Poli Alert Politics & Civics

John L. Micek, Pennsylvania Capital-Star From finding a job to securing a place to live, formerly incarcerated people face any number of challenges when they return to their hometowns and neighborhoods. And research shows that a steady job and access to opportunity are among the factors that play a key role in keeping someone from offending …

Graham Moomaw, Virginia Mercury A proposal to put menstrual data stored on period-tracking apps beyond the reach of Virginia authorities failed in the state House of Delegates Monday after Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration expressed opposition to the idea for the first time. The legislation, which had passed the Democratic-controlled Senate …

Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams As congressional Republicans threaten to cut Social Security and other key federal programs, progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren led a group of lawmakers Monday in unveiling legislation that would increase Social Security benefits by at least $200 per month and prolong the program’s solvency …

Stanley Dunlap, Georgia Recorder The first details of a Fulton County special grand jury’s report on attempts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to interfere in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election are set to be released to the public Thursday. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said in a court …

Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams Civil rights advocates on Friday condemned the Republican-led Florida Legislature for passing another voter suppression bill that far-right Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely GOP presidential candidate for 2024, is expected to sign into law. The Florida House passed Senate Bill 4B by a margin of 77-33 …

Gibbs Knotts, College of Charleston and Jordan Ragusa, College of Charleston The Democratic National Committee approved a proposal on Feb. 4, 2023, that puts South Carolina first on the party’s presidential nominating calendar, upending 50 years of tradition. For the first time, voters of color, moderates, hourly workers – and …

Commentary Beatriz Pascoal, New Jersey Monitor During this week’s State of the Union address, President Biden failed to commit to bold action to protect immigrant communities and instead celebrated anti-immigrant measures his administration has adopted. This sends a troubling message to the thousands of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients like …

The U.S. military shot down a high altitude object over Canada’s Yukon territory on Saturday, the latest in a series of incidents involving objects being shot out of the sky. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he ordered the takedown of “an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace.” The …

Jennifer Shutt, Idaho Capital Sun Governors from throughout the country met with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday to hash out the best way to implement the billions of federal dollars flowing to their states from both bipartisan and Democratic legislation. Biden, who typically meets with the …

The Pentagon on Friday confirmed that the U.S. military shot down an unidentified “object” tens of thousands of feet over Alaska, less than a week after an F-22 fighter jet downed a Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic. John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, …

Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix Attorneys general representing nearly two dozen Republican states are backing a lawsuit that would remove the abortion pill from throughout the United States after more than two decades, eliminating the option even in states where abortion access remains legal. The state of Missouri filed its own …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder U.S. House Democrats on Thursday urged the GOP lawmakers running the new Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government to work with them on genuine oversight investigations that weren’t political or focused on leveling grievances. Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin said during the panel’s …

Six U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to terminate a pair of longstanding authorizations for past wars on Iraq, reviving an ongoing effort to reaffirm Congress’ role in deciding whether to approve the use of military force. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Abigail …

Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Two days after delivering a spirited State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden appeared in Florida on Thursday before an intimate crowd at the University of Tampa, where he pledged to protect Social Security and Medicare and push for Medicaid expansion for …

Ariana Figueroa, Louisiana Illuminator U.S. House Republicans laid the groundwork for some top legislative priorities during a Wednesday hearing that examined public funding for charter schools and voucher programs, as well as increasing parents’ oversight of school curriculum. The Republican chair of the Education and the Workforce Committee, North Carolina …