Author: The Center Square

Biden: Supreme Court Ruling on Presidential Immunity ‘Dangerous Precedent’

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Joe Biden

President Joe Biden Monday night said the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the president has “absolute immunity” when acting in his core constitutional duties is “a dangerous precedent” that “undermines the rule of law of this nation.”

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision ruled that the “president’s exercise of his core constitutional powers, this immunity must be absolute. As for his remaining official actions, he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity.”

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Tennessee Sees $4.7 Billion Individual Income Increase From In-Migration

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Bill Lee

Tennessee saw the fifth-largest population increase from other states between 2021 and 2022, according to new data released by the Internal Revenue Service.

Tennessee saw a net increase of nearly 60,600 during that calendar year, a population increase of 0.87% during the year, with a net increase of nearly $4.7 billion in adjusted gross income on individual tax returns.

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Feds Indict Newton County Chairman and Georgia Commissioner-Elect

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Marcello Banes and Stephanie Lindsey

A federal grand jury has indicted the Newton County Board of Commissioners chairman and a commissioner-elect on federal charges of conspiring to launder money obtained from wire fraud and honest services wire fraud.

A federal grand jury indicted Marcello Banes, 48, of Covington, the board’s chair, and Stephanie Lindsey, 52, of Covington, a real estate broker and attorney who was elected to the county commission earlier this month, on conspiracy to launder money obtained from wire fraud and honest services wire fraud and money laundering. The grand jury also indicted Lindsey for federal income tax fraud and Banes for making materially false statements to FBI special agents.

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Three Dead After Crossing Border in Arizona Despite CBP Warnings of Heat Risk

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Arizona Desert

Three people crossing the border from Mexico into the United States died as a result of the high summer temperatures.

United States Customs and Border Protection announced on Friday that three Mexican migrants were found dead after a search and rescue mission near Ajo, Arizona, by federal border authorities on Wednesday morning. The border law enforcement agency explained that human smugglers routinely take advantage of those seeking to come to the U.S.

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Judge Weighing Injunction in Georgia Organized Online Retail Crime Bill

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Chris Carr

A federal judge is weighing whether to grant a preliminary injunction to halt a Georgia law targeting organized online retail crimes set to take effect on Monday.

Earlier this month, NetChoice filed a lawsuit over Senate Bill 472, the “Combating Organized Retail Crime Act.” Proponents of the measure, which Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed on May 6, say it protects businesses against organized online retail crimes.

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Study: ‘Vast DEI Bureaucracy’ Negatively Impacting U.S. Armed Forces

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F35 A - Nellis Air Force Base

A new Arizona State University study suggests that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts in the United States military are ineffective.

The study done by the university’s Center for American Institutions argued that there is a emphasis on training new soldiers about social issues like “unconscious bias” and “intersectionality” in a way the center says runs contrary to typical American ideals. The study examined DEI plan’s in different sector of the military, including DEI office staffing and education at academies like West Point.

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Tennessee to Receive Nearly $31.7 Million in New Defense Outlay

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Arnold Engineering Development Complex

Tennessee could receive nearly $31.7 million to fund construction projects in the new defense appropriation that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The biggest outlays for the Volunteer State would be for Arnold Air Force Base near Tullahoma. The base is the home of the Arnold Engineering Complex, which has 58 wind tunnels and other test facilities. The base would receive $21.4 million for a new testing bay and $5.5 million for a new cooling system.

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Overpayments Account for Nearly 75 Percent of Federal Improper Payments

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Finances

The federal government reported $236 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2023, with the vast majority coming from overpayments, according to a new watchdog report.

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report found 74% of improper payments – payments that shouldn’t have been made or were made in the wrong amount – were overpayments. Overpayments accounted for $175.1 billion of the total amount of improper payments in 2023. Overpayments are payments “in excess of what is due, and for which the excess amount, in theory, should or could be recovered,” according to the report.

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Tennessee Students Show TCAP Math Score Improvement

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Students Testing

Tennessee students showed math test scored improvements since hitting a pandemic low point in 2021, just as occurred in English language arts, according to new data released by the Tennessee Department of Education.

The Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program places results into four categories – exceed, met, approaching and below – compared to student comprehension expectations.

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Report Shows 61 Percent of Renters Can’t Afford Median Apartment Rate in U.S.

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Los Angeles Apartment Building

Due to inflation eating away at earnings and less supply of affordable housing, the majority of Americans today cannot afford median rent prices, according to a new report by the real estate company Redfin.

The analysis comes as other reports indicate that both homeowners and renters are struggling with high housing costs due to inflationary pressures, an inflated housing market, low supply and demand for affordable housing.

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Opinion Issued Aims to Clear Up ‘Medical Emergency’ in Arizona Abortion Laws

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Kris Mayes

Attorney General Kris Mayes issued an opinion as abortion policy in the state is likely to be on the ballot in November.

The 15-week law is still on the books in Arizona, and it was signed into law by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022. The opinion, which was sent to four Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday, is meant to explain what can be considered a “medical emergency” under the law.

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Cleveland Browns One of Next NFL Teams in Line with Large Taxpayer Stadium Subsidy Request

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Cleveland Browns Stadium

Cleveland is one of the next cities asking for public funding for a renovation or new NFL stadium after the city councils of Charlotte and Jacksonville each approved more than $600 million in public funding.

Browns’ ownership, the Haslam Sports Group, has reportedly pitched Cleveland and Ohio state leadership on funding half of a potential $1.2 billion renovation of Cleveland Browns stadium or having state and local governments each pay $600 million of taxpayer funds – a total of $1.2 billion – toward building a new stadium in Brook Park.

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Connecticut’s Vaccine Exemption Ban Survives Legal Challenge

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COVID Vaccine

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging Connecticut’s 2021 ban on religious exemption for school vaccination requirements.

A lawsuit filed by parents and conservative groups argued that the state violated their First Amendment rights by approving a bill that eliminated the option for Connecticut families to request a religious exemption to mandated immunizations when a student enrolls in public school. Several previous court rulings rejected the legal challenge. 

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China a Potential Issue in Michigan U.S. Senate Race

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Mike Rodgers and Elissa Slotkin

Foreign policy is an infrequent subject in U.S. Senate campaigns. In Michigan’s Senate election, however, tough talk on the Chinese Communist Party is growing on the campaign trail.

Michigan, a key swing state in 2024’s general elections, will vote this year to elect a successor to retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Though the primary election is Aug. 6, the race has crystallized around Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers – the leading candidates for their parties’ nominations – who have both attacked the CCP with a frequency unusual among this year’s Senate campaigns.

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Jacksonville, Florida Will Pay $775 Million in Public Funds Toward $1.4 Billion Jaguars Renovation

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J.C. Bradbury

The Jacksonville Jaguars became the second NFL team this week to get a large sum of public money for a stadium renovation when the City Council voted 14-1 to approve $775 million toward a $1.4 billion renovation of EverBank Stadium.

The Jaguars and NFL are expected to pay $625 million toward the project, using NFL G-4 loans along with funds from items such as naming rights through the new 30-year lease and non-relocation agreement.

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Second Effort to Recall Wisconsin Speaker Fails

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Robin Vos

Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos will not face a recall election after the Wisconsin Elections Commission threw out more than a hundred signatures on a petition.

The WEC voted 4-2 on Thursday afternoon to reject the Vos recall petition after it found the number of signatures submitted by the deadline insufficient. Commission staff had recommended Wednesday the commission accept the petition signatures.

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Atlanta Fed’s Bostic ‘Optimistic’ Economy Headed ‘In the Right Direction’

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Raphael Bostic

The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta remains “quite optimistic that things are heading in the right direction.”

In a video message posted Thursday alongside a longer-form piece, Raphael Bostic, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said that after the inflation rate declined rapidly in the second half of 2023, it seemed to stall early this year.

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Ohio Senators Call for Rail Reform After NTSB East Palestine Report

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Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance

Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance are using the National Transportation and Safety Board’s findings on East Palestine’s train derailment to continue their push for national rail standards.

At a public hearing earlier this week in East Palestine, Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called Norfolk Southern’s attempts to sway the investigation unprecedented and reprehensible.

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Arizona Court Rules Opioid Settlement Funding Is Legal

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Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs

The opioid settlement funds headed to the Arizona corrections system are legal, according to a judge’s ruling on Monday.

The part of the budget that would divert $115 million in total to support the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry with what’s outlined as substance abuse treatment. Although the original legal action from Attorney General Kris Mayes resulted in a temporary restraining order for the funds to be transferred, this recent decision from the Maricopa County Superior Court scrapped that. 

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Groups Sue to Stop Georgia Law Barring Charitable Bail

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Fulton County Inmates

Two groups have filed a federal lawsuit to stop elements of a state law they say bars charitable bail activity.

The ACLU of Georgia and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center filed the lawsuit on Friday, asking a judge to declare Section 4 of Georgia Senate Bill 63 unconstitutional and issue a temporary restraining order barring the law from taking effect on July 1.

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Michigan Museum Funding Could Raise Property Taxes

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Tom Kuhn

A new Michigan policy could cost Oakland and Macomb county households thousands in higher property taxes.

The Michigan House recently approved House Bill 4177, seeking to subsidize two nonprofit museums run through the Wright and Detroit Historical Societies. Because they likely could not stay open through admission fees and donations alone, Oakland and Macomb County residents would pay up to $200,000 in property taxes over the next 10 years.

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Pennsylvania Progressives Resolute in Palestinian Support

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Pro Palestine Protest

Recent critical remarks from top-ranking state officials, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, have not deterred Palestinian support among progressive lawmakers and advocacy groups in Pennsylvania.

Earlier this month, Sens. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-Jacobus, and Steven Santarsiero, D-Doylestown, announced a bill to prevent state-funded institutions from divesting from Israel. The legislation explicitly names schools like Penn and Pitt whose encampments made headlines across the globe.

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Attorney General: Student Loan Ruling ‘a Huge Win for South Carolina’

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Alan Wilson

South Carolina’s attorney general called a federal judge’s decision to block part of President Joe Biden’s latest push to delay or cancel roughly half a trillion dollars in student debt “a huge win for South Carolina.”

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Kansas and U.S. District Judge John Ross in Missouri issued separate rulings halting Biden’s plan, dubbed the Saving on a Valuable Education — or SAVE — Plan. Republican attorneys general, including South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, filed a lawsuit challenging the plan.

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Gangs, Crime, and Terrible Living Conditions Included in New Look into Wisconsin City’s Immigration Problems

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Tammy Baldwin and Bryan Steil

A new report says Whitewater’s immigration problems did not end when the city’s police chief sent a letter to the White House late last year.

The Institute for Reforming Government on Monday released a report that uses 4,000 open records requests to paint a picture of the continued problems that a flood of illegal immigrants has caused in Whitewater.

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Immigration Takes Center Stage in Contested Montana U.S. Senate Race

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Tim Sheehy and Jon Tester

Montana has one of the longest shares of the U.S. border with Canada of any state. However, it’s the other border – nearly 1,000 miles away – that is becoming a flashpoint in the state’s ongoing U.S. Senate race.

Montana’s U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is up for re-election this year, with Tester running against Republican nominee Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and aerial firefighter. Sheehy has consistently attacked Tester on immigration and border security – seeking to paint him as an enabler of President Joe Biden’s record on illegal immigration from Mexico – forcing Tester to defend his record.

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Ad Campaign Says Ohio State Hospital Expansion will Mean Higher Costs

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Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

A coalition of health insurers and employer groups is using a targeted ad campaign to call attention to private-public hospital expansions it says leads to higher premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.

The campaign comes as the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center continues to move forward with a $1.9 billion, 1.9-million-square-foot inpatient hospital expected to open in 2026.

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Virginia Expands Online Permitting Efficiencies

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Virginia Department of Highways

Virginia’s permit-tracking website has expanded from including permits from three state government departments to six. 

Virginia residents and businesses can now follow online in real time the permits they’ve submitted to the Virginia Department of Health, Department of Transportation, and Department of Conservation and Recreation, as well as permits from the state Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Department of Energy.

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Ohio Proposal Needs $2 Billion to Fix 23 Miles of Congested Columbus Highway

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Traffic Jam

The Ohio Department of Transportation says it needs nearly $2 billion to slow the growth of commute times and make a stretch of highway in one of the state’s fastest-growing counties safer.

Delaware County’s population has more than doubled in more than 20 years and increased by more than 15,000 people in the last three years. That growth has pushed a 23-mile area of U.S. Highway 23 north of Columbus to 30% over its capacity.

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Georgia Group Talks Rate Increase for Direct Care Workers

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In Home Care

The fiscal 2025 budget, which Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp recently signed, includes $9.2 million for the Child and Parent Services Program and pay increases for direct care workers.

According to a national organization of family caregivers, the rate increases lawmakers passed are $6 per hour for direct care workers helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and $3 per hour for direct care workers supporting older adults.

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Corn Growers Join Lawsuit Against EPA for Emissions Mandates

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Corn Farmer

Several U.S. oil and corn industry lobby groups are suing the Biden Administration over its plans to slash planet-warming tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks. The coalition argues the regulations will cause economic harm.

The EPA finalized new rules for models of semi-trucks, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles released from 2027 to 2032 in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

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Another Report Says CBP, ICE Not Detaining, Removing Inadmissibles Flying into Country

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CBP officer

The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued another report identifying ongoing problems with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processes.

A regional CBP and ICE detention and removal processes were ineffective at one major international airport, the OIG audit found. The report redacts the name and location of the airport and CBP and ICE regional offices.

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TennCare Completes Year-Long Case Review, More Than a Half-Million Members Deemed Ineligible So Far

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Doctor

More than 63,000 eligibility checks are still pending but more than 967,000 individuals are renewed and nearly 508,000 are ineligible following the full year review of TennCare cases.

The analysis of more than 1.5 million members comes after the federal COVID-19 pandemic eligibility check pause between March 2020 to March 31, 2023.

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In First Five Years, 79,000 of DACA Recipients Admitted to U.S. Had Arrest Records

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DACA Rally

Within five years of a new program created to prevent deportation of minors brought into the country illegally by their parents, nearly 80,000 were released into the U.S. with arrest records. The majority were between the ages of 19 and 22 when they were arrested, according to the latest available data published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced he was expanding deportation protections and job opportunities for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by executive order by former president Barack Obama in 2012.

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