In a tacit admission that U.S. food production requires foreign labor, Trump is making it easier for farmers to employ guest workers from other countries. At the same time, ICE appears to be refraining from conducting agricultural workplace raids: stateline.org/2025/11/21/t...

Several businesses and nonprofits have launched AI-powered tools to help patients get their insurance claims paid and navigate byzantine medical bills, creating a robotic tug-of-war over who gets care and who foots the bill for it: stateline.org/2025/11/20/p...

A growing number of Democratic states are pushing back against ICE arrests in and around state courthouses. State lawmakers worry the raids will keep people from testifying in criminal trials, fighting evictions or seeking restraining orders: stateline.org/2025/11/19/i...

The Trump administration has made deep cuts to the main federal agency focused on fighting opioid addiction, potentially jeopardizing the nation’s recent progress on reducing overdose deaths, some public health officials and providers say: stateline.org/2025/11/18/p...

Data center growth is pitting states that want more of them against cities that don't: stateline.org/2025/11/17/d...

Though Congress ended the record-setting federal government shutdown, many questions remain for states that were already wading through seismic federal changes. One major uncertainty: whether and how states will be reimbursed for the costs they incurred: stateline.org/2025/11/14/s...

Trump said during his campaign that he would wield college accreditation as a “secret weapon” to root out DEI and other “woke” ideas from higher education. He has made good on that pledge: stateline.org/2025/11/13/a...

A provision significantly limiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products made its way into legislation to reopen the federal government. Its inclusion follows years of pressure from states and the marijuana industry: stateline.org/2025/11/12/c...

In their competition for rural health care dollars from a new federal fund, states are seeking money to bolster emergency services, address chronic diseases, and recruit and train more doctors and nurses: stateline.org/2025/11/11/s...

A year out from the 2026 midterm elections, legal fights and procedural maneuvering over ballot measures and referendums are well underway: stateline.org/2025/11/10/t...

Trump argues international students take university spots or jobs from American students. Its more restrictive approach to foreign students could have major implications across U.S. higher education, including taxpayer-funded public colleges and universities: stateline.org/2025/11/05/s...

The Trump administration wants to let states police themselves when it comes to educating students with disabilities, a move many teachers and parents fear will end up denying vulnerable children the services they’re guaranteed under law: stateline.org/2025/11/04/s...

Illicit drug overdoses and the deaths they cause are trending down this year, despite spikes in a handful of states, according to a Stateline analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: stateline.org/2025/11/03/t...

High grocery prices have pushed more Americans to rely on food banks. But organizations providing food relief have lost more than $1 billion in federal aid and are bracing for the impact of this weekend's shutdown-caused halt in SNAP funding: stateline.org/2025/10/31/f...

In the absence of much federal action, states have enacted dozens of laws this year to lower prescription drug costs for their residents — and many more are considering following suit: stateline.org/2025/10/30/d...

Food banks, food pantries and local governments are scrambling to prepare for an onslaught of demand as some 42 million Americans are expected to lose access to SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, in a matter of days. stateline.org/2025/10/29/l...

In the wake of the LA wildfires, the state-managed “last resort” insurance pool wants a 36% rate hike. Insurance experts say it’s a national warning sign, as the effects of climate change cause private insurance companies to pull back on coverage: stateline.org/2025/10/24/c...

Most state Medicaid programs pay dentists far less than private insurers do for the same services. As a result, not enough dentists are willing to take Medicaid patients, leaving low-income families in many states with limited options: stateline.org/2025/10/23/i...

By sending National Guard troops from one state to another -- without the receiving governor's consent -- Trump has raised questions of state sovereignty and how far the president can go in using the militia of one state to exercise power in another: stateline.org/2025/10/22/t...

States are rushing to inform some residents who rely on food stamps that they will soon be forced to meet work requirements. Meanwhile, the shutdown could result in millions not getting their SNAP benefits next month: stateline.org/2025/10/21/v...

As the federal shutdown continues, states have been forced to fall back on their own resources to spot disease outbreaks — just as respiratory illness season begins. stateline.org/2025/10/20/s...

A Stateline analysis of crime data shows that Trump’s National Guard deployments and proposals have not focused on the nation’s most violent cities: stateline.org/2025/10/17/t...

Community health centers have long enjoyed bipartisan support. But the government shutdown, freezes to federal grants and looming cuts have put them under financial stress: stateline.org/2025/10/15/t...

Some states want to help churches with shrinking congregations and aging buildings to do good with their unused land, by acting as anchors of new housing rather than as bystanders in neighborhood redevelopment: stateline.org/2025/10/14/c...

For years, Western leaders have debated the creation of a regional energy market: a coordinated grid to pool solar power in AZ, wind in WY, hydro in WA and battery storage in CA. A new CA law could make that market a reality: stateline.org/2025/10/13/t...

Usually, states get reimbursed for federal costs they've covered once a government shutdown ends. But the Trump administration’s record of pulling funding and targeting Democratic-led states has some officials worried about what comes after this one: stateline.org/2025/10/09/t...

So-called street takeovers — which are often organized on social media and can draw hundreds of people to block intersections, highways or parking lots for stunt driving — have become increasingly dangerous and difficult to contain: stateline.org/2025/10/08/i...

The nation’s prison population grew for the second consecutive year in 2023, reversing more than a decade of steady decline. stateline.org/2025/10/07/u...

With threats against nurses and physicians on the rise, state lawmakers and hospital officials are scrambling to put stronger protections in place. Those include increased criminal penalties, armed security guards and violence prevention plans: stateline.org/2025/10/01/d...

The traditional school bus has been undercut by national bus driver shortages, worsened by the pandemic. With states stretched thin by federal funding cuts, a pathway has opened for an industry of small-car, ride-hailing and private transport services: stateline.org/2025/09/30/s...

While iconic yellow buses might look like those of yore, school systems big and small are increasingly investing in a new wave of on-board technology: stateline.org/2025/09/29/s...

The wave of firings that has swept through academia and government in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death is being partly driven by GOP elected officials, who are encouraging Americans to report co-workers, their children’s teachers and others: stateline.org/2025/09/26/r...

The Trump administration’s changes to the the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program will disqualify hundreds of thousands of locations — including homes, businesses and community buildings — from receiving internet access. stateline.org/2025/09/22/w...

A new Trump administration rule bars DACA immigrants from buying health insurance from Affordable Care Act marketplaces - reversing a policy Biden enacted less than a year ago: stateline.org/2025/09/19/b...

As the Trump administration demands that states turn over voter data, some Republican state officials are pushing back: stateline.org/2025/09/18/s...

At least 17 states have taken steps to ensure broader access to the COVID-19 vaccine since the feds restricted eligibility. Together, the moves represent an extraordinary state rebellion against the public health authority of the federal government: stateline.org/2025/09/17/m...

As Trump wages an all-out assault on offshore wind projects, state leaders face a dilemma: Do they pull the plug on offshore wind? Or do they double down on their investments, in hopes of helping the industry rebound after Trump leaves office? stateline.org/2025/09/16/t...

Fatal accidents in MI and AZ this year have thrown a spotlight on the largely unregulated world of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. A treatment once primarily confined to hospitals, it has surged in popularity in alternative health spaces in recent years: stateline.org/2025/09/15/d...

President Donald Trump’s trade war, aggressive immigration enforcement and talk of making their country the 51st state has offended many Canadians. Tourism hubs from Hawaii to New York are reeling from a decrease in Canadian visitors: stateline.org/2025/09/12/t...

‘More than anything, I’m tired of being called a criminal here.’ More immigrants without legal status are finding it easier to seek opportunities in other countries than to stay in the U.S. amid threats of detention and deportation: stateline.org/2025/09/11/u...

NE Kansas City sits comfortably inside Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, which encompasses much of the city and the surrounding metro area. A new redistricting plan would crack the city’s urban core into three districts, worrying residents: stateline.org/2025/09/09/o...

There is growing state interest in regulating proposition bets, commonly called prop bets, a form of sports betting that is popular with fans but worrisome for sports leagues and state officials nationwide: stateline.org/2025/09/09/w...

Pharmacies in Black and Latino neighborhoods are less likely to dispense buprenorphine — one of the main treatments for opioid use disorder — even though people of color are more likely to die from opioid overdoses: stateline.org/2025/09/08/m...

The Big Beautiful Bill will likely force more than half the states to reduce payments to doctors and hospitals that treat Medicaid patients, a change critics warn will be particularly harmful to rural hospitals struggling to stay afloat: stateline.org/2025/09/05/t...

Trump’s decision to put the National Guard on the streets of LA and DC in recent months and his threat to send them into other major cities have sparked a nationwide fight over the proper role of the Army’s and Air Force’s primary combat reserve force: stateline.org/2025/09/04/g...

More police agencies, from big-city departments to federal agencies, are lowering education standards for new recruits — a sign of how much the profession is changing as it struggles to recruit and retain officers: stateline.org/2025/09/03/p...

CA, OR and WA said Wednesday they are forming an alliance to coordinate vaccine recommendations for their states. Meanwhile, Florida announced plans to become the first state to phase out all vaccine mandates, including for schoolchildren: stateline.org/2025/09/03/a...

Wildland firefighters were stunned when federal immigration authorities last week raided an active wildfire response in WA, arresting two firefighters. Many believe leaders played a key role in handing over the firefighters to immigration authorities: stateline.org/2025/08/31/f...

“It’s better for my kid to get the virus than get the vaccine.” Dr. Rana Alissa hears that daily at her FL clinic. Misinformation from the Trump administration — and turmoil at the CDC -- likely will make the situation worse: stateline.org/2025/08/28/a...

As an IVF alternative, some antiabortion groups are pushing “restorative reproductive medicine,” or RRM, which is based on the idea that the underlying causes of infertility can be treated through lifestyle changes and improving a person’s overall health: stateline.org/2025/08/25/a...