New Jersey
A 4-Day Workweek Gains Lawmaker Support in Some States
The Original Oyster House, billed as Pittsburgh’s oldest restaurant, found itself in crisis during the pandemic. Down to seven employees — including owner Jen Grippo and her mother — the staff worked six or seven days a week to keep up with orders. Grippo closed the Oyster House entirely in January 2021, determined to give […]
China Owns Little US Farmland, But Many Lawmakers Are Worried
WASHINGTON — Nearly a third of states have laws prohibiting certain foreign businesses and governments from buying agricultural lands within their borders, and more states are looking to join them. The efforts in at least 11 states are pitched primarily by Republicans as another security front in the nation’s ongoing propaganda battles, primarily with China […]
States Strive to Help SNAP Recipients Cope With Lower Benefits
The white words on a red background are plain. “Important notice: SNAP emergency allotments ending after February.” If there’s any doubt, the Colorado Department of Human Services SNAP webpage adds, “All Coloradans who receive SNAP benefits are going to see a reduction in their monthly benefit amount after February.” In every state, participants in the […]
A Slew of State Proposals Shows the Threat of ‘Forever Chemicals’
In rivers and groundwater, in human bloodstreams and products ranging from cosmetics to food packaging to carpets, researchers are increasingly finding “forever chemicals” that don’t break down naturally and are shown to cause myriad health issues. State lawmakers across the country want to tackle the growing problem. Several states have passed landmark laws in recent […]
More Millennials Are Leaving the Nest to Form Their Own Households
From 2016 to 2021, nearly every state saw a spike in the number of young adults between the ages of 25 and 44 forming new households, a development with far-reaching implications for state populations, economic growth and infrastructure. For many millennials, the economic fallout of the Great Recession a decade and a half ago postponed […]
States Reimagine Power Grids for Wind and Solar Future
For years, many states have set ambitious goals and incentives to promote renewable electricity projects. Now, more of those states are turning their attention to the transmission lines, substations and transformers needed to get that electricity from wind farms and solar plants into homes and businesses. Congress has invested billions in boosting clean energy. But […]
Finally, Something Lawmakers Can (Mostly) Agree On: State Symbols
New Jersey has a state fruit — the blueberry — but not a state muffin. However, if a young woman there has her way, the blueberry muffin will take its place among the Garden State’s symbols. In Washington state, there’s a bill, also championed by a young person, to make the Suciasaurus Rex the official […]
Supreme Court Admissions Case Could Upend Environmental Justice Laws
In recent years, more states have crafted environmental justice policies to help communities of color plagued by polluted air and water, poor health outcomes and limited access to green space. But now they fear that work could be upended by a pair of pending U.S. Supreme Court cases examining affirmative action admissions policies at universities. If the court […]
More States Offer Health Coverage to Immigrant Children
A small but growing number of states are extending government health benefits to children regardless of their immigration status. Come January, Connecticut and New Jersey will join the nine states plus Washington, D.C., that already allow children without permanent legal status to enroll in either Medicaid, the public health plan for residents with lower incomes, […]
Funeral Aid Is Available — But Untapped — in Many States
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Molly Gorny. Many states offer payments to families to help them cover the cost of funerals, and some of the amounts are on the rise. The funds are only available to people with low incomes, and sometimes the amount isn’t enough to cover the […]
A New Paramedic Policy May Guide Overdose Patients Into Treatment
As the number of opioid overdose deaths continues to surge across the United States, some experts stress the urgency of providing the addiction treatment medication buprenorphine to drug users as soon as possible, on the scene of an overdose. Not only does buprenorphine help people with an opioid use disorder resist cravings and stay away from drugs, but […]
After Uvalde, States Look to New Digital Maps to Keep Schools Safe
In the wake of the devastating shooting in Uvalde, Texas, one of the latest tragedies in a decades-long surge of violence in schools, some state lawmakers are embracing a bipartisan measure that skirts divisive gun debates: school maps and blueprints. Police, firefighters and emergency technicians often reference those maps when responding to school emergencies. But […]