(The Center Square) – The Ohio House of Representatives wants to spend $15 million over the next two years to give college scholarships to foster children. The bipartisan legislation would spend $7.5 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 to give scholarships to children placed in foster care or kinship after turning 13 to attend either a public or private college or university in the state. The money, which will come from the state’s General Fund, would cover the cost of attendance after other grants and scholarships are used. “The impact of this bill cannot be understated,” said Rep. Dontavi ..read more

(The Center Square) – New Mexico ranks dead last among the 50 states for child well-being, according to the 2024 Kids Count Data Book released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. New Mexico performed consistently poorly in each category measured. Those categories included: economic well-being (48th), education (50th), health (44th), and family and community (49th). Economically, 23% of the state’s children live in poverty, 32% of children have parents who lack secure employment, and 28% of children live in households with high housing cost burdens. Regarding education, 59% of children ages 3 an ..read more

(The Center Square) – St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones created a council on Monday to examine the city’s revenue and 1% earnings tax, which she called “contributions” from taxpayers. The announcement came days after the city announced a settlement with six plaintiffs who won a lawsuit and an appeals court decision over paying the earnings tax while working remotely during the pandemic. The city agreed to refund the earnings tax paid by remote workers in 2020, 2021 and 2022, which are estimated to be approximately $25 million. “I’m grateful to the residents of St. Louis and our region who contri ..read more

(The Center Square) – Mississippi bases and defense contractors could receive millions if the defense spending bill is signed into law by President Joe Biden. The National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, would provide nearly $88 million for construction projects at Mississippi bases. Last year, bases in the Magnolia State received $211.8 million. The measure would also provide money for several ship classes built at Pascagoula’s Ingalls Shipyard, including $1.56 billion for the Flight II San Antonio class landing ship dock program, $61 mill ..read more

(The Center Square) – Two bills looking to fight against deed fraud have passed the Michigan House with bipartisan support. If successful in a Senate vote, HB 5598 and 5599 would enforce a new 10-year felony for anyone who tries to falsify information on a property deed, such as ownership or a forged signature. The bills would also allow registrar employees to submit fraudulent documents to a county prosecutor for analysis. “Criminals continue to find new and innovative ways to defraud our communities,” said Rep. Ken Borton, R-Gaylord, who voted for both bills. “Instead of applying skills and ..read more

(The Center Square) — The Louisiana House K-12 Education Study Group held its first meeting on Monday, with the goal of helping improve Louisiana’s K-12 education system. The chair of the committee, Rep. Roger Wilder, R-Livingston, and the other three house members agreed that the main goal of the committee was to pass legislation to improve education. “We really want to make sure we are examining everything from A-Z on ways we can make our school systems better in the state,” said Andre Miller, who represented Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration at the meeting. During the legislative session ..read more

(The Center Square) – Iowans who participated in the latest Iowa Poll seem to have their minds made up as to who they want in the White House in January 2025. Half favor former President Donald Trump, 32% say they would vote for President Joe Biden and only 3% say they are not sure who they will pick. The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll queried 860 adults between June 9 and 14. Nine percent of respondents favored independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and 2% picked Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Party candidate. Another 3% said they would vote for someone else. Seventy-six percent ..read more

Mendoza calls for passage of bill to protect letter carriersIllinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is calling for passage of the Protect our Letter carriers Act. The bipartisan legislation was introduced in March and addresses the rise in violent crime against postal carriers on the job. According to the National Association of Letter Carriers, there have been more than 2,000 attempted or actual robberies and assaults against postal workers nationwide since 2020. NWS confirms tornadoes in IllinoisThe National Weather Service confirmed Friday that 3 tornadoes, each rated EF-1, caused damage in Il ..read more

(The Center Square) – The Indiana Republican Party will select a new chair after its current leader announced she would step down over the weekend. In a statement released Sunday by the state party, Chairwoman Anne Hathaway said she told members of the Indiana GOP state committee last Friday that she would leave that role upon the selection of a successor. That vote will take place June 24. Besides the departure of Hathaway, who won re-election as the state’s national committeewoman, the announcement revealed Joe Elsener would also resign as the party’s executive director. “As the Republican ..read more

(The Center Square) — Georgia continues to report tax collections lower than a year ago, with May’s collections down by more than 1% as the state heads toward the end of the fiscal year, new numbers reveal. Georgia officials said the state’s net tax collections in May surpassed $2.4 billion. However, that is a decrease of 1.1% or $26.3 million compared to last May, when net tax collections approached $2.5 billion. In the first 11 months of fiscal 2024, which ends on June 30, the Peach State’s net tax revenue totaled $29.9 billion. That total is down roughly 1.2% or nearly $367.6 million from ..read more