week


30 states have adopted English as an official language—11 through ballot measures—since 1920

On March 1, President Donald Trump (R) issued an executive order “[designating] English as the official language of the United States.” While the federal government had never established an official national language before, 30 states have designated English as their official language.

Three of the 30 states—Alaska, Hawaii, and South Dakota—also recognize some Indigenous languages as co-official languages. 

Nebraska was the first state to adopt an official language by ballot measure in 1920. Oklahoma is the most recent state to vote on a measure, with voters approving State Question 751 in 2010. 

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44 governors have given their state of the state addresses so far this year

Each year, governors provide an annual report on their policy priorities and the overall condition of their states to lawmakers (in states with legislatures that do not meet annually, the address is given every other year). These reports, mandated by all 50 state constitutions, are generally known as state of the state addresses

As of this date, 44 governors—19 Democrats and 25 Republicans—have given their addresses. The addresses in Louisiana and North Carolina are scheduled for April 14 and March 12, respectively. Four other governors have not yet announced plans to deliver an address.

The average length of all addresses so far is 4,607 words. Democratic speeches averaged 5,265 words, while Republican speeches averaged 4,107 words.

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A comprehensive look at 115 years of ballot measures in Ohio

In Thursday’s Brew, we looked at historical ballot measures in Ohio. Our comprehensive inventory of Ohio’s ballot measures spans from 1910 to 2024.

In that time, Ohioans decided on 306 measures, approving 169 and defeating 137 – a 55.2% approval rate. The average approval rate of the eight states we’ve published summary content on so far is 57.8%. The two decades with the most ballot measures were the 1910s and 1970s.

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