Good morning, it’s Wednesday, August 20, 2025. In today’s edition, blue states prep for health care rate hikes; Texas House poised to adopt new maps; poll shows Spanberger ahead in Virginia:
Top Stories
HEALTH CARE: Policymakers in several states are preparing to partially backfill federal health insurance subsidies scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Those states — California, Colorado, Maryland and a few others — cannot afford to replace all the federal money, meaning health insurance premiums are likely to soar after pandemic-era enhancements expire. (Pluribus News)
REDISTRICTING: Four California Republican lawmakers have sued to block the Democratic-controlled legislature from considering bills that would lead to a special election on redistricting. The suit could slow the legislature’s progress as it faces tight timelines to advance the amendment to the Nov. 4 ballot. (State Affairs)
MORE: The Texas House will take up Republican-led redistricting plans today. (Texas Tribune) Eight Texas Democrats joined Rep. Nicole Collier (D) in locking themselves in the state House chamber in protest of Republican orders that they remain under supervision of state law enforcement officers after returning from their quorum break. (NBC News)
EVEN MORE: Former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley and former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood are leading a push to reform Illinois’s redistricting process by creating a 12-member legislative redistricting commission. They will attempt to pass a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot. (Capitol News Illinois)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The Michigan House has approved legislation banning nonconsensual sexual deepfake images. The measure passed the Senate unanimously last week. The measure provides immunity for large tech companies whose platforms might be used to produce the images. (State Affairs)
PUBLIC HEALTH: California lawmakers are ramping up a final push for legislation establishing a statutory definition for “ultraprocessed foods,” a step toward banning those products from schools. The bill, authored by Assemb. Jesse Gabriel (D), is part of a trend toward banning those foods that has taken hold in some red states like Idaho, Tennessee and Texas. (State Affairs)
In Politics & Business
VIRGINIA: A new Roanoke College poll finds former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) leading Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears 46% to 39% in the race for governor. The last time Roanoke tested the race, in February, Spanberger held a 39% to 24% edge. Spanberger has a net-positive rating (44% favorable, 38% unfavorable) while Earle-Sears is underwater (36% to 43%). (Roanoke College)
MORE: In the race for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) leads radio host John Reid 38% to 35%. Former Del. Jay Jones (D) leads Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) by an equally narrow 41% to 38% margin. Both races are within the margin of error. (Roanoke College)
IOWA: Former Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen (R) has entered the race for governor. Steen, an ordained minister, joins a crowded Republican field in the race to replace retiring Gov. Kim Reynolds. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
MISSOURI: Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) has appointed former House Speaker and federal prosecutor Catherine Hanaway (R) to replace Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) when he resigns in September. Hanaway will be the first woman to hold the job; Bailey is leaving to become deputy director of the FBI. (Missouri Independent)
Missouri’s Attorney General’s office is quite the stepping stone: Of the last ten people to hold the job, five became senators, two became governors and another lost a gubernatorial race.
MISSISSIPPI: U.S. District Court Judge Sharion Aycock has ordered Mississippi to redraw its Supreme Court district map, finding the existing map unfairly dilutes the power of Black voters. Aycock said she would set a deadline for the legislature to draw a new map. (Associated Press)
By The Numbers
6%: The unemployment rate in Washington, D.C., in July, the highest in the nation for the third straight month. District statistics show unemployed federal workers received $2.57 million in unemployment benefits in June, up from $2.01 million in April. (Associated Press)
$4.6 billion: The amount Indiana residents spent on online betting sites in 2024. Since the start of legal online batting, Hoosiers have wagered more than $17 billion on sports. Enrollment in a state-run self-restriction program for problem gamblers is up 3,500% over that same timeframe. (Indianapolis Star)
$177 million: The estimated contribution to Iowa’s gross domestic product from the 11-day state fair in Des Moines. The average family of three spent about $220 in a given day at the fair. (Des Moines Register)
Off The Wall
Home and private school parents enrolled in Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts spent state money on iPhones, smart TVs, purses, diamond rings, necklaces, airline tickets, dog food and other purchases that might not otherwise be allowed. The state began automatically authorizing purchases to reduce a backlog. (12 News)
Dean Stokes, 36, has set a new Guinness World Record for riding the most roller coasters in a single week. The British man took 55 rides in a week earlier this month as part of his quest to try every coaster in England and Ireland. (UPI)
Quote of the Day
“There is no silver lining or cavalry coming across the hill. This is month after month, year after year.”
— Michael Pruser, director of data science at Decision Desk HQ, on a persistent decline in Democratic voter registration figures. Democrats lost about 2.1 million voters between the 2020 and 2024 elections. Republicans gained 2.4 million voters over that same span. (New York Times)