Category: 2023 state legislative sessions

6 States Ponder New ‘School Choice’ Programs; Florida Eyes ‘Universal’ Expansion

Lawmakers in at least six states, including Texas, will ponder 2023 bills proposing to establish new “school choice” programs with Florida legislators looking to expand what is already the nation’s largest use of taxpayer dollars for private school tuitions when they convene in March. Depending how “school choice” is defined, 47 states offered various taxpayer-funded…


State Governments ‘Weakest Link’ in Protecting America From ‘Enemy’ Cyberattacks

United States federal agencies and the Pentagon over the last decade have imposed a matrix of restrictions on purchasing technology from companies owned or influenced by China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but few of the nation’s 50 states have taken similar precautions. In fact, many state governments apparently aren’t aware—or haven’t publicly acknowledged—how potentially…


Growing State Freedom Caucus Network Faces Resistance—From GOP ‘Establishment’

The vote went quickly without a hitch and the incumbent was reelected House Speaker amid near-total bipartisan consensus and hand-shake pledges to work together in the legislative session to follow. The 145–3 tally to reinstall Rep. Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) to a second term as speaker—the most powerful position in the Texas House—on Jan. 10 was…


States Competing for High-Wage Employers With ‘Workforce Development’ Initiatives

It’s no secret that states compete with each other to attract “family wage” employers that provide health insurance and other benefits, especially in manufacturing and high-tech sectors.  The standard competitive toolboxes offered by state legislatures usually include tax credits, assorted regulatory waivers, and a host of other “fine print” incentives to induce corporations and businesses…


States Compete for High-Wage Employers With ‘Workforce Development’ Initiatives

It’s no secret that states compete with each other to attract “family wage” employers that provide health insurance and other benefits, especially in manufacturing and high-tech sectors.  The standard competitive toolboxes offered by state legislatures usually include tax credits, assorted regulatory waivers, and a host of other “fine print” incentives to induce corporations and businesses…


Buckle Up: 45 State Legislatures Convene 2023 Sessions by Jan. 18

Forty-five state legislatures will convene 2023 sessions by Jan. 18, with 35 doing so on or before Jan. 11—including 18 this week. By the time deliberations conclude in December, the nation’s 7,383 state lawmakers will introduce on average a collective 110,000 bills—250,000 across two-year biennium sessions—and adopt more than 30,000 new laws and regulations. While…


States Face Pressure to Spend Taxpayer Money on Infrastructure

President Joe Biden will be in Covington, Ky., on Jan. 4 to tout the launch of an Ohio River bridge project that will receive a $1.64 billion federal funding boost from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) adopted by Congress in November 2021. Biden will be joined by Senate Minority Leader Mitch…


Momentum to Axe Income Tax Mounts in State Legislatures

Mississippi could become the nation’s 10th state to eliminate its personal income tax, with Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn (R-Clinton) backing differing plans to do away with the levy when lawmakers convene their 2023 session on Jan. 3. Similar 2023 proposals to erase immediately, or phase-out, state income taxes are also…


State Legislatures Brace for a 2023 Landslide of Post-Roe Abortion Bills

Delegate Marie March (R-Floyd) enters her second session in Virginia’s General Assembly with lessons learned during her freshman year about the futility of half-measures on her mind. That is why she will carry a “personhood” bill when, on Jan. 11, the 100-member Virginia House of Delegates convenes in Richmond, one of 45 state legislatures that…