Whitney Tucker

So, my advice? Track what’s happening in your state. Read your local news and follow the reporters online for real-time updates. Ask questions of your reps. Special sessions are a warning sign of problems lawmakers are struggling to solve, and often, of big changes to come.

These sessions can fly under the radar, but they’re where major decisions get made. If you're not paying attention, you might miss big changes to taxes, health care, education, or democracy itself.

To balance their budgets in the absence of federal support, states will have to either cut services they currently offer or find ways to raise new revenues. The special sessions are where lawmakers will debate their options.

But it’s not all nefarious. Many states are considering special sessions to figure out how to address the new costs put onto their states by congressional Republicans’ recent federal funding cuts to #SNAP, #Medicaid, and other priorities.

Texas GOP hopes to redraw congressional map and keep control of U.S. House : The NPR Politics Podcast New congressional districts are on the agenda for the special session that began in Texas on Monday. We discuss why Texas is redrawing its congressional map now and what it and similar efforts in othe...

Texas, for example, began a special session Monday with state Republicans *explicitly* focused on redrawing voting districts to pick up more GOP congressional seats.
www.npr.org/2025/07/21/1...

Nearly 20 special sessions have been proposed already, with 7 states already setting dates. Special sessions mean lawmakers are being pulled back *off-schedule* — often to debate high-stakes issues without the usual public scrutiny or timeline.

States are increasingly calling for special sessions this year, and it’s not just routine business. From addressing the impact of federal policy, to state tax debates, to shoring up disaster aid and political power plays, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of legislative overtime.🧵

The flooding deaths in TX are horrific.

We can't say for sure if they were preventable, but we do know 2 things:

1. Accurate flood maps, early warning systems, and timely disaster response saves lives.

2. Funding cuts at NOAA and FEMA will kill people.

The national school voucher proposal in the Senate GOP reconciliation plan would threaten students’ access to quality public schools, give tax breaks to the wealthy, & override states that have rejected these harmful policies. Lawmakers who care about our kids’ futures should reject it.

Senate Republican leaders have revised their plan to cut #SNAP. The details are slightly different, but the bottom line is the same: this would still take food assistance away from millions of low-income people, raise families’ grocery costs & risk some states ending SNAP altogether.

I'll be sharing the stage with some heavy hitters next week to talk through the many different ways states are responding to today's fiscal environment.

Register today to join in-person or via livestream!
www.pew.org/en/about/eve...

This is really the thing. There is opportunity through reconciliation for Senate Republicans to reshape the federal agenda to help MILLIONS of people, and they just...won't.

Read CBPP President @sharonparrott.bsky.social's statement on the Senate bill here: www.cbpp.org/press/statem...

a man in a suit and tie says that he 's not good ALT: a man in a suit and tie says that he 's not good

Today’s initial estimate for Q1 2025 GDP is -0.3%. This estimate is driven by economic uncertainty from the Administration’s chaotic tariff regime.

After inheriting a robust economy, it is heading in the wrong direction. (1/6)

EPA's Gutting of Pollution and Climate Regulations Will Hurt Communities that Need Them Most | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities March 12, 2025: EPA Administrator Zeldin announced that the agency will be reconsidering 31 rules and regulations, including those related to:

🚨Executive Action Watch 🚨 EPA's gutting of pollution & climate regulations will hurt communities that need them most: www.cbpp.org/research/fed...

Rather than establish new committees for the old work of efficiently balancing state budgets, lawmakers should focus on better raising revenues equitably to meet the needs of their constituents. Now is not the time for cuts, no matter what they’re called.

While we all want government to be efficient, the question to ask at the state level is whether further slashing budgets will actually achieve that goal.

Tracking State Disinvestment in Public Services | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities As states’ 2024 legislative sessions continue, several states are beginning to experience the fallout from counterproductive fiscal policy decisions made over the past few years. The combined...

States are already facing declining revenues, the fiscal consequences of their own tax cutting, and now, an indeterminate level of continued support from the federal government.
www.cbpp.org/blog/trackin...

Sweeping Federal Worker Layoffs Leave States Reeling | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Communities across the country have been reeling in recent weeks as billionaire Elon Musk, the DOGE team he leads, and the Trump Administration broadly continue their campaign of sweeping and...

Ironically, while conservative lawmakers may be hoping to gain favor with the Trump Admin through these state-level DOGE efforts, the work of DOGE at the federal level is already threatening state budgets.
www.cbpp.org/blog/sweepin...

For example, the group in NC is targeting government DEI programs. In FL, university spending is in the crosshairs. OK's DOGE Caucus will scrutinize state property taxes. And in IA, the state’s DOGE task force is comprised of governor-appointed private-sector business leaders.

Nearly all states with a DOGE counterpart also have a Republican trifecta & DOGE focus areas tend to align with GOP legislative priorities.

State-level DOGEs are adopting quirky new names for the same functions of fiscal oversight that have *always* existed in state governments — an odd approach if efficiency is truly the goal.

Like the federal DOGE effort, most state versions are not actual government agencies, but task forces or committees with dubious enforcement authority but broad power to determine their own scope of work in recommending cuts to public funding.
thehill.com/homenews/sta...

At best, this state push is an effort for conservative leaders to trade on the recognizable DOGE name while promoting cuts they already wanted to see in their states.

At worst, it’s a bandwagon effort to cut public services & equity efforts regardless of community impact.

Red states create their own DOGE efforts to cut state government • Stateline Red states are echoing President Donald Trump’s quest to slash the size and cost of the federal government with their own initiatives aimed at making government smaller and more efficient.

At least 15 states have now established their own DOGEs — headed by conservative lawmakers and handpicked business interests — despite many already having government efficiency panels and watchdogs in place.
stateline.org/2025/02/04/r...

Elon Musk’s sledgehammer approach to government "efficiency" — abruptly cancelling contracts and conducting mass firings through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — has inspired a slew of state-level copycats seeking to similarly slash state budgets.🧵

This Valentine's Day, don't forget — taxes are how we show we care. #LoveYourCommunity #TaxValentines