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WHAT VIRGINIANS ARE SEEING: ATTORNEY GENERAL JAY JONES SHARES WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF ACTIONS TAKEN
RICHMOND, Virginia, Sept. 26 -- Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones issued the following news release:
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WHAT VIRGINIANS ARE SEEING: ATTORNEY GENERAL JAY JONES SHARES WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF ACTIONS TAKEN
Takes action to protect consumers in consequential merger proposal, fights federal overreach, and invests in communities
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RICHMOND, Va. -- Attorney General Jones continues to advocate for ratepayers in front of the SCC, delivers on his promise to fight back against federal overreach, and invests in communities across the Commonwealth.
Protecting Consumers
Attorney General Jones ... Show Full Article RICHMOND, Virginia, Sept. 26 -- Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones issued the following news release: * * * WHAT VIRGINIANS ARE SEEING: ATTORNEY GENERAL JAY JONES SHARES WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF ACTIONS TAKEN Takes action to protect consumers in consequential merger proposal, fights federal overreach, and invests in communities - RICHMOND, Va. -- Attorney General Jones continues to advocate for ratepayers in front of the SCC, delivers on his promise to fight back against federal overreach, and invests in communities across the Commonwealth. Protecting Consumers Attorney General Jonestold the SCC that the 180-day review period for the Dominion Energy-NextEra Energy merger proposal should be reset, following the companies' substantial modifications to the original proposal. The Virginia Code charges the Office of the Attorney General with the responsibility to represent ratepayers in front of the State Corporation Commission as they consider cases that impact the interests of consumers, including this merger.
Virginia Mercury and NBC12 and Cardinal News: 'A different deal on the table': AG Jay Jones asks SCC to reset the clock on Dominion-NextEra merger
Attorney General Jay Jones told state regulators Friday that they should reset the 180-day review time period for the $67 billion Dominion Energy-NextEra Energy merger proposal, after the companies unveiled expanded conditions of the deal last week.
On Sept. 14, Dominion and NextEra jointly filed supplemental documents to the State Corporation Commission outlining new additions to the proposal, including extending residential customers' bill credits to four years instead of two.
The companies also pitched five-year job protections for Virginia staff working on the project, instead of 18 months, and a promise of a new office tower in downtown Richmond.
In the filing, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said several stakeholder hearings since the original filing of the case on July 15 prompted the changes that could make the deal more attractive.
"The Supplemental Merger Commitments... address the comments we have heard and propose to provide greater immediate customer benefits, headcount commitments, meaningful economic development initiatives..." Ketchum stated in the supplemental filing on Sept. 14.
Jones filed testimony on Sept. 18 arguing that the changes are significant enough that they should be considered an amendment to the initial proposal and that the 180-day countdown clock should be reset to start with the Sept. 14 filing.
He stated that the 180-day limit for the SCC to consider the case should be reset to the date of the supplemental filing to allow proper time for intervenors to review the new details, allow for the public to be engaged, and for any additional interested parties to file as intervenors in the case.
"The Joint Petitioners have put a different deal on the table," Jones' testimony read.
Because the companies' supplemental filing was submitted the first business day after the deadline to file as an intervenor in the case, Jones said, it "raises serious notice concerns."
"Case participants cannot simply take the Joint Petitioners at their word that these new proposals are unqualified benefits that will accrue to Virginia ratepayers and citizens," Jones said in his filing.
A proposal of this magnitude, Jones said, and the new conditions "prompt meaningful questions that must be asked through the discovery process to build a full evidentiary record about these commitments' impacts" to the public at just and reasonable rates.
As it currently stands, the SCC must make their final decision on the merger by Jan. 11, which would mark 180 days after the filing date of the initial proposal.
If regulators approve Jones' request to restart the 180-day merger review period from Sept. 14, the case would be ongoing during the regular General Assembly session, which begins in January.
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If the SCC sides with Jones, a final decision on the merger case could be expected in March.
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Richmond Times Dispatch: Virginia AG seeks more review of $67B NextEra-Dominion merger
Promises of more bill credits in NextEra Energy's proposed takeover of Dominion Energy mean the State Corporation Commission should take more time to consider the deal, Attorney General Jay Jones said.
Earlier this month, NextEra said it would offer residential bill credits for four years, instead of two, bring 600 new jobs to Virginia and direct $100 million of stockholder funds to Dominion's Energy Share assistance program for Virginians struggling with energy bills.
With that, NextEra and Dominion "have put a different deal on the table," Jones said in a filing with the SCC.
State law gives the commission up to 180 days to consider utility mergers, and the clock started ticking when NextEra and Dominion formally asked the SCC to approve the $67 billion merger in July.
The deal can't go ahead unless the SCC approves, but if it doesn't act by what's currently a mid-January deadline, state law says the merger can go through.
"The proposals filed under the guise of 'supplemental testimony' amount to an entirely new proposal," Jones said.
If the SCC agrees that additional bill credits and other measures should be considered in its review, that would present significant procedural concerns because of the 180-day deadline, Jones said.
He noted that NextEra and Dominion decided to file the supplemental testimony on the first business day after the SCC's deadline for interested parties to formally intervene in the case.
That raises serious concerns about whether that gave interested parties sufficient notice, Jones said.
"Case participants cannot simply take (NextEra and Dominion) at their word that these new proposals are unqualified benefits that will accrue to Virginia ratepayers and citizens," Jones said.
"As with any proposal, especially one of this magnitude, these newly proposed commitments prompt meaningful questions that must be asked through the discovery process to build a full evidentiary record about these commitments' impacts to 'adequate service to the public at just and reasonable rates,'" Jones said, citing the language the SCC must consider when deciding whether to approve or reject a utility merger.
"Simply put, the filing of 'significant expansions' to the (NextEra and Dominion) proposal in this extremely important case just over a month before the filing deadline for intervenor testimony does not ensure intervenors have adequate time to analyze, conduct discovery on, and compile testimony regarding these 'significant expansions,'" Jones said, quoting the term the two firms themselves used to describe the changes.
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WTVR: Virginia AG says Dominion-NextEra 'put a different deal on the table,' seeks merger review reset
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is asking the State Corporation Commission to restart the clock on the proposed merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra, saying new commitments filed by the companies amount to an amendment of the original merger proposal -- not a simple supplement to existing testimony.
"The Joint Petitioners have put a different deal on the table," Jones said in the Sept. 18 SCC filing.
On Sept. 14, Dominion Energy and NextEra announced new promises, including doubling bill credits, creating 1,000 new jobs, building a new office tower for NextEra employees, and maintaining current Virginia employee headcount levels for five years.
Jones said those new commitments require more time for review.
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Fighting Federal Overreach
Attorney General Jones demanded that the federal government initiate an investigation into reports that the Department of Homeland Security may have violated Virginia's laws as part of new DHS program, following a recent whistleblower report. Also this week, Attorney General Jones and a coalition stopped Donald Trump's SNAP penalties and stood in opposition to a proposed federal law that could put federal funding for Medicaid at risk and interfere with state oversight.
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PBS: DHS may have violated state election law, Virginia's AG says after whistleblower report
Virginia's attorney general said Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security may have violated several state laws after a whistleblower accused its employees of misrepresenting themselves on voter lookup tools to hunt for noncitizen voters.
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Attorney General Jay Jones demanded that DHS confirm in writing whether it had directed anyone to access Virginia voters' information without first obtaining permission from those voters.
"Virginia Election Code does not permit disclosure of this protected information to the federal government without a court order," he wrote in the letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The state explicitly limits its voter lookup tools to individuals who attest under penalty of law that they are looking up their own records.
The AP has asked DHS for comment on the letter.
Jones also asked Mullin to preserve all related records, including access logs, correspondence and training materials mentioned in the whistleblower report.
The anonymous report, published Monday by Democratic Senate leaders, includes transcripts of a DHS training for a group of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffers, who it says were forced in late August to drop other work, complete a less than two-hour training and begin running DHS-provided lists of people through state voter registration systems to find "unlawful voters."
The whistleblower contends that agents have been asked to review 40 individuals per day, giving them about 12 minutes to determine whether each person is a legal voter and create federal records of anyone who is not.
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The Virginian Pilot: Homeland Security agents may have illegally accessed Virginia voter rolls, whistleblower alleges
A whistleblower alleged that Department of Homeland Security agents may have illegally accessed Virginia voter records.
On Sept. 8, a whistleblower made a protected disclosure to the Senate accusing agents working on the Unlawful Voter Initiative -- the department's name for its investigation -- of having used Virginia's voter registration database to cross-reference names of noncitizens.
The whistleblower said USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate personnel were directed to impersonate Virginia voters by using personal information to access Virginians' voter records and falsely certify that they were the voters whose records they were accessing.
Virginia's online voter lookup portal requires users to certify that they are accessing their own voter registration record or have been expressly authorized by the voter. The site also warns that it is unlawful to access another voter's record.
The whistleblower also alleged that agents were assigned to review 40 subjects per day to meet a department quota. The whistleblower said agency training explicitly acknowledged Virginia's attestation requirement.
In a statement Tuesday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson acknowledged the department accessed voter rolls.
"The Department accessed publicly available data from states' voter rolls and cross referenced them with known aliens in our systems. It's not rocket science; it's an easy step to secure our elections," the spokesperson said.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Sept. 17 citing several Virginia statutes that he said agents may have violated.
"Users that falsely make this certification in an effort to gather protected voter information may be violating several Virginia criminal statutes," Jones said. "The whistleblower also alleged that (Office of Chief Counsel) informed agents that they would not be 'personally liable for conducting these searches,' which further suggests that leadership is aware that the underlying conduct violates state law."
Virginia law protects voter information from disclosure. Jones said DHS would have needed a court order to access the records.
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Richmond Times Dispatch: Virginia AG challenges Trump administration voter probe
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones stepped into a national political spotlight on the eve of early voting for the next Congress by challenging President Donald Trump's administration for an undercover probe of state voter rolls that he said may be illegal.
Jones, elected last fall in a Democratic sweep of statewide offices, sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin on Thursday demanding accountability for the administration's "Unlawful Voter Initiative," which allegedly directed federal agents to access confidential voting records in Virginia without voters' knowledge or permission.
He cited a whistleblower report, which Senate Democrats publicly released earlier this week, alleging that homeland security agents had been directed to use the Citizen Portal to access Virginia voting records, which are generally available only to voters themselves or to someone they expressly authorize to view them. The state requires anyone seeking to view the records to certify that they have the authority to do so and warns that falsely answering would violate criminal law.
"These allegations strongly suggest that (department) leadership are knowingly directing staff to submit false certifications on Virginia's Citizen Portal in an effort to gather information they are legally barred from accessing," he said in the three-page letter, which The Times-Dispatch obtained.
Virginia isn't the only state identified in the whistleblower report as targeted by the homeland security initiative. Still, Jones quickly drew national attention for his letter, which the New York Times first reported on Thursday night, hours after Trump participated in a "tele-rally" for three incumbent Virginia Republican congressional representatives whom Democrats have targeted in congressional midterm elections on Nov. 3.
Early in-person voting began on Friday in Virginia, and absentee ballots went into the mail this week after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Trump's request to allow the U.S. Postal Service to implement a plan to limit absentee voting by mail.
"He's been very aggressive on this issue and developed a modest national profile," Richmond political analyst Bob Holsworth said of the attorney general, a former delegate whose late father had long served as a circuit court judge and delegate from Norfolk.
Jones does not conclude his letter but instead demands detailed answers about the initiative undertaken by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, as part of the Department of Homeland Security.
"To ensure that Virginians' privacy rights are fully protected, I seek confirmation from the Department of Homeland Security whether it has accessed the Citizen Portal to search Virginia voters and, if so, that it has discontinued this unauthorized and illegal use of the Citizen Portal," he writes.
Jones said state law allows limited exceptions for third parties to access voting records through the portal, after certifying "that they are using the information for specific permissible purposes."
"In contrast, Virginia Election Code does not permit disclosure of this protected information to the federal government without a court order," he said.
The state elections website includes information about voter registration state, their polling place and voting history, the attorney general explained to Mullin.
"To ensure that this information is properly protected, as mandated by the Virginia Election Code, the Department (of Elections) requires Citizen Portal users to certify that they are either looking up their own information, or that they are expressly authorized by a voter to access their information," he said.
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"However, the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia is not aware of any blanket legal authority that would permit (homeland security) staff to obtain protected information from state officials without a court order," he said.
Jones asked Mullin to confirm in writing by next Friday whether the department had directed staff to access confidential Virginia voter information without their permission and, if so, "how many Virginia voters' information was accessed."
He also demanded that the department staff "cease making any additional false certifications to obtain access to Citizen Portal, and cease accessing protected voter information" through the state system.
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PRESS RELEASE: Attorney General Jones Permanently Blocks Trump Administration's SNAP Penalties
"Food insecurity has hit Virginians across the Commonwealth in all types of communities, with Donald Trump's ongoing war on struggling families. Protecting access to this critical program for our most vulnerable was a day one priority of my administration that I am proud to deliver on," said Attorney General Jones. "Virginians are already stretching paychecks as far as they can and while Donald Trump might not care about the impact the cost crisis is having on them, this office does. We will not stop fighting for the programs and agencies created to support our most vulnerable Virginians."
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Virginia Mercury and CBS19: Federal judge strikes down SNAP deadline that put Virginia at risk of added costs
Virginia and other states cannot be penalized under a Trump administration deadline that gave them too little time to put new federal food assistance rules into effect, a federal judge in Oregon has ruled.
The decision also rejects federal guidance that would have denied benefits to some lawful permanent residents, including people who previously entered the country as refugees or were granted asylum.
The Sept. 17 ruling resolves a lawsuit brought by a coalition of 22 states, co-led by Oregon and New York. Virginia joined the case in January, after the court had issued a preliminary injunction in December.
For Virginia, the decision removes a potential source of added costs as state and local agencies work through changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
It does not undo the changes Congress made to the program in its 2025 tax and spending law H.R. 1, including a provision requiring states with higher payment error rates to cover part of the cost of benefits beginning in fiscal 2028.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones welcomed the decision in a statement Wednesday, describing access to food assistance as a priority for his office.
"Virginians are already stretching paychecks as far as they can," Jones said. "We will not stop fighting for the programs and agencies created to support our most vulnerable Virginians."
Jones' office announced Virginia's joining the lawsuit in February, following a review of existing litigation after he took office in January.
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PRESS RELEASE: Attorney General Jay Jones Joins Coalition of States in Pushing Back on Federal Rule That Could Undermine Medicaid, Insurance Regulation, and Health Coverage
"Virginians depend on strong, stable Medicaid and clear, accountable oversight of their health insurance. This proposed rule would undermine both," Attorney General Jones said. "Our coalition is standing together because CMS has overstepped its authority in ways that could reduce critical funding, create unnecessary barriers, and interfere with state responsibilities that protect families and their access to care. We're urging CMS to pull back this proposal and work with states, not against us, to ensure Medicaid remains reliable for the people who need it most."
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WRIC and WAVY: Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones joins states opposing proposed federal Medicaid rule
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general opposing a proposed federal rule that they say could affect Medicaid funding, state insurance regulation and the operation of health insurance exchanges.
The attorneys general filed a comment letter with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), opposing the proposed rule. The rule would change how the federal government evaluates certain health care-related taxes and payments collected by states.
CMS says the proposal is intended to implement changes made by Congress in 2025 and establish new limits on certain health care-related taxes. The agency says the rule is designed to ensure states share responsibility for financing Medicaid and estimates it would reduce federal spending by $246 billion over 10 years.
The coalition led by Jones argues the proposal goes beyond what Congress authorized and could put federal Medicaid funding at risk.
"Virginians depend on strong, stable Medicaid and clear, accountable oversight of their health insurance. This proposed rule would undermine both," Jones said in a news release.
The proposed rule would establish new requirements for states involving health care-related taxes, including taxes involving health insurers. CMS says the proposal would establish health insurers as a permissible class for health care-related taxes and bring existing state taxes on health insurers under federal oversight. It would also create new reporting requirements for states.
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Invests in Communities through TRIAD Grants
Attorney General Jones announced the distribution of $75,000 to 30 TRIAD chapters across the state, as part of the 2026-2027 TRIAD grant. Each year, chartered TRIAD chapters can apply for grants from the Office of the Attorney General to support their local programs. TRIAD is a cooperative effort of law enforcement agencies, senior citizens, and senior organizations to share information on how seniors can avoid becoming victims of crime and enhance the safety and quality of their lives.
PRESS RELEASE: Attorney General Jones Awards $75,000 to 30 TRIAD Chapters Across the Commonwealth
"Virginians everywhere continue to experience an increasingly complex threat environment as it relates to scams and fraud, and our seniors are especially vulnerable to these attacks. TRIAD organizations across the Commonwealth play an integral role in educating Virginians on scams and working hand-in-hand with law enforcement agencies and nonprofit organizations to stop them," said Attorney General Jay Jones. "Supporting TRIAD chapters in their efforts to better awareness, spot trends, and respond to community concerns in real time is how we protect consumers on the ground-level. I'm proud of each of the grantees announced today and look forward to making communities safer with their partnership."
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NRVNews: 30 TRIAD chapters share $75K
Attorney General Jones announced the distribution of $75,000 to 30 TRIAD chapters across the state, as part of the 2026-2027 TRIAD grant. Each year, chartered TRIAD chapters can apply for grants from the Office of the Attorney General to support their local programs. TRIAD is a cooperative effort of law enforcement agencies, senior citizens, and senior organizations to share information on how seniors can avoid becoming victims of crime and enhance the safety and quality of their lives.
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"These TRIAD chapters are doing important work in our communities, and we're here to support them. This year's grant budget was larger than the last two years, a direct nod towards the Attorney General's commitment to TRIAD and Virginia's senior," said Benjamin Bickel, TRIAD Coordinator." The grant application process was highly competitive this year, demonstrating just how active TRIAD chapters across Virginia are."
The goal of TRIAD is to reduce seniors' fear of crime and victimization by increasing awareness of scams and frauds targeting them, strengthening communication between law enforcement and senior communities, and educating seniors on local and state resources available in their community.
September 25, 2026
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Original text here: https://www.oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/3127-attorney-general-jones-opposes-attempt-by-trump-administration-to-impose-unlawful-taxes-on-h-1b-visas
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WHAT VIRGINIANS ARE SEEING: ATTORNEY GENERAL JAY JONES SHARES WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF ACTIONS TAKEN
Takes action to protect consumers in consequential merger proposal, fights federal overreach, and invests in communities
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RICHMOND, Va. -- Attorney General Jones continues to advocate for ratepayers in front of the SCC, delivers on his promise to fight back against federal overreach, and invests in communities across the Commonwealth.
Protecting Consumers
Attorney General Jones ... Show Full Article RICHMOND, Virginia, Sept. 26 -- Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones issued the following news release: * * * WHAT VIRGINIANS ARE SEEING: ATTORNEY GENERAL JAY JONES SHARES WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF ACTIONS TAKEN Takes action to protect consumers in consequential merger proposal, fights federal overreach, and invests in communities - RICHMOND, Va. -- Attorney General Jones continues to advocate for ratepayers in front of the SCC, delivers on his promise to fight back against federal overreach, and invests in communities across the Commonwealth. Protecting Consumers Attorney General Jonestold the SCC that the 180-day review period for the Dominion Energy-NextEra Energy merger proposal should be reset, following the companies' substantial modifications to the original proposal. The Virginia Code charges the Office of the Attorney General with the responsibility to represent ratepayers in front of the State Corporation Commission as they consider cases that impact the interests of consumers, including this merger.
Virginia Mercury and NBC12 and Cardinal News: 'A different deal on the table': AG Jay Jones asks SCC to reset the clock on Dominion-NextEra merger
Attorney General Jay Jones told state regulators Friday that they should reset the 180-day review time period for the $67 billion Dominion Energy-NextEra Energy merger proposal, after the companies unveiled expanded conditions of the deal last week.
On Sept. 14, Dominion and NextEra jointly filed supplemental documents to the State Corporation Commission outlining new additions to the proposal, including extending residential customers' bill credits to four years instead of two.
The companies also pitched five-year job protections for Virginia staff working on the project, instead of 18 months, and a promise of a new office tower in downtown Richmond.
In the filing, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said several stakeholder hearings since the original filing of the case on July 15 prompted the changes that could make the deal more attractive.
"The Supplemental Merger Commitments... address the comments we have heard and propose to provide greater immediate customer benefits, headcount commitments, meaningful economic development initiatives..." Ketchum stated in the supplemental filing on Sept. 14.
Jones filed testimony on Sept. 18 arguing that the changes are significant enough that they should be considered an amendment to the initial proposal and that the 180-day countdown clock should be reset to start with the Sept. 14 filing.
He stated that the 180-day limit for the SCC to consider the case should be reset to the date of the supplemental filing to allow proper time for intervenors to review the new details, allow for the public to be engaged, and for any additional interested parties to file as intervenors in the case.
"The Joint Petitioners have put a different deal on the table," Jones' testimony read.
Because the companies' supplemental filing was submitted the first business day after the deadline to file as an intervenor in the case, Jones said, it "raises serious notice concerns."
"Case participants cannot simply take the Joint Petitioners at their word that these new proposals are unqualified benefits that will accrue to Virginia ratepayers and citizens," Jones said in his filing.
A proposal of this magnitude, Jones said, and the new conditions "prompt meaningful questions that must be asked through the discovery process to build a full evidentiary record about these commitments' impacts" to the public at just and reasonable rates.
As it currently stands, the SCC must make their final decision on the merger by Jan. 11, which would mark 180 days after the filing date of the initial proposal.
If regulators approve Jones' request to restart the 180-day merger review period from Sept. 14, the case would be ongoing during the regular General Assembly session, which begins in January.
[...]
If the SCC sides with Jones, a final decision on the merger case could be expected in March.
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Richmond Times Dispatch: Virginia AG seeks more review of $67B NextEra-Dominion merger
Promises of more bill credits in NextEra Energy's proposed takeover of Dominion Energy mean the State Corporation Commission should take more time to consider the deal, Attorney General Jay Jones said.
Earlier this month, NextEra said it would offer residential bill credits for four years, instead of two, bring 600 new jobs to Virginia and direct $100 million of stockholder funds to Dominion's Energy Share assistance program for Virginians struggling with energy bills.
With that, NextEra and Dominion "have put a different deal on the table," Jones said in a filing with the SCC.
State law gives the commission up to 180 days to consider utility mergers, and the clock started ticking when NextEra and Dominion formally asked the SCC to approve the $67 billion merger in July.
The deal can't go ahead unless the SCC approves, but if it doesn't act by what's currently a mid-January deadline, state law says the merger can go through.
"The proposals filed under the guise of 'supplemental testimony' amount to an entirely new proposal," Jones said.
If the SCC agrees that additional bill credits and other measures should be considered in its review, that would present significant procedural concerns because of the 180-day deadline, Jones said.
He noted that NextEra and Dominion decided to file the supplemental testimony on the first business day after the SCC's deadline for interested parties to formally intervene in the case.
That raises serious concerns about whether that gave interested parties sufficient notice, Jones said.
"Case participants cannot simply take (NextEra and Dominion) at their word that these new proposals are unqualified benefits that will accrue to Virginia ratepayers and citizens," Jones said.
"As with any proposal, especially one of this magnitude, these newly proposed commitments prompt meaningful questions that must be asked through the discovery process to build a full evidentiary record about these commitments' impacts to 'adequate service to the public at just and reasonable rates,'" Jones said, citing the language the SCC must consider when deciding whether to approve or reject a utility merger.
"Simply put, the filing of 'significant expansions' to the (NextEra and Dominion) proposal in this extremely important case just over a month before the filing deadline for intervenor testimony does not ensure intervenors have adequate time to analyze, conduct discovery on, and compile testimony regarding these 'significant expansions,'" Jones said, quoting the term the two firms themselves used to describe the changes.
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WTVR: Virginia AG says Dominion-NextEra 'put a different deal on the table,' seeks merger review reset
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is asking the State Corporation Commission to restart the clock on the proposed merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra, saying new commitments filed by the companies amount to an amendment of the original merger proposal -- not a simple supplement to existing testimony.
"The Joint Petitioners have put a different deal on the table," Jones said in the Sept. 18 SCC filing.
On Sept. 14, Dominion Energy and NextEra announced new promises, including doubling bill credits, creating 1,000 new jobs, building a new office tower for NextEra employees, and maintaining current Virginia employee headcount levels for five years.
Jones said those new commitments require more time for review.
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Fighting Federal Overreach
Attorney General Jones demanded that the federal government initiate an investigation into reports that the Department of Homeland Security may have violated Virginia's laws as part of new DHS program, following a recent whistleblower report. Also this week, Attorney General Jones and a coalition stopped Donald Trump's SNAP penalties and stood in opposition to a proposed federal law that could put federal funding for Medicaid at risk and interfere with state oversight.
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PBS: DHS may have violated state election law, Virginia's AG says after whistleblower report
Virginia's attorney general said Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security may have violated several state laws after a whistleblower accused its employees of misrepresenting themselves on voter lookup tools to hunt for noncitizen voters.
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Attorney General Jay Jones demanded that DHS confirm in writing whether it had directed anyone to access Virginia voters' information without first obtaining permission from those voters.
"Virginia Election Code does not permit disclosure of this protected information to the federal government without a court order," he wrote in the letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The state explicitly limits its voter lookup tools to individuals who attest under penalty of law that they are looking up their own records.
The AP has asked DHS for comment on the letter.
Jones also asked Mullin to preserve all related records, including access logs, correspondence and training materials mentioned in the whistleblower report.
The anonymous report, published Monday by Democratic Senate leaders, includes transcripts of a DHS training for a group of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffers, who it says were forced in late August to drop other work, complete a less than two-hour training and begin running DHS-provided lists of people through state voter registration systems to find "unlawful voters."
The whistleblower contends that agents have been asked to review 40 individuals per day, giving them about 12 minutes to determine whether each person is a legal voter and create federal records of anyone who is not.
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The Virginian Pilot: Homeland Security agents may have illegally accessed Virginia voter rolls, whistleblower alleges
A whistleblower alleged that Department of Homeland Security agents may have illegally accessed Virginia voter records.
On Sept. 8, a whistleblower made a protected disclosure to the Senate accusing agents working on the Unlawful Voter Initiative -- the department's name for its investigation -- of having used Virginia's voter registration database to cross-reference names of noncitizens.
The whistleblower said USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate personnel were directed to impersonate Virginia voters by using personal information to access Virginians' voter records and falsely certify that they were the voters whose records they were accessing.
Virginia's online voter lookup portal requires users to certify that they are accessing their own voter registration record or have been expressly authorized by the voter. The site also warns that it is unlawful to access another voter's record.
The whistleblower also alleged that agents were assigned to review 40 subjects per day to meet a department quota. The whistleblower said agency training explicitly acknowledged Virginia's attestation requirement.
In a statement Tuesday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson acknowledged the department accessed voter rolls.
"The Department accessed publicly available data from states' voter rolls and cross referenced them with known aliens in our systems. It's not rocket science; it's an easy step to secure our elections," the spokesperson said.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Sept. 17 citing several Virginia statutes that he said agents may have violated.
"Users that falsely make this certification in an effort to gather protected voter information may be violating several Virginia criminal statutes," Jones said. "The whistleblower also alleged that (Office of Chief Counsel) informed agents that they would not be 'personally liable for conducting these searches,' which further suggests that leadership is aware that the underlying conduct violates state law."
Virginia law protects voter information from disclosure. Jones said DHS would have needed a court order to access the records.
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Richmond Times Dispatch: Virginia AG challenges Trump administration voter probe
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones stepped into a national political spotlight on the eve of early voting for the next Congress by challenging President Donald Trump's administration for an undercover probe of state voter rolls that he said may be illegal.
Jones, elected last fall in a Democratic sweep of statewide offices, sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin on Thursday demanding accountability for the administration's "Unlawful Voter Initiative," which allegedly directed federal agents to access confidential voting records in Virginia without voters' knowledge or permission.
He cited a whistleblower report, which Senate Democrats publicly released earlier this week, alleging that homeland security agents had been directed to use the Citizen Portal to access Virginia voting records, which are generally available only to voters themselves or to someone they expressly authorize to view them. The state requires anyone seeking to view the records to certify that they have the authority to do so and warns that falsely answering would violate criminal law.
"These allegations strongly suggest that (department) leadership are knowingly directing staff to submit false certifications on Virginia's Citizen Portal in an effort to gather information they are legally barred from accessing," he said in the three-page letter, which The Times-Dispatch obtained.
Virginia isn't the only state identified in the whistleblower report as targeted by the homeland security initiative. Still, Jones quickly drew national attention for his letter, which the New York Times first reported on Thursday night, hours after Trump participated in a "tele-rally" for three incumbent Virginia Republican congressional representatives whom Democrats have targeted in congressional midterm elections on Nov. 3.
Early in-person voting began on Friday in Virginia, and absentee ballots went into the mail this week after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Trump's request to allow the U.S. Postal Service to implement a plan to limit absentee voting by mail.
"He's been very aggressive on this issue and developed a modest national profile," Richmond political analyst Bob Holsworth said of the attorney general, a former delegate whose late father had long served as a circuit court judge and delegate from Norfolk.
Jones does not conclude his letter but instead demands detailed answers about the initiative undertaken by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, as part of the Department of Homeland Security.
"To ensure that Virginians' privacy rights are fully protected, I seek confirmation from the Department of Homeland Security whether it has accessed the Citizen Portal to search Virginia voters and, if so, that it has discontinued this unauthorized and illegal use of the Citizen Portal," he writes.
Jones said state law allows limited exceptions for third parties to access voting records through the portal, after certifying "that they are using the information for specific permissible purposes."
"In contrast, Virginia Election Code does not permit disclosure of this protected information to the federal government without a court order," he said.
The state elections website includes information about voter registration state, their polling place and voting history, the attorney general explained to Mullin.
"To ensure that this information is properly protected, as mandated by the Virginia Election Code, the Department (of Elections) requires Citizen Portal users to certify that they are either looking up their own information, or that they are expressly authorized by a voter to access their information," he said.
[...]
"However, the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia is not aware of any blanket legal authority that would permit (homeland security) staff to obtain protected information from state officials without a court order," he said.
Jones asked Mullin to confirm in writing by next Friday whether the department had directed staff to access confidential Virginia voter information without their permission and, if so, "how many Virginia voters' information was accessed."
He also demanded that the department staff "cease making any additional false certifications to obtain access to Citizen Portal, and cease accessing protected voter information" through the state system.
* * *
PRESS RELEASE: Attorney General Jones Permanently Blocks Trump Administration's SNAP Penalties
"Food insecurity has hit Virginians across the Commonwealth in all types of communities, with Donald Trump's ongoing war on struggling families. Protecting access to this critical program for our most vulnerable was a day one priority of my administration that I am proud to deliver on," said Attorney General Jones. "Virginians are already stretching paychecks as far as they can and while Donald Trump might not care about the impact the cost crisis is having on them, this office does. We will not stop fighting for the programs and agencies created to support our most vulnerable Virginians."
* * *
Virginia Mercury and CBS19: Federal judge strikes down SNAP deadline that put Virginia at risk of added costs
Virginia and other states cannot be penalized under a Trump administration deadline that gave them too little time to put new federal food assistance rules into effect, a federal judge in Oregon has ruled.
The decision also rejects federal guidance that would have denied benefits to some lawful permanent residents, including people who previously entered the country as refugees or were granted asylum.
The Sept. 17 ruling resolves a lawsuit brought by a coalition of 22 states, co-led by Oregon and New York. Virginia joined the case in January, after the court had issued a preliminary injunction in December.
For Virginia, the decision removes a potential source of added costs as state and local agencies work through changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
It does not undo the changes Congress made to the program in its 2025 tax and spending law H.R. 1, including a provision requiring states with higher payment error rates to cover part of the cost of benefits beginning in fiscal 2028.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones welcomed the decision in a statement Wednesday, describing access to food assistance as a priority for his office.
"Virginians are already stretching paychecks as far as they can," Jones said. "We will not stop fighting for the programs and agencies created to support our most vulnerable Virginians."
Jones' office announced Virginia's joining the lawsuit in February, following a review of existing litigation after he took office in January.
* * *
PRESS RELEASE: Attorney General Jay Jones Joins Coalition of States in Pushing Back on Federal Rule That Could Undermine Medicaid, Insurance Regulation, and Health Coverage
"Virginians depend on strong, stable Medicaid and clear, accountable oversight of their health insurance. This proposed rule would undermine both," Attorney General Jones said. "Our coalition is standing together because CMS has overstepped its authority in ways that could reduce critical funding, create unnecessary barriers, and interfere with state responsibilities that protect families and their access to care. We're urging CMS to pull back this proposal and work with states, not against us, to ensure Medicaid remains reliable for the people who need it most."
* * *
WRIC and WAVY: Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones joins states opposing proposed federal Medicaid rule
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general opposing a proposed federal rule that they say could affect Medicaid funding, state insurance regulation and the operation of health insurance exchanges.
The attorneys general filed a comment letter with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), opposing the proposed rule. The rule would change how the federal government evaluates certain health care-related taxes and payments collected by states.
CMS says the proposal is intended to implement changes made by Congress in 2025 and establish new limits on certain health care-related taxes. The agency says the rule is designed to ensure states share responsibility for financing Medicaid and estimates it would reduce federal spending by $246 billion over 10 years.
The coalition led by Jones argues the proposal goes beyond what Congress authorized and could put federal Medicaid funding at risk.
"Virginians depend on strong, stable Medicaid and clear, accountable oversight of their health insurance. This proposed rule would undermine both," Jones said in a news release.
The proposed rule would establish new requirements for states involving health care-related taxes, including taxes involving health insurers. CMS says the proposal would establish health insurers as a permissible class for health care-related taxes and bring existing state taxes on health insurers under federal oversight. It would also create new reporting requirements for states.
* * *
Invests in Communities through TRIAD Grants
Attorney General Jones announced the distribution of $75,000 to 30 TRIAD chapters across the state, as part of the 2026-2027 TRIAD grant. Each year, chartered TRIAD chapters can apply for grants from the Office of the Attorney General to support their local programs. TRIAD is a cooperative effort of law enforcement agencies, senior citizens, and senior organizations to share information on how seniors can avoid becoming victims of crime and enhance the safety and quality of their lives.
PRESS RELEASE: Attorney General Jones Awards $75,000 to 30 TRIAD Chapters Across the Commonwealth
"Virginians everywhere continue to experience an increasingly complex threat environment as it relates to scams and fraud, and our seniors are especially vulnerable to these attacks. TRIAD organizations across the Commonwealth play an integral role in educating Virginians on scams and working hand-in-hand with law enforcement agencies and nonprofit organizations to stop them," said Attorney General Jay Jones. "Supporting TRIAD chapters in their efforts to better awareness, spot trends, and respond to community concerns in real time is how we protect consumers on the ground-level. I'm proud of each of the grantees announced today and look forward to making communities safer with their partnership."
* * *
NRVNews: 30 TRIAD chapters share $75K
Attorney General Jones announced the distribution of $75,000 to 30 TRIAD chapters across the state, as part of the 2026-2027 TRIAD grant. Each year, chartered TRIAD chapters can apply for grants from the Office of the Attorney General to support their local programs. TRIAD is a cooperative effort of law enforcement agencies, senior citizens, and senior organizations to share information on how seniors can avoid becoming victims of crime and enhance the safety and quality of their lives.
[...]
"These TRIAD chapters are doing important work in our communities, and we're here to support them. This year's grant budget was larger than the last two years, a direct nod towards the Attorney General's commitment to TRIAD and Virginia's senior," said Benjamin Bickel, TRIAD Coordinator." The grant application process was highly competitive this year, demonstrating just how active TRIAD chapters across Virginia are."
The goal of TRIAD is to reduce seniors' fear of crime and victimization by increasing awareness of scams and frauds targeting them, strengthening communication between law enforcement and senior communities, and educating seniors on local and state resources available in their community.
September 25, 2026
* * *
Original text here: https://www.oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/3127-attorney-general-jones-opposes-attempt-by-trump-administration-to-impose-unlawful-taxes-on-h-1b-visas
Shapiro Administration: $7.3 Million Awarded to Schools to Purchase Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Sept. 26 -- The Pennsylvania Department of Education issued the following news:
* * *
Shapiro Administration: $7.3 Million Awarded to Schools to Purchase Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program provides students with fresh fruit or vegetables during the school day to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and improve children's diets for their present and future health.
September 25, 2026
-
Harrisburg, PA - Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced that more than $7.3 million in grant funding has been awarded to 249 schools ... Show Full Article HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Sept. 26 -- The Pennsylvania Department of Education issued the following news: * * * Shapiro Administration: $7.3 Million Awarded to Schools to Purchase Fresh Fruits and Vegetables The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program provides students with fresh fruit or vegetables during the school day to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and improve children's diets for their present and future health. September 25, 2026 - Harrisburg, PA - Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced that more than $7.3 million in grant funding has been awarded to 249 schoolsin 29 counties through the federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). The program provides students with fresh fruit or vegetables during the school day to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and improve children's diets for their present and future health.
"Providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables impacts growth, development, and achievement not just for individuals, but for entire communities," said Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe. "By locally sourcing nutritious food, schools improve the health of learners, our education system, and economy."
First implemented in Pennsylvania in 2004 and expanded to all 50 states in 2008, elementary schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program with free and reduced eligibility rates at or above 50% can receive funding for the program. FFVP is administered at the state level by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).
View the list of awards on PDE's website.
Federal guidelines allow schools to use the funding to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables through "wholesalers, brokers, local grocery stores, or other retailers. Schools can also support local agricultural producers by buying fresh produce at farmers' markets and orchards, or by purchasing directly from growers in their community."
"When schools serve fresh, local fruit and vegetables, the ripple effects go far beyond what's on the lunch menu," said Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding. "Buying local keeps school purchasing dollars in their communities, supporting farmers close by, keeping shipping costs down, and having a long-term positive effect on children's diets and health."
The Shapiro Administration is committed to ensuring that all children and students have access to healthy meals all year long. That's why Governor Josh Shapiro delivered free breakfast for Pennsylvania's 1.7 million students for the past three years. The 2026-27 budget builds on that progress by continuing to fund the universal free breakfast program, making sure students have access to healthy meals to start their day on the right foot.
During the past school year, 92.3 million breakfast meals were served in schools, an increase of more than 10 million meals, or 13 percent, since the 2022-23 school year. Nearly 70 million of those breakfasts were served to students at-risk for hunger or from low-income families.
Under Governor Shapiro's leadership, Pennsylvania has increased funding for our schools by over $3 billion since the Governor took office, totaling $11.85 billion invested into Pennsylvania's students this year. The investments in this year's budget build on this foundation, including:
* $565 million increase through the bipartisan adequacy and tax equity formula for a total of $1.9 billion driven out to the schools that need them most.
* $58 million increase to Basic Education Funding, for a total of $8.32 billion.
* $55 million increase to Special Education Funding, for a total of $1.58 billion to support students with disabilities and special needs.
* Maintains $125 million for school infrastructure improvements to create safe, healthy learning environments -- including $25 million for the Solar for Schools program to lower energy costs and promote sustainability.
* Continues $100 million in annual mental health and school safety funding for K-12 schools, ensuring every student has access to the resources and support they need to thrive, continuing the Shapiro Administration's strong commitment to expanding access to mental health care and support across the Commonwealth.
* Continued Funding Universal Free Breakfast and Free Menstrual Hygiene Products for Students: This budget continues funding for a key priority of Governor Shapiro - universal free breakfast for all 1.7 million students. It also includes $3 million to ensure students have access to menstrual hygiene products at no cost.
* Supporting Student Well-Being Through Daily Recess: This budget establishes 30 minutes of daily recess for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, ensuring students have dedicated time each school day for movement, social interaction, and stress management so they return to the classroom refreshed and ready to learn. Recess is not an extra -- it is a fundamental part of children's growth, teaching skills like collaboration, conflict resolution, and self-regulation that are just as essential as math, science, and reading.
* Funded the historic PA Farm Bill through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for an eighth year at $13.8 million. PA Farm Bill Farm to School Grants connect local farmers to schools to supply fresh, in-season products to be served in cafeterias, and support school gardens, and hands-on agriculture education, enriching early career awareness.
* PA Farm Bill Agriculture and Youth Grants are working in school districts and youth organizations statewide to increase opportunities in agriculture careers that will be waiting when students graduate.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/newsroom/shapiro-administration-7-3-million-awarded-to-schools-to-purchase-fresh-fruits-and-vegetables
* * *
Shapiro Administration: $7.3 Million Awarded to Schools to Purchase Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program provides students with fresh fruit or vegetables during the school day to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and improve children's diets for their present and future health.
September 25, 2026
-
Harrisburg, PA - Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced that more than $7.3 million in grant funding has been awarded to 249 schools ... Show Full Article HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Sept. 26 -- The Pennsylvania Department of Education issued the following news: * * * Shapiro Administration: $7.3 Million Awarded to Schools to Purchase Fresh Fruits and Vegetables The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program provides students with fresh fruit or vegetables during the school day to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and improve children's diets for their present and future health. September 25, 2026 - Harrisburg, PA - Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced that more than $7.3 million in grant funding has been awarded to 249 schoolsin 29 counties through the federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). The program provides students with fresh fruit or vegetables during the school day to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and improve children's diets for their present and future health.
"Providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables impacts growth, development, and achievement not just for individuals, but for entire communities," said Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe. "By locally sourcing nutritious food, schools improve the health of learners, our education system, and economy."
First implemented in Pennsylvania in 2004 and expanded to all 50 states in 2008, elementary schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program with free and reduced eligibility rates at or above 50% can receive funding for the program. FFVP is administered at the state level by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).
View the list of awards on PDE's website.
Federal guidelines allow schools to use the funding to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables through "wholesalers, brokers, local grocery stores, or other retailers. Schools can also support local agricultural producers by buying fresh produce at farmers' markets and orchards, or by purchasing directly from growers in their community."
"When schools serve fresh, local fruit and vegetables, the ripple effects go far beyond what's on the lunch menu," said Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding. "Buying local keeps school purchasing dollars in their communities, supporting farmers close by, keeping shipping costs down, and having a long-term positive effect on children's diets and health."
The Shapiro Administration is committed to ensuring that all children and students have access to healthy meals all year long. That's why Governor Josh Shapiro delivered free breakfast for Pennsylvania's 1.7 million students for the past three years. The 2026-27 budget builds on that progress by continuing to fund the universal free breakfast program, making sure students have access to healthy meals to start their day on the right foot.
During the past school year, 92.3 million breakfast meals were served in schools, an increase of more than 10 million meals, or 13 percent, since the 2022-23 school year. Nearly 70 million of those breakfasts were served to students at-risk for hunger or from low-income families.
Under Governor Shapiro's leadership, Pennsylvania has increased funding for our schools by over $3 billion since the Governor took office, totaling $11.85 billion invested into Pennsylvania's students this year. The investments in this year's budget build on this foundation, including:
* $565 million increase through the bipartisan adequacy and tax equity formula for a total of $1.9 billion driven out to the schools that need them most.
* $58 million increase to Basic Education Funding, for a total of $8.32 billion.
* $55 million increase to Special Education Funding, for a total of $1.58 billion to support students with disabilities and special needs.
* Maintains $125 million for school infrastructure improvements to create safe, healthy learning environments -- including $25 million for the Solar for Schools program to lower energy costs and promote sustainability.
* Continues $100 million in annual mental health and school safety funding for K-12 schools, ensuring every student has access to the resources and support they need to thrive, continuing the Shapiro Administration's strong commitment to expanding access to mental health care and support across the Commonwealth.
* Continued Funding Universal Free Breakfast and Free Menstrual Hygiene Products for Students: This budget continues funding for a key priority of Governor Shapiro - universal free breakfast for all 1.7 million students. It also includes $3 million to ensure students have access to menstrual hygiene products at no cost.
* Supporting Student Well-Being Through Daily Recess: This budget establishes 30 minutes of daily recess for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, ensuring students have dedicated time each school day for movement, social interaction, and stress management so they return to the classroom refreshed and ready to learn. Recess is not an extra -- it is a fundamental part of children's growth, teaching skills like collaboration, conflict resolution, and self-regulation that are just as essential as math, science, and reading.
* Funded the historic PA Farm Bill through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for an eighth year at $13.8 million. PA Farm Bill Farm to School Grants connect local farmers to schools to supply fresh, in-season products to be served in cafeterias, and support school gardens, and hands-on agriculture education, enriching early career awareness.
* PA Farm Bill Agriculture and Youth Grants are working in school districts and youth organizations statewide to increase opportunities in agriculture careers that will be waiting when students graduate.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/newsroom/shapiro-administration-7-3-million-awarded-to-schools-to-purchase-fresh-fruits-and-vegetables
Okla. A.G. Drummond Urges Congress to Regulate AI Industry to Protect Oklahomans
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, Sept. 26 -- Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued the following news release:
* * *
Drummond urges Congress to regulate AI industry to protect Oklahomans
OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 25, 2026) - Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling on Congress to take immediate action to regulate the artificial intelligence industry to protect the safety of Oklahomans.
Drummond joined a coalition of 25 other attorneys general in a letter sent to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader ... Show Full Article OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, Sept. 26 -- Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued the following news release: * * * Drummond urges Congress to regulate AI industry to protect Oklahomans OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 25, 2026) - Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling on Congress to take immediate action to regulate the artificial intelligence industry to protect the safety of Oklahomans. Drummond joined a coalition of 25 other attorneys general in a letter sent to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority LeaderChuck Schumer. In the letter, Drummond and the coalition warn that unchecked AI development endangers Americans and poses a potential threat to the nation's financial system, critical infrastructure and national security. The coalition urges Congress to quickly pass legislation that ensures AI development occurs at an intentional pace, builds in safety and transparency and preserves states' ability to oversee the industry.
"Oklahomans should be able to trust that the technology entering their homes, businesses and daily lives is safe," Drummond said. "When AI systems are breaking into networks and acting in ways that would be criminal if a person did them, we can no longer afford to wait. Congress must act now to put commonsense safeguards in place, and it must preserve the ability of states like Oklahoma to protect our own citizens."
In July, Hugging Face, an open-source library and repository, reported that it was being attacked by an unknown third party. Within a week, OpenAI admitted the attack was carried out by its AI agents, which escaped a testing environment and infiltrated Hugging Face using stolen credentials. OpenAI was aware of the agents' capabilities but failed to monitor their activity or stop their exploits. The agents' actions, if committed by a human, would have constituted criminal conduct.
Following the Hugging Face incident, Anthropic and Meta also acknowledged that their AI agents had entered the open web and performed dangerous and unlawful actions. This agent behavior has been known to the industry for years and is a direct result of how the models are trained.
In the letter, Drummond and the coalition emphasize that any AI regulatory framework considered by Congress must include:
* Federal oversight of safety testing and standards, led by experts in AI model safety and backed by performance benchmarks;
* Uniform and transparent government-led incident response, with public findings that allow the industry to rapidly adapt;
* Safety infrastructure and experienced leaders empowered to make critical safety decisions without the pressure of profit maximization;
* International cooperation to pace AI advancement and prevent the development of harmful superintelligence; and
* A prohibition on preemption of state laws, along with full authority for state officials to enforce federal protections.
Joining Drummond in sending the letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and American Samoa.
* * *
INFODOC: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/oag/news-documents/2026/september/AG Letter - Federal AI Regulation Sept. 23 - with signatures.pdf
* * *
Original text here: https://oklahoma.gov/oag/news/newsroom/2026/september/drummond-urges-congress-to-regulate-ai-industry-to-protect-oklahomans.html
* * *
Drummond urges Congress to regulate AI industry to protect Oklahomans
OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 25, 2026) - Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling on Congress to take immediate action to regulate the artificial intelligence industry to protect the safety of Oklahomans.
Drummond joined a coalition of 25 other attorneys general in a letter sent to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader ... Show Full Article OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, Sept. 26 -- Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued the following news release: * * * Drummond urges Congress to regulate AI industry to protect Oklahomans OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 25, 2026) - Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling on Congress to take immediate action to regulate the artificial intelligence industry to protect the safety of Oklahomans. Drummond joined a coalition of 25 other attorneys general in a letter sent to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority LeaderChuck Schumer. In the letter, Drummond and the coalition warn that unchecked AI development endangers Americans and poses a potential threat to the nation's financial system, critical infrastructure and national security. The coalition urges Congress to quickly pass legislation that ensures AI development occurs at an intentional pace, builds in safety and transparency and preserves states' ability to oversee the industry.
"Oklahomans should be able to trust that the technology entering their homes, businesses and daily lives is safe," Drummond said. "When AI systems are breaking into networks and acting in ways that would be criminal if a person did them, we can no longer afford to wait. Congress must act now to put commonsense safeguards in place, and it must preserve the ability of states like Oklahoma to protect our own citizens."
In July, Hugging Face, an open-source library and repository, reported that it was being attacked by an unknown third party. Within a week, OpenAI admitted the attack was carried out by its AI agents, which escaped a testing environment and infiltrated Hugging Face using stolen credentials. OpenAI was aware of the agents' capabilities but failed to monitor their activity or stop their exploits. The agents' actions, if committed by a human, would have constituted criminal conduct.
Following the Hugging Face incident, Anthropic and Meta also acknowledged that their AI agents had entered the open web and performed dangerous and unlawful actions. This agent behavior has been known to the industry for years and is a direct result of how the models are trained.
In the letter, Drummond and the coalition emphasize that any AI regulatory framework considered by Congress must include:
* Federal oversight of safety testing and standards, led by experts in AI model safety and backed by performance benchmarks;
* Uniform and transparent government-led incident response, with public findings that allow the industry to rapidly adapt;
* Safety infrastructure and experienced leaders empowered to make critical safety decisions without the pressure of profit maximization;
* International cooperation to pace AI advancement and prevent the development of harmful superintelligence; and
* A prohibition on preemption of state laws, along with full authority for state officials to enforce federal protections.
Joining Drummond in sending the letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and American Samoa.
* * *
INFODOC: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/oag/news-documents/2026/september/AG Letter - Federal AI Regulation Sept. 23 - with signatures.pdf
* * *
Original text here: https://oklahoma.gov/oag/news/newsroom/2026/september/drummond-urges-congress-to-regulate-ai-industry-to-protect-oklahomans.html
N.Y. A.G. James, Co-signers Issue Letter to Congressional Leadership
ALBANY, New York, Sept. 26 (TNSletter) -- New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following letter with co-signers to the Congressional leadership:
* * *
Here is the text of the letter:
September 23, 2026
The Honorable Mike Johnson
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
-
The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
-
The Honorable John Thune
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
-
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
-
Dear Speaker Johnson, ... Show Full Article ALBANY, New York, Sept. 26 (TNSletter) -- New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following letter with co-signers to the Congressional leadership: * * * Here is the text of the letter: September 23, 2026 The Honorable Mike Johnson Speaker U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 - The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries Minority Leader U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 - The Honorable John Thune Majority Leader U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Chuck Schumer Minority Leader U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 - Dear Speaker Johnson,Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Jeffries, and Minority Leader Schumer:
We, the undersigned Attorneys General (the "State AGs"), write to urge congressional leadership to immediately establish comprehensive federal regulation and safety protocols for frontier artificial intelligence. Recent developments show that unchecked AI endangers Americans and could soon threaten our financial system, critical infrastructure, and national security.
Although we are working to hold frontier AI labs accountable under existing state laws, federal oversight is urgently needed to prevent future disasters. We implore Congress to require comprehensive, ongoing safety protocols.
Recent Reported AI Safety Incidents
On July 16, 2026, Hugging Face, an open-source library and repository, reported that it was being attacked by an unknown third party. Within a week, OpenAI admitted its AI agents escaped a testing environment and infiltrated Hugging Face using stolen credentials.1 OpenAI was aware of the agents' capabilities but failed to adequately monitor their activity or stop their exploits. When humans engage in such activity, they violate criminal law.2
Following OpenAI's disclosure of the Hugging Face incident, other AI developers also disclosed that their AI agents had entered the open internet and performed dangerous and unlawful actions.3 An Anthropic AI model created and uploaded malware onto a public platform. Meta AI breached a (still undisclosed) third-party software platform.4 And at least one Chinese AI lab reported an agent that escaped its testing environment.5 For years, frontier labs have known about this agent behavior, termed "agentic misalignment."6 The labs caused this behavior by using "reinforcement learning," an ends justify the means approach that penalizes unsuccessful attempts and rewards models' achievement of goals regardless of how they were achieved.7
Self-Regulation Is Not Sufficient
Although frontier labs directly disclosed some recent safety incidents, other troubling revelations have come from sources other than the AI labs themselves, demonstrating the labs cannot solely be responsible for regulating themselves. For example, OpenAI originally minimized the Hugging Face incident, claiming that only a few AI agents went "to extreme lengths to achieve a rather narrow testing goal."8 Outside safety researchers then revealed that, as early as May 2026, a "swarm" of more than 1,200 OpenAI agents collaborated with each other on projects far more complex than what occurred in the Hugging Face incident.9 And despite OpenAI's professed willingness to allow the outside safety researchers to conduct a post-mortem, OpenAI restricted safety researchers' access to relevant data, thus limiting the scope and utility of the post-mortem.10
More recently, OpenAI admitted that its AI agents took over a German wiki website, but only after the incidents were publicly reported.11 According to OpenAI's safety team members, OpenAI had known about the incident for weeks but did not disclose it.12 And just a few days ago, independent researchers reported that two months prior to the Hugging Face incident, OpenAI agents uploaded malware to the RubyGems open source package registry to steal user API keys.13
Both OpenAI and Anthropic claim to be improving their model security, but no frontier lab has developed a failsafe solution to agentic misalignment. Despite knowing that their models perform dangerous and illegal acts, the labs continue to maximize their models' capabilities while imposing unproven and risky safety controls. For example, OpenAI recently claimed that it will use a "recurrent depth" technique to boost model capability, but this technique potentially makes AI agents less safe by reducing their monitorability.14
The stakes have never been higher to ensure that AI agents cannot enact grave harms. Just last week, Anthropic reported that it uncovered specific examples of its AI models being used to develop and power conventional and biological weapons, spy on sovereign nations, and fuel global cybercrime.15 If AI labs cannot prevent their models from conducting harmful and illegal activity, allowing them to release their models into the hands of bad actors only guarantees catastrophe.
Frontier Labs Are Finally Calling for Regulation
Frontier labs recognize the pressing need for a federal regulatory framework that prevents or mitigates AI risks before they materialize. Until recently, the frontier labs and their proxies have stymied such efforts. Now leaders of frontier AI labs increasingly acknowledge that they cannot manage the risks of rapid AI development without comprehensive regulation. OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer called for "mandatory, capability-based national AI safety regulation."16 And OpenAI's Chief Scientist called for coordinated slowing of model development along with strengthening model alignment and monitoring, stating "[s]caling AI systems has to be constrained by our confidence in safety."17 Similarly, Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei urged the United States to lead international coordination of AI model development because this effort "will require government support."18
The safety teams inside the AI labs are warning what will befall the United States if the federal government fails to act. Last week, Jacob Coxon, a researcher at both OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned from his position, warning:
Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. . . . The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.19
Anthropic's Head of the Alignment Science agreed, stating:
Jacob is correct here--we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade. I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to.20
From multiple levels of these AI labs, the calls for intervention by the U.S. government are clear and urgent.
We should use this moment to hold them to these statements. Although these labs may have the capacity to prevent these harms on their own, their incentives make it unlikely that they will act with sufficient speed or effectiveness. Only regulation, coupled with accountability under existing laws, can ensure that they act in the best interests of humanity, instead of their bottom lines.
Immediate and Comprehensive Action Is Needed
Given the unprecedented capabilities of AI agents and the unique challenges they pose to far-reaching elements of society, all regulatory options must remain on the table. As a guide, Congress may look to how it previously regulated transportation systems, scientific and technical fields, and national security. At a minimum, Congress must ensure that AI model development occurs at an intentional pace, incorporates safety and transparency by design, and avoids entrenching existing large incumbents. This effort must include:
* Mandatory federal oversight of safety testing and standards, led by experts in the field of AI model safety, selected by and under the direction of federal regulators, and backed by consistent performance benchmarks.
* Uniform and transparent government-led incident response, where investigators have a broad mandate and direct access to books and records, with public findings that allow the industry to rapidly evolve in response.
* Mandatory safety infrastructure and experienced leaders to make critical safety decisions unburdened by profit maximization.
* International cooperation to pace AI advancement and prevent the development of harmful superintelligence.
* Safeguards to ensure that regulation does not undermine competition or provide cover for companies to evade their obligations under existing antitrust laws.
* Explicit preservation of state authority by prohibiting the preemption of state laws and granting state officials full authority to enforce these federal protections.
We are actively working to hold AI labs accountable under our respective state laws--including fairness obligations and AI-specific safety requirements--and we will continue to do so.21 But federal action is urgently needed to achieve the national and international coordination required to prevent catastrophic harm. We urge Congress to act now to establish these critical safeguards.
Sincerely,
Letitia A. James, New York Attorney General
Jennifer Davenport, New Jersey Attorney General
Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde, American Samoa Attorney General
Kris Mayes, Arizona Attorney General
Rob Bonta, California Attorney General
Phil Weiser, Colorado Attorney General
William Tong, Connecticut Attorney General
Kathy Jennings, Delaware Attorney General
Brian Schwalb, District of Columbia Attorney General
Anne E. Lopez, Hawaii Attorney General
Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General
Aaron Frey, Maine Attorney General
Anthony G. Brown, Maryland Attorney General
Andrea Campbell, Massachusetts Attorney General
Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General
Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General
Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney General
Raul Torrez, New Mexico Attorney General
Jeff Jackson, North Carolina Attorney General
Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma Attorney General
Dan Rayfield, Oregon Attorney General
Charity R. Clark, Vermont Attorney General
Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General
Jay Jones, Virginia Attorney General
Nick Brown, Washington Attorney General
Josh Kaul, Wisconsin Attorney General
* * *
Original text and footnotes here: https://nmdoj.gov/wp-content/uploads/AG-Letter-Federal-AI-Regulation.pdf
News Release here: https://nmdoj.gov/press-release/attorney-general-raul-torrez-calls-on-congress-to-protect-americans-from-unchecked-ai-development/
* * *
Here is the text of the letter:
September 23, 2026
The Honorable Mike Johnson
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
-
The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
-
The Honorable John Thune
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
-
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
-
Dear Speaker Johnson, ... Show Full Article ALBANY, New York, Sept. 26 (TNSletter) -- New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following letter with co-signers to the Congressional leadership: * * * Here is the text of the letter: September 23, 2026 The Honorable Mike Johnson Speaker U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 - The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries Minority Leader U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 - The Honorable John Thune Majority Leader U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Chuck Schumer Minority Leader U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 - Dear Speaker Johnson,Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Jeffries, and Minority Leader Schumer:
We, the undersigned Attorneys General (the "State AGs"), write to urge congressional leadership to immediately establish comprehensive federal regulation and safety protocols for frontier artificial intelligence. Recent developments show that unchecked AI endangers Americans and could soon threaten our financial system, critical infrastructure, and national security.
Although we are working to hold frontier AI labs accountable under existing state laws, federal oversight is urgently needed to prevent future disasters. We implore Congress to require comprehensive, ongoing safety protocols.
Recent Reported AI Safety Incidents
On July 16, 2026, Hugging Face, an open-source library and repository, reported that it was being attacked by an unknown third party. Within a week, OpenAI admitted its AI agents escaped a testing environment and infiltrated Hugging Face using stolen credentials.1 OpenAI was aware of the agents' capabilities but failed to adequately monitor their activity or stop their exploits. When humans engage in such activity, they violate criminal law.2
Following OpenAI's disclosure of the Hugging Face incident, other AI developers also disclosed that their AI agents had entered the open internet and performed dangerous and unlawful actions.3 An Anthropic AI model created and uploaded malware onto a public platform. Meta AI breached a (still undisclosed) third-party software platform.4 And at least one Chinese AI lab reported an agent that escaped its testing environment.5 For years, frontier labs have known about this agent behavior, termed "agentic misalignment."6 The labs caused this behavior by using "reinforcement learning," an ends justify the means approach that penalizes unsuccessful attempts and rewards models' achievement of goals regardless of how they were achieved.7
Self-Regulation Is Not Sufficient
Although frontier labs directly disclosed some recent safety incidents, other troubling revelations have come from sources other than the AI labs themselves, demonstrating the labs cannot solely be responsible for regulating themselves. For example, OpenAI originally minimized the Hugging Face incident, claiming that only a few AI agents went "to extreme lengths to achieve a rather narrow testing goal."8 Outside safety researchers then revealed that, as early as May 2026, a "swarm" of more than 1,200 OpenAI agents collaborated with each other on projects far more complex than what occurred in the Hugging Face incident.9 And despite OpenAI's professed willingness to allow the outside safety researchers to conduct a post-mortem, OpenAI restricted safety researchers' access to relevant data, thus limiting the scope and utility of the post-mortem.10
More recently, OpenAI admitted that its AI agents took over a German wiki website, but only after the incidents were publicly reported.11 According to OpenAI's safety team members, OpenAI had known about the incident for weeks but did not disclose it.12 And just a few days ago, independent researchers reported that two months prior to the Hugging Face incident, OpenAI agents uploaded malware to the RubyGems open source package registry to steal user API keys.13
Both OpenAI and Anthropic claim to be improving their model security, but no frontier lab has developed a failsafe solution to agentic misalignment. Despite knowing that their models perform dangerous and illegal acts, the labs continue to maximize their models' capabilities while imposing unproven and risky safety controls. For example, OpenAI recently claimed that it will use a "recurrent depth" technique to boost model capability, but this technique potentially makes AI agents less safe by reducing their monitorability.14
The stakes have never been higher to ensure that AI agents cannot enact grave harms. Just last week, Anthropic reported that it uncovered specific examples of its AI models being used to develop and power conventional and biological weapons, spy on sovereign nations, and fuel global cybercrime.15 If AI labs cannot prevent their models from conducting harmful and illegal activity, allowing them to release their models into the hands of bad actors only guarantees catastrophe.
Frontier Labs Are Finally Calling for Regulation
Frontier labs recognize the pressing need for a federal regulatory framework that prevents or mitigates AI risks before they materialize. Until recently, the frontier labs and their proxies have stymied such efforts. Now leaders of frontier AI labs increasingly acknowledge that they cannot manage the risks of rapid AI development without comprehensive regulation. OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer called for "mandatory, capability-based national AI safety regulation."16 And OpenAI's Chief Scientist called for coordinated slowing of model development along with strengthening model alignment and monitoring, stating "[s]caling AI systems has to be constrained by our confidence in safety."17 Similarly, Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei urged the United States to lead international coordination of AI model development because this effort "will require government support."18
The safety teams inside the AI labs are warning what will befall the United States if the federal government fails to act. Last week, Jacob Coxon, a researcher at both OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned from his position, warning:
Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. . . . The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.19
Anthropic's Head of the Alignment Science agreed, stating:
Jacob is correct here--we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade. I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to.20
From multiple levels of these AI labs, the calls for intervention by the U.S. government are clear and urgent.
We should use this moment to hold them to these statements. Although these labs may have the capacity to prevent these harms on their own, their incentives make it unlikely that they will act with sufficient speed or effectiveness. Only regulation, coupled with accountability under existing laws, can ensure that they act in the best interests of humanity, instead of their bottom lines.
Immediate and Comprehensive Action Is Needed
Given the unprecedented capabilities of AI agents and the unique challenges they pose to far-reaching elements of society, all regulatory options must remain on the table. As a guide, Congress may look to how it previously regulated transportation systems, scientific and technical fields, and national security. At a minimum, Congress must ensure that AI model development occurs at an intentional pace, incorporates safety and transparency by design, and avoids entrenching existing large incumbents. This effort must include:
* Mandatory federal oversight of safety testing and standards, led by experts in the field of AI model safety, selected by and under the direction of federal regulators, and backed by consistent performance benchmarks.
* Uniform and transparent government-led incident response, where investigators have a broad mandate and direct access to books and records, with public findings that allow the industry to rapidly evolve in response.
* Mandatory safety infrastructure and experienced leaders to make critical safety decisions unburdened by profit maximization.
* International cooperation to pace AI advancement and prevent the development of harmful superintelligence.
* Safeguards to ensure that regulation does not undermine competition or provide cover for companies to evade their obligations under existing antitrust laws.
* Explicit preservation of state authority by prohibiting the preemption of state laws and granting state officials full authority to enforce these federal protections.
We are actively working to hold AI labs accountable under our respective state laws--including fairness obligations and AI-specific safety requirements--and we will continue to do so.21 But federal action is urgently needed to achieve the national and international coordination required to prevent catastrophic harm. We urge Congress to act now to establish these critical safeguards.
Sincerely,
Letitia A. James, New York Attorney General
Jennifer Davenport, New Jersey Attorney General
Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde, American Samoa Attorney General
Kris Mayes, Arizona Attorney General
Rob Bonta, California Attorney General
Phil Weiser, Colorado Attorney General
William Tong, Connecticut Attorney General
Kathy Jennings, Delaware Attorney General
Brian Schwalb, District of Columbia Attorney General
Anne E. Lopez, Hawaii Attorney General
Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General
Aaron Frey, Maine Attorney General
Anthony G. Brown, Maryland Attorney General
Andrea Campbell, Massachusetts Attorney General
Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General
Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General
Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney General
Raul Torrez, New Mexico Attorney General
Jeff Jackson, North Carolina Attorney General
Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma Attorney General
Dan Rayfield, Oregon Attorney General
Charity R. Clark, Vermont Attorney General
Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General
Jay Jones, Virginia Attorney General
Nick Brown, Washington Attorney General
Josh Kaul, Wisconsin Attorney General
* * *
Original text and footnotes here: https://nmdoj.gov/wp-content/uploads/AG-Letter-Federal-AI-Regulation.pdf
News Release here: https://nmdoj.gov/press-release/attorney-general-raul-torrez-calls-on-congress-to-protect-americans-from-unchecked-ai-development/
N.H. Gov. Ayotte Waives Tolls and State Registration Fees for Gold Star Families
CONCORD, New Hampshire, Sept. 26 -- Gov. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, issued the following news release:
* * *
September 25, 2026
Governor Ayotte Waives Tolls and State Registration Fees for Gold Star Families
CONCORD, NH -- Ahead of Gold Star Mother's and Family Day on Sunday, September 27, Governor Kelly Ayotte issued an executive order PDF document waiving tolls and State registration fees for Gold Star license plates for New Hampshire's Gold Star families.
The order waives New Hampshire tolls for Gold Star family members by allowing vehicles with New Hampshire Gold Star plates to identify ... Show Full Article CONCORD, New Hampshire, Sept. 26 -- Gov. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 Governor Ayotte Waives Tolls and State Registration Fees for Gold Star Families CONCORD, NH -- Ahead of Gold Star Mother's and Family Day on Sunday, September 27, Governor Kelly Ayotte issued an executive order PDF document waiving tolls and State registration fees for Gold Star license plates for New Hampshire's Gold Star families. The order waives New Hampshire tolls for Gold Star family members by allowing vehicles with New Hampshire Gold Star plates to identifythemselves to toll attendants and be allowed to pass free of charge. The State will also waive State registration fees associated with Gold Star family plates. Read the executive order here (https://www.governor.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt336/files/media/media_document/executive-order-2026-02.pdf).
"Our Gold Star families carry the loss of their loved one every day, and today, we're assuring them that New Hampshire will never forget their sacrifice," said Governor Ayotte. "In addition to waiving tolls for Gold Star families, we're also waiving State registration fees for Gold Star plates. May God continue to bless these families."
"As someone who has the extraordinary privilege of serving New Hampshire's Gold Star families and a Gold Star sibling myself, I know that no benefit or recognition could ever make up for the loss of a loved one, but gestures like this carry a meaning far greater than their monetary value," said Stephanie Ouellette, Gold Star Sister and Survivor Outreach Services Coordinator. "They tell Gold Star families that their loved one's life, service, and sacrifice have not been forgotten, and that our state continues to stand beside the families who carry their memory. I am deeply grateful to Governor Ayotte for this meaningful recognition of New Hampshire's Gold Star families."
"The New Hampshire Department of Transportation is proud to join Governor Ayotte in honoring the families of fallen military heroes and waive tolls for Gold Star families," said NHDOT Commissioner David Rodrigue, "As we honor Gold Star Mother's and Family Day this upcoming Sunday, we remember these families and thank them for their service and sacrifice."
"Since 2006, the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles has proudly offered Gold Star Mother license plates and is expanding the program to include fathers and other immediate family members with the law Governor Ayotte signed this year," said DMV Director John Marasco. "We are committed to honoring our state's Gold Star families, and we are proud to waive State registration fees in honor of their loved one's service and sacrifice."
In May of this year, Governor Ayotte signed a law expanding New Hampshire's Gold Star License Plate program to Gold Star Fathers and other immediate family members. The program previously only included Gold Star Mothers. The new plates will be available starting January 1, 2027, and can be requested through the Office of the Commissioner at the New Hampshire Department of Safety.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.governor.nh.gov/news/governor-ayotte-waives-tolls-and-state-registration-fees-gold-star-families
* * *
September 25, 2026
Governor Ayotte Waives Tolls and State Registration Fees for Gold Star Families
CONCORD, NH -- Ahead of Gold Star Mother's and Family Day on Sunday, September 27, Governor Kelly Ayotte issued an executive order PDF document waiving tolls and State registration fees for Gold Star license plates for New Hampshire's Gold Star families.
The order waives New Hampshire tolls for Gold Star family members by allowing vehicles with New Hampshire Gold Star plates to identify ... Show Full Article CONCORD, New Hampshire, Sept. 26 -- Gov. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 Governor Ayotte Waives Tolls and State Registration Fees for Gold Star Families CONCORD, NH -- Ahead of Gold Star Mother's and Family Day on Sunday, September 27, Governor Kelly Ayotte issued an executive order PDF document waiving tolls and State registration fees for Gold Star license plates for New Hampshire's Gold Star families. The order waives New Hampshire tolls for Gold Star family members by allowing vehicles with New Hampshire Gold Star plates to identifythemselves to toll attendants and be allowed to pass free of charge. The State will also waive State registration fees associated with Gold Star family plates. Read the executive order here (https://www.governor.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt336/files/media/media_document/executive-order-2026-02.pdf).
"Our Gold Star families carry the loss of their loved one every day, and today, we're assuring them that New Hampshire will never forget their sacrifice," said Governor Ayotte. "In addition to waiving tolls for Gold Star families, we're also waiving State registration fees for Gold Star plates. May God continue to bless these families."
"As someone who has the extraordinary privilege of serving New Hampshire's Gold Star families and a Gold Star sibling myself, I know that no benefit or recognition could ever make up for the loss of a loved one, but gestures like this carry a meaning far greater than their monetary value," said Stephanie Ouellette, Gold Star Sister and Survivor Outreach Services Coordinator. "They tell Gold Star families that their loved one's life, service, and sacrifice have not been forgotten, and that our state continues to stand beside the families who carry their memory. I am deeply grateful to Governor Ayotte for this meaningful recognition of New Hampshire's Gold Star families."
"The New Hampshire Department of Transportation is proud to join Governor Ayotte in honoring the families of fallen military heroes and waive tolls for Gold Star families," said NHDOT Commissioner David Rodrigue, "As we honor Gold Star Mother's and Family Day this upcoming Sunday, we remember these families and thank them for their service and sacrifice."
"Since 2006, the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles has proudly offered Gold Star Mother license plates and is expanding the program to include fathers and other immediate family members with the law Governor Ayotte signed this year," said DMV Director John Marasco. "We are committed to honoring our state's Gold Star families, and we are proud to waive State registration fees in honor of their loved one's service and sacrifice."
In May of this year, Governor Ayotte signed a law expanding New Hampshire's Gold Star License Plate program to Gold Star Fathers and other immediate family members. The program previously only included Gold Star Mothers. The new plates will be available starting January 1, 2027, and can be requested through the Office of the Commissioner at the New Hampshire Department of Safety.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.governor.nh.gov/news/governor-ayotte-waives-tolls-and-state-registration-fees-gold-star-families
Attorney General Bonta Secures Preliminary Injunction Continuing to Block Trump Administration's Plan to Terminate School Mental Health Funding
SACRAMENTO, California, Sept. 26 -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued the following news release:
* * *
Attorney General Bonta Secures Preliminary Injunction Continuing to Block Trump Administration's Plan to Terminate School Mental Health Funding
*
OAKLAND -As part of a coalition of 15 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week secured a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington that continues blocking the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) effort to terminate federal funding that helps schools recruit ... Show Full Article SACRAMENTO, California, Sept. 26 -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued the following news release: * * * Attorney General Bonta Secures Preliminary Injunction Continuing to Block Trump Administration's Plan to Terminate School Mental Health Funding * OAKLAND -As part of a coalition of 15 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week secured a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington that continues blocking the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) effort to terminate federal funding that helps schools recruitand train mental health professionals and provide essential mental health services. Congress established the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program and the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program following the school shootings in Parkland, FL and Uvalde, TX to address shortages of school-based counselors, psychologists, social workers, and other mental health professionals, particularly in high-need schools. The new ruling continues to block the Department's termination plan, which the court first halted through a temporary restraining order earlier this year.
"The Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to cut critical mental health funding for schools, and we haven't hesitated to fight back," said Attorney General Bonta. "This preliminary injunction keeps these vital resources available to students and families who need them the most. We will keep holding this Administration accountable and defending the rule of law."
After Attorney General Bonta and a coalition of attorneys general successfully blocked the Department's earlier effort to discontinue these grants, the Department announced a new plan to end the funding under a different regulation, leading the coalition to file a lawsuit that resulted in the preliminary injunction.
The court granted the coalition's motion for a preliminary injunction because it found that the attorneys general are likely to succeed in showing that the Department's termination plan is unlawful. The court found that the Department sought to re-evaluate grants based on new priorities that did not exist when grantees applied for the funding and failed to adequately consider grantees' reliance on that funding. The court also found that the Department did not provide grantees with the notice and opportunity to be heard required before terminating the funding.
Joining Attorney General Bonta in challenging the Department's termination plan are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.
***
Original text here: https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-secures-preliminary-injunction-continuing-block-trump
* * *
Attorney General Bonta Secures Preliminary Injunction Continuing to Block Trump Administration's Plan to Terminate School Mental Health Funding
*
OAKLAND -As part of a coalition of 15 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week secured a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington that continues blocking the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) effort to terminate federal funding that helps schools recruit ... Show Full Article SACRAMENTO, California, Sept. 26 -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued the following news release: * * * Attorney General Bonta Secures Preliminary Injunction Continuing to Block Trump Administration's Plan to Terminate School Mental Health Funding * OAKLAND -As part of a coalition of 15 attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week secured a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington that continues blocking the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) effort to terminate federal funding that helps schools recruitand train mental health professionals and provide essential mental health services. Congress established the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program and the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program following the school shootings in Parkland, FL and Uvalde, TX to address shortages of school-based counselors, psychologists, social workers, and other mental health professionals, particularly in high-need schools. The new ruling continues to block the Department's termination plan, which the court first halted through a temporary restraining order earlier this year.
"The Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to cut critical mental health funding for schools, and we haven't hesitated to fight back," said Attorney General Bonta. "This preliminary injunction keeps these vital resources available to students and families who need them the most. We will keep holding this Administration accountable and defending the rule of law."
After Attorney General Bonta and a coalition of attorneys general successfully blocked the Department's earlier effort to discontinue these grants, the Department announced a new plan to end the funding under a different regulation, leading the coalition to file a lawsuit that resulted in the preliminary injunction.
The court granted the coalition's motion for a preliminary injunction because it found that the attorneys general are likely to succeed in showing that the Department's termination plan is unlawful. The court found that the Department sought to re-evaluate grants based on new priorities that did not exist when grantees applied for the funding and failed to adequately consider grantees' reliance on that funding. The court also found that the Department did not provide grantees with the notice and opportunity to be heard required before terminating the funding.
Joining Attorney General Bonta in challenging the Department's termination plan are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.
***
Original text here: https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-secures-preliminary-injunction-continuing-block-trump
Ariz. State Rep. Walt Blackman Calls on Leaders to Condemn Racist Social Media Posts
PHOENIX, Arizona, Sept. 26 -- The Arizona House Republicans issued the following news release:
* * *
September 25, 2026
Rep. Walt Blackman Calls on Leaders to Condemn Racist Social Media Posts
Urges leaders across the political spectrum to reject degrading racial stereotypes
-
STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX - Arizona State Representative Walt Blackman today called on elected officials and community leaders across the political spectrum to condemn social media content depicting Black Americans as apes and using degrading racial stereotypes.
"Leadership is measured by the standards we uphold when ... Show Full Article PHOENIX, Arizona, Sept. 26 -- The Arizona House Republicans issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 Rep. Walt Blackman Calls on Leaders to Condemn Racist Social Media Posts Urges leaders across the political spectrum to reject degrading racial stereotypes - STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX - Arizona State Representative Walt Blackman today called on elected officials and community leaders across the political spectrum to condemn social media content depicting Black Americans as apes and using degrading racial stereotypes. "Leadership is measured by the standards we uphold whendoing so comes at a cost. Condemning an opponent is easy. Confronting wrongdoing among political allies requires conviction.
"Depicting Black Americans as apes and portraying an entire race as a societal problem is racist and dehumanizing. Leaders should have no difficulty saying so.
"I firmly defend the First Amendment, including speech I find offensive. That protection also safeguards our freedom to challenge hateful ideas. I am calling for a voluntary response and public accountability, not government censorship.
"I am asking elected officials and community leaders across the political spectrum to publicly condemn this content, and I am asking those who shared it to acknowledge the harm it causes.
"Our commitment to individual liberty, equal opportunity, and human dignity must hold firm regardless of who violates those principles. The standard must be the same for everyone. Political considerations must never become an excuse for tolerating racial degradation.
"Our children are learning from what adults say and what leaders tolerate. They deserve to see courage expressed through respect for others and a willingness to speak when silence would be easier.
"The people of Legislative District 7 deserve leadership that protects their freedoms, respects their dignity, and brings communities together. This moment calls for a clear response: defend free speech, condemn racism, and uphold the same principles regardless of who crosses the line."
View the images referenced in this statement on X: https://x.com/blackmanforaz/status/2103303305468285072
* * *
Representative Walt Blackman is a retired United States Army combat veteran who served for 21 years, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He represents Arizona's Legislative District 7 and serves as Chairman of the House Government Committee. Follow him on X at @BlackmanForAZ.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.azleg.gov/press/house/57LEG/2R/260925BLACKMAN.pdf
* * *
September 25, 2026
Rep. Walt Blackman Calls on Leaders to Condemn Racist Social Media Posts
Urges leaders across the political spectrum to reject degrading racial stereotypes
-
STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX - Arizona State Representative Walt Blackman today called on elected officials and community leaders across the political spectrum to condemn social media content depicting Black Americans as apes and using degrading racial stereotypes.
"Leadership is measured by the standards we uphold when ... Show Full Article PHOENIX, Arizona, Sept. 26 -- The Arizona House Republicans issued the following news release: * * * September 25, 2026 Rep. Walt Blackman Calls on Leaders to Condemn Racist Social Media Posts Urges leaders across the political spectrum to reject degrading racial stereotypes - STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX - Arizona State Representative Walt Blackman today called on elected officials and community leaders across the political spectrum to condemn social media content depicting Black Americans as apes and using degrading racial stereotypes. "Leadership is measured by the standards we uphold whendoing so comes at a cost. Condemning an opponent is easy. Confronting wrongdoing among political allies requires conviction.
"Depicting Black Americans as apes and portraying an entire race as a societal problem is racist and dehumanizing. Leaders should have no difficulty saying so.
"I firmly defend the First Amendment, including speech I find offensive. That protection also safeguards our freedom to challenge hateful ideas. I am calling for a voluntary response and public accountability, not government censorship.
"I am asking elected officials and community leaders across the political spectrum to publicly condemn this content, and I am asking those who shared it to acknowledge the harm it causes.
"Our commitment to individual liberty, equal opportunity, and human dignity must hold firm regardless of who violates those principles. The standard must be the same for everyone. Political considerations must never become an excuse for tolerating racial degradation.
"Our children are learning from what adults say and what leaders tolerate. They deserve to see courage expressed through respect for others and a willingness to speak when silence would be easier.
"The people of Legislative District 7 deserve leadership that protects their freedoms, respects their dignity, and brings communities together. This moment calls for a clear response: defend free speech, condemn racism, and uphold the same principles regardless of who crosses the line."
View the images referenced in this statement on X: https://x.com/blackmanforaz/status/2103303305468285072
* * *
Representative Walt Blackman is a retired United States Army combat veteran who served for 21 years, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He represents Arizona's Legislative District 7 and serves as Chairman of the House Government Committee. Follow him on X at @BlackmanForAZ.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.azleg.gov/press/house/57LEG/2R/260925BLACKMAN.pdf