Good morning, it’s Friday, July 25, 2025. In today’s edition, states levy new taxes on second homes; Texas kicks off redistricting hearings as DeSantis floats Florida remap; Wisconsin Gov. Evers won’t seek third term:
Top Stories
HOUSING: Lawmakers in Montana, New Jersey and Rhode Island have enacted new taxes on mansions, second homes and short-term rentals this year to generate new revenue. The taxes help make tax codes more progressive, falling on out-of-state owners who drive up property values. (Pluribus News)
TRANS RIGHTS: Texas lawmakers have filed bills to mandate multiuse bathrooms at schools and government buildings be used on the basis of gender assigned at birth. The bills would carry $5,000 fines for first-time violations, and $25,000 fines for subsequent violations. The bills would give the state attorney general oversight of any alleged violations. (Texas Tribune)
REDISTRICTING: Texas lawmakers held their first hearing on a proposed redrawing of U.S. House district lines Thursday, where residents and Democrats blasted majority Republicans’ plans. The legislature has yet to release a proposed map, though Democrats suspect maps have already been drafted by President Trump’s political team. (Texas Tribune)
MORE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) raised the possibility of redrawing U.S. House district lines. Republicans hold 20 of the state’s 28 seats in Congress. DeSantis cited a state Supreme Court decision upholding existing district lines that eliminated a Black-majority district in Northern Florida. (Tampa Bay Times)
GUN POLITICS: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a California law requiring buyers of ammunition to pass a background check. Voters approved a ballot measure imposing the requirement in 2016. The three-judge panel wrote the law violates the Second Amendment. (New York Times)
EDUCATION: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has signed legislation requiring public schools to have cardiac emergency response plans in place. Hochul signed the bill at the Buffalo Bills training camp to highlight Damar Hamlin, the Bills safety who was resuscitated on the field at a 2023 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. (State of Politics)
SECURITY: Minnesota lawmakers will be allowed to access up to $4,500 in funding to add security systems, deadbolts and other safety measures to their homes in the wake of the assassination of former Speaker Melissa Hortman (D). Existing state law allows lawmakers to spend up to $3,000 in campaign funds on security measures. (MPR News)
In Politics & Business
WISCONSIN: Gov. Tony Evers (D) will not seek re-election next year, he said Thursday, throwing open a competitive seat in the nation’s most closely divided swing state. Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez (D), Attorney General Josh Kaul (D), Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski (D) and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley (D) are all likely to consider bids. (Pluribus News)
No Wisconsin governor has won election by double digits since Tommy Thompson (R) won his fourth term in 1998.
ALASKA: State Sen. Shelley Hughes (R) will run for governor, she said Thursday. Hughes is the seventh Republican to enter the race to replace term-limited Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R). (Anchorage Daily News)
OKLAHOMA: Mechanical contractor Kenneth Sturgell (R) and former state Sen. Jake Anthony Merrick (R) have entered the race to replace term-limited Gov. Kevin Stitt (R). They join former House Speaker Charles McCall (R), Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) and former state Sen. Mike Mazzei (R) in the GOP primary. (Oklahoma Voice)
NEW JERSEY: U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D) has chosen Centenary University President Dale Caldwell as her lieutenant governor running mate. Caldwell, 65, is a Methodist pastor and former New Brunswick school board member. (New Jersey Globe)
GOVERNORS: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) will stop paying dues to the National Governors Association, upset over the NGA’s lack of response to President Trump’s moves to block funding to states. Several Republican-led states, including Florida and Texas, stopped paying NGA dues during the Obama administration. (The Atlantic)
By The Numbers
About $10 million: The amount former President Joe Biden will receive in an advance for his memoir. The publisher, Little, Brown & Co., has not yet set a publication date. (Wall Street Journal)
$1.76 trillion: The estimated GDP of Florida in the first quarter of the year, up 1.4% over the same period last year. Only one other state, South Carolina, grew its GDP faster than Florida. (Florida Politics)
Off The Wall
Tallahassee police arrested a man charged with three felonies at his workplace — a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, where he was working in a full mascot uniform. The man was released on bond after being booked into Leon County Jail. (Tallahassee Democrat)
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has sued the Maine Lobster Festival to block the annual steaming of 20,000 lbs. of live lobster. The group says lobsters can feel pain. (Portland Press Herald)
Somewhere, David Foster Wallace is smiling.
Quote of the Day
“We can act holier-than-thou. We can sit on the sidelines, talk about the way the world should be, or we can recognize the existential nature that is this moment.”
— California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), threatening to draw new U.S. House maps in response to Texas’s redistricting push. (Los Angeles Times)