#5SmartReads - March 29, 2021

On Republican power centers, rebooting your brain, and what's safe post vaccination

The GOP's new power centers (Axios)

Local. Politics. Matters.

While Democrats may be breathing a sigh of relief with having a thin majority in both chambers of Congress and the White House, things look very different locally.

“The GOP controls a majority of statehouses and state legislatures + more state Supreme Court justices lean Republican than Democrat. All of this is backed by Republican-appointed majorities on federal appeals courts and the U.S. Supreme court. “

So what does this mean?

You’re seeing more Republican-controlled states fully opening up, more bills on voting access, abortion bans, and youth sports being based on biological sex being passed and signed into law in these states, and state courts overturning certain local laws (like the overturning of Boulder’s banning of semi-automatic weapons).