Poli Alert Political & Civics

Danielle E. Gaines Last week, Maryland became the first state to get federal approval for a plan to reimburse victims of food benefits fraud — and Gov. Wes Moore (D) included funding for the effort in a supplemental budget delivered to the General Assembly on Friday. The Maryland Department of …

Stephen Fowler, GPB News A yearslong effort by a small but vocal group pushing for a wealthy Atlanta neighborhood to secede from the city’s control was roundly rebuked Thursday, as a bipartisan coalition in the Georgia Senate rejected legislation for the City of Buckhead City. Ten Republicans joined the entire …

Casey Quinlan, Virginia Mercury Forty million people in the U.S. are having difficulty affording household expenses, and a little more than 25 million people say they sometimes or often do not have enough to eat, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse survey data. The survey is …

Ken Coleman, Michigan Advance In bipartisan fashion, the Michigan House approved bills on Thursday that would nullify Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban. The vote was 58-50 on the two bills, with state Reps. Thomas Kuhn (R-Troy) and Donni Steele (R-Orion Twp.) crossing over to join Democrats to vote for the legislation. …

Jay Bookman, Georgia Recorder Marjorie Taylor Greene is an idiot, and idiots, as a rule, aren’t interesting people. They aren’t interesting because their idiocy overshadows all other aspects of their personality. Greene is more an exemplar of that rule than an exception to it. Nonetheless, in their wisdom, the voters …

Caitlin Sievers, Arizona Mirror Kari Lake, the failed Republican candidate for governor, has asked the Arizona Supreme Court to review the decisions in her election contest case after the case was shot down by both the Maricopa County Superior Court and Arizona Court of Appeals. “The undisputed facts, and the …

Casey Quinlan, Florida Phoenix The expanded child tax credit that families received in 2021 helped reduce child poverty across the country, but particularly in the South where families lack a sufficient safety net, according to a paper released on Wednesday. The report by the Hamilton Project, the Brookings Institution’s economic …

Julia Forrest, The Texas Tribune Sen. Ted Cruz continued to take aim at U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, calling him “the most partisan and politicized attorney general our nation has ever seen.” These remarks came on the first day of CPAC, where …

Jacob Fischler, Nebraska Examiner Republicans on a U.S. Senate panel raised several objections Wednesday to President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, while Democrats indicated their support and called the objections “fake scandals” meant only to create a political controversy. The Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s confirmation …

Danielle J. Brown, Florida Phoenix As the 2023 legislative session looms, GOP lawmakers are looking to expand the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida that earned national notoriety last year and restrict the use of “pronouns” for students and school employees. The LGBTQ community and civil rights advocates have …

President Joe Biden is expected to issue his first veto after two Democrats—Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana—partnered with the GOP on Wednesday to pass legislation that would block his administration’s rule allowing retirement plan managers to consider climate and other factors in investment decisions. …

Stephen Fowler, GPB News The Georgia Senate Ethics Committee passed a version of an elections omnibus bill Tuesday night that might violate federal law and includes a last-minute ban on absentee drop boxes. A Republican majority on the committee approved a substitute to Senate Bill 221 that was only available …

Jennifer Shutt, Louisiana Illuminator The U.S. District Court judge who could end more than two decades of legal access to medication abortion underwent extensive questioning about LGBTQ equality at his December 2017 confirmation hearing — and very little about his views on abortion. Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald …

Peter Hall, Pennsylvania Capital-Star The Pennsylvania House of Representatives elected Rep. Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, on Tuesday to lead the chamber as the first woman and second Black speaker. McClinton’s election immediately followed Rep. Mark Rozzi’s resignation as speaker after the Berks County Democrat said he had accomplished his goals by …

President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive more than $400 billion in student loan debt to over 40 million borrowers drew criticism from conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday as the justices heard oral arguments in a pair of cases that will decide the fate of one of …