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State redistricting stumbles amidst familiar partisan infighting
WASHINGTON — This year’s round of redistricting is already crumbling into partisanship and court challenges in multiple states, even as voters pay more attention than ever to new political maps that will shape elections for a decade. Hopes were high initially. Advocates in several states pushed measures over the last few years that they hoped […]
Struggle over tax break for inherited farmland churns below surface in reconciliation bill
WASHINGTON — Agricultural groups and farm-state lawmakers notched a significant win when U.S. House Democrats chose not to touch a big tax break for inherited property, avoiding for now a confrontation. But opponents remain wary that the idea could come back at any time as Democrats shape their massive $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, and search […]
Feds expand Pell Grant program for prisoners working on college degrees
WASHINGTON — Prison inmates around the U.S. are getting the chance to do something that was almost unheard of a generation ago: pursue a college degree while behind bars and with financial support from the federal government. Inmates in 42 states, including Iowa, and Washington, D.C., can now get federal grants to work with colleges […]
East Coast lawmakers pepper Congress with pleas for SALT tax break
WASHINGTON — Congress could soon have a chance to restore tax breaks that would especially benefit Americans living in places where incomes are high, and government spending is too. For more than a century, taxpayers could deduct the amount they spent on state and local taxes, known as SALT, from the income on which they […]
GOP furor over ‘critical race theory’ hits college campuses
Professors say the Republican crusade to root out “critical race theory” is taking a toll on college campuses around the nation — places where academic freedom is supposed to encourage thought, discussion and analysis. Much of the “critical race theory” uproar to date has centered on teaching in K-12 schools. But several high-profile incidents, combined […]
Attempts to ban teaching on ‘critical race theory’ multiply across the U.S.
WASHINGTON — From statehouses to Congress, Republicans have launched into a fight against the teaching of “critical race theory,” which just a year ago was a niche academic term. Experts in critical race theory say it’s about acknowledging how racial disparities are embedded in U.S history and society, and the concept is being mischaracterized by […]
With ‘Amtrak Joe’ in the White House, states hope for a passenger rail renaissance
Stu Nicholson has been trying for decades without success to get Amtrak — or any other passenger rail service — to come to Columbus, Ohio. As director of All Aboard Ohio, a passenger rail advocacy group, Nicholson helped explore possibilities, like creating a new route from Chicago to Pittsburgh, with Columbus in the middle. But […]
Hearing sees bipartisan consensus that electric vehicles will replace fossil-fuel burners
WASHINGTON — Senators who could decide the fate of President Joe Biden’s push for a major new infrastructure package seemed open to his priorities at a hearing Wednesday, particularly Biden’s emphasis on replacing vehicles that run on gas and diesel with ones that use electric power. But when it came to the question of who […]
Billions of dollars for Medicaid expansion dangled in front of holdout states
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats are trying again to entice a dozen holdout states — many of them in the South — to expand Medicaid coverage with the prospect of billions of dollars in federal cash. The new offer, included in a massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that House Democrats are pushing through committees […]
Buttigieg puts greenhouse gas reduction at center of Biden transportation policy
Former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg offered an unapologetic defense of President Joe Biden’s vision for improved transportation and greenhouse gas reductions during a Senate hearing to consider Buttigieg’s nomination for U.S. transportation secretary. “We need to build our economy back, better than ever, and the Department of Transportation can play a central role in […]
Buttigieg to inherit a crumbling network of roads, subways and rails at DOT
Pete Buttigieg as the incoming pick for U.S. transportation secretary would take office at a time when both state and local officials are deeply frustrated that not enough is being done to maintain and improve the country’s transportation networks. But nobody seems to be able to solve the problem. For example, two presidents have vowed […]
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos heads for the exits, leaving a legacy of turmoil
WASHINGTON — In four years in office, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos failed to broaden her appeal beyond the moment she won a wild Senate confirmation fight by the closest of margins. She didn’t even try. Instead, the billionaire Michigan native and Republican megadonor championed private and charter schools, often trying to funnel federal funding […]