Author: The Center Square

Poll: Harris, Trump Tied in Virginia

The Center Square
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

As early voting gets underway Friday in Virginia, a new poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in a dead heat in the commonwealth.

A poll conducted by the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington shows Harris leads Trump by 1%, with the vice president at 47% and the former president at 46%. The poll was conducted among 1,000 Virginians on Sept. 3-9, before the first and what appears to be the only debate between Harris and Trump.

The result is a statistical tie, given the margin of error is +/- 3.0%.

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Florida Prepaid College Tuition Program Providing Refunds to Parents

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College Students

Florida’s prepaid college tuition plan is generating enough revenue to provide refunds to parents in part because of strong earnings on the plan’s investments and low tuition statewide.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week part of those savings is how the state has held down tuition and other costs at the state’s colleges and universities. The plan factors in future tuition costs and when those costs don’t reach predictions, families can receive a refund.

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Loudoun County Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Voted Down

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Counting Money

After months of discussion and the adoption of similar programs by some of its neighbors, Loudoun County leadership voted down a guaranteed income pilot program.

In a surprising turn of events, Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors abandoned the pursuit of a new economic mobility pilot in a 3-5-1 vote. Months earlier, in May, the board had voted 6-2-1 in favor of appropriating $2 million of county fund balance dollars to the program’s development.

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RNC Sues Wisconsin City for Not Hiring Enough GOP Election Inspectors

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The Republican National Committee has sued the city of Racine for failing to hire more Republican citizens as election inspectors during the partisan primaries and instead mostly selected volunteers unaffiliated with either of the two major political parties.

RNC Chairman Michael Whatley called the lawsuit a response to “Democrat interference” in a Tuesday press release. The release incorrectly claims the city of Racine “hir[ed] disproportionately more Democrats in the primary election” than Republicans.

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Judge Rules It’s Too Late to Challenge Arizona Open Primary Proposition

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Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Frank Moskowitz ruled today that a proposition that would establish open primaries in Arizona will have the opportunity to be voted into law by Arizonans, even though almost 40,000 voter signatures have been invalidated.

Even though ballots have already been printed with the proposition on it, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the superior court look at the evidence of duplicated signatures provided by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. Special Master Christopher Skelly submitted his report yesterday, showing that 35,478 of the submitted signatures were indeed duplicates.

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158 House Democrats Vote Against Deporting Illegal Immigrant Sex Offenders

The Center Square

The U.S. House passed a bill to deport illegal foreign nationals convicted of domestic violence and sex-related offenses, including sex crimes against children, but not without controversy.

Nearly all Democrats voted against the bill filed by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC, the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, on Thursday. They attacked the bill before they voted on it; Mace said their remarks were “shameful.”

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Arizona City Scraps Legally Dubious Public Comment Policy

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Surprise City Council

The Surprise City Council unanimously scrapped its public comment policy as it faces a lawsuit from a local activist’s removal from a recent meeting.

The rule limited the ability to “lodge charges or complaints against any employee of the City or members of the body” during council meetings public comment period and instead required people to refer their issues to the city manager instead. The motion was introduced by Councilman Jack Hastings, who said on Friday that “people should be able to voice their concerns and criticize their government and elected officials” in an announcement to X on Friday.

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Wisconsin Leaders Push to Prevent Noncitizens from Registering to Vote

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Eric Toney

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said Wisconsin needs a proper process to check its voter rolls for noncitizens and remove them, ensuring election integrity in the state.

Currently, election commissions cannot check their rolls with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to ensure an estimated 90,000 individuals who are currently legally in the state, who can get a drivers license, do not register to vote.

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With August CBP Data, Illegal Border Crossers Top 2.75 Million This Year

The Center Square

More than 2.75 million foreign nationals have illegally crossed the U.S. border so far this fiscal year.

That total represents nationwide encounters and apprehensions at ports of entry and between ports of entry, including at the northern and southwest borders. Combined, they total 2,756,646 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection released August data. The federal government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

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Pennsylvania Waives Food Stamps Work Requirement

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Women Working

Pennsylvania’s work requirement waiver for food stamps now lasts through Aug. 31, 2025.

This is despite recent urging from Republican House lawmakers to apply the mandate to able-bodied adults with no dependents. State data shows nearly 200,000 residents of the more than 2 million enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, fall into this category.

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Judge Rules Kennedy Will Remain on Wisconsin Ballot

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RFK JR

A Dane County Circuit court ruled against former Independent party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., siding with the Wisconsin Election Commission’s decision to keep Kennedy’s name on the state’s ballot this November, despite his withdrawal from the race and request for removal.

Kennedy’s lawsuit argued that, absent a compelling reason, the state’s different treatment for third party candidates violates the Equal Protection Clause and the First Amendment. It claimed the different deadlines for ballot withdrawal for major party candidates versus third-party candidates – Sept. 3 for the former and Aug. 6 for the latter – are unlawfully discriminatory.

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Georgia Supreme Court Dismisses Catoosa County GOP Ballot Challenge

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Larry Black

The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed a challenge by the Catoosa County Republican Party to keep four candidates off the primary ballot, as the primary and the runoff election have already occurred.

Republicans challenged the candidacies of Steven M. Henry, Larry C. Black, Jeffrey K. Long and Vanita C. Hullander, saying their views did not align with the party.

The case was appealed to Georgia’s highest court.

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Report: A Tipped Workers Minimum Wage Credit May Actually Help Arizonans

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Waiter

A new report put out by the Arizona Common Sense Institute has found that allowing employers to pay tipped workers 25% less than the state minimum wage could actually help secure jobs for employees in the restaurant and service industries.

The report is an analysis of Proposition 138, an amendment that would allow for tipped workers to be paid 25% less per hour than the minimum wage if any tips received by the employee were not less than the minimum wage plus $2 for all hours worked. Arizona voters will decide the measure’s fate in the upcoming general election.

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Michigan Lawmakers Aim to Boost Funding, Recruitment of Law Enforcement

The Center Square

Michigan lawmakers are launching bipartisan efforts to increase police recruitment and benefits as the number of law enforcement officers trends downward in the state. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., introduced legislation Friday that would provide $50 million annually to state and local law enforcement agencies to create “Pathways to Policing” programs aimed at boosting recruitment in the field. 

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DeSantis Says He Wants Life in Prison for Routh

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Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday the state has the jurisdiction to prosecute Ryan Wesley Routh for attempted murder and will be more transparent in its investigation than the federal government.

Routh raised an assault-style rifle as former President Donald Trump golfed on Sunday. Routh is the subject of three assassination investigations and could face life in prison if convicted for attempted murder.

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House Committee Demands Answers on Walz’s China Connections

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Tim Walz

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is demanding answers about any ties Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has to the Communist Party of China. Walz has said he’s proud of his ties to China dating to 1989.

The committee has spent several years investigating CCP political warfare operations involving influencing “important figures in elite political circles to the benefit of the communist People’s Republic of China.”

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After Arrest of Citizen Goes Viral, Surprise Councilman Seeks to End Controversial Ban on Criticism

The Center Square

Surprise Councilman Jack Hastings wants to get rid of the city’s public comment policy that has landed the city in legal hot water.

“On Tuesday, at our next City Council Meeting, I will make a motion and/or vote to remove the rule that prohibits complaints against elected officials and city staff members during the public comment portion of our meetings,” he posted on Friday. 

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Secretary of State LaRose Warns Ohio Election Officials of Potential Voting Violations

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Ohio Sec State Frank LaRose

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants county election officials to be on the lookout for illegal voter registration forms after his office discovered one.

LaRose said a voter registration form translated into the Haitian Creole language was found in Clark County, the home of Springfield. The Clark County Board of Elections reported the form and rejected the local applicant.

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FBI Report Estimates $5.6 Billion in Cryptocurrency Fraud Losses

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Currency, cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency scams and fraud in 2023 contributed to an estimated $5.6 billion in losses, a report from one of the federal government’s top law enforcement agencies says. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cryptocurrency Fraud Report for 2023 found that the vast majority of losses – about $3.9 million – were related to cryptocurrency investment scams. 

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Billions Gone and Little to Show for It Years After Rampant COVID Fraud

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Capitol Money

Years after the passage of federal COVID-era relief and the subsequent loss of likely hundreds of billions of those taxpayer dollars, lawmakers are still unsure where that money went, how to get it back, and seemingly have done little to prevent it from happening again.

Federal watchdog and other reports estimate anywhere from $200 billion to half a trillion was lost to waste, fraud and abuse across various federal and state COVID-era programs.

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Twice the Number of ICE Detainers Issued Under Trump than Biden, Analysis Reveals

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Suspected Illegal Border Crossers

Twice the number of detainers were issued for criminal illegal foreign nationals under the Trump administration than the Biden administration, according to a new analysis of federal data published by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). The nonprofit data research center is affiliated with the Newhouse School of Public Communications and Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.

Detainers are issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), otherwise known as “immigration holds,” to apprehend and detain often violent individuals wanted for a crime in another country, arrested or convicted of one in the U.S., or placed in removal proceedings by a federal immigration judge.

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Tennessee Lawmaker Will Push for Third College Entrance Exam Option

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Tennessee students could have a third option for a college entrance exam along with the ACT and SAT if legislation that Rep. William Slater, R-Gallatin, is proposing passes in January’s session.

Slater plans to again propose a bill allowing the Classic Learning Test as an option for students at public colleges and universities along with qualifying for the state’s Hope Scholarship program.

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Feds Call Vote Certification a ‘Special Security Event’ Ahead of 2025 Count

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Alejandro Mayorkas

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday said the 2025 vote count would be designated a “National Special Security Event.” 

The first-time designation comes after supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while Congress was certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory.

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Virginia County Continues to Pursue Guaranteed Income Pilot Project

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Counting Money

A select group of Loudoun County residents may soon receive an extra “no strings attached” $500 per month from the county.

Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors voted in its most recent finance committee meeting to move forward with plans to establish a guaranteed income pilot project, as several other Virginia localities have done — along with more than 150 other localities across the country, according to Mayors for a Guaranteed Income.

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Michigan Minors Could Face Social Media Restrictions, Increased Parental Oversight

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Kids on Tablet

Michigan House lawmakers are taking steps to increase online child safety by introducing a bill that would impact minors, their parents and social media companies.

The Social Media Regulation Act, introduced by State Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, would require social media companies to verify the ages of new and existing users, restrict companies from collecting data or sharing minors’ personal information, and provide extensive parental controls.

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Report: An Increase in Glendale’s Minimum Wage Could Derail the City’s Economy

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Worker

Glendale residents will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to raise minimum wage and benefits for hotel and event workers this November. The Hotel and Event Center Minimum Wage Protection Act, proposed and funded by the Worker Political Action Committee, will be on the ballot this year and while it seems to stem from good intentions, a report from the Common Sense Institute of Arizona says it could have detrimental economic impacts.

The initiative not only states that hotel and event centers workers must earn a minimum of $20 per hour, but it would also set a limitation on the amount of square feet a room attendant is required to clean before the employer must pay twice the hourly wage, it would require employers to distribute service charges to the employees who performed those services and lastly, the city of Glendale would be required to enforce these rules.

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LaRose Wants Attorney General to Prosecute Voting Violations

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LaRose says he has sent evidence of more than 600 election law violations to county prosecutors since 2019 that have not been pursued.

“Unfortunately, many of these referrals have not been pursued by law enforcement, sometimes by choice and other times due to limited prosecutorial capacity,” LaRose said. “State law gives the attorney general the authority to take up these referrals if the prosecuting attorney doesn’t prosecute the violations within a reasonable time. The only way to maintain Ohio’s high standard of election integrity is to enforce the law whenever it’s broken.”

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Arizona Man and Three Others Charged with $178 Million COVID Fraud

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Court and Money

An Arizona man and three associates have been charged in a scheme to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration of at least $178 million in loans meant to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Eric Karnezis, 43, from Sedona, Arizona, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in a 23-count indictment. His co-defendants are Lynisha Wells, 47, and Nikkia Bennett, 43, both from Chula Vista, California, and Fredrico Williams, 48, from San Diego.

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Since 2021, U.S. Has Seen Greatest Number of Canadian Illegal Border Crossers in History

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People crossing the U.S. Northern border

by Bethany Blankley   The greatest number of Canadians who’ve illegally entered the U.S. or attempted to illegally enter in recorded U.S. history has been reported under the Biden-Harris administration and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration. Since fiscal 2021 through July 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 150,701 Canadians illegally entered or attempted illegal entry into the U.S. The majority were apprehended at the US-Canada border, followed by other locations nationwide, with a small number at the US-Mexico border, according to the data. The greatest number of Canadians encountered or apprehended by CBP or Border Patrol agents was in fiscal 2022 of 47,126. U.S. officials at the northern border reported the most of 40,600; the next greatest number was reported nationwide totaling 6,413, followed by 113 at the southwest border, according to the data. In fiscal 2023, the numbers were slightly less, totaling 44,700, with the majority reported at the northern border of 37,169, followed by 7,431 nationwide and 100 at the southwest border. These numbers are up significantly from fiscal 2021, of 22,371. The majority in 2021, 16,193, were reported at the northern border, followed by 6,178 nationwide and 76 at the southwest border. The overwhelming majority are single…

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Arizona, Nevada Governors Sound Alarm on California Governor’s Gasoline Proposal

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The Democratic governor of Arizona and Republican governor of Nevada signed a bipartisan letter warning against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gasoline refinery proposal they say could result in gasoline supply shortages and raise gasoline prices.

“It is evident that increased regulatory burdens on refiners and forced supply shortages will result in higher costs for consumers in all of our states,” wrote Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo in their letter to Newsom. “With both of our states reliant on California pipelines for significant amounts of our fuel, these looming cost increases and supply shortages are of tremendous concern to Arizona and Nevada.”

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Federal Government Could Slash Oil Lease Opportunities in a Top Producing State

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Oil Rig

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s updated Resource Management Plan for North Dakota could cost the state $34 million a year for the next 30 years, North Dakota officials said in a protest filed with the agency.

The plan announced in August bans oil and gas leased on 4 million acres, which is about 99% of federal lands in the state, according to Gov. Doug Burgum. Forty-four percent of federally-owned fluid mineral acreage would also not be available for leasing.

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Bipartisan Group of 42 Attorneys General Demand Health Warning on Social Media

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Kid on phone

A bipartisan group of state attorneys general sent Congress a letter Monday, urging lawmakers to pass a bill that requires a U.S. surgeon general on every algorithm-driven social media platform.

Forty-two state attorneys general, led by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, signed onto the letter. Rosenblum serves as the President of the National Association of Attorneys General.

The move comes as United States Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy called for this to happen in June.

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Latest Poll Shows Harris with Strong Lead over Trump in Virginia

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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

Virginia may not be in play after all in the 2024 presidential contest, judging by the results of a new poll by The Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. 

The poll, conducted Wednesday through Sunday, shows Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump by 8% (51%-43%), starkly contrasting with polls administered in the late spring and earlier summer when President Joe Biden was still the Democratic nominee. 

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Voter ID Loophole Could Undermine Trust in 2024 Election Results, Wisconsin Law Firm Report Warns

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People Voting

A legal firm has identified what it calls a voter identification loophole in Wisconsin’s election system that it says could undermine election confidence and potentially sow doubt about election results.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty released a report highlighting the large increase since 2016 of voters who identify as “indefinitely confined,” a status that allows them to continually receive an absentee ballot without showing an ID. Wisconsin only requires proof of residence in order to register to vote.

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Michigan Republicans Reveal Plan to Boost School Resources, Student Learning

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Students in Class Learning

Following a Michigan Department of Education report showing drops in reading and math proficiency in some grades, Michigan House Republicans have unveiled a multi-step plan to boost student achievement and teacher support.

The plan would provide extra funding for school safety and mental health resources, waive state fees for teachers and modernize the standard curriculum, State Reps. Jaime Greene, R-Richmond, and Nancy DeBoer, R-Holland, announced Monday.

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