Category: State
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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…
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Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas ballots have featured political party platform advisory questions in recent years
Ballotpedia has tracked nonbinding political party platform advisory questions in three states—Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas. Democratic and Republican parties have placed these questions on statewide ballots to gauge voters’ support for various policy proposals. All three states have open primaries, meaning that voters do not have to formally affiliate with a political party in…
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Five U.S. House seats are open in North Carolina this year—a decade high
This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in North Carolina was Dec. 15, 2023. Sixty-four candidates are running for North Carolina’s 14 U.S. House districts, including 15 Democrats and 49 Republicans. That’s 4.6 candidates per district, less than the 7.14 candidates per district in 2022, the first election after the number of congressional…
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Mississippi House passes constitutional amendment for new state initiative and referendum process that would prohibit initiatives related to abortion
The Mississippi House of Representatives passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would create a new state initiative and referendum process. On Jan. 24, the constitutional amendment, House Concurrent Resolution 11, was passed 80-39. Among House Republicans, 78 voted ‘Yes’ and one voted ‘No’. Among House Democrats, 38 voted ‘No’ and one voted ‘Yes’. The one…
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Washington State Senate introduces bill proposing unemployment insurance benefits for striking workers
Legislators in the Washington State Senate introduced a bill on January 8, 2024, that proposed allowing striking workers to claim unemployment insurance benefits. Washington Senate Bill 5777 passed the Senate Committee on Labor and Commerce on January 16, 2024, and advanced to the Rules Committee on January 17, 2024, for a second reading. Currently, New…
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A look at Arizona’s 459 ballot measures since statehood
Since 1911, there have been 459 state ballot measures in Arizona. Voters approved 237 (51.63%) and defeated 222 (48.37%). Ballotpedia has a complete dataset of state ballot measures for Arizona, which became a state in 1912. The initiative and referendum were included in the state’s constitution, ratified in 1911, two months before statehood. Between 1911…
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Stadium tax measure for Kansas City Chiefs and Royals will appear on the ballot for April 2, 2024
Voters in Jackson County, Missouri, will decide on a ballot measure to renew a sales tax that provides funding for stadium improvements for the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals. Voters will decide the ballot measure on April 2, 2024. The Jackson County Legislature overrode a veto from County Executive Frank White on Jan.…
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New York outpacing all states in advancing election legislation as 2024 sessions get underway
As of Jan. 19, 2024, legislators in New York have passed 24 election-related bills out of at least one chamber of the legislature, more than all other state legislatures combined. The legislation in New York covers a range of election-related topics including absentee ballot drop-boxes, maintenance of voter rolls, and oversight of election officials, workers,…