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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Missouri Governor Mike Parson recently led a group of Republican governors in sending a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in regards to the agency’s changed to the loan level pricing adjustment (LLPA).

Richey and his colleagues urge the governor to abandon the special session proposed for August 21 in response to The Covenant School tragedy, because the General Assembly can discuss and consider legitimate measures to improve public safety when it reconvenes in January 2024. While acknowledging that the governor has the constitutional authority to call a special session, the letters states that it “will be a political event to put pressure on conservative Republicans to grow government and ignore the will of their constituents in service to the national woke mob that will descend on the Capitol.”

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), an incident recently occurred at the Douglas Port of Entry where a suspect attempting to enter Arizona was found trying to smuggle in an improvised explosive device (IED). A statement CBP emailed to The Arizona Sun Times revealed that the incident occurred on May 6th. Officials from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrived to confiscate the device after it was found in the suspect's vehicle. There were no other items of interest found.

The Florida legislative session has come to an end after state lawmakers made their final votes on the budget on Friday. Senate Bill 2500, the General Appropriations Act, passed both chambers on day 60 of the regular session and is set to be far higher than initially planned, reaching an estimated $117 billion, $7 billion higher than the previous year’s budget.

Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed National Opportunity Project founder, Patrick Hughes to the newsmaker line to discuss the misallocation of millions of COVID dollars to private schools throughout the country.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) has laid out the next step required for Tennessee to possibly reject federal education dollars in the future. On Monday, he filed legislation (add an attachment here) that would create an 11-member task force, helmed by  Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, to study the process required for the state to forego federal funding. The proposed committee would begin meeting monthly in August and would be expected to deliver a strategic plan to Governor Lee and the General Assembly by December 1. The legislation further requires that Commissioner Schwinn, in her role as chair, notify the US Department of Education by August 31 and advise them on Tennessee's intent to explore the possibility of Tennessee rejecting federal funding.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) has laid out the next step required for Tennessee to possibly reject federal education dollars in the future. On Monday, he filed legislation (add an attachment here) that would create an 11-member task force, helmed by  Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, to study the process required for the state to forego federal funding. The proposed committee would begin meeting monthly in August and would be expected to deliver a strategic plan to Governor Lee and the General Assembly by December 1. The legislation further requires that Commissioner Schwinn, in her role as chair, notify the US Department of Education by August 31 and advise them on Tennessee's intent to explore the possibility of Tennessee rejecting federal funding.

State Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) introduced legislation that would exempt teachers from the state requirement of cataloging books in their personal classroom libraries in a manner that would not undermine current law as it applies to school libraries. According to Yarbro's legislation, if passed into law, this bill would free teachers up while creating a policy that ensures parents and legal guardians have multiple opportunities throughout the school year to view books in their student's classroom libraries. Also, a provision prohibits teachers from knowingly or intentionally using their classroom libraries to circumvent the current law. This ensures that inappropriate books for the school's library can not be included in classroom libraries.

Former President Trump on Saturday won the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll as the preferred 2024 GOP presidential nominee, and former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake won as the vice presidential choice of CPAC attendees. Over 2,000 votes were cast.

Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz will be a no-show for a key debate Tuesday sponsored by the liberal American Constitution Society. Now, according to the Russ-Feingold-led ACS, the debate is off, The Wisconsin Daily Star has learned.  The campaign for conservative candidate Daniel Kelly told the group that he would still attend the event — originally scheduled for noon Tuesday in Milwaukee — with or without his opponent. The Constitution Society said thanks, but no thanks. They are canceling the debate. 

Connecticut lawmakers are revisiting proposals that would authorize physicians to administer lethal doses of medicine to terminally ill patients. A pair of bills being considered by the General Assembly would put Connecticut in line with Vermont, Maine and seven other states that have "death with dignity" statutes, also known as physician-assisted suicide or medical-aid-in-dying laws.

President Joe Biden issued a sweeping executive order last week that will embed woke critical race and gender ideologies into every agency of the federal government, an agenda Legal Insurrection’s Professor William Jacobson asserts amounts to “outright discrimination on the basis of race.” Jacobson announced the launch of the Equal Protection Project Thursday night on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.

This week I have a question from Ryan who asks about economic development in America. Ryan says, I was having a discussion with an acquaintance the other day over the causes of the post WW2 economy, more specifically why the middle class grew so large compared to the past and today. My claim was that the war devastated other countries' industries, forcing other countries to buy from the US. This combined with the return of many men from the military to the workforce was the primary cause. He claims that while those produced a large GDP, it did not explain why the middle class grew. Instead he advocates that the primary cause was the FDR policies of wealth redistribution, high tax rates, and strong labor unions. As such, he advocates for a return to those policies today. What would be your perspective on this and where might one go to further research it?

China called for a ceasefire in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict this week and for the start of peace negotiations as the war's one-year anniversary approaches Friday. Beijing unveiled its proposals as part of a 12-point plan to end the conflict that would also see the end of Western sanctions on Russia and a number of allowances for humanitarian relief, according to the New York Post.

Former President Jimmy Carter will begin receiving hospice care this week, the Carter Center announced on Saturday. The Democratic politician, who at 98 is the oldest president in United States history, made the decision to forego all additional medical care, his charity said in a statement.