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Members of the Alabama Public Service Commission prepare for the Tuesday, August 5, 2025 regular meeting. PSC President Cynthia Almond said Tuesday the commission is preparing to implement a new law expanding the commission to seven members. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) The president of the Alabama Public Service Commission said Tuesday the utility regulator is preparing to comply with a new law that expands the PSC and will eventually put it under the supervision of a secretary of energy. PSC President Cynthia Almond, a former House member, said after the PSC’s meeting that staff will meet with commissioners Wednesday ahead of the first phase of the law, directing Gov. Kay Ivey to appoint four new commissioners from a list of nominees submitted by legislative leaders. Ivey will have to do so by July 15. “We are a commission created by the Legislature initially, and we can be amended, changed, abolished, at any point by the Legislature,” Almond said in an interview followin...

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Congress will look considerably different next year, after dozens of its members move on to other political offices or retire, a number that’s likely to grow as some of those hoping to stay lose their reelection bids.  A turnover of at least 13% will be the highest in more than three decades, bringing in a wave of new lawmakers, who will be looked to as a source of solutions for some of the country’s biggest problems.  But the loss of institutional knowledge and negotiating expertise held by committee chairmen and seasoned lawmakers will not be easily replaced.  Experts interviewed by States Newsroom said a surge of freshmen could lead to a further concentration of power in congressional leaders and heighten the influence of lobbyists, though they added there are benefits as well.  “Serving in Congress is like any other job. It takes you ...

A regional director for U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville surrendered to authorities Thursday on a charge of using public office for personal gain. An attorney for Michael Raita says he plans to plead not guilty. (File) A Hoover regional director for U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville surrendered to authorities Thursday on a charge of using his position on a state board for personal gain. Michael Raita, 67, was released on a $25,000 bond Thursday from the Talladega County Sheriff’s Office, according to public records. Messages seeking comment were left Monday for Talladega County Sheriff Jimmy Kilgore and Tuberville’s campaign. Tommy Spina, an attorney representing Raita, said in a statement Monday evening that Raita had not done anything he believed to be unlawful. “Every action he took was done openly, in good faith, and with the knowledge, authority, and approval of the Hall of Fame’s chairman and board of directors,” the statement said. Spina said Raita knew of the investigation for “so...

President Donald Trump gestures during a news conference in the White House briefing room on April 6, 2026. Trump spoke about the successful military mission to rescue a weapons systems officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran and possible further military action in Iran. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday declined to rule out bombing certain types of civilian infrastructure in Iran, including schools and hospitals, and said that any agreement to end the war must include free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. “We have to have a deal that’s acceptable to me,” he said during a 90-minute press conference. “And part of that deal is going to be, we want free traffic of oil and everything else.” Trump said he hopes he doesn’t need to bomb non-military targets, like power plants and bridges, but that even if he did, he doesn’t believe it would constitute a war crime. International law, including the Geneva Conventions...

Members of the media set up outside the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of President Donald Trump's expected arrival on April 1, 2026. The court heard oral arguments that day in a case to determine if Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship is constitutional. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images) As the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments last week about the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed skeptical. The order as written applies only to babies born in the future, and the Trump administration has asked the court to exclude current citizens from any decision. Still, the court’s senior liberal justice wasn’t so sure it would work out like that. “But the logic of your position, if accepted, is that this president or the next president or Congress or someone else could decide that it shouldn’t be prospective,” Sotomayor told U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the government’s top a...

Kimberly Dudley, of Cincinnati, is one of the last five Affordable Care Act navigators in Ohio, helping residents find a private health care insurance plan on the public HealthCare.gov marketplace. In one of its first acts, the second Trump administration cut annual funding for the navigator program by 90%. (Photo by Anne Saker/Stateline) CINCINNATI — For four years, Kimberly Dudley has worked on the front line of the Affordable Care Act as a navigator, helping Ohioans solve the puzzle of buying private insurance on the federal HealthCare.gov marketplace. But the job is harder now, the answers scarcer. In one of its first acts, the second Trump administration cut annual funding for navigators by 90%, from $100 million to $10 million, arguing the program was wasteful. Under the ACA, better known as Obamacare, navigators help educate and enroll people — especially those living in hard-to-reach communities. They were paid through a user fee on monthly premiums. In January 2025, 50 ...