Category: State
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Nine candidates are running in the May 17 Republican primary for Governor of Pennsylvania
Nine candidates are running in the May 17 Republican primary for Governor of Pennsylvania. Incumbent Tom Wolf (D) is term-limited and cannot run for re-election. The 2022 race features the largest number of candidates in a Pennsylvania Republican primary since at least 1978. The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Andrew Seidman wrote, “Campaign aides say this year’s winner could…
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State legislative incumbents in South Dakota are facing more contested primaries than at any point since 2010
Thirty-five of the 71 South Dakota state legislators running for re-election this year—all Republicans—face contested primaries. That equals 49% of incumbents, the highest rate since 2010. A contested primary is one where more candidates are running than there are seats up for election. In South Dakota’s Senate, every district has one seat, so a primary…
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Nine candidates, including incumbent, running in Republican primary for governor of Alabama
Nine candidates are running in the Republican primary election for governor of Alabama on May 24, 2022. Three candidates—incumbent Kay Ivey (R), Lynda Blanchard (R), and Tim James (R)—have led the field in fundraising and media coverage. Ivey was first elected governor in 2018, defeating Walt Maddox (D) 60% to 40%. Before becoming governor, she…
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Minnesota governor signs bill to fund unemployment insurance account
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed a bill May 2 that will direct about $2.7 billion to the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and repay the state’s $1.4 billion unemployment insurance debt to the federal government. The law also includes about $500 million to send $750 direct payments to 667,000 individuals the state considers frontline…
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Colorado legislators introduce bill to direct federal funds to repay unemployment insurance debt
Colorado legislators on May 2 introduced a bill that would direct $600 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to help pay back the state’s $1 billion unemployment insurance trust fund debt to the federal government. The bill would also forgive certain non-fraud overpayments, meaning some workers who received more unemployment insurance payments…
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Pennsylvania lawmaker announces legislation aiming to notify parents of sexually explicit school curriculum
Pennsylvania state Senator Ryan Aument (R) on March 31, 2022, announced his intent to file legislation aiming to require schools to identify sexually explicit content in student curriculum and notify parents when such content is featured in classroom instruction. Aument issued a statement claiming that parents in his district have contacted him over the last…
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Ohio Republican lawmakers introduce bill to ban divisive concepts from public schools
Reps. Mike Loychik (R) and Jean Schmidt (R) on April 4, 2022, introduced a bill in the Ohio House of Representatives that aims to ban curriculum that promotes divisive or racist concepts in public schools. The bill provides a list of prohibited topics including critical race theory; intersectionality; diversity, equity, and inclusion learning outcomes; and…
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Florida Department of Education rejects 41% of K-12 mathematics textbooks
The Florida Department of Education rejected 54 K-12 mathematics textbooks for reasons such as the inclusion of what it deemed prohibited instructional topics and the failure to align with state education standards. The rejected textbooks made up 41% of the 132 textbooks submitted to the education department for review. Twenty-eight books were rejected for the…
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Minnesota House passes bill to fund unemployment insurance fund and send checks to frontline workers
The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a $3.7 billion bill on April 25 that would raise the balance of the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and repay unemployment insurance debts to the federal government. The move would reduce the unemployment insurance tax burden on employers, which increased March 15 to help refill the fund following…