Republican state legislators and conservative leaders across the country see Donald Trump’s re-election as a mandate to help enact right-wing policies in Republican-controlled states across the country.
These policies include significant tax cuts, environmental laws, religion in schools, transgender health care and education laws, and other hot-button social issues.
Republicans will have tripartite control (meaning both the legislative body and the governorship within a state) in 23 states next year, while Democrats will only control three institutions in 15 states. Other states have divided government.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said her party is split between three parties, saying, “Arkansans feel very good about President Trump, and I think Arkansans feel the same way about President Trump.” said Ryan Rose, a Republican state representative from Arkansas.
“It will empower our state to continue more conservative policies, put more money back into the pockets of hard-working Arkansans through tax cuts, and support Arkansans’ conservative family values.” That’s it.”
While federal and state control could allow Republicans to advance their top priorities, leaders of progressive groups say even if people vote for Trump, that doesn’t necessarily mean they support him. They point to other election results, such as some red states supporting abortion rights, as evidence that this is not the case. Supporting what opponents describe as extreme proposals.
And they remain optimistic that they will prevail against such measures in court.
“We are now in a moment where the incoming administration has won a victory by distancing itself from these policies that appear to be about to accelerate,” said the liberal legal group, which is becoming increasingly popular. said Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward. The organization has more than 800 lawyers and pursues legal challenges to Republican regulations and administrative lawsuits.
Perryman added, “We are committed to protecting the American people and ensuring that the people of this country have the tools to make their voices heard.”
Republican state lawmakers’ top priorities appear to revolve around curriculum and school choice, which means allowing parents to use public funds to send their children to private schools. Private schools may be more religious or socially conservative than public schools.
According to Education Week, 280 states have at least one school choice program, such as education savings accounts, which provide per-pupil public funds to families with children not attending public schools.
President Trump’s platform states, “I want to protect the God-given right of all parents to be stewards of their children’s education,” and when nominating Linda McMahon to be Secretary of Education, she said “I want to protect the God-given right of all parents to be stewards of their children’s education.” We will work tirelessly to expand options.” In every state of America. ”
In Arkansas, Mr. Sanders recently increased funding for such an Education Freedom Account by $90 million to $187 million, with $90 million left in reserve for the program. The proposal was announced.
Since Mr. Trump’s election, Republicans in states such as Ohio have also introduced legislation dubbed the “Parental Bill of Rights,” which would require public school officials to protect students’ mental and emotional health, “including all requests from students.” Requires parents to be notified of physical health conditions. Recognizing genders that do not match a student’s biological sex. ”
Critics of such bills say it is “dangerous for all LGBTQ+ youth.”
Earlier this month, 129 anti-LGBTQ+ state bills were pending, including proposals to ban doctors from prescribing puberty-blocking drugs and gender reassignment surgeries to minors, according to the ACLU.
Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the right-wing advocacy group Moms for Liberty, said the Education Department under the Trump administration would help states “stop gender ideology from being taught in our nation’s schools.” Ta.
President Trump also promised to eliminate the Biden administration’s efforts to address the climate crisis. Montana Sen. Tom McGilvray said he hopes President Trump will loosen or roll back recent federal environmental regulations.
“We don’t need Washington to tell us how to manage the environment,” McGilvray said.
Still, the courts could provide an avenue for people to challenge the Trump administration’s policies.
Last month, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a ruling that found 16 young plaintiffs had a “constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment,” and ruled that regulators would not allow greenhouse gas emissions when permitting fossil fuel projects. It invalidated a law that prohibited consideration of the effects of emissions.
Perryman said Democracy Forward plans to use the courts to “challenge harmful policies and the incoming administration’s tendency to ignore the law.”
And despite Trump’s control of the popular vote and electoral college, voters in three states, including Montana, supported Republican-passed ballot measures protecting abortion rights.
According to public opinion polls, a majority of the public also opposes Project 2025, a policy strategy document by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
President Trump distanced himself from the plan during the campaign. The plan calls for withholding federal funding from states that share data on abortions occurring within their borders and dismantling the Department of Education, among other ideas. But President Trump has since made appointments related to Project 2025, including Tom Homan as “border czar” and Brendan Carr as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
“Some of the same architects behind extreme federal policies are also working at the state level,” Perryman said. “We’re obviously monitoring the bills that are coming through the various legislatures, including using the courts, to make sure that people at the state and local level have their voices heard.”
This article was amended on January 1, 2025 to clarify that the Montana court decision was upheld last month. A previous version incorrectly stated that it was last week.
