The Renovator

Bank of North Dakota to launch state’s first stablecoin known as Roughrider coin • North Dakota Monitor The Bank of North Dakota announced Wednesday plans to launch the Roughrider coin, the state’s first stablecoin.

And some financial news from @northdakotamonitor.com: North Dakota is using the Trump admin's Genius Act rules to launch a state Roughrider stablecoin (a less volatile type of cryptocurrency, but still potentially a vehicle for fraud), promising to help local businesses and banks.

Tribal traditional healing gets Medicaid reimbursement in 4 states • Stateline For the first time, traditional tribal healing practices can be reimbursed by Medicaid at tribal health facilities in four states: Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon.

Missouri (@missouriindependent.com) puts restrictions on SNAP food assistance, while Alabama (@alabamareflector.com) works to lift some. Louisiana and four other states with tribal communities are extending Medicaid coverage (thank you @stateline.org!):

Pennsylvania joins multi-state lawsuit over Trump deploying National Guard in cities • Pennsylvania Capital-Star Gov. Shapiro described Trump’s decision to deploy the guard as a “dangerous overreach of power.”

ICE enforcement, anti-immigrant raids, and National Guard deployments are facing opposition from some Democratic governors, including legislative restrictions on police cooperation (@rhodeislandcurrent.com) and lawsuits (check out @calmatters.org and @capitolnewsil.bsky.social too):

Democracy in the States: Weekly Roundup Updates on campaigns, policy changes, obstacles and successes for democracy renovation at the state level.

Indiana, Utah, and Louisiana see more fights over redistricting (@utahnewsdispatch.com @indianacapitalchronicle.com @lailluminator.com), Maine reaffirms the security of their elections @mainemorningstar.com, and Montanans are campaigning for officially nonpartisan judge elections @dailymontanan.com

Law Forward, Russ Feingold file brief against Republican effort to weaken campaign finance laws • Wisconsin Examiner Russ Feingold and Law Forward filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit against campaign finance rules initially brought by then-Sen. J.D. Vance.

Wisconsin's @russfeingold.bsky.social and @lawfwd.bsky.social are standing up for campaign money restrictions, per @wisconsinexaminer.com. As economist Malcolm Salter wrote for us last weekend, Citizens United and dark money have led to pervasive cronyism and made elections less fair since 2010.

Unaffiliated voters ask judge to let their challenge to partisan primaries proceed - Maryland Matters A lawyer representing five unaffiliated voters is asking an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge to deny a motion to dismiss their suit challenging a state law that limits the participation of unaf...

Check out this campaign in Maryland @marylandmatters.org to end partisan primaries! These primaries make candidates cater to a small, unrepresentative, and sometimes extreme group of voters, unlike systems like all-party primaries and ranked choice voting.

Democracy in the States: Weekly Roundup Updates on campaigns, policy changes, obstacles and successes for democracy renovation at the state level.

Ethics scandals breaking out in Indiana (@indianacapitalchronicle.com), North Carolina (@ncnewsline.com), Virginia ( @virginiamercury.com)

Trump threatens 'permanent' cuts to Democratic programs on day nine of shutdown gridlock WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s prepared to cancel funding approved by Congress that he believes is going toward programs supported by Democrats, though he didn’t share any addi...

State budgeting processes are hung up waiting on federal budget news too, @azmirror.com @idahocapitalsun.com @alaskabeacon.com @capitolnewsil.bsky.social - and @michiganadvance.com reports that federal grants for EVs in Michigan are in jeopardy, and new earmark rules face a big fight.

Democracy in the States: Weekly Roundup Updates on campaigns, policy changes, obstacles and successes for democracy renovation at the state level.

New roundup of news about democracy at the state level! The shutdown looms large: Maine and N Dakota roll out loan programs for furloughed workers, while Iowa and Penna workers lose food assistance. h/t @mainemorningstar.com @statesnewsroom.com @iowacapitaldispatch.com @penncapital-star.com

Outcry as Trump plots more roads and logging in US forests: ‘You can almost hear the chainsaws’ Critics say move to axe Bill Clinton’s ‘roadless rule’ that protected key old-growth forests will be devastating to environment

"We will have more intense flooding events, the water quality would go down, fish species like trout would suffer, and the tourism dollars for local towns will be affected too."

Gutting the Roadless Rule would hurt all of us while enriching polluters who destroy our planet for profit.

"America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences." links.mit.edu/nl3/N5Jy2cKq...

HUD Issues Layoff Notices, Targeting Fair Housing Staff With Deep Cuts Fair housing staffers who investigate claims of housing discrimination at field offices nationwide were among the hundreds of HUD staffers who received layoff notices.

HUD laid off so many fair housing investigators on Friday that it shuttered the regional offices that oversee discrimination cases in 9 states: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The truth about the Black Panthers' positive impact on #Black and poor communities through their vital community programs, including free breakfast initiatives, healthcare, and food programs.

Read more: https://loom.ly/rgirvBo

#thefulcrum

The Case for New Cities - The States Forum It has become a truism that America can’t build anymore. Housing, infrastructure, and all nature of public goods are nearly impossible to build and

Are new cities the solution we need for a more productive & robust future for all of us?

@repauchincloss.bsky.social & Jonathan Gruber think so, & explain why: statesforum.org/journal/issu...

@walterolson.bsky.social at the Cato Institute emphasizes the same thing that struck me so much: the enforcement mechanism in this compact. He calls it a "retroactive push-button guillotine."

(The DOJ is standing there at the button; the university is the one whose neck is below the guillotine.)

Is the Other Party “the Enemy”? Republicans and Democrats alike tend to overstate the others’ extremism.

"The gaps are wide but perhaps not as deep as we fear, and there remain opportunities for leaders to appeal to unity and mutual respect." They just need to do that. ICYMI @monacharen.bsky.social:

Signs popping up around D.C. note: ‘ICE kidnapping happened here’ The signs range in style and mark numerous locations where people have been taken by federal agents.

Every sign in DC marks the loss of someone’s neighbor, someone’s loved one, someone’s friend.

Every sign marks yet another step in the march toward authoritarianism.

Remember — autocrats are not invincible. But be careful. Even entrenched leaders are susceptible to public backlash

New Democracy Atlas briefing. This lesson comes from the pro-democracy forces in Zimbabwe with a reminder that even the most entrenched authoritarians are quite insecure and susceptible to public backlash. Here’s how democracy defenders have seized the opportunity.

Opinion | The Constitution Doesn’t Belong to Trump or the Supreme Court

Important piece by Prof. Kate Andrias. This is why treating SCOTUS as the only word on the Constitution gives away our power as citizens.

As I frequently say “we are founders and framers” of the next iteration of democracy in this country.
GIFT LINK
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

Trump's major coal sales flop in Wyoming and Montana - WyoFile Feds postpone Wyoming coal sale despite promise to "revitalize" the industry. Critics say even the coal industry isn't betting big on its future.

The Trump administration's coal lease sales in Wyoming and Montana completely flopped this week.

Forcing people to use coal is like requiring Americans to travel by horse and buggy.

Coal is a relic of the past that is not coming back no matter how hard Trump tries.

The US Is a Civic Desert. To Survive, the Democratic Party Needs to Transform Itself. The party should jettison its consultant class and move toward a local-membership model that would help to rejuvenate civic life across the country.

I'm on team Theda Skocpol/Hahrie Han on this. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Why Our Tech Overlords Took a Hard Right Turn A new book tells the story of how Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs became angry admirers of authoritarianism.

When Trump came along—a fellow oligarch, looking to use the power of the American presidency to enrich himself and his cronies as much as possible—these figures jumped at the chance to share in the spoils. www.thebulwark.com/p/why-our-te...

Trump’s Imperfect Compact Is a Perfect Opportunity Colleges shouldn’t sign. But they also shouldn’t dismiss the need for a new framework.

Opinion | We are only at the very beginning of what will necessarily be a long negotiation. The first step may be a deal with the White House on a framework of principle.

From Danielle:

Why I’m Excited About the White House’s Proposal for a Higher Ed Compact Now we have a chance for collective action

In case you missed it, here's Danielle's column for The Renovator about the Trump Higher Ed compact, a take you probably haven't heard elsewhere!

"The compact amounts to a draft framework for a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act to include radically new elements. The Department of Education is acting like a legislature. ...Our higher-education sector has reached a crisis point partly because Congress has not been doing its job."

Trump’s Imperfect Compact Is a Perfect Opportunity Colleges shouldn’t sign. But they also shouldn’t dismiss the need for a new framework.

"While any new compact should ultimately be a matter of federal legislation, given the current Congress, the first step will have to be a “deal” — a framework of principle negotiated with the White House by strong, mission-driven higher-education leaders working in COALITION."

Trump’s Imperfect Compact Is a Perfect Opportunity Colleges shouldn’t sign. But they also shouldn’t dismiss the need for a new framework.

New from our own Danielle Allen, building on her column on The Renovator this week: "No, I don’t think the compact as proposed should be signed. But it’s still an excellent idea to have a coalition of strong universities work together to negotiate a package of reforms for higher education."

Family First We need to build a political and economic system that provides an abundance of what families need, starting with care.

Child care and elder care are often missing from the "Abundance" conversation, but "Building a society that focuses on an abundance of care, however it is provided, means building a future in which families and communities will thrive."

Family First We need to build a political and economic system that provides an abundance of what families need, starting with care.

New from @slaughteram.bsky.social 's column on The Renovator:

"Family and community have always been as essential to our thriving as a nation as those rugged individuals we are always celebrating."