By Greg LaRose | Editor-in-Chief
“So much damage has already been done,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, as the rule that ended Medicaid funding for abortion providers is set to expire this summer. Read more in today’s top story.
The Planned Parenthood clinic in New Orleans was open for over 40 years but stopped seeing patients at the end of September 2025 after federal Medicaid funding cuts. (Photo by Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
By Sofia Resnick
A controversial rule enacted last year that denies federal Medicaid funding to abortion providers is likely to expire this summer, despite anti-abortion pressure on Republicans to renew it. Leaders in Congress in recent days have insisted that a new federal spending bill needs to be as stripped down as possible and focused on funding related to immigration enforcement amid a two-month partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. They also have suggested the rule could still be revisited in future legislation, but likely not before the current budget measure expires on July 4.
Cans used for Lost Boy cider in Alexandria, Virginia, cost the small business more because of increased aluminum tariffs. Tristan Wright, founder and president of Lost Boy, stands near his production line on Feb. 6, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
By Ashley Murray
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection tariff refund system went live Monday, marking what small business advocates call a “complex” first step for entrepreneurs to recoup $166 billion in import taxes accrued under President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs, which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in February.
Louisiana's two largest teacher unions are backing Constitutional Amendment #3 on the May 16, 2026, ballot. (Photo by kali9/Getty Images)
By Julie O’Donoghue
Louisiana’s two largest unions for public school teachers are backing a constitutional amendment on the May 16 election ballot that would lead to a small pay increase. The measure is a pared down version of a far more sweeping tax overhaul and teacher pay proposal voters rejected last year.
By Zeta McCaskill, The Current
Students and professors in UL Lafayette’s art program say access to those funds has been severely limited and at times denied entirely. Students say they brought the issue to university leadership during a recent town hall, but little came of it. Funds were briefly made available, only for access to be capped again shortly after without explanation.
By Robbie Sequeira
Eviction filings fell in 2025 for the second straight year in the cities and states tracked in a new report — areas home to roughly a third of the country’s renters — though some of those places saw increases. Eviction filings were up in 13 of the 48 sites relative to the typical number of eviction cases filed annually in 2023 and 2024
D.C. DIGEST
NEWS FROM THE STATES
Michigan pushes back on DOJ demand for voter data | MI Advance
Federal judge grants injunction for ICE tracker sites | IN Capital Chronicle
Food aid audit finds $1.2M paid to people outside state | KS Reflector
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