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Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, listening attentively in the House Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee on March 11, 2026, in the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Ethics and Campaigns Finance Committee approved Yarbrough's bill that would require voters to choose a political party when registering to vote for the first time or within 60 days of a primary election. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee Tuesday approved a bill that would close state primaries and require voters to register with one or the other to cast a ballot.  HB 541 , sponsored by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, would require existing registered voters to declare a party affiliation at the polls for primaries held after Jan. 1, 2027. Voters who wanted to vote in a different party primary would have to change their affiliation within 60 days of the election.  “I firmly believe that parties should choose their nominees based on their party members, including ...

Guns are shown at Caso’s Gun-A-Rama in Jersey City, New Jersey, which has been open since 1967. The Alabama House of Representatives has approved a bill that would create a sales tax holiday for firearm-related purchases in the state. (Aristide Economopoulos/New Jersey Monitor) There is no shortage of guns in the great state of Alabama. More than half of all households contain at least one firearm, putting our state among the highest rates of gun ownership in the nation. Legislators have done their level best to keep our citizenry locked and loaded . Among our state’s permissive gun laws (or lack thereof): There is no waiting period to buy a gun in Alabama. We don’t require concealed carry permits. Assault weapons, bump stocks, and ghost guns are all allowed. It’s still possible to purchase a gun without a background check. We don’t have a secure storage law that requires firearms to be kept away from children. The barriers to gun ownership are about as low as can be. GET T...

Tennessee lawmakers decided in 2025 to move the vast majority of sports gambling revenue into a special fund to pay for new K-12 school construction as part of a deal to pass a statewide private school voucher program.  (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) When Tennessee lawmakers legalized sports gambling in 2019, they hoped it would create a new revenue source. But nearly seven years later, while Tennessee’s sports gambling tax revenue exceeds $100 million, the state’s Lottery-funded scholarship program faces an $80 million budget deficit. Now, higher education officials are warning that if the funding hole isn’t addressed, the state will have to dramatically reduce costs, like the number of scholarships it offers. “I can say pretty confidently that at least part of [the lottery revenue] reduction in the last several years has been thanks to legalized sports wagering,” Don Bruce, a professor with the University of Tennessee’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Rese...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 29, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Monday said it will hear oral arguments in April in two cases brought by immigrants hailing from Syria and Haiti after the Trump administration tried to end their temporary protections, initially granted because their countries had been deemed too dangerous for return.  Monday’s order  consolidates two cases , one brought on behalf of 6,000 Syrians with Temporary Protected Status and another from 350,000 Haitians.  The justices also declined to grant the Trump administration’s request to stay a lower court order that prevented the end of TPS for those two countries, meaning that protections from deportation will remain for now for those immigrants.  The justices will hear arguments for the cases in the last week of April, with final briefs due by April 20. A specific date has not yet been set. Congress created TPS to allow immigrants from count...

Gov. DeSantis' push to change Florida's vaccine requirements for school children failed during the 2026 session, but the governor promises to keep working to pass it before being term-limited out of office. Will the Legislature go along? (Photo by Scott Housley/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) His attempt to alter the state’s vaccine policies for school children failed during the now-concluded legislative session, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said late Friday that he remains committed to seeing his policies pass before having to leave his post in January 2027. The 2026 regular session was DeSantis’ last as governor, but the Republican could have as many as three more opportunities in the form of special sessions to strong-arm his policies through a reluctant Legislature. DeSantis already has called a five-day special session for congressional redistricting. The Legislature also must at some point reconvene to agree upon and pass a state budget after it was unable to ...

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference on Dec. 10, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s subpoenas to probe the Federal Reserve and Chair Jerome Powell, pointing to “a mountain of evidence” that President Donald Trump is using the investigation to force lower interest rates, according to an order unsealed Friday. In a scathing  27-page order issued Wednesday, Chief Judge James Boasberg for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote there is “abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair.” In explaining his rationale for granting the Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ motion to quash the subpoenas, Boasberg added, “For years, the President has publicly targeted Powell because the Fed is not delivering the low ...