Daily Dime

State tax policy plays an important role in advancing racial equity. That’s because how states raise revenue and what they decide to spend it on can help reduce poverty and expand opportunity, two keys to achieving true racial justice. Current tax policies have played a role in sustaining racial disparities, but as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Michael Leachman explains, there are things states can do to reverse this trend. … Read more...

The Interstate 10 bridge at Lake Charles is crumbling, and residents there want a replacement built as quickly as possible. Last week President Trump unveiled proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that would fast-track such projects by expediting the environmental reviews that have to be done in advance of major construction.… Read more...

The GOP House members who sided with Rep. Sherman Mack in the speaker’s race are not happy with the election results that saw Rep. Clay Schexnayder elevated to the lower chamber’s top leadership post. While the two Republicans hold similar views on top conservative priorities such as tort “reform,” Rep.… Read more...

Defying pressure from GOP power brokers, the House on Monday selected a 50-year-old auto mechanic and former race car driver as its next speaker. Rep. Clay Schexnayder of Gonzales takes the gavel with backing from a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and independents, along with all 35 Democrats in the lower chamber.… Read more...