Zina Hutton

1 week ago | governing.com | Carl Smith |Jared Brey |Zina Hutton

Violent tornado outbreaks, like the storms that tore through parts of St. Louis and London, Ky., on May 16, have made 2025 seem like an especially active, deadly and destructive year for tornadoes. The U.S. has had more reported tornadoes than normal — more than 1,000 as of May 27, according to the National Weather Service’s preliminary count.

1 week ago | governing.com | Carl Smith |Jared Brey |Zina Hutton

Those are among the hundreds of proposals California lawmakers swiftly rejected Friday under the banner of cost savings, as they cited the state’s $12 billion budget deficit — a worsening figure due to the threat of unprecedented federal funding cuts and California’s ballooning spending on health care for low-income residents.

1 week ago | governing.com | Carl Smith |Jared Brey |Zina Hutton

When it comes to artificial intelligence regulation, however, the answer is easy: The economic and national security implications of AI development place it squarely in the domain of the federal government pursuant to the commerce clause. That’s precisely why Congress has the authority to move forward with a proposed moratorium on state regulation of AI. A bill working its way through the House includes a prohibition on states enforcing a broad range of AI regulations for 10 years.

1 month ago | governing.com | Girard Miller |Zina Hutton

Abbott is poised to sign legislation that creates a voucher-style program for families to use public money to attend private schools. Conservatives have pushed for such a plan for more than a quarter century, and last year Abbott went to war with members of his own party to make it happen. O’Rourke, who lost to Abbott in the 2022 governor’s race, said he was repulsed by Abbott taking $12 million in campaign donations from Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass to help push his voucher agenda.

1 month ago | governing.com | Jared Brey |Zina Hutton

The Trump administration has recently revoked the visas of nearly 1,500 foreign college students — detaining some — and launched immigration enforcement actions on college campuses across the country. This has raised concerns among the more than 1.1 million international students studying at U.S. universities.