Good morning, it’s Tuesday, April 21, 2026. In today’s edition, states investigate psychedelic trials; Virginia voters weigh in on redistricting; new polls in California, Ohio:
Top Stories
PUBLIC HEALTH: President Trump signed an executive order Saturday providing up to $50 million in funding for state research into ibogaine, a psychedelic used for treating opioid use disorder and PTSD. States are way ahead of him: Texas, Arizona and Mississippi have already approved funding for clinical trials, while other bills are advancing in Georgia, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee and Maryland. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is lobbying in favor of new testing and trials. (Pluribus News)
MORE: Florida lawmakers will consider a “medical freedom” bill in a special legislative session next week to allow more exemptions for routine childhood vaccines. The Senate passed a measure allowing conscience exemptions this year, but the House declined to take it up. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will make the bill a priority in the special session. (State Affairs)
REDISTRICTING: Virginia voters head to the polls today to decide on a measure to redraw state congressional district lines in favor of Democrats. The proposed constitutional amendment would give Democrats the chance to pick up as many as four Republican-held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. (Associated Press)
ABORTION: A Pennsylvania appellate court has struck down a decades-old law banning the use of Medicaid funds to cover abortion costs. It’s the first court ruling in Pennsylvania finding a constitutional right to an abortion. (Associated Press)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The Missouri House has approved legislation that would punish cities, schools and government entities that fail to prevent transgender people from using restrooms and sex-specific spaces that do not align with their sex assigned at birth. The measure would allow people to sue public entities for failing to enforce the law. (Kansas City Star)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The Missouri House also approved legislation criminalizing the sharing of sexualized deepfakes of minors. The bill would allow victims to sue offenders and require online platforms to provide a pathway for those victims to have depictions of themselves removed. (St. Louis Public Radio)
AGRICULTURE: California lawmakers are advancing new measures to support the ailing wine industry. One bill would give a tax credit to agricultural employers equal to overtime wages of its employees. Another would allow wineries to sell their products at farmers markets. The industry is responsible for 422,000 jobs in the state, a trade group said. (State Affairs)
In Politics & Business
CALIFORNIA: The first post-Swalwell polls are out. A Kreate Strategies poll finds conservative commentator Steve Hilton (R) leading the field at 18%, followed by Tom Steyer (D) at 16%, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R) at 14%, and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D) and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (D) at 10% each. (Kreate) A Gudelunas Strategies poll finds Hilton at 20%, Becerra and Steyer at 15%, Bianco at 14% and Porter at 13%. (Politico)
The big takeaway: Becerra is getting a second look from voters who once backed Swalwell.
MORE: Former state Controller Betty Yee (D) has dropped her gubernatorial bid amid low polling and poor fundraising. Yee said she would endorse a candidate in the next few days. (CalMatters)
OHIO: A new Bowling Green State University poll conducted by YouGov shows entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (R) statistically tied with former state health director Amy Acton (D) 48% to 47%. Just 40% approve of the job Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is doing, while 46% approve of President Trump’s job performance. (Bowling Green)
KENTUCKY: Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman (D) will run for governor in 2027, she said Monday. Coleman is the first candidate of either party to declare a campaign to replace term-limited Gov. Andy Beshear (D). Coleman founded an education policy nonprofit before Beshear tapped her as his running mate. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
HAWAII: Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke (D) has dropped her re-election bid in the face of a scandal surrounding a $35,000 payment made by a lobbyist in 2022. Luke maintains her innocence, but she acknowledged the toll the scandal was taking on her family. (Civil Beat)
PEOPLE: Former Hawaii Gov. George Ariyoshi (D), the first Asian American governor in American history, has died at 100. Ariyoshi served three terms in office after working as an interpreter with the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service in Japan at the end of World War II. (Associated Press)
By The Numbers
$4.66 billion: The revenue Georgia’s state lottery pulled in over the last year, up $228 million from the year prior. Higher profits mean more funding for preschools and scholarship programs the lottery funds. (State Affairs)
About 50%: The share of Nevada State Police jobs that remain unfilled. The police union’s leader said high costs of living and rising health insurance and retirement plan costs are hurting recruiting. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Off The Wall
Vermont officials are debating how to handle the 306-foot Bennington Battle Monument, commemorating the 1777 Battle of Bennington. The structure, the second-tallest unreinforced masonry obelisk in the country after the Washington Monument, has become saturated with 66,000 gallons of water. Repair costs could top $40 million. (Associated Press)
A group of Kansas high school students took the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile to prom. The students approached the Wienermobile’s driver with their request, and she readily agreed. “People take limos,” one student said. “This is basically just a big hot dog limo.” (UPI)
An enormous hot air balloon made an emergency landing in the back yard of a home in Temecula, Calif. The pilot, with 13 passengers aboard, set the balloon down perfectly — and everyone snapped photos to celebrate. Check them out courtesy the Associated Press.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think I was elected to debate flags all day.”
— Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter (D), on a dispute between members over the display of a Pakistani flag and Gadsden flags lawmakers placed on their desks. (CT Mirror)