Year: 2025
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Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee holds confirmation hearing for Doug Collins for secretary of veterans affairs
The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a confirmation hearing for Doug Collins for secretary of veterans affairs on Jan. 21, 2025. The committee scheduled a meeting for Jan. 23 to vote on Collins’ nomination. Collins must receive a majority approval vote in the committee before his nomination can be put up for a confirmation vote…
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Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds confirmation hearing for Elise Stefanik for U.N. ambassador
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a confirmation hearing for Elise Stefanik for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Jan. 21, 2025. At the time the hearing ended, the committee had not scheduled a meeting to vote on her nomination. Stefanik must receive a majority approval vote in the committee before her nomination can…
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Update on 2025 and 2026 ballot measure certifications: Wisconsin certifies Voter ID Amendment for April 1
The number of certified ballot measures for 2025 and 2026 is trending above the average as of Jan. 21, 2025. For 2025, six statewide ballot measures have been certified in three states—Louisiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Six is three measures more than the average of three for this point in an odd-numbered-year election cycle since 2010.…
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196 bills on the administrative state introduced in 2025 sessions so far
Ballotpedia’s Administrative State Legislation Tracker captured 196 bills introduced in the 2025 legislative session as of Jan. 17. Legislators in 28 states and Congress filed bills, including policy proposals related to oversight of regulations, judicial deference to agencies, agency use of artificial intelligence (AI) surveillance, regulation budgets and limitations, cost-benefit analysis requirements, agency appointment processes,…
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Fourteen bills that could make the initiative process more difficult were passed in 2024, tying with 2021 for the highest total since 2018
In the 2024 legislative sessions, 40 bills and resolutions concerning direct democracy—such as ballot initiatives, referendums, and recall petitions—were passed. This exceeded the annual average of 34 bills enacted between 2018 and 2023. In 2024, state legislatures passed 14 bills that could make the initiative process more difficult and four bills that could make it…
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Bargaining in Blue
In this month’s edition of Bargaining in Blue: On the beat Louisville Metro police union files motion opposing DOJ consent decree regarding police reform The River City Fraternal Order of Police filed a motion in federal court on Dec. 27 to intervene in a consent decree signed by Louisville city officials and the Department of…
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The Food and Nutrition Service issues final rule for SNAP work requirements
On January 16, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Program Purpose and Work Requirement Provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 final rule went into effect. This rule reaffirmed requirements laid out in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) with three main provisions governing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — previously called food stamps. These…