Protections for virgin forestlands and more news from the states

Good morning! Thanks for joining us for our Thursday edition of Daybreak. 

A federal contract database shows that the location of a planned U.S. Department of Homeland Security national immigration enforcement call center has changed from Adams to Nashville, our Tennessee newsroom reports. 

The planned call center is intended to function as a 24/7 support center for local law enforcement across the county that have entered into cooperative agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In case you missed it, a proposal to limit the Missouri Legislature’s power to alter or repeal measures passed by initiative should not be on the state’s November ballot because it “impermissibly constricts” the legislative freedom to make new laws reflecting new views, a Cole County judge ruled.

Come back tomorrow for a new episode of our Stories From The States podcast. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.

Georgia: Patient advocates reacted with alarm this week at the suggestion by the administration of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp that it could end the state’s Pathways to Coverage, his signature Medicaid program that gives health coverage to about 18,500 low-income residents. 

Maine: People in the state who are incarcerated are pushing back against a long-standing loophole in the Department of Corrections’ disciplinary policy that allows staff to issue punishments before and regardless of a finding of guilt.

Nebraska: A Lancaster District Court judge has dismissed objections to two new political parties from the state’s two major parties. Judge Darla Ideus allowed the Nebraska Working People Party and the America First Party to remain on the ballot.

Indiana: ​​A federal appeals court upheld a ruling that permanently bars the state from penalizing Planned Parenthood for pointing pregnant minors to states in which abortion is legal.

West Virginia: More than 60,000 residents rely on federal rental assistance, and a quarter of those using assistance have a disability. While some counties already have a shortage of subsidized housing units for seniors and those with disabilities, the state is projected to lose more due to federal changes.

See the rest of the news of the day from all 50 states, plus our D.C. Bureau and Stateline, on News From The States.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is nearing a full repeal of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule that protects millions of acres of virgin forestland nationwide. In Virginia, the rule’s repeal would open up an estimated 400,000 acres of forest — largely across the Shenandoah Valley region — to development, Virginia Mercury reports. 

The Trump administration has touted the move as a way to expand wildfire management and economic development to public lands.

The rule was created decades ago as a way to protect the least-developed portions of the National Forest System and aid in preserving wildlife, clean drinking water, recreation and old-growth forests. 

Some environmental groups say there are already fire mitigation rules under the Roadless Rule that provide guidance on wildfire management, and they are concerned that increased development will lead to degradation of the natural environment and impact the watersheds that millions of people rely on for clean drinking water.

When Desalyn Swank applied to law school at University of Idaho, she said she made it clear she wanted to reform the state’s laws. Before her first year at law school ended, she already had. This year, the Idaho Legislature passed, and the governor signed, a bill she wrote to strengthen the state’s laws to criminalize the possession and sale of human remains, Idaho Capital Sun reports.

Inspired by her faith and her upbringing as the daughter of a mortician, she worked with coroners, law enforcement and others to craft a bill that didn’t receive a single no vote from any of Idaho’s 105 state lawmakers — all in the final few weeks of this year’s legislative session, when lawmakers often discourage new bills. 

The law, which took effect July 1, makes it a felony to sell, own, buy or lease “any artifacts or any human remains taken from a cairn, grave, or burial site,” or to “sell or advertise the sale of any material advertised as real human remains.” 

The law carves out several exceptions, including actions to perform government duties, such as work done by law enforcement or coroners, or by licensed medical practices, mortuaries, cemeteries or medical research facilities.