Billionaire tax and trans rights: what are key state ballot initiatives in midterms?
Voters in 39 states will face an array of referendum issues – including Alabama’s on the national anthem in schools Americans heading to the polls for next month’s midterm elections are not just choosing whom to send to Washington, or their state capitols.
There are also 145 statewide measures on ballots across 39 states, polling voters on actions from a novel wealth tax on California’s billionaires to requiring Alabama’s public schools to broadcast or perform the first stanza of the national anthem each week. Voters in Idaho, Nevada and Virginia are asked to protect abortion rights; voters in Missouri are asked to give those rights back. Property tax issues appear on dozens of state ballots.
Several state referendums ask voters to bar trans athletes from competing in women’s sports, or bar gender-affirming medical care for minors.
Read in depth: Politics
UK plans military aircraft support for wildfires ahead of first resilience summit
Fire services across the UK are set to be able to request RAF aircraft for difficult wildfires, alongside plans for specialist protective equipment and an AI unit.
Full details of Burnham’s water overhaul may wait until 2027 spending review
A broad plan for England’s water sector is expected in December, but officials are still working through how greater public control would operate and what it might cost.
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The GuardianSource headline and summary supplied via NewsData.io. First collected by NewsJaws on 2026-10-24. This is an automated news brief, not original NewsJaws reporting. Dates reflect the source publication. Feed delays may apply.