The Massachusetts House passed H5699, a fiscal 2026 supplemental spending bill, 152-0 on Oct. 21.

Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced S5606, the Hong Konger Promise of Refuge Act, to authorize permanent residence for certain Hong Kong residents granted Deferred Enforced Departure.

A DC Council bill would require the Department of Human Services to establish a Green Workforce Pilot Program.

The Pennsylvania House passed HB2771, which regulates automated license plate readers, 190-13 on Oct. 19.

New Jersey’s Assembly Appropriations Committee hears A5040, the Hope Card Program, on Thursday, Oct. 22.

The Supreme Court narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in April with Louisiana v. Callais, nearly 13 years after Shelby County v. Holder ended federal preclearance.

The NIH, NSF, and NOAA pay for new medicines, your weather forecast, and the basic research American industry builds on. The FY2027 budget request proposed cutting the National Science Foundation by more than half.

New Jersey’s Assembly Appropriations Committee takes up A434 Thursday, a bill barring state health plans and Medicaid from denying a chronic-condition maintenance drug solely because a plan changed, after two committees advanced it without a no vote.

Every federal judge answers to an enforceable ethics code except the nine Supreme Court justices. An Annenberg poll found 78% of Americans want a formal ethics code for justices, and 69% favor fixed terms.

New Jersey’s Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee takes up A3058 on Monday, a bill that would create a Deepfake Technology Unit and appropriate $2 million.