Author: David Gregoire

States are weighing whether revenue from large-scale data-center projects can make up for lost income-tax receipts, balancing new business activity against infrastructure costs and the long-term fiscal health of communities. Data centers bring big, visible investments: buildings, power lines, and cooling systems that reshape local skylines and demand planning from utilities and counties. They create jobs during construction and some long-term technical and maintenance positions, but the headline numbers can obscure the trade-offs that follow. Local governments often offer tax breaks and incentives to attract these facilities, which complicates straightforward claims about net new revenue. Property taxes and special assessments…

Michigan is locked in a fight over a proposed constitutional amendment that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote, with more than 700,000 petition signatures rejected after a party-line canvass board vote and a contested sample review, and both sides now racing the September 4 ballot finalization deadline as they push the dispute toward the U.S. Supreme Court. State officials urged the Supreme Court to reject an emergency petition from Americans for Citizen Voting Michigan after the Bureau of Elections refused to certify the group’s petition. Michigan Solicitor General Ann Sherman filed a response saying the emergency application is…

The IRS has proposed stripping tax-exempt status from private schools that use racial preference policies like diversity, equity, and inclusion, a move that reshapes how nonprofits are judged and sparks immediate legal and political pushback. The Trump administration is taking aim at private schools’ tax benefits by targeting racial preference programs, specifically those framed as diversity, equity, and inclusion. The proposal would make the use of race-conscious admissions or policies a disqualifier for tax-exempt status across elementary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions. Supporters call it a return to equal treatment under the tax code and a crackdown on bureaucratic overreach masked…

Leon Black ignored a congressional subpoena and did not appear for closed-door testimony about his ties to late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a move that touched off a fierce debate over congressional authority, individual rights, and the limits of public inquiry. Billionaire investor Leon Black thwarted a congressional subpoena Thursday and failed to show up to provide closed-door testimony about his relationship with late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a development that put a spotlight on how Congress pursues high-profile figures. Critics on the right saw the no-show as a predictable clash between aggressive oversight and basic legal protections, while others…

The U.S. trade deficit climbed to $88.6 billion in July, a 24% jump from June as imports surged to support the artificial intelligence boom while President Trump worked to rebuild his tariff strategy. The headline number — a trade gap of $88.6 billion in July — signals more than a bookkeeping shift. Imports rose sharply as companies brought in expensive equipment and components tied to the artificial intelligence build-out, pushing the monthly deficit 24% higher than June. That mix of high-value tech goods and durable machinery is reshaping the trade ledger faster than traditional goods flows. From a Republican standpoint,…

The same Biden-appointed judge who gave Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s attempted killer a sweetheart prison sentence is now seeking to block President Trump’s renewed efforts to stop America’s birthplace citizenship crisis. Maryland-based District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday against Trump’s August executive order cracking down on the practice in ways the administration […] This case landed quickly and it matters because it touches on who belongs in the American family and what our laws mean. The judge’s ruling freezes enforcement of the August executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to…

The court paused an HHS order that forced teen pregnancy prevention grants to fund only abstinence-based programs after a judge found the agency’s supporting citations unreliable and possibly fabricated, and said the department failed to justify a blanket mandate or show sound evidence for its policy shift. A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction stopping an HHS order that redirected teen pregnancy prevention funding toward abstinence-only strategies. The decision came after the court concluded the agency did not adequately justify imposing a one-size-fits-all approach and that the move already triggered millions of dollars in grant cuts around the country.…

A Utah judge has bound Tyler Robinson over on seven charges, including aggravated murder with the death penalty still possible, in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a campus rally nearly a year ago. Judge Tony Graf ordered the case bound over for trial at the 4th District Court in Provo on September 1 after finding probable cause on every count. Robinson, through defense attorney Staci Visser, pleaded not guilty right after the ruling and waived a formal reading of the charges at arraignment. The decision keeps the capital sentencing enhancement alive while the case moves toward…

House Democrats blocked HJR 1 in a 212-206 vote, with 15 not voting, defeating the two-thirds majority needed for the constitutional “Keep Nine Amendment” that would have locked the Supreme Court at nine justices. Nearly every House Democrat voted to kill a constitutional amendment proposal on Wednesday that would have kept the Supreme Court at nine justices. In a 212-206 vote, with 15 members not voting, the House failed to garner the two-thirds majority needed to pass HJR 1. Known as the “Keep Nine Amendment,” the measure aimed to enshrine the Court’s current size in the Constitution to prevent future…

The Tricky Balancing Act of Data Centers and Electric Grids — a clear look at how rapid digital growth forces utilities and facilities to coordinate on reliability, costs, and resilience. Data centers are no longer back-of-house infrastructure. They sit at the center of modern commerce, research, and defense, and their power needs now shape local and regional electric planning in ways few predicted a decade ago. “They need each other to be in top form for the AI economy and national security.” That sentence captures the mutual dependency: grids must supply huge, steady loads, while data centers must behave as…