On Nov. 4, 2025, Pennsylvania voters faced a high-stakes statewide ballot: a simple yes/no vote on whether three incumbent justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would be retained for another 10-year term. The justices up...more
Democrats sweep key races: Voters delivered Democrats a dominant, high-visibility boost in four major races: the governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia, New York City mayoral race and California redistricting ballot...more
While marquee contests in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California and New York City dominated national political coverage during the 2025 off-year elections, several pivotal state-level races and ballot measures took...more
PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” have been on the radar of regulators and industry for years, but the recent pace and scope of action mark a turning point. Federal agencies are advancing the first national drinking water...more
Brownstein is watching and analyzing the two gubernatorial races this year—in New Jersey and Virginia—and looking ahead to the 36 gubernatorial contests in 2026....more
Last Thursday, Aug. 21, the Colorado General Assembly reconvened for its 2025 Extraordinary Session, mostly focused on addressing the $750‒$800 million state budget shortfall created by the federal government’s passage of the...more
8/28/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automated Decision Systems (ADS) ,
Colorado ,
Health Insurance ,
New Legislation ,
One Big Beautiful Bill Act ,
Popular ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
Tax Credits ,
Taxation
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law on July 4, 2025. Its primary objective is to extend key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), including individual and corporate tax cuts. Beyond tax...more
This morning, Gov. Jared Polis issued Executive Order D 2025 009, convening the Colorado General Assembly in an extraordinary legislative session to begin on Aug. 21, 2025. The governor has this power under Article IV,...more
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston delivered his second State of the City address to a packed audience on Monday night. His speech was framed by historical anecdotes about Denver’s early gamble to connect to the transcontinental...more
With the signature of President Trump’s marquee domestic policy bill—H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—the federal approach to the Medicaid program is poised to change significantly. How Colorado’s political leaders treat...more
Colorado’s 2025 regular state lawmaking period ended just over a month ago on May 7 and now policymakers’ attention is turning towards their traditional interim work before the 2026 session begins on Jan. 14. Yet, between...more
This alert is jointly authored by the federal and local government relations teams at Brownstein to provide a comprehensive analysis of President Donald Trump’s executive orders' impacts on cities. Brownstein remains...more
Last week, on Jan. 15, Gov. Wes Moore introduced to the Maryland General Assembly his fiscal year 2026 budget package. This $67.3 billion proposal, aiming to close the state’s nearly $3 billion budget gap, places a strong...more
As Maryland’s 477th legislative session quickly approaches, and with a $2.9 billion budget shortfall looming, lawmakers will have to make tough decisions to address the state’s largest budget shortfall since the Great...more
The 2025 legislative session begins tomorrow. With a $1 billion budget shortfall looming, Colorado lawmakers are already facing tough decisions on how to tackle issues affecting residents and businesses alike. In addition,...more
It typically takes weeks for counties in California to process and count all of the ballots. Elections officials have approximately one month to complete their extensive tallying, auditing and certification work. The...more
Three and a half days after it convened, the Colorado Legislature ended its special session on property tax. The session was called in response to a dramatic increase in property taxes that both residential and commercial...more
Colorado wrapped up its primary elections on Tuesday, June 25. Although voter turnout was reportedly lower for this year’s primary elections across the state, the results could still portend shifts in the trajectory of...more
Entering the second regular session of Colorado’s 74th General Assembly, most Capitol observers were expecting more of the same—the same being the acrimony, contentiousness and rancor that characterized the end of the 2023...more
With less than three weeks left until sine die, there are several key bills currently under consideration in or that have made their way through Colorado's legislature. These proposals span a variety of sectors including...more
Colorado’s state legislature is close to 50 days in of its 120-day lawmaking period and while legislators have introduced over 486 bills addressing myriad issues, this year’s session has perceptibly been colored by the...more
During this year’s November election, Coloradans clearly rejected Proposition HH, the ballot measure Democrats in the state legislature referred to the voters in the waning days of the 2023 regular session to address severe...more
Hurried. Chaotic. Contentious. -
Any or all of these terms could be used to describe the first regular session of Colorado’s 74th General Assembly, particularly as it neared its constitutionally mandated end this past...more
In 2023, all 50 state legislatures will convene, including biennial legislatures. Nationwide, state legislatures will spend months grappling with policies that will impact their state and constituents. And although each state...more
As discussed in our recent cannabis coverage, going into this week’s midterm election, five states had ballot measures giving their constituents an opportunity to weigh in on cannabis legalization. As the votes are tallied,...more
11/11/2022
/ Agribusiness ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dispensaries ,
Election Results ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures