Politics

Welcome to Hall Pass. This newsletter keeps you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance. Each week, we bring you a roundup of the latest on school board elections, along with sharp commentary and research from across the political spectrum on the issues confronting school boards in the country’s 14,000 school districts. We’ll also bring you the latest on school board elections and recall efforts, including candidate filing deadlines and election results. In today’s edition, you’ll find: On the issues: The debate over social-emotional learning in public schools  School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certificationsCalifornia Superintendent of Public Instruction primary electi...

In the wake of a leaked draft ruling revealing that the US Supreme Court intends to overturn Roe v. Wade, Destiny 2 studio Bungie has issued a statement saying that it "supports essential healthcare rights'' and is "committed to safeguarding the freedom and privacy of its employees." It also took the opportunity to roast a few followers on Twitter who demanded that the studio "stick to making videogames."The Roe v. Wade decision, issued in 1973, ruled that women in the US have a constitutionally-protected right to abortion, with some limitations based on trimester. The case was sparked by a Texas law that outlawed all access to abortion except in cases where the mother's life was threatened; the court ruled that the law violated the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment of the US Cons...

Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics. First Shot Attorney General Ashley Moody announced a multistate agreement with the company behind TurboTax that will claw back millions of dollars for Floridians. The agreement settles allegations that Intuit, the company behind TurboTax and other financial software such as QuickBooks, tricked consumers into paying for tax services that should have been free. “As a result of this multistate investigation, Intuit will have to pay more than $140 million in restitution for allegedly advertising free tax-preparation products and then directing many consumers to pay for upgrades in the service,” Moody said. “Not only have we secured millions for those who were misled into paying for services that they could have obtained fo...

Washington — Since the Supreme Court ruled nearly 50 years ago in the case Roe v. Wade that the Constitution protects the right to an abortion, the debate over the issue has raged at the federal and state levels. But the fight over the constitutional right to an abortion will reach its zenith in the coming weeks, when the Supreme Court will issue its highly anticipated decision in a legal fight over a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.Mississippi officials called for the court, now with a 6-3 conservative majority, to use the case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization as a vehicle for overturning its past abortion decisions, and a draft majority opinion circulated among the justices in February that was published by Politico this week sug...

AUSTIN, Texas — After two decades of explosive population growth in Texas and amid growing economic disruptions, a majority of Texans said the state is headed in the wrong direction, with more viewing the state’s dramatic population growth as bad for Texas, according to a new University of Texas at Austin/Texas Politics Project Poll. The survey found that a majority of Texas voters now view the state’s sustained population growth either negatively or with uncertainty. By a wide margin, Texans reported being aware of the state’s recent population growth. However, only 34% viewed that growth as good for the state, while 40% said that it has been bad for the state, with the remaining voters unable to offer an opinion, positive or negative. Skepticism about the effects of the s...