A recently enacted Louisiana law (Senate Bill 374/Act 499) allows the state’s colleges and universities to establish economic development districts without legislative approval. The act authorizes higher education institutions, in coordination with local governments, to create such districts and retain the sales tax revenues generated within them that exceed municipality baseline revenue amounts.
The Maryland Tax Court has struck down Maryland’s first-of-its-kind state tax on certain digital ads as a violation of the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act. In a decision issued Aug. 14, the court sided with three legal challenges brought by Apple, Google, and the streaming service Peacock TV against Maryland’s Digital Advertising Tax, which was enacted to modernize the state’s tax code for the digital economy. Through July, the state had collected about $535.5 million under the tax, with the funds held in reserve pending the outcome of the litigation. Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman indicated that her office would appeal the ruling.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey recently announced the appointment of Katie Schlick, the state’s first heat resilience officer. Schlick, who assumed the role in August, will lead coordination across state and local governments and work with communities to prepare for rising temperatures, protect public health, and reduce the impacts of extreme heat. Massachusetts joins Arizona as the only states with a statewide official dedicated to addressing extreme heat. A previous State News blurb highlighted other states examining the fiscal impacts of rising temperatures and extreme heat events.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) Board has approved a commitment of up to $5 million to a private investment fund managed to support New Jersey life sciences companies based at the New Jersey Innovation Hub in the New Jersey Health + Life Science Exchange (HELIX) Strategic Innovation Center (SIC). RWJBarnabas Health, the fund’s sole healthcare partner, will match the investment with an additional $5 million commitment.
In a recent federal court ruling, a federal judge struck down New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act. The decision stems from a federal lawsuit filed in February 2025 by more than 20 states challenging the law’s constitutionality; it sought to collect roughly $75 billion from companies, including some controlled by foreign nations, deemed responsible for greenhouse gas emissions through the refinement and production of fossil fuels. While the U.S. District Court Chief stopped short of declaring the statute unconstitutional, she ruled federal law preempts it and therefore it cannot be enforced. A separate lawsuit filed by the Trump administration has challenged similar legislation enacted in Vermont.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded more than $4 million to the University of Rhode Island (URI), in partnership with the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), to provide scholarships for high-achieving, low-income students pursuing degrees in engineering and engineering technology. The initiative is expected to support workforce development in several key sectors, including Rhode Island's blue economy and advanced manufacturing industries. A total of 116 students pursuing associate degrees in engineering technology at CCRI and bachelor's degrees in engineering and engineering technology at URI will receive scholarships for up to five years, along with mentoring and other support services designed to improve retention and graduation rates. Scholarship awards are scheduled to begin in January.