By Brian Lyman | Editor
“Education in the prison system has been general in nature. We want it to be more specific in nature, so that they can already be targeted for these jobs when they walk out.” - Jimmy Baker, chancellor, Alabama Community College System
The Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees meets in Montgomery, Alabama on July 8, 2026. (Andrea Tinker/Alabama Reflector)
EDUCATION
By Andrea Tinker
The Alabama Community College System’s Board of Trustees Wednesday approved a $23.3 million budget for prison education, with most of it going to J.F. Ingram Community College, which provides education and vocational programs to the incarcerated. The budget, about 2% higher than last year, provides funding for 19 different career fields, as well as adult education and GED preparation.
Various birth control pills available at a Planned Parenthood in Austin, Texas. (Todd Wiseman/The Texas Tribune)
HEALTHCARE
By Sofia Resnick
The Trump administration has dialed back grants and programs aimed at reducing unintended pregnancies. But both Democratic and Republican states have taken steps to protect access to contraception in recent months. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed a bill allowing pharmacists to prescribe birth control without a doctor’s signature. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a law making contraception access a right and requiring insurance coverage.
A man gets a checkup at a mobile health clinic in Parlier, Calif. (Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)
HEALTHCARE
By Nada Hassanein
A new analysis of insurance rate filings estimates that the premium for an Affordable Care Act plan will rise 14% in 2027. That would be the second year of double-digit rate increases. Insurers are citing rising healthcare costs for the increase, as well as Congress allowing enhanced premium subsidies to expire and changes in federal regulations. The loss of premiums drove many healthy people making over $63,000 a year out of the market, leaving a population more expensive to cover.
ICYMI
Trump faces looming deadline to sign popular bipartisan housing package | Jacob Fischler, DC Bureau
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear asks Sen. Mitch McConnell for health update | McKenna Horsley, Kentucky Lantern
To promote more housing, cities and states target parking minimums | Robbie Sequeira, Stateline
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