Good morning, it’s July 4, 2025. Happy Independence Day! In today’s edition, lawmakers target leaded aviation fuel; SCOTUS to take up transgender athlete ban; Dems lead Gov polls in New York, New Jersey:
Top Stories
ENVIRONMENT: State lawmakers are advancing new bills to incentivize the use of clean alternatives to leaded airplane fuels, ahead of a federal ban set to take effect in 2030. California has banned the sale of leaded aviation fuel, or “avgas,” and similar bills are pending in New Mexico, New York and Oregon. (Pluribus News)
Leaded avgas is still used in about 170,000 small piston-engine aircraft today, according to environmental groups.
HEALTH CARE: Florida is seeking federal permission to use Medicaid money to expand its health care workforce. The state wants to use $3 billion in federal and state money over five years to pay for training and loan repayment for health care professionals who serve Medicaid patients in underserved areas. (Pluribus News)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The U.S. Supreme Court will review an Idaho law barring transgender women and girls from being allowed to compete in women’s sports. A district judge ruled the law unconstitutional under Title IX and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction preventing it from taking effect. (Idaho Statesman)
MORE: North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) has signed legislation barring some abuse and neglect charges for parents raising transgender children in accordance with their biological sex. The bill bars adoption agencies from denying placement because an adoptive parent is unwilling to allow a child to transition. (Associated Press)
ECONOMY: North Carolina Gov. Stein has signed legislation allowing people with professional licenses issued by Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia to obtain equivalent licenses in North Carolina. The law excludes doctors, architects, engineers, lawyers and CPAs. (Carolina Journal)
EDUCATION: Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) has issued an executive order giving school districts until Oct. 31 to issue policies prohibiting the use of cellphones during school days. Kotek’s order includes passing periods and lunch hours, meaning students would have to lock their phones away from bell to bell. (Oregonian)
MORE: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) has called lawmakers into special session to address education reform, after lawmakers overrode his veto of an education funding bill in May. Lawmakers have convened a special education task force to create new reforms, but they accused Dulneavy of rushing the special session because one member of the bipartisan majority, Sen. Forrest Dunbar (D), is away serving in the National Guard. (Anchorage Daily News)
EVEN MORE: Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) has signed a Freedom to Read Act into law. The bill protects libraries and patrons from book bans and requires the state commissioner of primary and secondary education to develop policies for school libraries to collect and curate library material. (Rhode Island Current)
In Politics & Business
NEW JERSEY: A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll conducted in mid-June found U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D) with a 51%-31% lead over former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R) in the race for governor. Ciattarelli’s campaign responded by pointing to polls from 2021, when those surveys showed Ciattarelli trailing Gov. Phil Murphy (D) by huge margins — right before he came within three points of a mega-upset. (New Jersey Globe)
NEW YORK: A new Sienna College poll finds Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) leading the Democratic field with 49% of the vote, followed by Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado (D) at 12% and U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D) at 10%. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R) leads the Republican field with 35%, followed by U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R) at 18% and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R) at 7%. (Siena)
MORE: The poll shows Hochul leading every Republican in the race. She leads Lawler 44%-24%, Blakeman 44%-19% and Stefanik 47%-24%. Hochul’s approval rating stands at 50%, while 45% disapprove. Residents of New York City want to retain the congestion tax by a 45%-35% margin, while suburban voters want it repealed by a 29%-58% margin.
IDAHO: Abortion rights backers are collecting signatures for a proposed ballot initiative to overturn Idaho’s ban on abortion access. They need to collect 71,000 valid signatures by next year to qualify for the 2026 ballot. (Idaho Capital Sun)
2028: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will make six stops across South Carolina next week in areas that were hit hard by recent wildfires and hurricanes. Newsom has been to South Carolina before, when he campaigned for then-President Biden in 2024. (Sacramento Bee)
By The Numbers
147,000: The increase in nonfarm payrolls in June, higher than the estimated 110,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. State and local governments led the way, adding 73,000 new positions last month. (CNBC)
174: The number of vetoes Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) has issued this year, vastly outpacing her previous record of 143 bills vetoed in 2023. (AZ Mirror)
$6.6 million: The amount Texas will pay to four former top deputies to Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who say they were fired for reporting Paxton to the FBI. Paxton’s office dropped his appeal of the whistleblower payments on Wednesday. The legislature still as to approve the payments, which led to Paxton’s impeachment and acquittal last year. (Texas Tribune)
More than 100,000: The number of undocumented residents who sought medical care in Texas in the first four months of a new law requiring hospitals to ask patients their immigration status. That represents about 2.3% of all patients who sought care in Texas over that period. (KXAN)
Off The Wall
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) is opening a criminal investigation into the disappearance of two baby giraffes missing from a zoo in Rockbridge County. The investigation comes as three people involved in the zoo were charged with contempt of court after they moved four adult giraffes that had been awarded to the state in an animal cruelty case. (Cardinal News)
Joey Chestnut is the favorite to win today’s Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest on Coney Island, a year after he was banned from the event over a contract dispute. Chestnut has won the event a record 16 times. He owns the record for most dogs downed in the ten minutes allowed, at 76 in 2021. (Associated Press)
We got heartburn just writing that last sentence.
Quote of the Day
“Don’t be an idiot, don’t set our state on fire this weekend, and have a fun, safe Fourth of July.”
— Washington State Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove (D), urging residents to be wary of wildfire as parts of the state suffer through drought. (Seattle Times)