Via @rchapoco.bsky.social: An amendment to the Alabama Constitution forbids salary increases for local officials in the middle of a term. But a 2000 law and Alabama attorney generals’ opinions allow legislators to raise compensation through expense accounts, sometimes leading to major increases.

Via Shauneen Miranda: Just days after federal data revealed average reading, math and science scores dropped among certain grades since before the coronavirus pandemic, a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday picked apart the root causes and methods for students’ academic improvement.

Via @jsodonoghue.bsky.social and @lailluminator.com: Even with GLP-1 coverage prohibited for obesity treatment, Louisiana’s Office of Group Benefits spends $200 million per year on the drugs and is “adding people everyday,” CEO Heath Williams said Thursday at legislative finance committee meeting.

My column from Monday. On the special treatment state officials want for participants in an effective voucher program, and what it says about Alabama’s attitudes toward public education.

Via @chatlanis.bsky.social and @stateline.org: A new Trump administration rule bars immigrants living in the United States under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) from buying health insurance from Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

The Alabama delegation split down party lines on the vote, with every Republican voting for the resolution and the state's two Democratic representatives voting against it.

Via @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social: The Trump administration Friday made an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a district court’s order that blocked the Department of Homeland Security from ending temporary protections for roughly 350,000 Venezuelans.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: Democratic leaders in the Senate have vowed not to help Republicans who control the chamber get the 60 votes needed to move past procedural votes — a stark contrast from March, when Democrats did that, leading to significant frustration from their House colleagues.

Via @andreadotweb.bsky.social: The Alabama State Department of Education is considering applying for a waiver that would change the way high school students are considered prepared for college and work.

Via @rchapoco.bsky.social: The decision was the latest battle in an ongoing fight over books in libraries around the state that conservative groups have claimed are sexually explicit but which opponents say amount to attacks on literature with LGBTQ+ characters or themes.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have entered a stalemate over whether to fund the government for seven weeks or begin a shutdown that could last considerably longer, amid high partisan tensions.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: The 51-47 vote followed weeks of debate over whether senators could work out a deal on groups of nominees, with Democrats warning along the way that any changes to Senate procedures that benefit the Trump administration will likely aid a future Democratic president.

Via @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social: District of Columbia Judge Timothy Kelly, whom President Donald Trump appointed in 2017, rejected the administration’s argument that the move was to reunite the children at their parents' request, a claim that DOJ attorneys walked back during last week’s hearing.

Via @jonshorman.bsky.social and @stateline.org: At least four states with Republican chief election officials have offered public data but not sensitive information sought by the Justice Department, while trying to avoid a fight with President Donald Trump. Another has refused to turn over any data.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling and allow the president to fire Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook.

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: The comments from Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama’s State Health Officer, came after a meeting of the Alabama Department of Public Health Thursday, in which officials stressed the importance of vaccination amid threats from diseases and federal policy changes.

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: The State Employees’ Insurance Board (SEIB) Wednesday approved withdrawals from a trust fund and increases to certain deductibles and co-pays for state employees to address a deficit caused by increasing health care costs.

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: Alabama’s top health official said in a report released Thursday that unpredictable federal funding and changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding vaccines will have ramifications for public health.

The lawmakers and demonstrators rebuked a congressional spending panel’s bill that calls for $12 billion in spending cuts at the Education Department for the coming fiscal year and fulfills many of President Donald Trump’s education spending priorities as he seeks to dismantle the agency.

Via @andreadotweb.bsky.social: It was not clear Wednesday afternoon how many employees were terminated by Auburn, or what the nature of the posts were that led to their terminations.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: Former CDC Director Susan Monarez testified that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told her she needed to commit to approving upcoming recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without reviewing any data or research.

Via @chatlanis.bsky.social and @stateline.org: At least 17 states have taken steps to ensure broader access to the COVID-19 vaccine since last month, when the federal government significantly restricted eligibility for the shot.

Via @rchapoco.bsky.social: An analysis of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services database suggests Alabama lost $250 million in grants, though an undetermined amount of that money has been restored.

Via @rchapoco.bsky.social: The Association of County Commissions of Alabama and the city of Tuscaloosa are at odds over a lawsuit brought by Tuscaloosa against the state's Internet sales tax, with each side arguing a victory for the other would cost local governments millions of dollars.

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: A federal court heard arguments Tuesday in Alabama’s appeal of a 2024 ruling that blocked a portion of a state law criminalizing some forms of absentee ballot assistance.

Via @andreadotweb.bsky.social: Alabama State Schools Superintendent Eric Mackey said the letter stemmed from what he described as three “inexcusable” social media posts by three Alabama educators about the shooting of right-wing political commentator and talk radio show host Charlie Kirk.

Via @acvollers.bsky.social and @stateline.org: Rural hospitals are less likely to offer obstetric services after they’ve been acquired by a larger health system, leading to mixed outcomes for mothers and babies, according to new research.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: GOP leaders opted not to negotiate the legislation with Democrats, who may be needed to approve the bill in the House and will be required to get past the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.

Via @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social: An appeals court late Monday rejected the Trump administration’s request to move ahead with firing Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, as the president tries to pressure the independent board to lower interest rates.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office released a report Monday concluding the Federal Emergency Management Agency violated the law “when it withheld or delayed the obligation of” funding Congress approved for emergency food and shelter programs.

Via @rchapoco.bsky.social: Fairhope Public Library’s handling of material will once again come up in an Alabama Public Library Service board meeting — a months-long fight that has led APLS to suspend state funding for the library and Fairhope supporters raising money to replace it.

Via @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social: It’s the latest test of Trump’s presidential powers in using the U.S. military domestically, despite a law that bars soldiers from partaking in local law enforcement.

Via Shauneen Miranda: The U.S. Education Department’s announcement came just days after the administration decided to gut and reprogram $350 million in discretionary funds that support minority-serving institutions over claims that these programs are “racially discriminatory.”

Via @acvollers.bsky.social and @stateline.org: While nearly a dozen states require hyperbaric oxygen chambers to comply with certain safety standards, no states have comprehensive requirements specifically for accreditation or inspection of HBOT facilities.

My column this week. What a lawsuit about athletic eligibility for those enrolled in a voucher-like program reveals about Alabama leaders thoughts on who deserves a good education, and who deserves to be shielded from consequences.

Via @rchapoco.bsky.social: A group of Limestone County residents and churches have sued over ongoing work on a nearby quarry.

Via @andreadotweb.bsky.social: The Alabama Commission on Higher Education is launching a program to provide financial support to two-year college graduates seeking four-year degrees.

Via @stateline.org: A new report by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois says two states that have strengthened laws on collective bargaining rights in recent years are seeing union membership increase.

My column from Monday. Huntsville is a great city. But Huntsville is in a state that treats women as children and has juvenile and dangerous attitudes toward gun access. It’s no surprise Space Command officials have repeatedly warned that many of their civilian employees might not move to Alabama.

Via @stateline.org: Border crossings into Vermont hit their lowest levels since 2021, according to federal data, as the Canadian government reported a 34% drop in the number of August car visits into the U.S. compared with the same month last year.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: Planned Parenthood clinics throughout the country began telling Medicaid patients Friday that their routine health care appointments will no longer be covered as a federal court order takes effect.

Via @jonshorman.bsky.social and @stateline.org: The U.S. Department of Justice is sharing state voter roll information with the Department of Homeland Security in a search for noncitizens, the Trump administration confirmed.

Via @acvollers.bsky.social and @stateline.org: As Democratic lawmakers in blue states enact shield laws to protect abortion medication prescribers, their Republican counterparts — particularly in states that have banned abortion — are filing a flurry of bills to restrict access.

Via @utahnewsdispatch.com: According to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a family member turned in Tyler Robinson, 22. The suspect’s family member contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office saying Robinson had confessed or implied he had shot Kirk.

Via @andreadotweb.bsky.social: The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) will request a $5.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2027 to support programs like the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI), English language learners (ELL) and speech pathologists.

Via @jennifershutt.bsky.social: The Trump administration can block Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood after an appeals court on Thursday overturned a lower court’s preliminary injunction. The two-page order from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not include an explanation.

Update: ASU President Quinton Ross says all-clear has been given. Non-essential day-to-day operations remain suspended and the campus continues to be closed to the public.

Via @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social: The U.S. Department of Education announced it will withhold $350 million of congressionally approved funds to minority-serving colleges and universities and divert the funds elsewhere, saying that the institutions’ admissions quotas are discriminatory.

Via @timhenderson.bsky.social and @stateline.org: A 22-year-old Oklahoma woman, brought to the U.S. as a child, said she’s leaving for her native Mexico on a flight this month. Living in Mexico may be hard, but the threat of detention after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed was too much.

Alabama State University locked down Thursday after what the university said was a “terroristic threat” directed at the Montgomery campus.