United States milestones | Good News for Humankind

New Jersey has erased $1.6 billion in medical debt since 2023

By Peter Schulte / October 6, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Nearly 20,000 more New Jersey residents learned by mail that medical debt relief had erased $90 million of their bills, with no application needed. The nonprofit Undue Medical Debt buys unpaid bills from hospitals and collectors at steep discounts and cancels them. In 2024 C.E., about $550,000 in federal funds cleared $100 million this way. Those one-time funds are now spent, so the state says it will focus on the cost of care itself.

California bans AI workplace surveillance of brain activity and emotions

By Peter Schulte / October 1, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

AI workplace surveillance already extends into territory most employees don’t expect: software that infers how a worker feels, or hardware that reads activity in their nervous system. California just drew a specific line around both, covering neural data and emotion inference wherever AI tools collect it, while leaving safety-related surveillance untouched. Violations carry civil penalties of up to $500 each.

U.S. Veterans Affairs awards record $1.17 billion to fight veteran homelessness

By Peter Schulte / September 29, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Veteran homelessness in the United States has fallen sharply over the past 15 years, and the Department of Veterans Affairs is now backing that trend with its largest single funding push yet. The money splits between two programs: one for rapid rehousing and eviction prevention, the other for transitional housing aimed at women veterans, elderly veterans, and those with chronic illness. None of it reaches veterans directly; it funds the 680 local organizations that do.

Record 3,794 women are nominees across 2026 U.S. state legislative races

By Peter Schulte / September 24, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Women’s presence in American state governments has climbed for decades, and this year’s candidate pool is the clearest sign yet of how far that shift has come — more women are seeking state legislative office than at any point in U.S. history. The gains aren’t even, though: Democratic women set their own record, while Republican women actually fell short of their 2022 high, and women still hold just a third of all state legislative seats nationwide. Whether this record of candidates becomes a record of winners won’t be clear until Election Day in November.

Kentucky erases $250 million in medical debt for 130,000 residents

By Peter Schulte / September 23, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

For tens of thousands of Kentuckians, medical debt just disappeared — no forms, no applications, just a letter in the mail. Governor Andy Beshear directed $2.5 million to a nonprofit that buys medical debt for pennies on the dollar and cancels it. The first wave already erased $103 million for 46,000 people. The money came from a fund originally set aside for housing assistance — a reminder that even well-designed relief still competes for limited dollars.

Inside Episcopal church, for article on transgender Episcopal dean

Episcopal Church names Micah Cronin of Milwaukee its first out transgender dean

By Peter Schulte / September 17, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Micah Cronin’s appointment as dean of All Saints’ Cathedral in Milwaukee marks a meaningful milestone for LGBTQ+ inclusion inside one of America’s major Christian denominations. Cronin, who found the Episcopal Church after feeling unwelcome in the conservative Methodist tradition he grew up in, sees his presence at the altar as an act of witness during a difficult moment for transgender Americans. Real tensions remain within the broader church, and not every diocese has embraced the same degree of inclusion. Still, his story shows how institutions long resistant to change can open doors that matter far beyond their walls.

Black bear, for article on black bear recolonization

Black bear population rebounds across the American South after near collapse

By Peter Schulte / September 15, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Bears are not mountain animals — they thrive in swamps, pine stands, and farm-field margins, which is why the Mississippi floodplain was once their heartland. Mississippi had an estimated 12 bears left when it protected them in 1932; Arkansas, down to 40 or 50 in the 1950s, restocked with bears trucked in from Minnesota and Manitoba, now holds roughly 5,000. Louisiana’s bears left the federal threatened list in 2016. Females breed slowly and young males wander hundreds of miles, so the return is measured in decades. Conflict with farms and suburbs is the next problem to solve.

Inside a data center, for article on Massachusetts clean energy data centers

Massachusetts requires data centers over 25MW to run on 100% clean energy

By Peter Schulte / September 10, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Massachusetts is raising the bar for how AI infrastructure plugs into the power grid — requiring large data centers to bring clean energy with them, not just draw from whatever’s available. New facilities exceeding 25 megawatts must generate clean power, fund new clean capacity nearby, or pay into a ratepayer protection fund, and towns gain effective veto power before state agencies weigh in. The key question is whether compliance payments will be set high enough to drive real clean generation rather than checkbook compliance. Massachusetts is the third state in three months to move this way — a sign more may soon follow.

Repairing laptop, for article on right to repair

Texas right to repair law takes effect, covering phones and laptops

By Peter Schulte / September 8, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

House Bill 2963 requires manufacturers to supply parts, tools, and repair documentation to independent shops and device owners on the same fair terms their authorized service networks already get. Roughly three in four Texans backed it. Consumer group U.S. PIRG estimates the average Texas household could save roughly $382 a year by fixing electronics rather than replacing them, against a $330 national average — and about 8,700 smartphones are discarded in the state every day. But “fair and reasonable” pricing is not yet defined, and manufacturers have complied narrowly with similar laws before.

MRI scan, for article on accessible medical equipment

U.S. now requires medical equipment to be accessible for people with disabilities

By Peter Schulte / September 2, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Accessible medical equipment rules now give Americans with disabilities a federal guarantee that hospitals and clinics must actually have the tools to examine them — something existing anti-discrimination law never fully delivered. General facilities must meet a 10% accessibility threshold, rising to 20% at practices specializing in mobility conditions. The gap this closes is stark: some patients had to visit a veterinary office just to be weighed, traveling dozens of miles because no doctor’s office nearby could accommodate them. Real change now depends on consistent enforcement, since most exam rooms remain inaccessible today even as the rules take effect.