Good morning, it’s Tuesday, April 14, 2026. In today’s edition, states cut funding for disability care; Maine approves data center ban; millionaire’s tax gets momentum in Illinois:
Top Stories
HEALTH CARE: Red and blue states alike are considering cutting Medicaid funding for programs that help people with disabilities live at home. Cuts were enacted this year in Idaho and Maryland, and considered in Colorado and Missouri, prompting protests from disability advocates. Home-based services may face steeper cliffs in the future under Medicaid cuts imposed by President Trump’s reconciliation measure. (Pluribus News)
MORE: Alabama, Maine and Virginia have recently joined the physician assistant licensure compact, a joint agreement between states to authorize PAs to practice across state lines. Ten more states have introduced bills to join the compact, which aims to allow PAs to serve rural communities that have few health care providers. (Arkansas Advocate)
ENERGY: Maine’s legislature has given final approval to first-in-the-nation legislation temporarily banning the development of large data centers. Gov. Janet Mills (D) said the measure needs to exempt a $550 million project in Androscoggin to win her support. The bill would place an 18-month moratorium on new data centers that use more than 20 megawatts of power. (Maine Public Radio)
MORE: The Pennsylvania House has approved legislation requiring data center operators to disclose the amount of water and electricity they use to state officials. The House also advanced a bill directing the state to come up with model ordinances for municipal officials to use when planning data center development. (State Affairs)
GAMBLING: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) has signed legislation to legalize online sports betting. The law, modeled on a Florida measure, will require servers that manage bets to be housed on tribal lands. Wisconsin is the 33rd state to legalize online or mobile sports betting since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1992 law that prevented bets. (Wisconsin Examiner)
LABOR: Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) has signed legislation prohibiting school districts from providing paid time off for teacher’s union activities. The measure also bars unions from deducting dues from paychecks. (Local News 8)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: Idaho Gov. Little also signed legislation requiring schools and health care providers to inform parents if their child requests to take steps to transition. The law covers children who request the use of different pronouns, restrooms or locker rooms, and if they seek to go by a different name. (Idaho Statesman)
TAXES: Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch (D) is backing a proposed 3% tax on those who make more than $1 million a year. The House is considering two separate measures that would put the millionaire’s tax on the November ballot. Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) also backs the tax. (WBEZ)
In Politics & Business
FLORIDA: U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R) raised $22.4 million in the first quarter of the year, and his super PAC hauled in another $19.8 million. The campaign’s haul is nearly 20 times what his rivals, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins (R) and former House Speaker Paul Renner (R), raised over the same period. (State Affairs)
ARIZONA: A state judge is considering whether to allow No Labels Party candidate Hugh Lytle to stay on the ballot, after he listed his business address rather than his home address on ballot petitions. A voter challenging his paperwork argued masking his residential address flies in the face of requirements set by the legislature. (State Affairs)
VIRGINIA: Early voting data suggests Democrats are turning out to cast ballots ahead of next week’s election to redraw congressional district lines. Turnout in Northern Virginia is about 46% higher than the same time before last fall’s elections, when Democrats swept all three statewide offices and made big gains in the House of Delegates. (CNN)
By The Numbers
64%: The share of Americans who have read a book in print in the last 12 months, according to an annual Pew Research Center survey. 31% said they had read an e-book, while 26% said they had listened to an audio book. (Pew Research Center)
32%: The decline in participants in Arizona’s SNAP benefit program since passage of Trump’s reconciliation bill, the highest share of any state. More recent figures show the state’s SNAP program has shed 47% of its participants. (State Affairs)
$300 million: The amount in lost tourism revenue Hawaii suffered from two recent Kona low storms. Gov. Josh Green (D) said he would authorize additional advertising spending to make up the deficit, saying the North Shore of Oahu is suffering especially. (Hawaii News Now)
Off The Wall
Oklahoma Rep. John Waldron (D) will drop his re-election bid after reports he used AI to fabricate images of himself kissing a woman who planned to run for office. Waldron allegedly sent the potential candidate a gif of them kissing. He told a news outlet he had been under “enormous personal stress” when he made the image. (Oklahoma Voice)
Former Massachusetts governors gathered Monday at Faneuil Hall to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Romneycare, the bill that formed the basis of the Affordable Care Act. Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R) credited bipartisan working relationships, especially his weekly meetings with Democratic legislative leaders, for getting the bill across the finish line. (State Affairs)
Quote of the Day
“The memories are that you can’t breathe and you’re all sick at the end of the year because all of the walls are full of mold, so I’m not going to be really sad it’s torn down, it’s needed to be for a while.”
— Alabama Rep. Terri Collins (R), on the forthcoming demolition of the state Capitol building. A new statehouse is under construction nearby. (Alabama Reflector)