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Hoosiers protest child care voucher cuts in front of the Indiana Statehouse, in Indianapolis, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. In September, Indiana moved to lower its child care reimbursement rates, meaning the state will pay providers 10 to 35 percent less to care for low-income kids. Centers have had to pass those costs on to parents through higher co-payments. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) This story was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana of The 19th . Meet Chabeli and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy . For the past year, families in need of child care assistance in Indiana have been sitting on a waitlist that has ballooned from 3,000 to 30,000 kids. It’s still climbing — and no one is coming off of it. Emily Pike, the executive director of New Hope For Families in Bloomington, which cares for children experiencing homelessness, can’t remember a time when no families were coming off the waitlist. Before this year, she said, low-inco...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked Friday night a lower court’s order that the Trump administration pay for a full month of food benefits, hours after some states began loading nutrition assistance funds on payment cards held by the 42 million Americans who use the program. In a two-page filing, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson accepted the government’s request to pause a Thursday order from Rhode Island Chief U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell while a lower appeals court hears the case.  His order Thursday compelled the U.S. Department of Agriculture to transfer funds from other programs to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for November. The Trump administration had said the ongoing government shutdown meant it could not pay November SNAP benefits. “The applicants assert that, without intervention from this Court, they will have to ‘transfer an estimate...

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed giving press an update on the Oct. 4 mass shooting on Oct. 20, 2025, at the Montgomery Police Department in Montgomery, Alabama. MPD announced Friday that a fifth suspect was arrested in connection with the shooting. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) Montgomery Police arrested a fifth suspect Thursday in connection with an October mass shooting that killed two and injured 12. The Montgomery Police Department said in a statement posted to Facebook Friday that Ivan Floyd, 22, was charged with certain persons forbidden to carry a firearm. He was taken to the Montgomery County Detention Facility, according to the statement. Floyd was also charged with robbery in the first degree, theft of property in the first degree, and theft of property in the second degree, which happened on Sept. 29, according to the statement. Police said those crimes were not connected to the shooting.  “MPD extends its gratitude to local and federal law enforcement partners ...

The entrance to a Big Lots store in Portland, Oregon. (Stock photo by hapabapa/Getty Images) The U.S. Department of Agriculture told states Friday it was releasing full November funding for the nation’s major food assistance program that helps 42 million people afford groceries, complying with a federal court order issued Thursday. Payments would be sent to states Friday, the department’s Food and Nutrition Service said in a letter to state directors of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is funded by the federal government and administered by the states. Patrick A. Penn, the deputy under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, wrote the two-paragraph  letter. “Later today, FNS will complete the processes necessary to make funds available to support your subsequent transmittal of full issuance files to your EBT processor,” Penn wrote. “We will keep you as up to date as possible on any future developments and appreciate your continued partn...

Corrections staff dismantle the death row lethal injection facility at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif., in 2019 after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a moratorium on the state’s death penalty. California is one of four states with moratoriums in place. (Photo by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via Getty Images) States are moving in sharply different directions on the death penalty, with some looking to broaden when and how executions occur while others try to scale them back or end them entirely. Lawmakers in more than half of the states have introduced over 100 bills this year to either expand or limit capital punishment, to alter execution protocols, and to change how death sentences are imposed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that studies capital punishment. The group does not take a position on the death penalty, but it is critical of how it is carried out. Some of the bills seeking to expand the de...

A sign for Auburn University seen on August 14, 2023 in Auburn, Alabama. Behind the sign is William J. Samford Hall. The university apologized Thursday for accidental emergency alerts that were sent to students and employees. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Auburn University apologized for accidentally sending three emergency alerts to students and employees about an active shooter, a tornado and a hazardous waste spill within the space of minutes early Thursday afternoon. “The alerts were triggered unintentionally, and we are actively working to resolve the issue to prevent future occurrences,” the university said in a statement posted to social media . “We understand that the alerts may have caused concern or alarm, and we sincerely apologize for any confusion.” The alerts were sent over the span of about 20 minutes, according to reports on social media. Jennifer Adams, the university’s vice president for public affairs, communication and marketing, wrote in an email Thursday af...

People sit in front of windows looking out on the tarmac at Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City on April 3, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps/Utah News Dispatch) The 40 airports set to see a 10% reduction in flights during the government shutdown nearly matched the list of the nation’s busiest airports, according to a preliminary list seen by States Newsroom, potentially leading to thousands of flight cancellations across the country. A 10% reduction at the listed airports would mean 3,300 canceled flights per day, according to Airports Council International-North America, the trade group for airports. The Federal Aviation Administration had not released an official list of airports by early Thursday afternoon, but three sources familiar with the matter provided tables listing the proposed airports. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday that the FAA would cut air traffic at 40 major airports starting Friday to help alleviate stress for air traffic ...

A sign in a convenience store along Barlowe Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Oct. 28, 2025, advertises that it accepts SNAP benefits. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reduce the largest monthly food assistance payments by about 35% in November, a smaller decrease than the department initially estimated, according to a court filing late Wednesday. That means the maximum monthly benefit likely would be roughly two-thirds of the usual benefit flowing to recipients, rather than the half initially projected. USDA miscalculated how to adjust benefit payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to account for a lack of full funding during the government shutdown, a department official said in  a filing to the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island.  The formula the government initially used and sent to states Tuesday would have resulted in about a 50% cut to the maximum monthly benefits, and left some househ...

A plane prepares to land at Newark Liberty International Airport. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor) U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday the Federal Aviation Administration would restrict air travel in 40 “high-traffic” areas of the country to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who have been working without a paycheck since Oct. 1.  The cutbacks will start Friday, Duffy said at an afternoon press conference.  He and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said they would share more details, including which airports would be affected, Thursday.  The officials emphasized the measure was proactive to prevent a safety failure, and they said air travel remained extremely safe. “We’re noticing that there’s additional pressure that’s building in the system,” Duffy said. “Our priority is to make sure that you’re safe.” Duffy did not specify the locations that will see a reduction in air traffic, but said the decisions were based on data of th...

The crowd cheers for Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger at her election night watch party in Richmond on Nov. 4, 2025. She won her race for governor, along with New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill, and both voiced support for reproductive rights protections on the campaign trail. (Photo by Charlotte Renee Woods/Virginia Mercury) Despite less focus on abortion in the 2025 election, voters Tuesday supported Democratic candidates who back reproductive rights in New Jersey and Virginia, and retained Democratic justices in Pennsylvania who will take up abortion-related cases.   The Virginia electorate made history Tuesday by voting for former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat set to be the first woman governor of the commonwealth. Winning 57% of the vote, she defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears — the first Black woman in the nation to lead a GOP gubernatorial ticket.  “It’s a big deal that the girls and the young women I have met along the campaign trail now ...

Victor Schwartz, founder and president of VOS Selections, spoke to reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. Schwartz, a New York-based wine and spirits importer of 40 years, was the lead plaintiff in the case against President Donald Trump's sweeping emergency tariffs. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court during lengthy arguments Wednesday weighed whether President Donald Trump violated the Constitution when he became the first U.S. president to impose sweeping global tariffs under an economic emergency powers statute usually reserved to combat rare and unusual threats. Justices in both the conservative 6-3 majority and liberal minority questioned the sweeping presidential power the administration is claiming under IEEPA, including Chief Justice John Roberts. Questions about how Trump officials interpret the statute and view its limits, or lack thereof, revealed their skepticism. Members of the president’s Cabi...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters during a news conference on Nov. 5, 2025 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — Following major Democratic wins in local and state elections across the country on Election Day, top Democratic congressional leaders pushed for a meeting with the president to end the federal government shutdown, which on Wednesday became the longest in U.S. history at day 36. “The election results ought to send a much-needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis, his shutdown,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “It’s time to hold a bipartisan meeting. The takeaway from last night was simply unmistakable.”  Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats, sent a Wednesday letter  to President Donald Trump, calling for a bipartisan meeting at the White House to end the governme...