Restoring voting rights and more news from the states

Hello, readers! Welcome to our Wednesday edition of Daybreak, where this morning, we’re looking at how some state leaders are handling rising gas prices.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in Iowa that she is urging state governors to follow the president’s move to suspend penalties on the unrestricted use of dyed diesel, a tax-exempt fuel typically allowed in off-road machinery only. 

Alongside an executive order from President Donald Trump to try to lower the soaring cost of the fuel and urging from Rollins, governors and lawmakers in Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and other states moved to suspend penalties for the use of dyed diesel.

Red-dyed diesel is typically only allowed for off-highway agricultural, industrial and railroad use, according to our North Dakota newsroom. Some governors have issued executive orders expanding the use of red-dyed diesel, which is not taxed like regular diesel, in a bid to help farmers and truckers with transportation costs, Stateline reports.

National: As they await a federal decision on a potential nationwide ban on telehealth abortions, anti-abortion activists plan to push more states to require women to visit a doctor’s office, get an ultrasound or wait before they can get abortion pills.

Tennessee: Republican leaders in the state Legislature say they will investigate the reliability of lethal injection as an execution method after the state failed to execute two death row inmates in the span of five months.

New York: Facing a surge of measles cases in the state’s rural counties, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order allowing paramedics, pharmacists, midwives and other nonphysicians to administer vaccines.

Utah: Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed an executive order meant to “promote responsible AI use within government” by using “pro-human” principles when evaluating artificial intelligence tools. 

Alabama: A new process to review electricity contracts between Alabama Power and data centers will require power companies to make summaries of proposed agreements publicly available, as well as information about a project and its expected power consumption.

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.

Quadaire Patterson will vote for the first time this fall, a fact that brought a smile to his face on a recent afternoon as his 1-year-old daughter Trinity frolicked around the living room of the Henrico County, Virginia, home he shares with his wife, Virginia Mercury reports.  

He and wife Santia Nance joined other formerly incarcerated people and their families to advocate for a change in law that allowed his early release. He has frequented the state Capitol in the years since to lend insight to criminal justice legislation, despite being unable to vote himself.  

That changed this summer when Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger restored his voting rights along with more than 60,000 formerly incarcerated Virginians. But the restoration process remains subjective; the amendment aims to make it a certainty. 

Virginia’s current constitution permanently disenfranchises people with felony convictions unless they are pardoned by a governor or successfully petition one. After trying unsuccessfully to pass the restoration amendment, lawmakers saw a new opportunity when Democrats gained majorities in the legislature in 2023 and tried again. 

The current amendment had to pass the General Assembly two years in a row and will appear on statewide ballots this fall, where voters will approve or reject it.

South Carolina is spending $10 million to help more teachers pay off or erase their student loans. Legislators tucked the money in the latest state budget for the new program operated by South Carolina Student Loan Corp., South Carolina Daily Gazette reports.

Under the program, teachers who have federal or private student loan debt can apply to refinance as much as $27,500 worth of those loans for a fixed, 2% rate over 10 years. In some cases, that debt can be forgiven.

Ray Jones, chief product officer of South Carolina Student Loan, estimates the program will reduce or eliminate debt for upward of 360 working teachers in the state.

The nonprofit loan organization will split the state funds — $5 million to refinance at the lower interest rate and $5 million to wipe out loans for teachers who continue working in high-need school districts for five years.

South Carolina Student Loan, on behalf of the state, has operated the South Carolina Teacher Loan Program since 1984. College students studying to be teachers can apply for the loan to cover their tuition. When they graduate, if they teach in what the state education agency deems a “critical” district or subject area for five years, they can apply to have it forgiven.