Trucking groups wait for clarity on dyed diesel and more news from the states

Good evening. Tonight we begin with a deeper look at trucking groups’ concerns over a lack of clarity on President Donald Trump‘s dyed diesel executive order. In North Carolina today, the governor signed a bill suspending the state’s consumer gas tax until the end of November. 

Wisconsin Democrats today filed a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s use of federal funding for campaign-style ads in the run-up to the midterm elections. In Kansas, the incumbent U.S. senator is facing questions about the line between his campaign and taxpayer money. 

Alabama, Florida and other southern states are preparing for landfall of Hurricane Isaias, expected overnight.

Across the country, election betting is booming as states grapple with how to curb prediction markets. 

The Tennessee Trucking Association and some Tennessee fuel providers are cautioning diesel-powered vehicle drivers to wait for clarity before using dyed diesel meant for off-road vehicles on public roads after recently announced respites from tax enforcement, Tennessee Lookout reports. 

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday instructing the U.S. Treasury Department to defer federal taxes on dyed diesel and allow highway use through the end of the year.

Red-dyed diesel fuel is chemically the same as regular diesel, but is typically only permitted for use in off-road vehicles because the fuel is exempt from taxes collected for road maintenance. 

The pause in enforcement is meant to help some diesel fuel users save money at the pump amid record-high prices, but the details of how this relief will work in practice are hazy. Trump’s executive order instructs the secretary of the Treasury to determine which taxpayers are covered along with any conditions on the tax relief, and “explore” potential ways to forgive the tax. The Internal Revenue Service has yet to issue implementation guidance.

In Nebraska, where the order was signed, the Nebraska Trucking Association, which represents roughly 900 companies, is skeptical and also advised members and partners not to fill up with dyed fuel until the details are made clear. 

Related coverage: 

The Wisconsin Democratic Party sued President Donald Trump and a group of federal agencies Friday for using federal funds on partisan campaign ads ahead of the November midterm elections, Wisconsin Examiner reports.

“Weeks before a midterm election that will largely serve as a referendum on the President’s policies, the Trump Administration has turned the federal treasury into a campaign war chest,” alleges the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in the District of Columbia. 

The ads ran between Sept. 23 and Sept. 29, airing at least 2,766 times, the lawsuit states. States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reported last week that the administration was tapping $20 million in Homeland Security funding to pay for the ads, including one that is nearly identical to a 2024 Trump campaign ad.

While Trump announced Oct. 5 that his super PAC MAGA Inc. would pay for the ads, the White House said the super PAC would not reimburse more than $10 million that had been spent on the ads. In addition, the suit charges, on Oct. 6 the administration aired another taxpayer-funded ad praising the administration for its removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

As Sen. Roger Marshall fights for his political life in Kansas, a staffer for Democrat Adam Hamilton — Marshall’s opponent — has been needling the Republican senator’s staff with an unusual question: Are any of you getting paid?

According to Marshall’s most recent Federal Election Commission records filed in July, no one working for Marshall’s campaign had received a paycheck in the past five years — a situation that campaign finance experts said was potentially unprecedented in modern politics and raises questions about the line between Marshall’s campaign and his taxpayer-funded Senate office. 

In a joint investigation, Kansas Reflector and MS NOW obtained audio recordings, photos, videos, screenshots of text messages and calendar items from 2020 — when Marshall first ran for his Senate seat — that appear to show the senator and his top aide repeatedly using congressional staff and government resources in ways that experts say likely crossed the line between official business and campaigning.

After promising to “meaningfully” respond to a detailed list of questions if Kansas Reflector and MS NOW extended its deadline for comment, Ryan Dollar, a lawyer for the Marshall campaign, sent a statement that did not address the questions.

“The Marshall campaign will not share, nor has any obligation to share campaign operations information with our opponent’s reporters, and Kansans know that Senator Marshall and his team fully comply with both FEC rules and Senate ethics while fighting for Kansas,” Dollar wrote, saying the story came from “a disgruntled employee.”

Arizona: A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility has had fire alarms going off throughout the day for at least two months, creating cruel conditions, according to detainees. The alarm lasts anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes, they said.

Tennessee: Attorneys for Christa Pike, who survived two lethal injection doses last week, sent a memo to federal defenders across the country detailing her condition, as researchers called attention to the grim science of lethal injection.

Florida: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew a death warrant for 74-year-old William Thompson, a week after more than 100 medical professionals called on him to do so, noting that Thompson suffers from dementia and other ailments.

Alaska: Under a new Trump administration rule to fast-track oil exploration, new ice roads, well-drilling and other projects in the National Petroleum Reserve will no longer have to undergo case-by-case environmental analysis. 

Alabama: The state Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a challenge to Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s residency and eligibility to run for governor.

New Jersey: Emergency responders urged state officials at a legislative hearing to make ambulance service an essential requirement under state law, create a statewide plan for responders and expand funding, among other reforms. 

Idaho: Voters will decide in November whether to designate English as the state’s official language in the state constitution. Advocates worry the move could make life harder for Hispanic residents, who make up about 13% of Idaho’s population. 

North Carolina: Health officials announced the first flu-related death of the 2026-2027 flu season. During last year’s respiratory virus season, the state reported 335 flu-related deaths, including 10 children.

Lisa Quiggle hands a sandbag to Samantha Riechers at a sandbag-filling site in Foley, Alabama, as residents prepare for Hurricane Isaias on Oct. 8. (Photo by Dan Anderson for Alabama Reflector)

The hurricane strengthened to a Category 3 storm Friday morning and was expected to make landfall late Friday evening or early Saturday morning somewhere in the Florida panhandle.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis declared an emergency order in 27 counties and said Florida Power & Light has 16,000 linemen and personnel mobilized to respond to damage.

“Assume you’re going to lose power,” DeSantis warned Floridians. 

In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, declared a state of emergency in 40 counties in central and southern Alabama and on Thursday ordered mandatory evacuations of coastal visitors. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Friday the emergency declaration put the state’s price-gouging laws into effect. 

The National Hurricane Center said Isaias is likely to bring sustained winds of 120 mph and stronger gusts. 

Read more from Alabama Reflector and Florida Phoenix.

A former Cornell University student’s allegations of gang rape in 2024 have revived scrutiny of the patchwork of state laws governing intoxication and sexual consent. 

Nineteen states, including New York, limit mental incapacity to cases of involuntary intoxication, such as being drugged against one’s will.

Legislation to address the issue has been before New York lawmakers for years, but the Cornell case has again called attention to proposed changes to sexual assault laws in the state and elsewhere. 

Read more from Stateline.

Prediction markets have emerged as a flashpoint in state and federal relations, as states struggle with the Trump administration over who has authority to regulate the platforms and whether state laws restricting gambling apply. While much of the fight centers on the future of sports betting, a growing number of state officials fear the sites are opening the door to a new era of gambling on elections — a practice many states have long prohibited, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reports.

Some state election officials have warned their residents in recent months that using prediction markets to put money on elections is illegal. Others are locked in litigation with the platforms. At least one state, Arizona, has filed criminal charges against Kalshi.

But the prediction markets remain widely available as Election Day approaches, with the industry maintaining that the federal government has authority over the platforms, not the states.

More from the D.C. Bureau: Trump appoints committee to revive quest to remove Lisa Cook from Fed board

Measles cases for the calendar year surpassed 4,000 for the first time in decades with as many as five deaths in Pennsylvania. The federal government stepped in with financial help for states but also fanned vaccination fears and skepticism, Stateline reports. 

A weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed 4,080 cases this year as of Oct. 8, up 192 cases in a week. 

Pennsylvania alone had 142 new cases for the week — for a total of 1,105 for the year. The CDC recognized just two of the state’s five reported deaths.

Other states with large numbers of cases, more than 200, did not see their case numbers change for the week: South Carolina (670 for the year), Utah (535) and Wisconsin (207). States with more cases included New York, which declared a measles emergency, with 19 new cases for a total of 103 this year; and Iowa, up 17 cases to 39.

In Utah, voting by mail has a long history and has been lauded as a safe and secure method by state leaders across the political spectrum. 

In recent years, however, as President Donald Trump has continued rhetoric about widespread fraud without evidence, Utah lawmakers have made moves to slowly pull back on universal, automatic voting by mail by enacting more ID requirements and requiring voters to opt in to receive a by-mail ballot by 2029. 

In Episode 49 of Stories From the States, you’ll hear from the Salt Lake County clerk, whose office serves one-third of Utah’s total voting population. She said 90% of people who participate in any given election in the county use their mail ballot. Her priority each election is to have safe and accessible voting, and the 2026 midterms are no different.

Listen to Stories From The States below, or subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

The dogs and cats in your life don’t get a vote on Nov. 3, so they’re counting on you to get it right.

That’s the message from the Georgia Pet Coalition, a nonpartisan group of Georgia humans who advocate on behalf of the state’s companion animals, Georgia Recorder reports. 

“We do not endorse candidates, and we remain nonpartisan,” said Peggy McCarthey of the coalition’s board of directors. “But we do want to educate our voters about what the pertinent issues are.”

The coalition sent supporters legislative scorecards for the state House and Senate, as well as a list of animal welfare-related questions to ask candidates at town halls and community events.

This year, six of the nine bills the coalition supported passed with broad bipartisan support, and in 2025, that number was seven out of 10.

Pet coalition-supported bills in recent years have dealt with weighty issues like adding protections for household pets in cases of family violence and establishing a database of animal cruelty offenders.

But McCarthey said there’s still room for progress, especially when it comes to the number of homeless pets. Coalition data shows the number of dogs that died in Georgia public shelters grew to over 20,000 between 2021 and 2025, nearly doubling during that timeframe.