Three quarters of Midwestern homeowners are concerned about rising home insurance premiums and 86% of homeowners surveyed in a poll released Thursday by Climate Power and the Insurance Fairness Project say elected officials should do more to reduce the cost. The poll surveyed Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas homeowners and found they largely supported policy…
—The Federal Reserve has for decades moved steadily from a remote, opaque government agency that shared little about what it did or why to a more transparent institution willing to explain how it makes decisions and what it thinks about the economy. Warsh quickly made changes: The Fed's statement on its interest-rate decision was slashed to 132 words, from 341 in…
WASHINGTON— Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh opened a new era of U.S. monetary policy Wednesday, with officials agreeing to leave interest rates unchanged despite inflation stuck well above their target. GUN RIGHTS: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a marijuana user Thursday, limiting the application of a federal law that bars drug users from owning…
For farmers and ranchers planning to fill the feed gap by planting annual forages from Aug. 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027, the USDA Risk Management Agency's Annual Forage insurance program provides the option of taking coverage for a lack of precipitation. The July 15 enrollment deadline is fast approaching for producers considering this program.
A rapid series of administrative, staffing and policy changes the Social Security Administration underwent early on in the second Trump administration are making it much harder to get disability benefits that millions of Americans rely on to make ends meet. For instance, Social Security officials announced in March 2025 that people would no longer be able…
Phil Scott has been busy signing legislation into law recently. "All Vermonters are impacted by Vermont's health insurance costs— individuals, small and large businesses, public employee plans, and nonprofits— and the Legislature must focus on system-wide savings for all, consistent with the GMCB's statutory purpose. "Families on the individual exchange lost…
Jason Miller watched his monthly health insurance premiums quadruple to $374 from $80 for a silver-level plan when the Affordable Care Act's enhanced tax credits ran out in December. It's up 37%- or more than $1,000- to $3,786 in 2026 with the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits, according to a new analysis by San Francisco- based KFF, an independent…
A preliminary agreement signed Wednesday by President Donald Trump and President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran began a 60- day period of negotiations between the countries. Critically, Iran promised to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. military said Thursday that it had lifted a blockade it had imposed on Iranian ships since April. But on Friday, the next…
Legislators this week approved a health tax bill meant to continue critical federal funding for the state’ s Medicaid program, also known as Medi-Cal. California has been charging Medi-Cal insurance plans at a higher rate than private plans. The state’ s newly-designed solution, Senate Bill 125, will lower the tax on Medi-Cal plans and raise the tax on private…
