Be Ready for State Legislative Sessions

Wyoming State Capitol

The start of the new year marks the return of state legislative sessions, and we are watching for legislation that falls within our advocacy areas, especially in states where we have developed state advocacy teams.

Mormon Women for Ethical Government takes seriously our support role on behalf of members who want to advocate for the rights and assurances a constitutional republic provides. While we cannot engage with every bill, even within our advocacy areas, we invite you to understand how state legislatures work and advocate for the issues that are important to you. 

Why care about state legislatures?

The tendency to follow national over local politics is common. One major factor is the significant and overall decrease in the availability of local news. In a breakout session at the 2025 Forum on Faith conference, Steve Waldman of the nonprofit Rebuild Local News cited that since 2002, the number of local journalists has decreased by 75%, and 2.5% of newspapers in the U.S. close every week. In 2021, researcher and applied economics professor Dr. Charles Angelucci warned, “An often-unexplored consequence of the disappearance of local news is the fact that local politics will become increasingly determined by national matters.”

With voter attention pulled in a national direction — and despite the significant drop in local news — state and local governments impact the day-to-day life of communities substantially compared to the federal government. State constitutions are lengthier than the U.S. Constitution, covering much broader subject matter. Local elected officials are likely to understand the specialized issues and solutions for their communities because they live and work among their constituents on a full-time basis. 

State legislative session basics

Though states and territories differ from each other in the details of governance, nearly all state legislatures are modeled after the U.S. Congress with their own House of Representatives and Senate bodies. Representatives and senators propose and vote on bills and approve state budgets.

All except four state legislatures meet annually. Texas, North Dakota, Montana, and Nevada meet only in odd-numbered years and call special sessions in between as needed. Most states begin their sessions in January, with a few following in February and March. Arkansas’ session, the last to start in 2026, begins in April. Most sessions end between March and May, with exceptions such as California, which starts in January and goes through August. Other states, such as Arizona, Idaho, New York, and New Jersey, have no fixed end to their sessions.

Most state laws begin as bills: documents outlining the proposed law. Sometimes a bill is not the appropriate vehicle — frequently, for example, for a subject that requires a state constitutional amendment. In that case, it may be passed through a resolution instead. Some resolutions, like bills, have to be signed by the governor, while others may go to the voters for approval. Some deal with matters that need no further approval than one or both houses of the legislature. It all depends on the state and topic, so dig into your state’s rules to know what you're dealing with. 

The 10th Amendment

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” — 10th Amendment, U.S. Constitution

The 10th Amendment of the Constitution defines the balance between federal authority and state authority. The Constitution gives the federal government the authority to pass laws regarding certain things, and the individual state governments have the authority to pass laws on all other subjects, as long as they do not conflict with the Constitution. As a result, states are responsible for many of the laws that affect our day-to-day lives. Here is a comparison of what the federal government may pass laws about versus what states may pass laws about.

FEDERAL LEGISLATURE (CONGRESS)	STATE LEGISLATURE
Pass an annual federal budget	Pass and balance state budgets
National defense	National Guard troops
Immigration and naturalization
Federal taxes and tariffs	State taxes (including property and sales tax)
Currency
Intellectual property
Interstate and international commerce
Postal services
Federal criminal law	State criminal law (much broader than federal)
Civil rights	Civil rights in addition to federal civil rights
National environmental and labor	State and local environment and labor
	Education (some funding may come from federal)
	Local and state law enforcement
	Property, land use, zoning
	Marriages, divorces, adoptions
	Business and professional licensing
Public health and safety	Public health and safety
Interstate transportation	State transportation
Oversees federal agencies	Oversees state agencies
Impeachment authority of federal officials	Impeachment authority of state officials
Appoints presidential nominees	Appoints gubernatorial nominees
Amend the U.S. Constitution	Amend respective state constitution
Census
	Administration of elections

Areas to watch in 2026 state legislative sessions 

With state legislative duties in mind, MWEG will watch for several issues attached to our four areas of advocacy, including these:

Advancing democracy

• Voting access expansion and restriction

• Redistricting

• Citizens’ initiatives

• Electoral reform

• Alternative voting options

• Open primaries

Environmental

• Statewide renewable energy standards and statewide energy portfolios

• Permitting on state or private lands for renewable energy projects, including battery energy storage systems

• Energy regulations changes or updates

• Any legislative action about the Great Salt Lake in UT

• Land conservation issues

• Forever chemicals

Family health and well-being

• State-level child tax credit/family tax relief 

• Childcare availability and affordability

• Maternal and infant health (pregnancy and postpartum Medicaid)

• Public health infrastructure and immunizations

• Nutrition access (school meals, SNAP, etc.)

• Rural health 

Immigration

• Limiting (or expanding) sensitive locations regarding immigration enforcement's access to places like schools, courts, libraries, etc. 

• Collaboration with federal law enforcement, such as data sharing

• Children's access to public education

• Language access

• Prohibiting cities/counties from providing immigration legal services

• Harsher punishments for immigrants

• Access to higher education and in-state tuition for undocumented students and DACA recipients

This article was written by Sherilyn Stevenson, lead researcher and writer for MWEG, with Paulette Stauffer, MWEG environmental advocacy specialist, Jill Fairholm, program director for MWEG’s family health and well-being advocacy, and Alexa Alvarado, MWEG immigration specialist.