In Canada’s Northwest Territories, a landmark pact is uniting federal, territorial, and 21 Indigenous governments to protect nature on an unprecedented scale. Covering current preserves plus 75,000 square miles of new conserved lands — twice Florida’s size and more than 2% of Canada’s landmass — the agreement will channel over $300 million to Indigenous-led stewardship, conservation, and ecotourism.
Thousands of Arizonans now have a financial burden lifted off their shoulders, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced on Wednesday. According to the Democratic governor, $429 million in medical debt has been erased for more than 352,000 Arizonans as part of a partnership between her administration and national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt. In 2024, Hobbs announced an initiative to erase $2 billion in medical debt for up to one million Arizonans.
The state released new data showing California’s continued progress toward a clean energy future with 67% of the state’s retail electricity sales in 2023 coming from renewable and zero-carbon electricity generation — compared to just 61% the previous year and around 41% a decade ago. Then, in 2024, the state added a record-breaking 7,000 MW of clean capacity to the grid, the largest single-year increase in clean energy capacity in state history.
In a 4-3 decision, the court’s liberal majority affirmed a lower court ruling that overturned the 176-year-old ban and left in place a more recent law in Wisconsin allowing most abortions until about the 20th week of pregnancy. As was the case in many states with similar older laws, or newer so-called trigger laws, the ban came back into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade in 2022. In short order, the decision prompted Planned Parenthood’s Wisconsin operations to suspend abortion services in the state.
Autonomous midwifery practice enables midwives to conduct their professional work by providing evidence-based, high-quality, and ethical care across pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum, as well as providing other reproductive health care. Now, Virginia midwives can not only practice autonomously but also receive 100% free schedule reimbursement from private insurance and Medicaid. They can also serve on a 24-hour on-call duty roster for nursery care when physicians are unavailable, addressing staffing shortages in rural areas.
As early as 2026, sexual assault survivors, health care facilities, law enforcement agencies, forensic science laboratories and attorneys’ offices in Kansas will be able to track the status of a sexual assault evidence kit, also known as a rape kit, through an online system. Kansas is among the last states in the country to adopt such a system.
In a historic and bipartisan move, the State of Texas has approved $50 million in state funding for drug development trials for ibogaine, a powerful, naturally occurring medicine showing extraordinary promise as a breakthrough treatment for substance use disorder, trauma-related conditions, and traumatic brain injury. With the passage of House Bill 3717, Texas now leads the country—and the world—in psychedelic research investment.
Currently, it takes 554 days for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to process DNA evidence kits from sexual assaults, leaving 1,369 cases in limbo as victims and investigators wait for results. The new law, now officially signed by Gov. Polis, requires increased oversight of CBI and creates a 60-day turnaround goal per DNA evidence kit, three times faster than the state’s current 180-day guidance. Sexual assault victims will be entitled to updates on their pending evidence kits every 90 days under the new law.
Right-to-repair bills allow consumers to fix broken products and replace missing parts, boosting consumer rights, affordability, and waste reduction. In May, Washington Gov. Ferguson signed two bills, covering consumer electronics, appliances, and wheelchairs. Then, the Oregon and Nevada legislatures passed their own wheelchair bills, while Texas and Connecticut passed consumer electronics measures. 2025 is now already the most productive year ever for Right to Repair.
Act 96 will raise the state’s current transient accommodations tax by 0.75% for a total of 11% placed upon the nightly lodging rate, effective Jan. 1, 2026. The fee will apply to travelers staying in hotels, short-term vacation rentals, and for the first time ever, cruise ships. Tourist taxes are quickly emerging worldwide as more destinations face the impacts of over-tourism and climate change. Last year, Greece, Bali, and the Galápagos Islands all implemented or raised their fees on travelers to contribute to sustainability programs.
