Poli Alert Politics & Civics

Ariana Figueroa, New Jersey Monitor The U.S. House passed on Wednesday a bill updating a 19th-century law in an attempt to prevent the subversion of future presidential elections. The Presidential Election Reform Act, which passed 229-203, is meant to deter a repeat of the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, in …

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday announced that following a three-year investigation into former President Donald Trump and his real estate empire, the state is filing a civil lawsuit against the ex-president, accusing him and his family members of “staggering” fraud. James said the probe that culminated in …

Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams Progressive voices on Monday rebuked Republican U.S. lawmakers for repeatedly warning President Joe Biden that forgiving student loan debt will harm the military’s ability to attract recruits with the promise of free college. Nineteen Republican members of the House of Representatives last week signed a letter …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Conservative Republicans gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to commit to bringing legislation to the floor that would make it a felony to perform gender-affirming care on transgender youth, should the GOP take control of the U.S. House following the November midterm elections. “How on …

Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer Federal criminal charges were filed Tuesday against 47 people who allegedly participated in a $250 million scheme to exploit a federal child nutrition program during the pandemic. Over the course of about 20 months, the defendants falsely claimed to serve more than 125 million meals, with …

Stephen Neukam, The Texas Tribune Three Venezuelan migrants flown from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard last week filed a federal class action lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida officials Tuesday after the firebrand Republican’s move to transport migrants to a Democrat-controlled state sparked national controversy and a …

Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder Even with a wave of new state-level abortion restrictions passing or taking effect this summer, Georgia’s law stood out because of its so-called personhood provisions that accompanied the better known six-week ban on the procedure. One particular change that drew national attention was a new tax …

Issac Morgan, Florida Phoenix Florida Democrats in the state House on Monday questioned the legality of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent move that transported about 50 asylum seekers from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard and urged GOP leaders to stop using “inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars” for the operation that has sparked …

Ariana Figueroa, Iowa Capital Dispatch More than 1,600 book titles across 32 states were banned from public schools during the 2021-22 school year, with the bulk of the ban requests coming from a handful of right-wing groups pushing for censorship of books that feature LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color, …

Shefali Luthra, The 19th This story was originally published by the 19th. Roe v. Wade’s overturn may have meaningfully shifted public opinion on abortion for the first time in years, a change that could affect what kinds of bans or restrictions abortion rights opponents can safely consider. Polling on abortion, …

Jesus Vidales, The Texas Tribune A Texas law prohibiting large social media companies from banning users’ posts based on their political viewpoints will go into effect after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted a block placed on the statute. NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association sued Texas …

Lawmakers in both chambers on Friday announced plans to take up bills that overhaul a 135-year-old law governing the counting of presidential electoral votes. The House Rules Committee will take up a still-unseen bill Tuesday dubbed the Presidential Election Reform Act, and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said on Thursday …

President Joe Biden on Friday signed a bill removing the statute of limitations for reporting child sexual abuse. This new legislation will update current federal laws, which set the statute of limitation for child sexual abuse claims until the victim reaches the age of 28 or until ten years from …

James Dawson, Idaho Capital Sun This story is from Boise State Public Radio, published Sept. 16. The original version is located at this link.  Two Republican state lawmakers sent letters of support for one of their former colleagues convicted of raping a teenage legislative intern prior to his sentencing late last month. Reps. …

Matthew Watkins, The Texas Tribune A second bus of migrants sent from Texas arrived outside the residency of Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday, continuing Gov. Greg Abbott’s policy of sending migrants from his state to target the Biden administration over its immigration policies. The bus arrived before daylight outside …