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Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, speaking to Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth on the floor of the Alabama Senate on March 12, 2026, in the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Butler sponsored a bill passed by the House earlier this month that would require the Alabama Public Service Commission to hold formal hearings on electricity rates. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) Alabama lawmakers returning to work this week will decide how to handle two bills aimed at reforming the Public Service Commission (PSC), each of which has passed one legislative chamber and each of which faces significant opposition in the other. HB 475 , sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would require the PSC to hold formal hearings on electricity rates, something that hasn’t happened in over four decades. SB 360 , sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, would create a state secretary of energy with significant power over the PSC and change the make-up of the commission from three members ...

Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul for the No Kings protest on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) Protesters took to the streets in cities and rural communities Saturday to rally against President Donald Trump’s policies in the third No Kings demonstration since the Republican’s return to office last year. Organizers said there were more than 3,000 events across the nation expected to draw millions. It came one month after the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran began. The war was among many issues that demonstrators said brought them out, also citing aggressive ICE actions toward immigrants, the rising cost-of-living and attacks on the constitution, and civil and voting rights. Here is a look at some of the rallies from across the nation. A protester holding a sign that reads “I <3 Democracy" at the Auburn No Kings protest on March 28, 2026, on Toomer's Corner in Auburn, Alabama. The protest,...

A website user weighs whether to accept or deny cookies, small data files that websites store on a user’s browser to remember their preferences. Consumers and state lawmakers alike are becoming more concerned about how retailers are using algorithms — many of which rely on personal data — to price products. (Photo by Lauren McCauley/Maine Morning Star) One online grocery shopper got charged $3.99 for a box of Wheat Thins, while another — buying from the same store at the same time — got charged $4.89. A consumer watchdog detected this price discrepancy during an investigation last September in Seattle. The grocery app Instacart used an artificial intelligence-powered algorithm that charged customers differently for each item by as much as 23%, Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative found. Instacart has since stopped offering grocery retailers the technology. With many Americans struggling to afford the basics, consumers and state lawmakers alike are becoming more concern...

A protestor holding a sign that reads "I <3 Democracy" at the Auburn No Kings protest on March 28, 2026, on Toomer's Corner in Auburn, Alabama. The protest, part of nearly two dozen "No Kings" protests around the state drew about 700 people. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) Thousands of Alabamians Saturday joined nearly two dozen “No Kings” protests around the state, demonstrating against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies. The protests drew thousands of people in Birmingham and Montgomery and hundreds more at demonstrations in smaller towns and cities, similar to No Kings protests that took place last October . Nationwide, more than 3,000 protests were scheduled, all expected to draw millions of people. Those who attended the demonstrations in Alabama Saturday cited numerous issues with the administration, including cuts to social service programs to attacks on immigrants to Trump’s anti-democratic methods. Here are reports from ...

No Kings protesters march in the District of Columbia on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Large crowds were gathering Saturday morning in the nation’s capital for the third No Kings protest, rallying with others across the United States against what organizers say is an unprecedented expansion of power by President Donald Trump. Thousands of people carrying signs and playing music began the day at Memorial Circle below Arlington National Cemetery. Crowds exiting the cemetery Metro stop clogged exit gates as they flowed toward Arlington Memorial Bridge into the district, where an afternoon rally on the Mall was scheduled. A dense crowd already was packed around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool by late Saturday morning. No Kings day national organizers anticipate more than 3,000 demonstrations across the United States, in every congressional district, and worldwide marches are organized on six continents, according to Logan Keith...

Democratic Del. Margaret Franklin in Virginia sponsored a bill to require insurance carriers to provide coverage for maternal mental health screenings that can help combat postpartum depression in the 2026 legislative session. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury) The Republican-majority U.S. Senate on Wednesday  voted to uphold a Trump administration policy banning abortion care and counseling for veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. Last year, the Trump administration overturned a Biden-era policy that made abortion procedures and counseling in cases of rape, incest or a medical emergency available at VA facilities.  Elsewhere in Congress, Democratic U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Cory Booker of New Jersey announced  a legislative package called the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. First introduced in 2020, this version focuses on parents of color and includes proposals to invest in the perinatal workforce, tel...