State of the States TENNESSEE


TARIFF RELIEF PLEA Nearly 40 hardwood companies are among hundreds of U.S. hardwood industry operators calling for federal relief from tariff- induced economic hardship. Tennessee’s forestry


products industry supports an estimated 85,000 jobs, according to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Reciprocal tariffs from


overseas compounded an already dificult market for hardwood mills, according to Claire Getty, CFO at Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods in Huntland, Tennessee. Historically, the company created home products like furniture, flooring, and cabinets, she said. Getty said tariffs


were making hardwood more expensive, causing manufacturers to find alternative materials.


WEST VIRGINIA


CHILD ABUSE FAILURE A federal audit of the state’s overwhelmed foster care system showed it didn’t comply with requirements when responding to reports of child abuse and neglect. The 2024 death of a


14-year-old girl, who was found in a skeletal state in her Boone County home, and news coverage of the incident prompted the audit, according to federal oficials. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Ofice of Inspector General sampled 100 of 23,759 recent child abuse complaints and found that 91% were not in compliance with investigation requirements, the report said. The state failed to conduct interviews with children or


26 NEWSMAX | JANUARY 2026


adults, send letters notifying parents or caregivers of suspected child abuse, and assess immediate safety risks.


OREGON


BUDGET CRISIS LOOMS With the state facing a $373 million deficit over the next two years, agencies were asked for ways to cut 5% from their budgets. Rep. David Gomberg, a


Democrat, told the Capital Chronicle that legislative budget writers have dificult choices to make. “I will tell you that they will be painful, and they will be ugly,” he said. Democrats who run both the House and Senate blamed the Trump administration and congressional Republicans for creating the budget crisis. That’s because the state


tax code automatically replicates changes to the federal tax code, which means new federal initiatives, such as exempting overtime pay and tips from income taxes and allowing individuals and businesses to immediately deduct 100% of the cost of “depreciating assets,” such as real estate


and equipment, will apply to state taxes as well.


NEW MEXICO HYPERSONIC MISSILE PLANT Castelion, a defense technology company, selected Sandoval County, New Mexico, as the site for Project Ranger, a 1,000-acre solid rocket motor manufacturing campus dedicated to next-generation hypersonic systems. The initiative is projected


to create 300 high-quality jobs and generate over $650 million in economic output over the next decade. The facility will build


solid rocket motors, conduct static tests, and “assemble components to produce finished rounds,” according to a news release. Castelion plans to invest


more than $100 million over the project’s first four years, with more to follow.


LOUISIANA


SPENDING SOARS 71% Louisiana’s annual budgets swelled more than 71% over the


Who Runs State Legislatures A


s of Jan. 1, Republicans control 55.29% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats hold 43.58%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and


Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (the Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were


organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.


Partisan Balance of All 7,386 State Legislative Seats


Legislative Chamber DEM GOP Other Vacant State Senates State Houses Totals:


828 1,117


2,389 2,968 3,217 4,085


6


20 26


22 36 58


SOURCE: Ballotpedia


past decade, ticking up year after year under a Democrat governor who expanded Medicaid and led the state through the COVID-19 crisis. While the pace of spending


slowed under a Republican governor elected two years ago, the bottom line keeps growing, an analysis of state records by The Center Square found. Louisiana’s funding


increased more than 27% during the peak pandemic years from 2019 to 2022. But since 2023, the budgets have gone up an additional 14% after COVID-19 abated. Budget watchdogs blame


Louisiana’s heavy reliance on federal dollars, calling the trajectory “unsustainable” and warning of a “fiscal cliff” if Washington ever tightens the spigot.


ALASKA


DRILLING RULES RELAXED The Trump administration announced that oil and gas drilling would be allowed in an area in northern Alaska that is home to caribou, grizzly bears, and thousands of migratory birds. The move reverses actions


taken during the Biden administration to restrict development in half of the National Petroleum Reserve- Alaska, 23 million acres of federal land in the North Slope. Despite having “petroleum”


in its name, the expanse is one of the last remaining pristine wildernesses in the country and contains some of the most important wildlife habitats in the Arctic. Oil industry advocates


and Alaska lawmakers celebrated the announcement, which returns the reserve to regulations originally established in 1977.


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