Good morning, it’s Monday, September 22, 2025. In today’s edition, lawmakers face threats after Kirk assassination; Newsom signs first-in-the-nation mask ban; Utah lawmakers lay out redistricting plans:
Top Stories
PUBLIC SAFETY: State lawmakers are fielding a wave of threats in the wake of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s assassination, adding to a climate of fear of political violence in America. Democratic lawmakers in Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Maryland and Nevada have all fielded bomb threats in the days after Kirk’s murder. (Pluribus News)
Arizona’s House and Senate have increased security measures for lawmakers, staff and visitors in the legislative building. (State Affairs)
ENVIRONMENT: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has signed legislation extending the state’s cap-and-trade program to 2045, setting aside $1 billion a year for high-speed rail construction and $800 million for an affordable housing program. Newsom also signed a bill to join a western-regional electricity market to cut consumer prices. (Pluribus News)
IMMIGRATION: California Gov. Newsom signed legislation banning federal agents from wearing masks during law enforcement operations, the first state to do so. Newsom also signed a bill requiring school administrators to notify families and students if federal agents conduct immigration operations at school or college facilities. (Los Angeles Times)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: North Carolina lawmakers have rolled out their crime bill in response to a deadly stabbing on the Charlotte light rail system. The bill would require judges to release those accused of violent offenses on secured bonds or to house arrest with electronic monitoring. (Raleigh News & Observer)
REDISTRICTING: Utah lawmakers have laid out five potential U.S. House district map lines after a state judge threw out existing boundaries. The maps concentrate Salt Lake County voters into one district; none of the options carve the state’s largest county into more than two districts. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Four of the new options would create districts Vice President Harris won by single digits in 2024. The fifth option would create a district President Trump carried by only two.
MORE: New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) says her state won’t redraw congressional district lines in spite of White House pressure to do so. Democrats hold both U.S. House seats in the state, while the legislature is controlled by Republicans. (WMUR)
GUN POLITICS: Minnesota lawmakers have not come to an agreement on gun safety legislation in the wake of a shooting at a Catholic Church last month. A panel of six Democratic and five Republican senators heard testimony on various proposals last week, but talks got heated over a proposed safe storage bill. (MPR News)
In Politics & Business
FLORIDA: Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings (D) is promoting a new book as he eyes a bid for governor. Demings would join ex-U.S. Rep. David Jolly, a Republican-turned-Democratic opponent of President Trump, in the Democratic primary. (Orlando Sentinel)
RHODE ISLAND: Attorney General Peter Neronha (D) will decide in October whether to challenge Gov. Dan McKee (D) in the Democratic primary. He would join former CVS executive Helena Foulkes (D), who came within three points of beating McKee four years ago. (Boston Globe)
MISSOURI: A Cole County circuit judge has struck down a ballot summary for an anti-abortion constitutional amendment set to appear before voters. The judge said Republican lawmakers had failed to inform voters that the measure would repeal a pro-abortion rights amendment they adopted in 2024. (Associated Press)
REPUBLICANS: North Carolina Rep. Jarrod Lowery (R) will resign his post next month to take a job in the Trump administration. He didn’t say what the new position would be. (Raleigh News & Observer) Iowa Rep. Mike Sexton (R) will also quit to take a federal post. Sexton spoke at a Trump rally in Fort Dodge in 2024. (KCRG)
2028: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) keynoted the Missouri Democratic Party’s annual Truman Dinner on Saturday, touting his two victories in a very red state. It’s Beshear’s latest trip to fundraise for fellow Democrats as he eyes a 2028 presidential bid. (St. Louis Public Radio)
By The Numbers
$1,000: The size of this year’s Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, the lowest in five years. The annual check will go out to the 600,000 eligible Alaskans beginning Oct. 2. (Alaska Public Media)
15,100: The number of federal jobs Maryland has lost since January, the most in the nation. That’s almost 10% of the federal jobs located in Maryland, and more than 5% of the federal workers who live in Maryland. (Maryland Matters)
1.9%: The unemployment rate in South Dakota in August, the lowest rate in the nation. Washington, D.C., had the highest unemployment rate, at 6%, followed by California at 5.5%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Off The Wall
South Carolina lawmakers haven’t been getting paid since July 1, after Sen. Wes Climer (R) sued the state over a proposed pay raise. The state Supreme Court ordered a halt to lawmakers’ $1,000 monthly in-district compensation as the suit makes its way through courts. (Associated Press)
Kansas City, Mo., has ended its “border war” truce with Kansas City, Kan., as the Kansas side of the border tries to woo the Chiefs and the Royals to their side of the river. The two cities had agreed not to offer companies tax incentives to cross the border, but the six-year-old deal is now officially dead. (KCUR)
Quote of the Day
“We’re going to go Ozempic-broke.”
— Louisiana Sen. Heather Cloud (R), on the cost of GLP-1 drugs covered under state public worker health insurance plans. Louisiana spends $200 million a year on those drugs, with costs expected to rise in the coming years. (Alabama Reflector)