Good morning, it’s Tuesday, December 30, 2025. This is our last edition of the year, we’ll see you Friday morning! In today’s edition, states get $50 billion in rural health funds; Arizona will try to regulate short-term rental units; eminent domain debate coming back to Iowa:
Top Stories
HEALTH CARE: The Trump administration on Monday announced all 50 states would get a piece of the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund created under the president’s reconciliation package this summer. The one-time grant program represents the largest investment in rural health care in decades.
The awards are intended to help states stabilize rural hospitals, bolster health care workforces and test new ways to coordinate care across rural areas. The awards average about $200 million per state, though some states were eligible for extra funding if they followed Trump administration legislative and regulatory priorities. (Pluribus News)
HOUSING: Arizona Sen. Mark Finchem (R) has introduced legislation allowing cities with fewer than 70,000 residents to set a maximum number of vacation rental licenses that can be issued. The bill would also set minimum distances between short-term rental units. Finchem represents Sedona, where about 20% of the housing stock are short-term rental units. (State Affairs)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will propose legislation creating a chief state prosecutor with the authority to override certain decisions made by local prosecutors. Abbott cited the case of a homeless Austin man accused of making terroristic threats, though Austin officials pointed out the man has spent several years behind bars. (KXAN)
PUBLIC HEALTH: Florida Rep. Jeff Holcomb (R) has introduced legislation barring health care providers from discriminating against patients based on vaccination status. The bill would add disclosure requirements when children get vaccinated, and it would add vaccination status to protected classes under the Florida Patient’s Bill of Rights. (Orlando Sentinel)
EMINENT DOMAIN: The Iowa legislature will take up legislation allowing a contentious carbon capture pipeline to use eminent domain in the coming years, leaders said. The bill passed the legislature last year after 12 Republican senators threatened to hold up spending bills, but Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) vetoed the measure after it passed. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Read our story from June, when Reynolds vetoed the hotly contested bill.
In Politics & Business
IOWA: Voters head to the polls today in the final special election of the year to fill a state Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Claire Celso (D). The election in the Des Moines suburbs gives Republican Lucas Loftin a chance to reclaim a supermajority for his party, while Democrat Renee Hardman tries to hold the seat for her side. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district 37% to 30%. (Associated Press)
OREGON: Republicans supporting an effort to refer a road funding bill to voters say they have enough signatures to force a vote. The group, led by Senate Republican leader Bruce Starr, said it had collected 250,000 signatures, well more than the 78,000 necessary to get on this year’s ballot. The GOP hops to block a law that would raise the gas tax and double a payroll tax funding public transit. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
CALIFORNIA: Backers are beginning to collect signatures on a proposed ballot measure that would ban smartphones in schools and set new restrictions on chatbots and other artificial intelligence tools. Supporters are circulating five different measures, all of which would mark the first time voters get to weigh in on AI regulations. (Sacramento Bee)
Read our report from October, when supporters first filed their proposed language.
VIRGINIA: A special prosecutor appointed to investigate the handling of a 2022 speeding ticket issued to Attorney General-elect Jay Jones (D) has closed the case. The prosecutor, Roanoke Commonwealth’s Attorney Donald Caldwell, said the course of Jones’s case was lawful. Jones had been caught traveling 116 mph in a 70 mph zone. (Daily Press)
By The Numbers
$6.6 billion: The amount of revenue North Carolina’s state lottery generated in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, up from $5.4 billion the year before. State officials attributed the growth in revenue to large Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots. (Carolina Journal)
$5.8 billion: The size of Missouri’s general revenue fund balance as of June 30, 2023, the highest level it’s ever reached. If current spending trends continue, Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick (R) says the fund will be depleted by the end of Fiscal Year 2028. (Missouri Independent)
Off The Wall
The Missouri Supreme Court has voted to remove St. Charles County Judge Michael Thornhill from the bench, finding the judge made repeated political statements from the bench. Thornhill also made headlines this year for overseeing cases dressed as Elvis Presley. Justices cited Thornhill’s habit of playing Elvis tunes on his phone during court proceedings. (St. Louis Public Radio)
A British rowing team competing in an endurance race across the Atlantic Ocean took a break to rescue a large sea turtle found entangled in a discarded net. The three-person team posted their detour — and the successful rescue — on Instagram. (UPI)
Quote of the Day
“There’s so much money in this business that the energy bills — even though large — are kind of like rounding errors for these guys.”
— Matthew Freedman, staff attorney with The Utility Reform Network, a ratepayer advocacy group, on the energy demands of data centers. (CalMatters)