Year: 2025
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ESG critic appointed to Labor Department
The Department of Labor this month appointed Justin Danhof—a critic of ESG investing and a proxy voting and corporate engagement expert—as a senior policy advisor in the Employee Benefits Security Administration. Danhof’s appointment brings an anti-ESG voice into a role that shapes guidance for retirement plans. Danhof previously led the Free Enterprise Project at the…
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House Energy and Commerce Committee includes Medicaid work requirement in budget reconciliation bill
The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed its budget reconciliation bill on May 14 with a 30-24 vote after a May 13th markup of the previous draft version. The current version of the bill would require states to adopt community engagement requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents on Medicaid. The current version specifies community engagement…
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House Judiciary’s budget reconciliation bill considers REINS Act provisions
The House Judiciary Committee released a draft of their budget reconciliation bill on April 27, which included major provisions from the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act), and the markup version voted out April 30th by a 23-17 margin retained those provisions. The final omnibus bill may differ from this…
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Texas Democrats join Republicans to place citizen voting requirement on statewide ballots in 2025 after blocking the amendment in 2023
Fifteen House Democrats joined the Republican majority in voting to send a constitutional amendment to voters on Nov. 4 that would add noncitizens to the list of persons not allowed to vote in the state after the same resolution was defeated during the state’s last legislative session in 2023. The list in Section 1, Article…
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Ballot measures certification update: Seven new measures for 2025 in CO and TX; six new measures certified in five states for 2026
The number of certified statewide ballot measures for both 2025 and 2026 is trending above average compared to previous election cycles as of May 13. 2025 ballot measures For 2025, 15 statewide ballot measures have been certified in six states—Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. This is seven more than the average of eight…
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Montana passes legislative oversight bills
The Montana legislature passed two bills which would modify the rulemaking process for state administrative agencies. Both were supported by bipartisan majorities. House Bill 126 was passed by a vote of 100-0 in the House on January 29, 2025; the Senate voted 48-0 on April 9, 2025. Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed it on May…
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Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #156
Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board governance, the politics surrounding it, and education policy. In today’s edition, you’ll find: Reply to this email to share reactions or story ideas! On the issues: The debate over Utah’s school choice program In this section, we curate…
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Checks and Balances, May 2025
Highlights from this edition of Checks and Balances include deep dives into President Trump’s memo directing agencies to repeal regulations without public notice and comment and Texas’ state DOGE-style and judicial nondeference bill. In Washington Trump directs agencies to skip public input for deregulation What’s the story? President Donald Trump (R) issued a memorandum April…