Good afternoon and happy Super Tuesday!

If you live in one of the following 15 states – Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia – today was your chance to head to the polls and make your voice heard in this primary.

At stake: Approximately one third of all delegates to the party conventions will be allocated today. It's now an age-old question: are we building towards a Biden-Trump rematch in November? Though Nikki Haley managed to prevent Trump's primary sweep with a win in D.C., she is largely delaying the inevitable, with Trump on track to garner enough delegates to win the GOP nomination on March 12.

Beyond that, there are a variety of down-ballot primaries determining the Democratic candidates for Senate in California and Texas and nominees for North Carolina's governor, as well as a vote in Alabama's hotly contested newly drawn Second Congressional District. In the midst of all this electioneering, Mitch McConnell and Kyrsten Sinema heard that "there is life after the Senate. And it's good."

Here's what else you need to know this week...

FEDERAL FUNDING FEAT

• Another short-term continuing resolution (CR) was passed last week that extended funding for the Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and Housing and Urban Development (and the Food and Drug Administration and Military Construction) until this Friday.

• Six months after fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations were due for renewal, Congress unveiled a six-bill "minibus" this weekend in advance of Friday's shutdown, which would fund the aforementioned departments as well as the Departments of Commerce and Energy. The package will provide the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program with the $1 billion boost necessary to keep the program afloat and mothers and children fed. Read more about the appropriations here.

• The package must be passed before the week's end. Then Congress can pass the other six bills and move on to other pressing priorities, like the also overdue Farm Bill. This chaotic process, however, has eroded confidence (even of senior Republican staffers) in Speaker Mike Johnson's ability to lead – spelling trouble for future legislation.

READ ACROSS AMERICA – IF YOU CAN

• This past Saturday was the National Day of Reading – but depending on where you are in America, you might be limited in your choice of book.

• Book bans are one of the latest sinister sensations sweeping the nation, part of an attack on education that extends from legislation that locks literature away to school vouchers that suck funding out of public schools. From January to August of 2023, there were 695 censorship attempts that challenged 1,915 titles – a 20 percent increase from 2022.

• Many books deemed "harmful" or "inappropriate" have been penned by or about people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community. It's said that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. But perhaps it's more accurate to say that those trying to obscure or censor history – particularly a history of discrimination – are actively trying to repeat it.

• Under Governor Ron DeSantis' twisted leadership, Florida has enacted some of the most egregious book bans in the nation – going so far as to take dictionaries off the shelf. It's clear that Republicans would prefer to obscure the definition of "rights" from their constituents.

• Florida's Escambia school district is being sued for its removal of books based on ideological objections. In Illinois, libraries have received bomb threats. On the other side of the country, Oregon's Senate passed a bill that bans book bans. Learn about the status of book bans in your state – and if you can't access a book from your public library, download them here.

STATE OF THE UNION BINGO

• Get your bingo boards ready! The State of the Union is this Thursday. Follow along with us as we track how President Biden's 2024 agenda aligns with rural Americans' priorities. Tune in at 9:00 PM ET and tag @_OneCounty_ with your bingo progress!

• CalMatters: Rural California schools are desperate for state help, from special education to construction
• CPR News: Locally produced food and better paid cafeteria workers delayed as state scrambles to pay for free school lunch program
• Alabama Reporter: ALGOP expects passage of school voucher program with no cap
• Ohio Capital Journal: Alabama passes IVF protections while red states still push 'personhood' abortion laws

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