🗞️Endangered animals, postpartum mental health, ballot measures and more

Good afternoon. Here’s what you may have missed from the Stateline team last week.

The Trump administration’s top wildlife official issued a directive that expands a recent rollback of endangered species protections much further than the feds had told the public. Individuals and industries may kill endangered animals in the course of logging projects, developments and other activities, it said — so long as the activity’s purpose isn’t killing species. It’s the most drastic move yet in the Trump administration’s campaign to limit the Endangered Species Act.

One potential outcome to the publicity surrounding Lindsay Clancy’s murder case in the killing of her three children is a state legislative push to boost mental health support for new mothers. Postpartum depression is common, affecting about 1 in 7 women after childbirth. More rare and potentially deadly is what Clancy’s lawyers argued that she was suffering from: postpartum psychosis, which is more severe and affects between roughly 1 and 3 women per 1,000 births.

This fall, voters in at least nine states will decide whether to cut, cap or raise taxes through ballot measures that will give them a direct hand in steering state tax policy in a conservative or progressive direction. Some states, such as California, will weigh whether to tax — or untax — their wealthiest residents. Others, such as Florida, are considering a myriad of mostly conservative-backed measures to cut property or income taxes.

Voters in nine states this fall will decide nearly a dozen ballot measures addressing criminal justice and drug policy. The measures include proposals to tighten bail rules, increase criminal penalties, expand crime victims’ rights and change marijuana laws, as well as questions involving immigration enforcement, drug cartels and photo traffic enforcement.

As physicians continue to navigate care for patients with complex pregnancies in states with abortion bans, a group of maternal-fetal medicine specialists has developed new guidelines to help providers in those states navigate legal risks for themselves and medical challenges for their high-risk patients.

By Kevin Hardy

Tens of thousands of Americans continue to lose access to food assistance each month, even as Congress debates slowing down major cuts to federal food stamps.

New data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows more than 330,000 Americans lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, between May and June, the latest numbers available. 

More than 5 million people have lost food stamps since the enactment last July of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut taxes and federal safety net programs. The law changed SNAP eligibility rules, ended certain work requirement exemptions and shifted new costs to states that administer the federal program.

An analysis by the anti-hunger nonprofit Food Research and Action Center shows SNAP participation has decreased since the new law in every state except Alaska. State leaders there cited unique geographic and economic conditions, including higher food prices and high seasonal unemployment specific to Alaska. 

In Arizona, SNAP participation dropped by more than half since July 2025, with about 421,000 people receiving assistance this June, the center’s data shows. Louisiana’s enrollment dropped by more than 173,000 — a decrease of about 22%. Participation in Illinois dropped by more than 368,000 — a drop of about 20%.