Good morning, it’s Monday, December 8, 2025. In today’s edition, lawmakers brace for deficits ahead; Indiana Senate to take up redistricting bill; Utah to roll back collective bargaining ban:
Top Stories
ECONOMY: Lawmakers in a growing number of states will face difficult budget choices next year as revenue growth slows, spending demands increase and federal tax cuts kick in. Fiscal analysts are projecting significant deficits in California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland and Nebraska, while deficits loom in Minnesota and Virginia.
Revenue growth has slowed since Fiscal Year 2023. In most states, revenue is not growing fast enough to keep up with the rising costs of providing government services. Health care costs are becoming a key pressure point. And President Trump’s reconciliation bill lowered personal and corporate income tax rates, taking a bite out of revenue. (Pluribus News)
MORE: New Mexico lawmakers will try again to create baby bond accounts, after two efforts failed to advance this year. Both plans, one backed by Senate Democrats and the other by House Democrats, would invest more than the $1,000 offered by the federal government for the new Trump Accounts. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
REDISTRICTING: Legislation redrawing Indiana’s congressional district lines will be introduced in the state Senate today, with a hearing before the Senate Elections Committee slated for this afternoon. A final vote could come as early as Thursday, though the outcome is uncertain amid opposition from some Republican senators. (State Affairs)
MORE: Virginia Democratic lawmakers say they may pursue a new set of congressional district maps that would hand them 10 of the state’s 11 congressional districts. Emboldened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow Texas maps to stand, legislators hinted they may try for an even more aggressive approach. Democrats currently hold six of the 11 seats. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
LABOR: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) has called the legislature back into session tomorrow to tackle a measure repealing a law passed this year that effectively banned collective bargaining for public sector unions. Labor backers have collected enough signatures to force the measure on the ballot in November. (KSL)
HOUSING: Rhode Island Treasurer James Diossa (D) has committed $60 million in state deposits to help first-time homebuyers secure mortgages under a new pilot program. The program is limited to those who make up to 110% of the household median income; participants who qualify will get mortgages at starting interest rates of 3.99%. (Rhode Island Current)
MORE: The California Assembly has formed the Select Committee on Housing Construction Innovation to look at new ways to speed homebuilding. The panel, headed by Assemb. Buffy Wicks (D), will hold a series of hearings this winter in a bid to come up with new legislation next year. (Sacramento Bee)
In Politics & Business
DEMOCRATS: Candidates for governor next year will focus on affordability messages, Democratic Governors Association chair and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said at the party’s annual meeting in Phoenix. Candidates said they plan to campaign on the costs of housing, child care, utilities and groceries. (Associated Press)
CONNECTICUT: Candidates for governor will be eligible to receive more than $18 million in public financing. Neither candidate sought public financing in 2022, when Gov. Ned Lamont (D) spent $25 million of his own money and Republican nominee Bob Stefanowski spent $15 million. (Hartford Courant)
TEXAS: The state Comptroller’s Office said it had purchased $5 million in Bitcoin, its first investment in cryptocurrency. The legislature approved a bill this year to allow Comptroller Kelly Hancock (R) to invest up to $10 million in Bitcoin, though that’s just a tiny fraction of the state’s assets under management. (Texas Tribune)
By The Numbers
More than $2.5 million: The amount lobbyists spent on influencing Idaho lawmakers in 2025, according to Secretary of State Phil McGrane (R). The top spender, the Modern Ag Alliance, spent $620,000 lobbying in favor of legislation that would have granted legal immunity to pesticide manufacturers. (Idaho Capital Sun)
About 2,000: The area, in square miles, that Louisiana has lost since 1930s due to erosion. At its fastest pace, erosion was claiming about a football field’s worth of land every 34 minutes. (Associated Press)
17.1 inches: The amount of snow that’s fallen on Chicago this year, the most since 1978. That’s almost as much as the 17.6 inches that fell on Chicago all of last year. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Anyone else headed to the Council of State Governments’ annual meeting in Chicago this week? Drop us a line, we’ll hope to see you there!
Off The Wall
Connecticut has launched a new online souvenir store, MerchCT. The site is selling pizza, oyster and UConn-themed merchandise, including tote bags, a pizza-themed apron and shirts repping the state’s two main area codes, 203 and 860. (CT Insider)
Just in time for the holidays!
Florida hunters are beginning the first legal hunt of black bears in a decade. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission awarded 172 bear hunt permits to a very few of the more than 160,000 applicants who sought one. There are more than 4,000 black bears in Florida today, up from just a few hundred in the 1970s. (Florida Politics)
Quote of the Day
“Big fat no. N. O. The answer is no.”
— Rhode Island Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone (D), asked whether he wanted to be Senate president. (Boston Globe)