State and local government employees report high levels of job satisfaction across the country, but face significant rates of burnout and on-the-job harassment.

That’s according to a new national survey of nearly 5,000 public servants across all 50 states released last week by The People Lab at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Researchers say the survey, which includes respondents from hundreds of local governments, provides the nation’s most comprehensive analysis of workplace conditions in local governments.

Most employees reported high levels of job satisfaction: 82% said they were at least somewhat satisfied with their job, while 60% said they were satisfied or very satisfied.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway announced she is dropping reelection bid 

“That’s good news that people are still kind of proud to say they work for the government,” said Elizabeth Linos, faculty director of The People Lab.

But 40% of employees also reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout. And 27% said they intended to leave their jobs in the next 12 months.

“You have such a big portion of your public sector workforce that are burnt out on any given day,” Linos said. “…And it’s not the pandemic and it’s not a particular crisis, so to me that says a lot about how much work we have to do to support our public servants.”

State employees consistently reported less favorable workforce conditions than their city and county counterparts, with lower satisfaction, lower engagement and a substantially higher intent to leave.

The study initially aimed to survey local government employees, so it includes results from only about 320 state employees, compared with more than 4,400 employees in city, county and other local governments.

Linos said future analyses would include more state employees to better understand the distinctions between levels of government. She expects the research may mirror polling on public perception of government, which finds people report more faith in their local governments than the federal government.

“You could imagine a world where being able to see the impact of your work more directly leads to more workplace satisfaction than if you have to kind of make the case for how your work has impact, if you work at higher levels of government,” she said.

In the survey, 35% of employees reported experiencing harassment at work over the past year, defined as being bullied, threatened, attacked or harassed. That included 22% who reported harassment from internal sources such as coworkers or supervisors, while 17% reported harassment from external sources such as residents or the media. Those who reported harassment were far more likely to report emotional exhaustion at work and intentions to leave their jobs.

Harassment levels were higher among local government employees and employees who identified as female, non-binary or other gender.

Among those who shared their political party affiliation, Republican and Democratic public servants reported more favorable workforce conditions than independents across nearly every measure.

Linos said the results should inform policymakers and government leaders alike. Every societal challenge — from transportation to climate change to housing — relies on a functioning public sector, she said.

“The people of government, to me, are the central component of that capacity,” she said. “So if we don’t understand and appreciate the work that the people of government do, we’re not going to be able to solve the bigger public policy challenges that we’re trying to solve, and oftentimes that work is hidden from the public.”

A record number of women are running for state legislative seats this November, more than two-thirds of whom are Democrats. 

Across the 46 states with legislative seats on the ballot, a total of 3,824 women are running — up from 2022’s previous record of 3,621 women candidates, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Women make up 35.5% of all state legislative candidates this cycle.

Currently, women hold about one-third of state legislative seats across the country — a record level of representation but nowhere near parity. 

While some election cycles have seen spikes in the numbers of women running, the long-term trend has been defined by incremental progress, said Debbie Walsh, director of the research center.

“It is a step towards change, but it’s not going to happen in any one cycle,” she said. “Our system is set up in many ways for this kind of slow, steady progress.”

And she noted that Republicans still lag significantly. Of the women nominated this cycle, 68% are Democrats. Currently, about 64% of the women in state legislatures are Democrats.

“If the goal is for there to be gender equity in these legislatures, it’s not going to happen by only electing Democratic women. The Republican Party has to do more,” she said. “For women to be exercising political power, they need to be there on both sides of the aisle.” 

No major gains projected for count of women in Congress after midterms

Across the political spectrum, research shows lower levels of political ambition among women. Women tend to underestimate their own qualifications, are more averse to competition and receive less recruitment and encouragement to run for office. Many women work full-time and are primary caregivers — adding more complexity in the majority of states with part-time legislatures. 

But Republicans face unique challenges: Experts say playing political defense this year, a lack of organizational support for GOP women and a rejection of identity-politics has hampered efforts to recruit conservative women. 

Still, the number of women serving in legislatures has increased nearly 40% over the past decade, according to government relations firm MultiState. But representation varies wildly: Women hold more than half of seats in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, but fewer than 15% of seats in West Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi.

In many ways, this cycle resembles the 2018 elections — when a wave of women ran for state and federal offices during President Donald Trump’s first midterm election. Like that year, the political climate again has soured for Republicans, who could lose control of Congress and hundreds of state legislative seats. 

‘Women are just really sick and tired’

Midterm elections typically favor the party that doesn’t control the White House. And the current focus on affordability offers an extra boost for women candidates, said Republican pollster and consultant Amanda Iovino. 

Polling has shown men tend to think of the economy in terms of income — wages, jobs growth and investment performance, she said. Women, though, have long framed discussions in terms of costs focusing on household budgets and grocery expenses.

“When cost of living is the top issue, and not the economy more broadly, it’s going to favor the people who instinctively talk to the cost side of the equation,” she said. “Of course, you can teach male candidates how to talk that way. I think it just comes a little bit more naturally to the women candidates.”

Former teacher Stefanie Bord, who is running for the Texas state House, said women are able to speak to those issues more credibly than many other politicians.

“Women are sort of like on the front lines of managing their homes and their families, and like the regular everyday life that needs to get done,” she said. “And they see firsthand the problems that happen because of laws that are passed without women involved.”

A Democrat, Bord found her way into politics after volunteering with the gun control group Moms Demand Action. 

She said women have become even more interested in running for office since the Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade that had guaranteed the federal right to abortion. 

“I think women are just really sick and tired,” she said, “especially in Texas, where you know my two daughters have less rights than I had.”

Bord is running in a predominantly conservative district in the Houston area. She faces Stan Stanart, the previous Harris County Clerk who enjoys support from GOP Gov. Greg Abbott. 

Though it’s an uphill battle, she said the district could flip this cycle. 

Her campaign is being supported by The First Ask, a political action committee working to elect pro-choice Democratic women to statehouses across the country. That group supports first-time candidates by investing early in campaign organization and staffing support.

Executive Director Caroline Welles said she wants to help build lasting political infrastructure to identify and support a pipeline of women running for office every cycle — not just spikes during times of political upheaval. 

She pointed to Nevada, which made history in 2018 by becoming the first state to elect women to a majority of legislative seats. Women have maintained a majority since, now holding about 62% of seats.

“What we’re hoping to do is make this something like a Nevada where women keep winning,” she said. 

She said women are more likely to get legislation passed, compromise with opponents and focus policymaking that benefits families. While her organization is solely focused on the left, she said she welcomes more Republican women running for legislatures, too.

“I wouldn’t see it as a loss if a large number of Republican women were encouraged to run, encouraged to to take up leadership roles. I would see that ultimately as a good thing because I do think they prioritize better legislation than their male counterparts.”

Republicans say they are investing in recruiting women.

In 2021, the Republican State Leadership Committee, which works to elect conservatives to state legislatures, redoubled a longstanding effort to recruit and train women candidates. This year, its Right Leaders Network included a class of 67 women running for legislatures in a dozen states.

Officials with that organization were unavailable for an interview.

Iovino, the Republican pollster, said this year’s tough political climate has likely hampered Republican recruitment efforts.

“If they’re sitting here defending a supermajority, then they’re not necessarily going out and recruiting a new batch of women and minority and veteran candidates,” she said. 

But she believes Republican organizations will redouble efforts to recruit women in upcoming election cycles. 

In 2020, a record number of Republican women ran for Congress and 2022 set a record for Republican women serving in state legislatures.

“I look back to our trends in 2020 and 2022, and look forward to that next batch of women, especially in state legislatures and kind of refilling that pipeline,” Iovino said. 

What women bring to public office

This year, women in Georgia are more politically engaged than during Trump’s first term, said Melita Easters, executive director of Georgia WIN List, a political action committee working to elect pro-choice women to the legislature.

A record 127 women are running for legislative seats in Georgia. The organization has endorsed 76 of those candidates. Plenty of those races are considered long shots, but Easters said getting women onto the legislative ballot can be an accomplishment in its own right — especially in the South, where representation lags other parts of the country. 

“When you have a woman who is running against a Republican incumbent for the first time in a decade, and that Republican hasn’t had a Democrat run against him in more than 10 years, then she attracts some attention,” Easter said. “She attracts some voters who had given up on having a candidate they could vote for, and so that rising tide lifts the rest of the ticket, too.”

Aside from increasing levels of representation, Easters said women bring a different perspective to politics. While many men run to gain power or financial advantage, she pointed to research showing women tend to run with more altruistic motivations focused on public service.

“Women bring a different skill set to holding public office, a skill set that is more collaborative,” she said. “And last but not least, women have generations of experience in cleaning up men’s messes, and the current political landscape is a very messy place.”

Research consistently shows lower political ambition among women. Experts say that means many women only launch a campaign after being specifically recruited.

“It took three asks for me to raise my hand and say, ‘Okay, I’ll do it,’” said Democrat Michelle Schreiner, who is running for the Georgia House. “I had, frankly, some terms and conditions and that is really needing support early and often.”

Schreiner, a psychologist and researcher, is challenging Republican Rep. Sharon Cooper, who has represented suburban Atlanta in the state House for 29 years. Cooper did not respond to Stateline requests for comment.

To run was “a sobering decision,” Schreiner said. It has meant working on her birthday, missing her daughter’s soccer games and her son’s baseball games.

“It has a real impact on families,” she said. “My decision to run is not merely to challenge the incumbent. My decision to run is fundamentally an act of gratitude and appreciation for my community, and saying I’m willing to step up to do the work if you’re wanting a choice.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. 

Party control is up for grabs in 15 state legislative chambers across the country as Republicans are increasingly on the defensive this midterm election cycle, a new analysis found. 

The nonpartisan newsletter Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics released its final analysis of state legislative races ahead of November. Senior Columnist Louis Jacobson changed projections for 10 chambers — all shifting in favor of Democrats.

“In many states, Democrats are looking forward to a favorable year driven by a reaction to President Donald Trump and his policies,” he wrote.

Of the 15 competitive chambers this cycle, nine are currently controlled by Republicans and three are controlled by Democrats. Both of Alaska’s legislative chambers are controlled by bipartisan coalitions and the Minnesota state House is split evenly. 

Jacobson said Democrats may make inroads even in states not considered competitive. In 15 chambers expected to remain in Republican control, for example, he said Democrats could chip away at majorities or break GOP supermajorities — when a party has enough votes to override a veto. Those chambers include the Georgia state Senate, the Indiana state House, the Kansas state House and both chambers in Florida, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.

In addition to winning control of the U.S. Congress, Democrats are looking to flip hundreds of state legislative seats this November following years of Republican dominance in statehouses. In addition to controlling a majority of governor’s offices, the GOP has held a majority of state legislative seats and chambers since 2010.

This year’s state legislative races are the third most competitive since 2010, according to Ballotpedia. The nonpartisan political encyclopedia measures competitiveness as the extent of choice available to voters: “More open seats, more contested primaries, and more races where both major parties field candidates mean more meaningful decisions on the ballot.”

Voters across 46 states will vote on 6,137 state legislative races next month. Of those races, 4,052 seats — 66% — are contested by both major parties. Ballotpedia found that 1,156 incumbents faced contested primaries this cycle — higher than its 16-year average.

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. 

As the political prospects for Republicans worsen ahead of November’s midterm elections, the GOP is increasingly playing defense over its yearslong grip on state governments.

That’s particularly true for gubernatorial elections, as Democrats could win a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010. Currently, Republicans boast  a 26-24 gubernatorial advantage over Democrats.

This November, voters will choose governors in 36 states. Thirteen of those races are considered competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, which ranks the competitiveness of races for governor, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House.

Some of this cycle’s most competitive races are in politically divided states such as Nevada and Wisconsin. But Republicans also are playing defense in several deeply conservative states, including Alaska, Iowa and Ohio.

Last week, the Cook Political Report moved its ratings of the Florida and Texas governor races from Likely Republican to Leans Republican. That means the GOP candidates are still favored in those states, but “given the grim political environment for the GOP, we can’t rule out the possibility of an upset in one or both contests,” wrote Senate and Governors Editor Jessica Taylor.

Democratic control of more governor’s offices could mean more bipartisan compromise — or gridlock — in state capitols. In Nevada, however, a Democratic governor could initiate a new era of policymaking: Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo has vetoed more than 160 bills approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature during his term.

In states such as Alaska, Georgia and Ohio, Democratic governors could deliver new checks on Republican lawmakers who have enjoyed years of legislative control.

The competitive races for state executives come as Democrats seek to rebuild state power after years of Republican dominance in statehouses. In addition to controlling a majority of governor’s offices, the GOP has held a majority of state legislative seats and chambers since 2010.

Democrats’ improving prospects are evidence of the broader political challenges facing Republicans across the country, said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.

“It’s a rebuke of the Trump model, and especially the Republican Trump model,” he said. “But it’s also something that isn’t uncommon for midterms.”

With total Republican control of Washington, Democrats are benefiting from widespread dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump over the Iran war and the high prices of healthcare, housing, groceries and energy affecting nearly every part of daily life.

Despite winning his previous campaigns by double digits, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is facing a close competition with Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa.

“Our race is now a toss-up,” the subject line of a Sept. 29 fundraising email from the Abbott campaign reads.

Jones said the Texas Republican party is still reeling from internal bloodletting after Attorney General Ken Paxton ousted incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in a heated primary contest. Paxton, whose political career has been largely defined by scandal, now trails Democrat James Talarico in most polling in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.

To Jones, winning the Texas governor’s race is still a longshot for Democrats, but he said the president is the main reason it’s even competitive this cycle.

“It’s overwhelmingly a national phenomenon,” he said. “It has more to do with Donald Trump’s low approval ratings on both his handling of his job as president and his handling of the economy and just overall low favorability.”

More split governments?

Democratic wins for governor could bring divided government to some reliably conservative states.

While shared rule used to be common in states, most now are dominated by one party that controls both legislative chambers and the governor’s office. Power is split between the parties in only 11 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

Last week, Democratic Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand pledged to bring “divided government once again” to Des Moines. Favored to win over Republican Zach Lahn, Sand said split power would bring more balance to state policymaking after years of GOP control.

If Iowa Democrats can prevent the GOP from winning back a legislative supermajority, they would hold more power over lawmaking and gubernatorial appointments than they’ve enjoyed for years.

Democrats flipped two Iowa state Senate seats in special elections last year to break the GOP’s veto-proof supermajority there. Senate Democrats have already used their newly won power by rejecting appointments, including a high-profile nomination for the leader of the state’s Health and Human Services Department.

Democratic wins for governor in November could bring divided power to Alaska, Ohio, Georgia, Florida and Texas. But divided government could vanish in other states.

In Kansas, Republicans are poised to gain even more control as state Senate President Ty Masterson leads in gubernatorial polling over Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher. If elected, Masterson would replace Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, delivering a trifecta of Republican control to Topeka.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said this election cycle follows a familiar pattern for the party that controls Washington.

“We see this in every midterm: The party in power sometimes takes a beating, and I think that that’s what’s going to happen in this cycle,” he said.

Scott is favored to win reelection next month, which would keep power divided in Montpelier if Democrats continue to control the legislature as expected.

The Republican Governors Association did not comment on the party’s prospects for  maintaining its national advantage. In a statement, spokesperson Kollin Crompton said GOP governors and candidates remain focused on lowering taxes, unleashing American energy and keeping communities safe.

“Contrast that with Democrat governors who hurt working families with tax increases and stunt job growth with bureaucratic regulation; the choice in November is clear.” he said. “If Democrats gain control, these states will turn into hellscapes reminiscent of California and Illinois.”

A national move for power

In many states, the power of newly elected governors largely will be shaped by the partisan composition of legislatures.

Republicans have held a grip on state power across the country since 2010, when they won hundreds of legislative seats and picked up control of 20 legislative chambers during the first midterm election of President Barack Obama’s presidency.

Democrats hope to flip 500 seats across the country this cycle. But even with 15 legislative chambers identified as competitive this year, it’s unlikely Democrats will rebuild their legislative ranks to pre-2010 levels, when the party controlled 60 of 99 legislative chambers nationwide (Nebraska has a unicameral legislature).

Republicans currently hold 4,044 state legislative seats, compared with 3,227 for Democrats, according to Katy Owens Hubler, director of elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“Polls have been showing more Democratic enthusiasm,” she said,” but I think it’s likely Republicans will maintain their advantage in terms of absolute numbers of seats.”

Control of legislatures will not only affect state policymaking, but will likely shape the next wave of congressional redistricting, said Will Rusche, vice president of marketing and communications at the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats at the state level.

Set off by a White House push to give Republicans more seats in the U.S. House, 10 states have completed mid-decade redistricting — a phenomenon unseen since the 1800s.

Rusche said the outcome of November’s governor and legislative races will play a major role in whether Democrats can win back federal power.

“It all runs through statehouses,” he said. “The majorities we win this year will determine what powers Democrats have, and you know the path to power in Congress and the presidency in 2028 and going forward.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org

Household water bills are increasing faster than inflation and income, according to a new analysis.

The environmental advocacy nonprofit Food and Water Watch analyzed water bill data among the nation’s 500 largest community water providers. Those systems serve a collective 155 million people — nearly half the nation’s population.

Between 2015 and 2025, water bills increased by 62% on average across those water providers. That was faster than the overall inflation rate and more than two times the rate of grocery price increases over the same period. Food and Water Watch found that water bills increased 19% faster than household incomes, meaning people are spending a greater share of their earnings on water.

In Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire and West Virginia, water bills grew about twice as fast as household incomes, the analysis found.

Costs varied widely across the country: In Idaho, the average household spent $286 on water bills last year. In West Virginia, the average cost was $1,383. The analysis found for-profit water companies charge more than publicly owned water providers (Food and Water Watch advocates against private ownership of water systems).

The analysis projects that costs will rise further as climate-change driven drought and natural disasters threaten water supplies. It also pointed to growing infrastructure needs that are estimated to cost hundreds of billions of dollars across the country.

“Industrial pollution, aging infrastructure, and federal disinvestment are fueling a crisis for the nation’s water systems,” the report said.

The American Water Works Association, which includes more than 4,300 North American water utilities, estimates American drinking water systems will need as much as $2.4 trillion over the next 25 years to sustain and modernize infrastructure. If those costs are covered solely by users, bills could more than double by 2050, the association projected.

Aside from abandoning water system privatization, Food and Water Watch recommends that state and local governments support local control of water systems, hold polluters accountable for contamination and prevent the tech, fossil fuel and agriculture sectors from passing on costs to residential water users. The organization also calls on Congress to fund water improvement projects that can help communities meet federal water standards.

The report comes as more Americans struggle with the high costs of electricity, gas, groceries and housing.

Electric bills continued to soar and millions of families that heat their homes with oil are facing a much more expensive winter. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which represents state employees administering federal energy assistance programs, estimates that heating oil costs will be about 50% higher than last winter.

Though federal forecasters predict a warmer winter, wars in Iran and Ukraine have greatly disrupted petroleum markets, leading to quick price hikes.

Households in the Northeast, which use more than 80% of the nation’s heating oil, will be most affected. But the association projects American home heating costs will rise an average of 8.7% this winter — more than twice the rate of inflation.

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. 

Kalshi, Polymarket and the Coalition for Prediction Markets have spent at least $3 million this year on lobbying and campaign contributions across the federal and state levels, according to a new report from the government watchdog group OpenSecrets.

Prediction market platforms say they are like commodity markets that offer contracts to speculate on the future price of corn or oil — not sportsbooks that allow gamblers to place bets. But many states reject those justifications, arguing the platforms offer a backdoor to skirt state gambling regulations, particularly on sports.

The issue has sparked action from state regulators, new legislation, and a flurry of lawsuits from states, prediction markets, and the Trump administration, which has sought to sideline state oversight.

Kalshi, by far the largest prediction market platform, has targeted much of its political spending on governors and state attorneys general.

OpenSecrets found that Kalshi poured more than $300,000 combined into the two major political organizations dedicated to electing and supporting AGs: The Republican Attorneys General Association and the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

Likewise, Kalshi donated $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association and $150,000 to the Democratic Governors Association in the first half of the year.

“Like many U.S. regulated companies, we support candidates on both sides of the aisle,” Dani Lever, a spokesperson for Kalshi, told OpenSecrets in a statement.

The analysis found Kalshi has hired at least one lobbyist in 41 states, focusing much of that effort on California and New York. That means the company has a  lobbying presence in every state that has introduced prediction-market-specific legislation.

State lawmakers of both parties are growing increasingly frustrated with prediction markets, arguing they are avoiding state gambling regulations or gambling bans, gambling taxes and consumer protections.

This summer, Sara Slane, Head of Corporate Development at Kalshi, told lawmakers that the company was committed to building relationships with the states. But she said the prediction markets are not subject to state oversight, as they are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates derivatives such as futures contracts on stocks.

That five-member commission currently has four vacancies. But it has aggressively defended prediction markets and its right to oversee them  — going so far as to sue nine states that attempted to regulate the industry. Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, has financial stakes in both Kalshi and Polymarket.

With litigation flying on the issue, many observers expect the U.S. Supreme Court to ultimately decide what role states can play in regulating prediction markets.

In addition to its political spending in states, OpenSecrets found the industry remains committed to federal lobbying, with Kalshi alone spending nearly $1 million in the first half of the year. Those efforts focused on the CFTC, the White House, the Securities & Exchange Commission and both chambers of Congress.

Brad Lipton, director of the Roosevelt Institute’s corporate power and financial regulation program, told OpenSecrets the lobbying push was evidence of the “existential question” facing prediction markets.

“It’s not at all clear to me that their business model can compete if they are going to comply with state law,” Lipton said. “They’re really trying to create a situation, I think, where they have enough political power to overcome the legal deficiencies in their arguments.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. 

Democratic and Republican governors say they will more aggressively push back on federal overreach regardless of which party controls Washington.

Earlier this month, the bipartisan National Governors Association for the first time in over a decade updated its internal principles on federalism — the system of power sharing between Washington, D.C., and the states. That document now says governors must defend state sovereignty, including through public criticism of federal overreach, legal challenges to federal action, and declining to use state resources to enforce federal laws. 

The new policy comes as more state leaders during President Donald Trump’s second term elevate the importance of federalism, the uniquely American structure created by the framers of the Constitution.

The National Governors Association’s new policy calls for the federal government to respect the constitutional balance of power on pressing issues such as artificial intelligence, election administration and immigration — all of which have sparked state-federal conflicts under Trump’s presidency. And it takes aim at deployment of the National Guard after Trump last year moved to send troops into Democratic-leaning cities he characterized as crime-ridden, sparking major concerns about state sovereignty.

The new policy says the president should seek the consent of governors before deploying National Guard members and says such action should be limited to instances when federal resources are insufficient.

“Additionally, absent rare and extraordinary circumstances, the President should not deploy or transition a State’s National Guard from one state to another without the consent of both the sending and receiving states’ Governors,” the policy states.

Governors say they must resist federal overreach under Democratic and Republican presidents.

“I think it’s just a real test of how much you believe in federalism or not when your team is in power,” said Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who worked on reshaping NGA’s federalism policy for months, along with the governors of Maryland, North Carolina and Oklahoma. 

He said governors of both parties have been increasingly interested in issues of federalism since Trump’s deployment of troops last year. A GOP leader of a politically liberal state, Scott publicly criticized the president’s deployments last year and defended the Democratic governor of Illinois. 

While he said tension over troops has largely subsided, he said he expects governors will remain vigilant about power sharing between Washington and the states. 

“Republican and Democratic governors won’t agree on every policy and shouldn’t, but we should all agree that the constitutional balance of power really does matter,” Scott said. “I think that there will be more attention paid to this and continue to push forward on this because again, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the Trump administration, or a future administration of the other party, it’s doing what’s right for our states.”

Governors say states must be allowed to experiment on programs, compete with each other and pursue sometimes divergent policies. 

“It’s the best way to ensure that you really get locally driven solutions to problems, which creates a laboratory of democracy, laboratory of ideas, of innovation,” said North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. “And it’s a way of ensuring that too much power doesn’t aggregate in any one person or body because it’s spread out among the 50 states and the federal government.”

Stein said governors across the political spectrum largely agreed on issues of federalism, which were studied by a dedicated working group and later approved by the organization’s executive committee. He credited his Republican colleagues for speaking out about issues of federal overreach while their party controls Washington.

“I’ve got all kinds of respect for them and their willingness to do that because I know that it’s not the easiest thing to do in these inflamed times,” he said. “I’ve only been in the job for a year and a half, and I haven’t had a Democratic president, so I hope that I would have as much principle as what I’ve witnessed out of a number of Republican governors.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org.

WE BUY HOUSES. CASH 4 HOMES. FA$T CA$H.

The signs, text messages and mailers promise cash, quick sales and a seamless means of unloading unwanted homes. 

But advocates say the business of buying homes for cash can confuse vulnerable homeowners and rob them of home equity. And now, many states are cracking down. 

Wholesalers often solicit directly, calling or door knocking looking for sales. But they’re best known by the signs lining curbs and utility poles.

Real estate wholesaling operates distinctly from the traditional real estate market of listings, showings and agents. Wholesalers look to get unlisted homes under contract at a discount and then sell or assign that contract to another speculator before finalizing the property transfer — acting as a middleman and pocketing a profit along the way. The end buyer may flip the house for a profit or hold it as a rental property, but critics say the process can deprive owners of realizing the full value of their homes.

A growing number of state lawmakers worry that buyers don’t fully understand the wholesaling process or even who will end up owning their home at the end of the sale. Lawmakers and regulators, backed by organized real estate trade groups and consumer advocacy organizations, are pushing for more limits on the practice. At least 15 states have recently approved new regulations of wholesalers.

Those include Missouri, where Republican state Rep. Chris Brown sponsored the House version of a  law enacted earlier this year requiring wholesalers to give sellers a written disclosure at least 14 days before closing, the final step in the property transaction. The disclosure informs homeowners that the wholesaler may offer below market value and reassign the contract to another buyer. It also encourages sellers to contact an attorney before finalizing a deal. 

Brown, who holds an inactive real estate license and is married to an active agent, said the law doesn’t ban wholesaling altogether. 

“We’re just trying to make sure that there’s transparency there, and that the seller of the property is in fact educated and fully informed as to what the wholesaler plans to do with the property,” Brown told Stateline. “That’s all it is.”

He said wholesalers often target people facing financial problems or who own homes with major issues. 

“And they’re just looking to unload it, and they don’t really at times understand the value of the property,” he said. “So unfortunately, some of these wholesalers become a little bit predatory in nature and then people just lose a lot of equity in their house.”

Critics argue that wholesalers target minority, low-income and older homeowners who may not appreciate the full value of their home. Terrell Walls, president of the Greater Kansas City Association of Real Estate Brokers, a group representing Black real estate professionals, in a statement called predatory wholesaling the “modern-day cousin” of redlining and other practices that historically denied Black families homeownership and wealth.

No state has outright banned wholesaling. But new regulations in Maryland, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas require disclosure from wholesalers to sellers. Other states, including Illinois, South Carolina and Rhode Island, have required many wholesalers to hold real estate licenses — bringing them under the watch of state regulators.

“Legislators are responding maybe a little too aggressively, but not by much,” said Jeff Watson, general counsel for the National Real Estate Investors Association, which represents 43,000 house flippers and landlords. 

‘Stop trying to hide’

Watson said many wholesalers are effectively acting as real estate agents without the same licensing and consumer protection rules. Many wholesalers solicit homeowners directly and then market the home to other investors or buyers once they’ve secured a contract. 

“There is a small percentage of wholesalers, in my opinion, that do the business correctly,” Watson said. “They are honest, ethical capitalists. They can buy houses that real estate agents refuse to look at let alone list … Unfortunately, they’re not the majority.”

He said wholesalers can play an important role by helping to find buyers for some of the most distressed homes. 

For instance, out-of-state heirs or relatives may want to unload a home quickly after a relative dies or ages out of a house. When those homes are unkempt, have animal infestations or major maintenance needs, owners can secure a quick sale without going through the traditional real estate market. 

“Ethical wholesalers can do tremendous things for them,” he said. 

Wholesalers have publicly acknowledged that their industry is changing. 

Following the enactment of an Oklahoma law last year requiring new disclosures, real estate investor Jerry Norton said wholesalers would have to start doing a better job explaining wholesaling and the value it can provide to owners of distressed homes.

Norton, who could not be reached for comment, says he has made millions flipping and wholesaling homes. He offers paid real estate investment education and runs the popular YouTube channel Flipping Mastery TV. On his show last year, he recounted how he was working to tell sellers how wholesaling works and how they make money off the transactions.  

“This is the new way to wholesale. Stop trying to hide what you’re doing,” he said. “Address the elephant in the room. Remember, at the end of the day, the seller wants to work with someone they trust. Honesty is the pinnacle of trust. Be honest and you’ll actually do more business, not less business.”

Consumer confusion

The AARP has pushed model legislation across several states addressing real estate wholesaling. It would require wholesaler licensing, appraisals, cancellation rights and limits on aggressive marketing tactics.

Jenn Jones, AARP’s vice president for retirement security and livable communities, said the organization’s aim is twofold: it wants to ensure older adults can safely age at home and it wants to protect the wealth of homeowners.

“For a lot of older adults, their retirement security, their financial security is in that house,” she said. “That was supposed to be the American dream: You become a homeowner and that asset builds equity, and that is the thing that gives you some comfort in your later years. It’s also the thing that you have that you can pass on to your kids.”

Jones said sellers should know that wholesalers may not be the end buyer of their property, should have the time for an independent home valuation and should be allowed to cancel a contract if they change their minds.  

She pointed to the Oklahoma neighborhood where her mother lives. Jones’ mother told her about neighbors quickly selling their homes for $20,000 or less in cash — despite actual property values that are much higher. Her mother, who is in her late seventies, often receives calls and unsolicited visits from people looking to buy her house.

“We could probably all point to a story that we’ve heard or an experience that we’ve had,” Jones said. “This is about making sure that people understand fully the decision that they’re making, and they don’t end up in a situation where they are potentially jeopardizing either their own financial security or that of their kids because they were pressured to sell.”

Experts and lawmakers said recent measures targeting wholesalers have proved largely bipartisan and faced little pushback from the industry.

Rhode Island state Sen. Robert Britto, a Democrat, said a new law he sponsored this year faced “literally no opposition.” It requires wholesalers to possess a state-issued real estate license, which he hopes will put legitimate businesses under state supervision and push bad actors out of the industry.

“I’d think there would be more opposition, but I guess those actors didn’t want to really and truly expose themselves,” he said. “It was a catch-22 for them … Do I complain about it, but if I complain about it, am I showing my true colors?”

That measure was pushed by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, which represents nearly 6,000 members across the state.

“Real estate professionals are licensed for a really good reason and sometimes the consumers would assume they were talking to a real estate professional,” said Rebekah Wagoner, associate counsel for the trade group. 

Wagoner said wholesaling isn’t inherently unlawful or predatory and can play a role in selling distressed properties. 

“Our issue is the transparency,” she said. “It’s that a lot of the consumers didn’t understand the transaction.”

Without state licensing, she said wholesalers face no accountability if consumers feel wronged.

“We want them to have a regulatory framework that means that if something happens, the consumer is protected,” she said. 

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org.

Tens of thousands of Americans continue to lose access to food assistance each month, even as Congress debates slowing down major cuts to federal food stamps.

New data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows more than 330,000 Americans lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, between May and June, the latest numbers available. 

More than 5 million people have lost food stamps since the enactment last July of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut taxes and federal safety net programs. The law changed SNAP eligibility rules, ended certain work requirement exemptions and shifted new costs to states that administer the federal program.

An analysis by the anti-hunger nonprofit Food Research and Action Center shows SNAP participation has decreased since the new law in every state except Alaska. State leaders there cited unique geographic and economic conditions, including higher food prices and high seasonal unemployment specific to Alaska. 

In Arizona, SNAP participation dropped by more than half since July 2025, with about 421,000 people receiving assistance this June, the center’s data shows. Louisiana’s enrollment dropped by more than 173,000 — a decrease of about 22%. Participation in Illinois dropped by more than 368,000 — a drop of about 20%.

Those numbers come as advocates pressure Congress to reverse the SNAP cuts they say will exacerbate growing hunger across the country as grocery prices continue to soar.

While nonprofits and many local, state and federal political leaders have pushed for a complete rescission of those cuts, Republicans in control of Congress have so far only signed off on delaying some of their impact.

For months, the Senate has been debating details of the farm bill, a major piece of legislation that funds SNAP, farm subsidies and rural development programs. Earlier this month, the Republican-led Senate Agriculture Committee approved on party lines a farm bill proposal that would delay for one year impending SNAP cost shifts to states. Democrats had pushed for a two-year extension.

That legislation awaits debate by the full Senate before the current legislation’s Sept. 30 expiration.

Last year’s tax and spending law requires states to cover more of SNAP’s administrative costs, and beginning in fall 2027, states for the first time will fund some benefits themselves. The new law will penalize states depending on their payment error rates — a technical calculation by the feds of SNAP overpayments and underpayments, not fraud. That change could cost states billions of dollars, raising fears about the future of the program. 

If the version of the farm bill that advanced this month is passed, states would have until October 2028 to lower their error rates before they are required to shoulder part of the costs. 

Aside from coming up with the funds, states will likely need to implement new IT and budgeting processes. Historically, SNAP benefits were not a budget line item for states because federal funds flowed directly to recipients’ benefit cards, Lauren Kallins, a senior legislative director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, told lawmakers in July. 

“There are lots of questions about how and when the cost share will be paid,” Kallins said. “Will this be in real time as benefits are issued? Will it be reconciled at a later date? We don’t know.”

Republicans, including Arkansas U.S. Sen. John Boozman who leads the agriculture committee, have argued that error rates are evidence that improvements are needed in state administration of the program.

Anti-hunger advocacy groups say the one-year delay is insufficient to protect states and people relying on SNAP.

“We urge Senators to speak out against this flawed Farm Bill and to stop it from advancing to the floor for a vote,” Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research and Action Center, said in a statement last week. “Congress must use any other legislative vehicle to reverse the SNAP cuts and address the cost shifts to states to provide meaningful assistance to both families and farmers.” 

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. 

President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with Canada is creating headaches for Republicans ahead of November’s midterms as high prices remain a top concern among voters.

Responding to Trump’s increased tariffs, Canadian officials have said they’re deliberately targeting goods from states where there are close elections. And GOP candidates in Kansas, Maine and Ohio among others have been forced to balance supporting Trump with defending local manufacturers.

Trump has repeatedly targeted Canada, traditionally a close American ally, since returning to the White House last year. But his August move to impose 50% tariffs on billions of dollars of Canadian imports has heightened tensions, pushing Canada to retaliate with its own tariffs on hundreds of American-made products that went into effect Tuesday.

Nearly $28 billion in U.S. exports to Canada now carry up to 50% tariffs, a dollar-for-dollar match on Trump’s taxes on Canadian goods imposed last month, according to Canadian officials. 

Trump has long argued that Canada is taking advantage of the United States because of a longstanding trade deficit — meaning more Canadian products are imported here than American products are exported to Canada.

“They don’t pay for anything, and they want to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state,” Trump said last month after trade talks fell apart.

The fallout could affect consumers and businesses across the country, but Canada targeted many of its tariffs to inflict political pain just ahead of the crucial U.S. midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. 

The trade standoff has put Republican candidates in a tough position with an electorate already fed up with high prices and underscores ongoing concerns about how federal trade policy will affect American business and state economies.

On Labor Day, Trump threatened to halt sales of the Canadian airplane manufacturer Bombardier, saying its planes weren’t good enough and the company was treating America as a “piggybank.”

That became immediate political fodder in Kansas, home to Bombardier’s U.S. headquarters and competitive races for governor and U.S. Senate this year. The company employs more than 1,000 people in Wichita, the state’s most populous city that calls itself the “Air Capital of the World” with a local economy dominated by aerospace and aviation manufacturing. 

Trump’s trade war with Canada escalates as new tariffs launch

The state’s senior Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran immediately defended Bombardier, as did Ty Masterson, the Republican nominee for governor and current state Senate president. But the issue has put pressure on the state’s junior Sen. Roger Marshall, a close Trump ally running for reelection in a competitive race. 

“We cannot allow this chaotic economic policy to continue to hurt Kansans; they deserve so much better. As your Senator, I will always stand up for Kansas workers,” the Democratic nominee in the race, Adam Hamilton, wrote on X Monday. 

On Tuesday, Marshall said he would fight to keep Bombardier’s jobs in Kansas, posting on social media, “I’ve already taken that concern inside the Oval Office.” Marshall said he agreed with Trump’s aim of bringing more manufacturing jobs, particularly in Bombardier’s case because the company sells half its products in the United States.

Tariffs on Canadian and American goods are poised to especially hurt Northern and Midwestern states, according to an analysis from Oxford Economics. It identified North Dakota, Montana, Michigan, Illinois and Vermont as the states most likely to be affected because they trade the most with Canada. 

Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha, a Democrat, said the trade feud is just the latest federal move to push up costs for businesses, consumers and local governments. Her office oversees some $56 billion in local government spending through financial integrity audits and budget analyses. She said Minnesota cities and townships have had no choice but to raise property taxes as they encounter rising prices.

“It’s just one wave after another. And it’s piling up,” she said. “All these rising costs are just coming home to roost, and they’re hitting Main Street.”

Minnesota shares a 547-mile border with Canada. Blaha said the state’s crucial agricultural industry is especially threatened as businesses constantly send products back and forth for processing. She highlighted General Mills, the maker of well-known cereals, including Cheerios. The firm buys Canadian grain that is processed in Minneapolis before being distributed to domestic cereal plants and sold across the U.S. and Canada. 

Grain is not on Canada’s list of targeted products for retaliatory tariffs, but the country did enact new tariffs on agricultural equipment, dairy and other food products. 

“These tariffs have a bigger impact than just one just one hit on a price,” she said. 

Canada’s political pressure

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs were aimed at pressuring the White House by targeting certain states and industries.

“We’re being wise and strategic to put political pressure,” Canada’s Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said last week. 

Canadian data show countermeasures will hit Ohio harder than any other state, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. Ohio is home to one of the most competitive Senate races this cycle as Republican Sen. Jon Husted defends his seat from former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. 

Husted has largely defended Trump’s tariffs in the Senate. In an August interview with MS Now, he acknowledged the president’s decision-making was not in line with how he would negotiate, but declined to second guess Trump’s stance on Canada. 

Canadian tariffs to further raise prices, a top concern for voters

“It depends on how it ends,” the senator said. “If we get a good deal, both Canada and America can come out of this well, but it’s going to require both sides.”

Canada is Ohio’s biggest export market, sending $17.5 billion in goods across the border — roughly a third of the state’s total exports. More than half of the state’s exports to Canada come from the equipment and machinery and the transportation industries. Ohio is a leading producer of automobiles, an industry deeply affected by tariffs because of interconnected supply chains that span American, Canadian and Mexican factories. 

Trump’s tariff “decision is going to make it very difficult for folks in the automobile supply chain to be able to succeed in Ohio,” Rob Moore, principal at public policy firm Scioto Analysis, told the Ohio Capital Journal.

While Canada’s countermeasures were politically targeted, they will sweep across the country, affecting solidly conservative and liberal states. 

Connecticut State Treasurer Erick Russell, a Democrat, said the trade war will especially hurt New England states that trade more with Canada. He said the tariffs could raise prices of everything from electricity to consumer goods. 

Though tariffs will hit businesses and consumers first, Russell said they will eventually put more strain on local and state government budgets.

And the president’s on-and-off-again history with imposing and rescinding tariffs injects more uncertainty for both business and government, he said.

“Where things are right now, there isn’t any certainty or clarity around where this is ultimately going to land,” he said. “What is consistent through all of this is that consumers in Connecticut and all across the country are going to continue to pay for this tariff war.”

Concerns across New England states

The trade standoff could further hurt New England’s tourism industry that depends on steady Canadian traffic. 

In New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, tourism is big business year-round as travelers flock to beaches in the summer, leaf peeping in the autumn and skiing in the winter. Those businesses have suffered a drop in Canadian visitors amid Trump’s ongoing aggression with the country.

Steve Wright, general manager of Jay Peak Resort in Vermont’s Green Mountains, recently assured Canadians that they were welcome to the resort that sits just a few miles from the border and a roughly two-hour drive from Montreal.

“The border may feel different right now,” Wright wrote online. “We do not. You are our neighbors. You are our friends. You are part of this place.” 

Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott recently characterized the president’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America as “petty and disappointing.” Scott, who is favored in polls to win reelection in November, said the trade war harms communities on both sides of the border.

“Further escalating tensions does nothing to help American or Canadian families and businesses,” he added. 

In neighboring Maine, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has criticized the tariffs and urged the administration to resolve its dispute with Canada. A Republican in a competitive race for reelection, Collins grew up just 20 miles from the Canadian border. 

Troy Jackson, her Democratic opponent, has blamed Collins for not stopping Trump’s trade policies. 

Last week, Collins told reporters that the White House viewed tariffs in a macro sense without appreciating how damaging they are to border states such as Maine. Collins said Trump’s tariffs were already hurting local governments that rely on Canada for imported salt to treat roads in winter and could further hurt the state’s crucial lumber and blueberry industries.

While Maine’s important lobster industry was spared retaliatory tariffs, Canada did impose 50% tariffs on wood products and agricultural products. 

“Canada is not China. It is not an adversarial nation,” Collins said. “It is our closest ally, our neighbor, our friend. And our economy is so intertwined with Canada that I am very worried about what the impact will be.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org.

Labor union membership continues to climb in the United States, though the increase remains sharply divided by the politics of individual states.

Last year, the nation added more than 411,000 union members — the largest annual growth since 2008, according to a study published just ahead of the Labor Day holiday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

At the end of last year, more than 14.6 million American workers belonged to a union — about 10% of the workforce, the study said. 

While union membership grew across the country, the State of the Unions report found that states that have sought to protect or strengthen collective bargaining rights added three times as many union members as so-called right-to-work states, which prohibit mandatory union membership or dues as conditions of employment.

“What seems to be the number one driver is the state of the state,” said one of the study authors, Robert Bruno, who leads the labor education program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “If the policy is anti-union, it suppresses worker will. Where the law allows worker will to flourish, as I would argue it should, then you see higher numbers. So you can’t ignore politics. You can’t ignore policy.” 

State governments are nearly evenly divided on labor policy, with 26 states having right-to-work laws. Union membership rates sit at about 14% in collective bargaining states and 5% in right-to-work states, the study found.

The study shows that workers in collective bargaining states earn significantly more than those in other states. After adjusting for cost of living variances, the report calculated average hourly earnings of $34.16 in right-to-work states and $37.24 in collective bargaining states.

Union density is nowhere close to its record high. In 1954, more than a third of American workers belonged to unions. Today, that rate is about 10%.  And unions face major policy headwinds at the state and federal levels. In recent years, Southern states have passed new laws aimed at curbing union expansion. And President Donald Trump has sought to strip collective bargaining rights from more than 1 million federal workers. 

Researchers said it’s unclear how federal actions will affect union membership figures. Many of the president’s moves are being litigated in courts and more federal workers have sought to unionize under this administration. 

But public support for labor unions is growing among Republicans and Democrats, Gallup polling shows. 

“More Americans are turning to unions as a bulwark against the rising cost of living, and more public sector workers turned towards unions last year in the wake of some federal actions and federal headwinds,” said State of the Unions coauthor Frank Manzo IV, an economist at the left-leaning Illinois Economic Policy Institute. 

Conservatives have long argued that unions’ benefit on wage growth has been overstated by pro-labor interests. 

In a 2025 review of 147 studies, researchers at the free-market think tank Mercatus Center concluded that powerful labor unions can lead to slower job growth and fewer jobs for unionized workers, reduce company investments in research and development, and increase the likelihood of company closures. 

Researchers at the George Mason University think tank said the difference between the wages of unionized workers and nonunionized workers has declined in recent years and may even be negligible. 

“When powerful and adversarial unions operate with government-granted monopoly privileges and press for unsustainable terms, it can backfire and result in lost jobs and fewer opportunities for workers,” that report said.

This year, state lawmakers passed dozens of bills seeking to boost worker protections across 19 states, according to tracking by State Futures, a nonprofit coordinating hundreds of Democratic lawmakers across the states.

Those measures included three bills aimed at expanding collective bargaining.

Illinois lawmakers granted rideshare and gig drivers the right to organize and to bargain collectively. Washington state extended collective bargaining rights to certain university student employees.

And Virginia lawmakers approved a measure to repeal the state’s longstanding ban on public-sector collective bargaining. That would have expanded the possibility of union membership to half a million public employees in the commonwealth. But Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed that measure in May. 

The governor said she agreed with the goal of expanding collective bargaining rights. But she urged the legislature to adopt specific amendments, including delaying provisions of the bill until 2030 and shifting authority over how the system operates to a state board. 

“While preserving the enrolled bill’s focus on allowing public employees to achieve collective bargaining, my amendments would have also provided additional flexibility for public employers to take into account existing local budget timelines and processes,” Spanberger wrote in her veto message. “However, the General Assembly rejected these amendments.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org.