Good morning, it’s Thursday, June 25, 2026. In today’s edition, USDA releases SNAP error rates; lawmakers want to roll back data center tax breaks; USPS plans to refuse mail-in ballots in some states:
Top Stories
SNAP: New data released by the U.S. Agriculture Department is giving state leaders a sense of how much they will have to partially fund SNAP benefit programs beginning in Fiscal Year 2028. Only nine states had payment error rates of less than 6%, meeting criteria under the Republican reconciliation bill last year that will allow them to avoid paying some administration costs. Six states and the District of Columbia had error rates so high, at least 13.34%, that they will be allowed an additional year to bring down those rates to avoid the cost share requirement. (Pluribus News)
States with error rates over 10% must pay 15% of the costs of SNAP programs, under the reconciliation measure.
ENERGY: Lawmakers in at least 11 states have filed bills to limit or end data center tax breaks. Governors in Washington and Alabama have signed laws rolling back incentives, while bills remain pending in Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Thirty-eight states exempt certain data center equipment purchases from state sales taxes. (Pluribus News)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: New laws in Connecticut, Utah and Washington will mandate AI-generated content be labeled for transparency purposes, following a first-of-its-kind measure passed in California last year. The laws require watermarks on AI content. Tech companies have endorsed a content authenticity standard known as C2PA, which allows users to see the history of a piece of media. (Pluribus News)
WORKFORCE: The Delaware Senate has given final approval to legislation banning “captive audience” meetings, in which employers require employees to sit through meetings with political or religious content. The bill exempts religious and political employers, but it covers meetings in which employers warn against unionization. (Delaware Public Media)
PUBLIC HEALTH: Vermont lawmakers have approved legislation banning paraquat, a commonly used herbicide possibly linked to Parkinson’s disease. The Swiss company that manufactured the chemical said earlier this year it would stop production. The EPA requires a special training course for farmworkers who apply the chemical. (Associated Press)
GAMBLING: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued Kentucky over efforts by Attorney General Russell Coleman (R) to prevent prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket from operating what he calls unlicensed and illegal sports gambling operations. Coleman sued the companies last week. The CFTC has filed similar lawsuits against Minnesota, Illinois and Rhode Island. (Kentucky Lantern)
In Politics & Business
VOTING: The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a new rule that would refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in states that do not hand over a list of approved voters to the Trump administration. The proposed rule would require states to give the Postal Service the names, addresses and ballot barcode numbers for individuals to receive a mail-in ballot. (ABC News)
ABORTION: Voters in Nevada and Virginia will weigh in on abortion protection measures in this year’s midterm elections. Voters in Idaho will be asked to roll back a strict abortion ban, while voters in Missouri will be asked to repeal a 2024 ballot measure that protected the right to abortion. (The Hill)
CALIFORNIA: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and legislative leaders announced an agreement on an $11.25 billion affordable housing bond that will go before voters in November. Another statewide housing bond that has collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot would raise $25 billion to create a downpayment assistance program for middle-class homebuyers. (State Affairs)
Newsom and former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra (D) held their first in-person meeting since Becerra advanced in the all-party primary. The two sat down at a neighborhood Mexican restaurant in San Francisco. (State Affairs)
KANSAS: A new Change Research poll shows state Sen. Cindy Holscher (D) leading the Democratic field for governor with 37% of the vote, ahead of 10% who back state Sen. Ethan Corson (D) and 7% for Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog (D). The poll found the remaining 44% of voters were undecided. (Kansas Reflector)
The conservative Club for Growth has dropped $2 million on ads attacking Auditor Vicki Schmidt (R) in the Republican primary. (The Hill)
CRIME BLOTTER: South Dakota Sen. Thomas Pischke (R) faces two felony counts of falsifying signatures to put up candidates for state Republican Party positions without their knowledge. A county auditor found 16 forms for precinct committee positions with suspected fraudulent signatures. (Associated Press)
By The Numbers
More than 4.7 million: The number of people who have lost SNAP benefits since the Republican reconciliation bill passed last year, or about 11% of all participants. Nearly a tenth of those who have lost benefits live in Arizona. (Arizona Republic)
$1 billion: The amount in deferred maintenance repairs on federal lands in Nevada. The delays on infrastructure repairs vary from funding shortfalls to staffing cuts and unforeseen emergencies. (Nevada Independent)
12: The number of vetoes North Carolina lawmakers have overridden this year, bucking Gov. Josh Stein (D). Another bill aiming to ban state agencies from enacting DEI policies is set to be overridden by the Senate later this week. (NC Newsline)
Off The Wall
Gracie the giraffe has been on the run for nearly two weeks, after escaping her enclosure at the Cedar Hollow Ranch in the Texas Hill Country. Gracie’s owner is offering a $5,000 reward for her safe return, but no one has seen her yet. (Associated Press)
A new federal class action lawsuit accuses gas station giants of violating California antitrust laws by using AI-powered software to drive up gas prices. Plaintiffs allege the software, Kalibrate, allows stations to coordinate higher prices. (Associated Press)
Quote of the Day
“Obviously, the governor and the House of Delegates have not been reading the room.”
— Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (D), on rising public anger over data centers. (Pluribus News)