California lawmakers are reining in AI. Alabama and Mississippi are finally open to implementing Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. And Arizona lawmakers are considering the therapeutic effects of psychedelic mushrooms.

State lawmakers are increasingly driving big policy debates as Congress struggles to keep the federal government funded. And the impasse on Capitol Hill is likely to get worse this year, with the presidential contest putting partisan discord into overdrive.

The U.S. state with the greatest number of religious freedom safeguards is Illinois, while the state with the fewest safeguards is West Virginia, according to a new analysis. 

First Liberty Institute, a Texas Christian nonprofit legal organization specializing in religious liberty cases, released its analysis Wednesday ranking all 50 states based on how free its residents are to practice their faith.

Access to abortion remains a patchwork of state-by-state policies after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with abortion restricted across much of the Southern United States. In the six months that followed the ruling, there were an estimated 43,410 fewer legal abortions in states that had bans, according to a recent survey.

As parties are grappling with more extreme wings, some state legislatures have responded by forming centrist coalitions across the aisle. To work, however, the model requires trust.

As state Rep. Jim Gregory walks into the Pennsylvania Capitol’s cafeteria, a table of Democrats all stops talking and turns their heads. One stands up to give him a pat on the back as he passes by.

Mr. Gregory, a Republican, ruefully remarks that this reception was likely warmer than what he’d be getting from Republicans in his home district. He’s not wrong.

Workers earning minimum wage in 23 states and the District of Columbia got a raise over the New Year's holiday, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

The biggest increase: Nebraska

As Nebraska Public Media reports, voters decided in November to increase the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, in increments of $1.50 per year. That brings the state to $10.50 an hour for this year.

Smallest increase: Michigan

Millions of Americans got a raise this week, as minimum wage increases in 23 states and Washington, D.C. went into effect.

Why it matters: The biggest factor driving the increases was inflation — 13 states tie their minimum wage rate to the Consumer Price Index, as Wolters Kluwer notes in a new analysis. Other states had increases set by legislation or ballot initiatives.

Six months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, the state of abortion rights around the country remains unsettled, thanks to a patchwork of lawsuits in state courts and emergency court orders.

Experts predict that the uncertainty will continue in the coming year, as cases wend their way through courts, and state legislatures consider new restrictions, potentially drawing new battle lines in the fight over abortion rights.