[Previous: The lights are flickering in Red America]
Red states are suffering from the laws they voted for.
Thanks to their rejection of Obamacare, rural areas have become healthcare deserts as hospitals lose money and shut down. COVID-denying, vaccine-refusing ideology has directly led to conservative areas suffering far more deaths and disability than would otherwise have been the case. Abortion bans are causing doctors to flee in droves, leaving states without maternity care. Schools are starved of resources, crippling the minds of the next generation and driving away businesses that need educated workers. Open-carry laws have spurred a plague of gun murders and suicides.
However, the state of the nation isn’t uniformly bleak. While the red states regress, blue states are doing better than ever. In places with enlightened, progressive governments that actually care about the well-being of their citizens, Democrats are passing a blizzard of laws to help people and make their lives better.
The Midwest
Start with Minnesota. Democrats won a trifecta in 2022, taking the governorship and both houses of the state legislature. They immediately made good use of their majority to turn the state into a laboratory in progressive policy:
Just over halfway through their legislative session, Minnesota legislators have already enacted or advanced measures that touch nearly every area of the Democratic Party platform, including policies about reproductive rights, democracy, voting, green energy and LGBTQ protections.
Among other progressive measures, Minnesota Democrats codified abortion rights into law. They massively expanded voting rights, set up automatic voter registration for teenagers, and provided for the automatic restoration of voting rights to people who’ve completed criminal sentences. They expanded background checks and red-flag laws for gun purchases. They required utilities to offer 100% clean energy by 2040. They legalized recreational marijuana.
And that’s not all. Another article, “The Minnesota Miracle“, lists even more Democratic accomplishments: They created a paid family and medical leave program that covers all workers. They passed a child tax credit to help poor families. They banned conversion therapy and passed sanctuary laws for transgender children with family in less tolerant states. They bumped up education spending and instituted free breakfast and lunch for all public school students. They passed laws guaranteeing access to health insurance and driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status.
Nearby Michigan, like Minnesota, elected a Democratic trifecta in 2022—in Michigan’s case, for the first time in forty years. Also like Minnesota, Michigan Democrats wasted no time. They banned conversion therapy; outlawed discrimination against LGBTQ people; repealed a Republican anti-union law; expanded the earned income tax credit; and passed a package of gun-control laws.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer also signed a “historic” education budget that boosts per-student spending and expands pre-K. It guarantees free breakfast and lunch for all public school students, making Michigan the seventh state to do so.
There’s also Illinois. While there wasn’t a huge reservoir of pent-up progressive changes in this deep blue state, there were still some good ideas. For example, they passed a law that bans book bans. In response to right-wing censorship, it prevents schools and libraries from removing books based on “partisan or doctrinal disapproval”, on pain of losing state funds. Illinois also eliminated cash bail and expanded support for abortion to help people coming from neighboring states.
The West
The biggest, most forward-thinking initiative in the Western states comes from California. The Golden State is manufacturing its own insulin through the non-profit CalRx initiative.
California will sell insulin for $30, up to 90% less than private companies charge. It will be a major disruption to the price-gouging rampant in Big Pharma. Other generic drugs, like naloxone, may soon follow.
In New Mexico, voters approved tapping into the state’s land grant fund to pay for early childhood education. A set of proposed state regulations would make child care free for most children up to age 5.
And Colorado, like California, is taking steps to rein in out-of-control medical costs. One new law caps the cost of EpiPens at $60. Another caps the interest rate on medical debt. A third bars it from being included on credit reports, which helps people who were unjustly turned down for loans or credit because of a medical crisis that was no fault of their own.
The East
In New York, I’ve previously written about the Build Public Renewables Act, one of the most ambitious laws ever passed to bring us closer to a green-energy future.
The Rhode Island legislature passed a law that makes wage theft a felony—eliminating the longstanding disparity that employees who steal from employers can expect prosecution and harsh punishment, whereas employers could steal from employees with little consequence.
Vermont, like New Mexico, approved a plan that greatly expands child care. It subsidizes families and reimburses providers. It’s paid for by a payroll tax—which is only fair, since employers benefit when their employees have reliable child care.
Massachusetts joins Minnesota and Michigan in making school meals free for all students, and the only surprise is that they hadn’t done so already. Lawmakers also made community college free for state residents.
Last but not least, East Coast states pioneered the idea of shield laws to fight right-wing anti-choice and anti-trans ideology. These laws prevent patients and doctors from being sued, arrested, or prosecuted for receiving abortion or gender-affirming care, and forbid states from cooperating with any such investigation by overreaching law enforcement in red states. Connecticut passed the first of these laws, but the idea has spread to Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Vermont.
As conservative states sink further into the mire of theocracy, the blue states stand above them, shining like lighthouses. Not only are they protecting their citizens against religious-right encroachment, they’re offering more and more benefits like free child care, high-quality education, and access to affordable medical care. Our nation is increasingly diverging onto two separate tracks, and blue states will be havens, not just to liberals, but to everyone who wants to live a happy, healthy and prosperous life.