Tag: weekly brew

Vermont, Ohio, North Carolina, and Oregon enact K-12 cellphone bans Since June 27, Vermont, Ohio, North Carolina, and Oregon have all enacted statewide bans on cellphone use in K-12 schools. Twenty-five states have enacted cellphone bans or limits in K-12 schools, with at least 17 doing so this year. Three states require all school district…

Voters in one of the 31 states with mandatory judicial retirement ages—Louisiana—will decide whether to raise their age On April 18, 2026, Louisiana voters will decide on an amendment to increase the judicial retirement age. Currently, the age is 70, and if a judge turns 70 during their term, they may finish the rest of…

New Hampshire becomes 18th state with a universal private school choice program On June 10, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) signed SB 295, which removed the income threshold from the state’s Education Freedom Account Program (EFA) and made the program universal. Private school choice programs provide public funds for alternatives to public schools, such…

Indiana to become 10th state to hold partisan school board elections  On May 6, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) signed Senate Bill 287 into law, making Indiana the 10th state to require or allow partisan school board elections. The law will take effect on July 1. Currently, candidates in over 90% of school board elections…

Iowa becomes the sixth state to ban ranked-choice voting this year On June 2, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed House File 954 (HF 954), making Iowa the sixth state to ban ranked-choice voting (RCV) this year, among other changes to Iowa’s election laws. Five other states—Arkansas, Kansas, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming—have banned RCV…

Florida enacts law changing initiative process requirements On May 2, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed House Bill 1205 (HB 1205), making multiple changes to the state’s citizen initiative process. This process allows citizens to propose statutes or constitutional amendments, depending on the state, and collect signatures to place their proposals on the ballot for…

Texas legislators put citizen voting requirement on 2025 ballot  On Nov. 4, Texas voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would add noncitizens to the list of people who cannot vote in the state. In Texas, a two-thirds supermajority vote in each chamber is required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. This…

Four states have banned cellphone use in schools so far this month On May 14, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed House Bill 166, banning cellphone use in K-12 schools starting in the 2025-2026 school year. This move makes the Yellowhammer State the fourth state to ban cellphone use in schools in May alone: Learn…

Trump makes his first judicial nomination of his second term On May 1, President Donald Trump (R) announced that he would nominate Whitney Hermandorfer to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, marking his first judicial nomination since he assumed office. Trump’s first federal judicial nomination came later in his second term than…

A look at mayoral partisanship in 2025 In Tuesday’s Brew, we examined partisanship in this year’s mayoral elections in the 100 most populous U.S. cities and all 50 state capitals.  Twenty-eight of the 100 largest cities are holding mayoral elections in 2025. Heading into the year, 21 of these cities had a Democratic mayor, and…