Good morning, it’s Tuesday, July 18, 2023. In today’s edition, Iowa abortion law blocked again; DeSantis immigration overhaul faces legal challenge; La. lawmakers to attempt veto override on gender-affirming care ban:
Top Stories
IMMIGRATION: The Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU are among plaintiffs who sued Florida to challenge a new immigration law that limits social services for migrants without permanent legal status, expands E-Verify requirements and requires hospitals to include a citizenship question on intake forms. The suit targets another provision that criminalizes the transportation of individuals into Florida who may have entered the country illegally. (Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press)
MORE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) administration reported spending more than $15 million in the first half of the year to address illegal migration, including $4.5 million on the Florida National Guard’s response. DeSantis deployed the guard to the southern border in Texas, and to the Florida Keys. (Orlando Sentinel)
ABORTION: An Iowa judge on Monday temporarily blocked a newly-passed ban on abortion at six weeks, though Judge Joseph Seidlin said the state Board of Medicine should proceed with creating rules to enforce the measure if his ruling is overturned. (Associated Press)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to rule today on a provision in the landmark SAFE-T Act that would abolish cash bail. Justices halted the provision, known as the Pretrial Fairness Act, from taking effect six months ago. (Chicago Sun-Times)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: Louisiana lawmakers will return to special session today to consider overriding vetoes Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) issued against bills banning gender-affirming care for minors, banning classroom discussion of gender and sex, and limiting the pronouns students can use. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
Louisiana lawmakers have only overridden one veto in the last three decades — in 2022, when they overrode Edwards’s veto of a redistricting bill.
MORE: Ohio Republicans have introduced legislation to ban drag performances from public parks, parades and other places where children might be present. The bill expands the definition of adult cabaret performances to include “entertainers who exhibit a gender identity that is different from the performer’s or entertainer’s gender assigned at birth.” (Columbus Dispatch)
EDUCATION: The Virginia Department of Education has halted the dissemination of grants intended to help provisionally licensed teachers of color receive full teaching licenses. Lawmakers allocated $50,000 a year to fund the grants that subsidize tutoring and test fees. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
PUBLIC HEALTH: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has signed legislation creating a Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Authority to manage programs aimed at reducing infant and maternal mortality. New Jersey is one of four states where maternal health improved over the last year, according to the March of Dimes. (New Jersey Globe)
In Politics & Business
ALABAMA: State Republicans are rejecting calls to redraw congressional district lines in a way that creates a second majority-Black district. GOP leaders have advanced a map increasing the number of Black voters in one district from 30% to 42.5%, in hopes that will satisfy a three-judge panel that ordered the new maps in the first place. (AL.com, Associated Press)
GEORGIA: The state Supreme Court has unanimously rejected former President Donald Trump’s bid to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Williams from her probe into the aftermath of the 2020 elections. Trump’s legal team had asked the court to quash a grand jury’s final report that may include recommendations that people be indicted. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
TEXAS: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has issued a wide-ranging gag order in the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).The order prohibits legislators, witnesses and attorneys from making statements that could prejudice the trial, set to begin on Sept. 5. (Texas Tribune)
INDIANA: Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers (R) will leave his post on Aug. 6, fueling speculation he is considering a run for governor. Chambers would face U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R), Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch (R), businessman Eric Doden (R) and former Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) in an increasingly crowded GOP primary field. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
WISCONSIN: No Labels, the bipartisan group considering running a third-party ticket for president, is trying to secure ballot access in Wisconsin, a state President Biden carried by just over 20,000 votes in 2020. Former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.), now a national director of the group, says they hope to make the ballot in “a little less than half the states” by the end of 2023. (WisPolitics)
IOWA: Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) will interview Republican presidential contenders in “fair-side chats” at the Iowa State Fair this summer. Reynolds said every presidential candidate had been invited to join her. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Dear fair-goers, drop us a line. We have quite a large number of food-on-stick recommendations for you.
By The Numbers
$96.8 million: The amount of surplus South Dakota had at the end of the fiscal year. South Dakota now has a $336 million reserve fund. (South Dakota Public Broadcasting)
95 degrees: The low temperature in Phoenix overnight on Monday, the highest overnight low ever recorded in the city. Tuesday will mark the 19th consecutive day in which the temperature in Phoenix has topped 110 degrees, another record. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
North Carolina Sen. Bobby Hanig (R) has a unique way of celebrating his service in both the state House, where he won election in 2018, and the Senate, where he won re-election last November: Tattoos of the two chambers’ seals, which he sports on his left and right calfs. It took a tattoo artist four hours to add the Senate seal on his right calf on Friday. (Charlotte Observer)
Alabama Sen. Chris Elliott (R) says he will introduce legislation to erase $5 million in supplemental funding from the Department of Archives and History after the agency held a one-hour presentation on LGBTQ history in the state. The lecture series that included the presentation is not funded by taxpayer dollars. (AL.com)
Quote of the Day
“If I were a 4-year-old, I would ask for a signing bonus.”
— UC Berkeley Professor Bruce Fuller, on school districts racing to fill slots in free traditional kindergarten programs that has led to a battle between schools and daycare providers. (Los Angeles Times)