In Divisive Move, Louisiana Lawmakers Seek To Override Transgender Bill Veto

The Advocate: Anti-Transgender Legislation In Louisiana Prompts Veto Override Session That Could Split GOP
Louisiana legislators are convening a historic meeting at noon Tuesday motivated primarily by the governor’s veto of a bill that forbids transgender youth from participating in organized women’s sports. Though the decision by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is the target of the extraordinary veto override session, the transgender ban is an issue that also pits evangelical Protestants and conservative businessmen — two important Republican constituencies — against each other. (Ballard and Paterson, 7/18)

Houston Chronicle: Gov. Abbott Plans To Ban Gender-Affirming Medical Care For Transgender Youth
Lacking the support to advance such a proposal in the state Legislature, Gov. Greg Abbott says he has found another way to stop transgender children from receiving gender-affirming medical care. The Texas Legislature had considered a bill to ban transition-related health care for minors during the regular session. It passed the Senate but died in the House of Representatives in May — at the time, a temporary relief for activists who decried the legislation as an unnecessary attack on transgender youth. “I have another way of achieving the exact same thing, and it’s about a finished product as we speak right now and may be announced as soon as this week,” Abbott told Mark Davis, a conservative radio talk show host, in an interview Monday morning. (Harris, 7/19)

In news from California, Alaska, Georgia and Pennsylvania —

San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom Bans Sending Foster Youth To Faraway Treatment Programs After Chronicle Abuse Investigation
California has banned the practice of sending foster youth and teens charged with crimes to faraway residential treatment programs, following a Chronicle investigation into reports of violent abuse at some of these out-of-state campuses. The policy change, signed into law last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, commits $100 million over five years to create new programs closer to home for these vulnerable children and teenagers. (Palomino and Tiano, 7/19)

KHN: California Makes It Easier For Low-Income Residents To Get And Keep Free Health Coverage 
Getting clean drinking water cost Ignacio Padilla his health insurance. The World War II veteran needed to repay the loan for the water pump installed on his 1-acre property in rural Tulare County, the only source of water to his mobile home. He carefully socked away a few thousand dollars so he could make the payoff — only to find that those savings put him over the asset threshold to remain on Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program for low-income people. He was booted from the health insurance program in 2019. ... A provision in California’s newly approved state budget will eliminate the asset test for the 2 million Californians enrolled in both Medi-Cal and Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older and people under 65 with certain disabilities. Instead, their financial eligibility will be based solely on income, as it is for the millions of other people in Medi-Cal. (Bluth, 7/20)

Anchorage Daily News: An Anchorage Anesthesiologist Is In Charge Of A Plan To Reimagine Homeless Shelters In The City. Who Is He, And How’d He Get Here?
A few days before the Anchorage Assembly put the brakes on his plan to rapidly build a large-scale homeless shelter, Dr. John Morris stood in a Midtown park, contemplating what he could get done. “We need to light a fire under some of this stuff,” he said. “Way too much thinking about it. We need to build it.” Morris, 43, is an anesthesiologist by profession. On July 1, he also became Anchorage’s homeless coordinator, a position that hasn’t been particularly high-profile in the past. (Theriault Boots, 7/17)

Georgia Health News: Deaths Of Despair: Two Georgia Counties Show Stark Contrast 
You might assume that states wrestling with premature death from suicide and substance abuse were places of failure and decline, where the human toll of disappointment illustrates bigger problems about life. But America is more complicated than that. Understanding the evolving human condition can require both flying overhead at 30,000 feet and walking the streets on your own two feet before rustling around in the data to see where the story’s hiding. (Suarez, 7/19)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia School District Air Purifiers Won't Help Much, Experts Say
Philadelphia school officials are planning to consult with more air quality scientists after meeting Monday with an expert critical of the district’s $4.5 million purchase of NASA-originated air purifier technology. The expert, a Drexel professor, said the purifiers were ineffective at reducing the spread of coronavirus and had the potential to create harmful chemicals. Preparing to welcome students in-person for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, district officials last week touted the multimillion dollar investment in air purifiers advertised to rid both air and surfaces of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. (Goodin-Smith, Graham and Kummer, 7/20)