Author

Jacob Fischler

Jacob Fischler

Jacob covers federal policy as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Trump’s $400 a week jobless aid could be just $300. It depends on where you live.

By: - August 11, 2020

Governors, lawmakers and state unemployment agencies on Monday wrestled with confusion created by President Donald Trump’s executive action extending unemployment benefits, and it appeared some states could settle for $300 a week in benefits instead of the $400 that the president touted. State leaders from both political parties remained unsure how much they’d have to […]

Hiking at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (Photo: National Park Service)

House passes bipartisan public lands bill; next stop president’s desk

By: and - July 24, 2020

WASHINGTON — Major environmental legislation sailed through Congress Wednesday while the nation’s political leaders were stuck in intense negotiations over the contours of a fifth coronavirus relief package. The bill would provide $9.5 billion over five years to pay down the National Park Service’s maintenance backlog and provide permanent funding at $900 million per year […]

Health care staff from the FoundCare center wear protective gear as they help people who called to setup a drive through appointments to be tested for the coronavirus in the centers parking lot on March 16, 2020 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Librarians, national guard recruited for states’ new contact tracing armies

By: - May 26, 2020

As states seek to loosen wide-ranging restrictions imposed to constrain the novel coronavirus, they’re also looking to deploy a huge new fleet of workers to keep cases under control. Enter the contact tracers. With interpersonal contact certain to increase as states lift COVID-19 restrictions, tracing the who infected people had contact with — and then […]