Work requirements, ballot drop box laws, 2025 school board elections analysis
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Here are the top stories from the week of February 2 to February 6.
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Mandatory Medicaid work requirements are coming, what do they look like now?
The 2025 budget reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), established mandatory work requirements for certain able-bodied Medicaid recipients beginning in 2027. As a result, states are now required to design and implement systems to comply with the new requirements, or risk losing federal funding. Some states are also looking to establish work requirements before the 2027 deadline.
The OBBBA requires all states to implement a work requirement of 80 hours per month for childless, able-bodied Medicaid recipients ages 19 to 65 with incomes up to 138% of the poverty level, by Jan. 1, 2027. The OBBBA allows states to apply for Section 1115 waivers to implement work requirements for Medicaid ahead of the January 2027 deadline, but explicitly prohibits states from using these waivers to waive the work requirements.
Seven states have active applications for Section 1115 waivers that would implement work requirements before the Dec. 31, 2026, deadline to do so.
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At least 15 states could change their ballot drop box laws in 2026 — here's a look at drop box policies across the U.S.
Legislators in 15 states have introduced or carried over 25 bills related to drop box availability and security so far this year.
States have varying policies on drop boxes. Fifteen states require drop boxes, 14 permit drop boxes but do not require them, 11 prohibit drop boxes, and 10 do not mention drop boxes in their statutes.
Eight of the 10 states that do not mention drop boxes in state law have at least some jurisdictions that use them. The other two do not.
States with drop boxes may have laws or regulations dictating how many drop boxes are allowed, where they can be placed, and what hours they can be open. Some states also prescribe certain drop box security measures, such as supervision by election officials or video surveillance.
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Eighty-four percent of school board incumbents won re-election in 2025 — the highest percentage since 2022
One of our major commitments to our readers and voters across the U.S. is to cover elections at every level of government. The bulk of that coverage is at the local level — the one closest to voters.
Our coverage of school board elections in 2025 included all school districts in the 100 most populous cities and the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment. That means we covered school board elections in 187 school districts across 29 states last year. Those school districts had a total enrollment of 4,877,739 students.
Last year had the lowest average number of candidates per seat since 2022. An average of 1.8 candidates ran per seat in 2025, compared to 1.9 in 2024, 1.9 in 2023, and 2.2 in 2022. Thirty-six percent of races were unopposed, up from 32% in 2024 and the highest rate since 2022.
Incumbents had a successful 2025, with 84% of those running for re-election winning. That's up from 83% in 2024 and the highest rate since 2022.
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