Sean Scully

Lawmakers and conservationists marvel at how a massive cash infusion could help the Great Salt Lake • Utah News Dispatch President Donald Trump's interest in the Great Salt Lake is inviting praise from legislators and skepticism from a clean-air advocate.

As President Donald Trump promises to help rescue the Great Salt Lake and Utah’s top lawmakers talk of high-tech solutions, advocates are working to keep a spotlight on conserving what’s already flowing to the state, report @utahnewsdispatch.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Six-term GOP lawmaker won’t seek reelection to WA House • Washington State Standard Republican state Rep. Michelle Valdez of Gig Harbor said Tuesday that she will not seek reelection to the Washington Legislature, saying personal priorities and her legislative district's evolving…

Republican state Rep. Michelle Valdez of Gig Harbor said Tuesday that she will not seek reelection, saying personal priorities and her legislative district’s evolving political direction led to her decision, report @washingtonstatestandard.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Alaska lawmakers probe state detention policies following ICE arrest of Soldotna family | Alaska Beacon The arrest of a Soldotna family by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement prompted lawmakers to hold an investigatory hearing on the arrest and detention of minors in Alaska.

“As far as I am aware, the detention of children by ICE in Alaska is unprecedented,” an Alaska lawmaker says of the widely reported arrest and separation of a family, report @alaskabeacon.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Oregon Senate passes bill to regulate ICE in hospitals • Oregon Capital Chronicle Senate Bill 1570 aims to help hospital staff respond when federal law enforcement arrives on site and protect sensitive information.

A proposed Oregon bill would sharply limit access by immigration agents to medical records and facilities, report @oregoncapitalchronicle.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Nevada does its bit to help boost record energy storage in 2025 • Nevada Current Utility-scale energy storage installations and capacity hit an all-time high across the U.S. last year, and are projected to grow at an even faster pace over the rest of the decade.  According to a…

Nevada’s battery storage capacity now ranks fourth nationally, behind California, Texas, and Arizona, report @nevadacurrent.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Under Idaho bill, poll workers would try to verify more voter identities • Idaho Capital Sun A bill to require Idaho election poll workers to attempt to verify voter identities before giving them ballots is headed to the Idaho Senate.

A bill to require Idaho election poll workers to attempt to verify the identity of voters before giving them ballots is headed to the Idaho Senate, report @idahocapitalsun.com and @statesnewsroom.com

ICE is targeting workers at Home Depot. Advocates want Congress to step in. Immigrant advocates are calling on Arizona's congressional delegation to investigate ICE enforcement at Phoenix Home Depot locations

Immigrant rights advocates want Arizona’s Democratic congressional delegation to look into whether The Home Depot is collaborating with federal immigration officials, report @azmirror.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Prediction market exchange Kalshi sues Utah over proposed prop betting ban • Utah News Dispatch The prediction market exchange Kalshi is suing Utah in federal court in anticipation of a law that would ban proposition betting .

The prediction market exchange Kalshi is suing Utah in federal court in anticipation of a law — which hasn’t yet passed, but is advancing — that would ban proposition betting in the state, report @utahnewsdispatch.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Unpopular aircraft tax taxis toward rollback in Olympia • Washington State Standard The Democratically-controlled Washington Legislature approved the new luxury tax last spring. State Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, who sponsored the tax, is now in the unusual position of trying to…

Washington lawmakers are poised to repeal a new 10% tax on luxury aircraft, passed last year, after furious backlash from the aviation industry, report @washingtonstatestandard.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Alaska House passes nearly $500M budget deficit bill, amid split support for Dunleavy spending | Alaska Beacon The Alaska House of Representatives advanced a nearly $500 million supplemental budget bill to address the state’s budget deficit, but failed to pass a vote to draw from a state savings account to…

The Alaska House of Representatives advanced a nearly $500 million supplemental budget bill to address the state’s budget deficit amid debate and scrutiny from Republicans who opposed drawing from a state savings account, report @alaskabeacon.com and @statesnewsroom.com

$35 million per year investment in summer school is paying off, Oregon education officials say • Oregon Capital Chronicle Nearly 30,000 K-12 students attended a summer learning program in 2025, and many showed learning gains and credit recovery towards graduation

Nearly 30,000 Oregon students took advantage of literacy-focused summer school programs and most made learning gains in 2025, according to the Oregon Department of Education, report @oregoncapitalchronicle.com and @statesnewsroom.com

NV Energy shareholders to shell out $63 million to overcharged customers  • Nevada Current The Public Utilities Commission agreed Tuesday to accept NV Energy’s offer to pay more than $63 million to customers who were overcharged by the utility since 2002.  The agreement comes after NV…

Nevada's Public Utilities Commission agreed Tuesday to accept NV Energy’s offer to pay more than $63 million to customers who were overcharged by the utility since 2002, report @nevadacurrent.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Idaho Legislature to consider spectrum of E-Verify bills this session • Idaho Capital Sun An Idaho House committee approved two bills prohibiting all employers from hiring workers who don’t have authorization to work in the U.S.

Idaho lawmakers are considering a variety of bills to require employers to verify that employees are eligible to work in the U.S., but some ideas may conflict with current federal law, report @idahocapitalsun.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Bills to ignore the Endangered Species Act so ranchers can kill endangered wolves advance | Arizona Mirror Arizona House passed bills allowing ranchers to kill Mexican gray wolves, drawing challenges from Democrats over the Endangered Species Act

Republican bills that would allow the endangered Mexican gray wolf to be killed and no longer be considered an endangered species won approval Tuesday in the Arizona House of Representatives, report @azmirror.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Leaders in Utah's redistricting battle are suing to block the state's new "Constitutional Court," saying that legislators engineered it to rubberstamp their actions, subverting the regular judiciary, report @utahnewsdispatch.com and @statesnewsroom.com

WA governor’s $1B borrowing plan to buy new ferries sinks in Legislature • Washington State Standard Budget writers in the Washington Legislature on Monday declared their intent to eventually buy more hybrid electric ferries to modernize the state ferry fleet. But newly unveiled House and Senate transportation...

Washington lawmakers have killed the governor's $1 billion plan to buy new hybrid electric ferries, report @washingtonstatestandard.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Alaska lawmaker’s chief of staff arrested on sex trafficking and child exploitation charges | Alaska Beacon A legislator’s chief of staff was arrested in Juneau on Friday on federal charges of sex trafficking and child exploitation, enticement and coercion and creating child sexual abuse material. Craig Scott...

An Alaska legislator’s chief of staff was arrested in Juneau last week on federal charges of sex trafficking and child exploitation, enticement and coercion and creating child sexual abuse material, report @alaskabeacon.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Oregon Senate passes bill to reschedule gas tax referral despite GOP opposition • Oregon Capital Chronicle After several delays, a proposal to reschedule the date of a gas tax referendum to May finally passed the Oregon Senate.

After several delays and an encroaching Wednesday deadline, a proposal to reschedule the date of a gas tax referendum to May finally passed the Oregon Senate, report @oregoncapitalchronicle.com and @statesnewsroom.com

State lawmakers looking for ways to rein in auto insurance rates • Nevada Current State lawmakers are eying solutions to address Nevada’s high auto insurance rates, which are among the 10 most expensive in the country.  Insurance rates rose 13% in the state in 2025 and are…

State lawmakers are eying solutions to address Nevada’s high auto insurance rates, which are among the 10 most expensive in the country, report @nevadacurrent.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Idaho Gov. Brad Little announces reelection campaign  • Idaho Capital Sun This week is the filing period for 2026 Idaho candidates to run for office. Candidates have until 5 p.m. Mountain time Friday to file.

Incumbent Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little announced Tuesday he will file to run for a third term as governor this year, report @idahocapitalsun.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Arizona Republicans want voters to decide on trans bathroom ban after years of Hobbs vetoes The Arizona Senate passed a ballot referral restricting transgender students bathroom access, plus bills targeting gender-affirming care

After years of vetoes from Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, Republican lawmakers want to take their anti-trans policies to the ballot box in November, report @azmirror.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Utah could make vandalizing its ‘priceless’ rock formations a crime • Utah News Dispatch Southern Utah draws more than 15 million tourists annually, and lawmakers want to protect the state's iconic red rocks.

“They’re priceless because you can’t replace them … you can do surface sanding or scraping, but it’s never the same after you damage it,” says the sponsor of a bill to protect Utah's spectacular rock formations, report @utahnewsdispatch.com and @statesnewsroom.com

No cops hired so far with WA’s new $100M grant program • Washington State Standard Local officials have been frustrated with the rollout of the grants championed by Gov. Bob Ferguson to address Washington’s status as dead last in the nation in police staffing per capita. They…

“Is it concerning to cities across the state that nobody has received money from this new law yet?” said Derrick Nunnally, government relations advocate at the Association of Washington Cities. “Yes, absolutely,” report @washingtonstatestandard.com and @statesnewsroom.com

After remnants of typhoon wrecked their home, Alaska villagers consider possible move | Alaska Beacon The tribal government in Kipnuk, one of the communities hardest hit by October’s storm, is exploring options for relocation to safer ground.

Four months after the remnants of a tropical typhoon wrecked communities in Western Alaska, hundreds of people who were displaced are considering abandoning their village altogether, report @alaskabeacon.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Oregon House Republicans stage walkout as gas tax election, gun control votes near • Oregon Capital Chronicle The walkout came as controversial gun control and transportation bills neared consideration in the Oregon House.

Republicans began boycotting the House floor after the Oregon Senate sent their chamber a controversial bill that would reschedule a referendum on transportation tax and fee increases from November to May, report @oregoncapitalchronicle.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Protracted legal fight expected in Nevada v. Kalshi • Nevada Current The Nevada Gaming Control Board’s legal effort to preserve the state’s golden goose – a flourishing gambling industry devoid of federal intervention – is expected to be a multi-year endeavor that…

Nevada's battle to protect its signature gaming industry from the burgeoning prediction market will be a complex multi-year legal and political effort, experts tell @nevadacurrent.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Some Idaho lawmakers called this Medicaid cut an accident. But a bill to undo the cut is stalling. • Idaho Capital Sun Under the program, Idaho Medicaid paid some doctor’s offices to be available around the clock to consult about health issues.

A draft bill to reinstate an Idaho Medicaid program that some lawmakers say the Legislature accidentally cut last year is stalling this year, report @idahocapitalsun.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Arizona Democrats boycott State of the Union as Kelly vows Trump 'can't intimidate' him | Arizona Mirror Most Arizona Democrats are skipping Trump's State of the Union, but Sen. Mark Kelly says he'll attend in defiance of the president

“Two weeks ago, Donald Trump tried to have me arrested for something I said that he didn’t like, so I’m going to be in that room because he can’t intimidate me or stop me from doing my job," U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly says, report @azmirror.com and @statesnewsroom.com

After No Kings tragedy, a lawmaker wants to clarify Utah’s self-defense law • Utah News Dispatch A state lawmaker says clearing up ambiguity in Utah's self-defense law will help prosecutors work more efficiently.

It took months for prosecutors to act on the 2025 killing of a bystander at a No Kings protest. Now a Utah lawmaker wants to clarify the self defense law to make it easier to bring charges in wrongful deaths, report @utahnewsdispatch.com and @statesnewsroom.com

Budget bills in WA Legislature would tap rainy day fund, spend heavily on legal payouts • Washington State Standard Democrats in the Washington Legislature proposed tapping the state’s savings and slashing millions of dollars for child care to balance the budget.

Democrats in the Washington Legislature want to tap the state’s rainy day savings account and slash a child care program for low-income families to balance the state’s budget into next year, report @washingtonstatesnewsroom.com and @statesnewsroom.com