Arizona
States go after ‘claim sharks’ that charge vets for help with disability claims
For-profit consultants across the country make millions each year by charging military veterans for help in filing their disability claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The practice exists in a legal loophole: It’s illegal under federal law for companies that aren’t accredited by the VA to charge veterans fees for helping file their […]
9 states poised to end coverage for millions if Trump cuts Medicaid funding
This story first appeared on KFF Health News. With Donald Trump’s return to the White House and Republicans taking full control of Congress in 2025, the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion is back on the chopping block. More than 3 million adults in nine states would be at immediate risk of losing their health coverage […]
State prisons turn to extended lockdowns amid staffing shortages, overcrowding
Across the United States, state prison systems are grappling with chronic understaffing and overcrowding — dual crises that are keeping incarcerated people confined to their cells for far longer periods than in recent decades. Lockdowns are common in jails and prisons nationwide, but most usually last only a few hours or days. During lockdowns, access […]
Arizona voters said yes to abortion rights, but old restrictions are still on the books
This story first appeared in the Arizona Mirror. Read more Stateline coverage on how states are either protecting or curbing access to abortion. Arizonans overwhelmingly voted to make abortion a fundamental right, but overturning the state’s current 15-week gestational ban — and multiple other anti-abortion laws still on the books — isn’t automatic. Just an hour after […]
Election denialism has staying power even after Trump’s win
President-elect Donald Trump may have quieted his lies about widespread voter fraud after his win earlier this month, but the impact of his effort to cast doubt on the integrity of American elections lingers on. Although this post-election period has been markedly calmer than the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, there were isolated flare-ups […]
Cities cut red tape to turn unused office buildings into housing
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. Nearly a fifth of office space across the country sits empty, a record high vacancy rate that’s expected to keep growing. Seeking both to boost their economies and ease their housing shortages, cities are taking steps to encourage […]
Under Trump, many states might pursue Medicaid work requirements
Trevor Hawkins, an attorney at Legal Aid of Arkansas, remembers how busy his job got when the state for a time imposed work requirements on Medicaid recipients: His office was swamped with frantic phone calls from people who said they couldn’t comply with the new rule because they weren’t healthy enough to work or had […]
Expecting challenges, blue states vow to create ‘firewall’ of abortion protections
Read more Stateline coverage on how states are either protecting or curbing access to abortion. Officials in blue states are vowing to build a “firewall” of reproductive health protections as they anticipate federal and state attacks on abortion access under the Trump administration. “We’re going on offense,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, told Stateline. […]
Even blue states are embracing a tougher approach to crime
The outcomes of seven ballot measures in Arizona, California and Colorado reflect the stricter approach to crime that’s been seen across much of the country recently, with voters and policymakers driven by concerns over rising retail theft, homelessness, fentanyl misuse and challenges in police recruitment and retention. Voters have decided in recent years that they […]
Voters deliver mixed verdicts on increasing minimum wage, but support paid sick leave
Voters in two red states agreed to increase their minimum wage in steps to $15 an hour and to require employers to give workers paid sick time, and a third red state also approved sick leave. But a proposed $18-an-hour base wage in California failed, as did initiatives in two states to change the hourly […]
New abortion-rights measures in 7 states could trigger legal, legislative challenges
Widespread support for abortion rights continued to defy partisan labels in Tuesday’s election, but several of the ballot measures that voters approved may face legal and legislative challenges in the coming months. And supporters worry that federal efforts could eventually override the state measures. Voters in seven states — including deep-red Missouri and Montana — […]
Voters in several states support reducing property taxes
Voters in half a dozen states approved ballot issues aimed at lowering property taxes, but a measure in North Dakota that would have completely repealed the property tax proved to be a bridge too far. Ballot measures to cut taxes for some or all property owners passed in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Virginia and […]