Political campaigns are awash in cash, thanks in part to U.S. Supreme Court decisions declaring that campaign contributions are a form of free speech. But Montana voters are poised to push back with a proposed ban on corporate political spending.

What did the commentators say?
The November ballot measure is an attempt at “threading the needle” of the Supreme Court’s precedents, said The New York Times. Corporations that violate the proposed ban would have their state corporate registration revoked.

States, backers argue, have the right to “define corporations as ‘artificial persons’” that lack First Amendment rights, said the Times. Montana is not “necessarily associated with anticorporate sentiment.” But advocates say there’s “widespread frustration” over the “influence of special interests” in Big Sky politics.

“There’s just one catch” to the Montana plan, said Jessica Levinson at MS NOW. The Supreme Court has found that corporations “should be treated the same way as individuals” when it comes to the First Amendment rights associated with political contributions. Montana is “attempting a clever solution” to the problem of money in politics, but even if voters approve the measure, it’s “doomed to fail in court.”

Money “will always play a role in politics,” said John Westenberg at the Missoula Current. The Montana plan, however, would be a “huge step” to keep that money “honest” and stop political spending by “artificial persons” like corporations, nonprofits and trade unions to feed the “dark money machines.” The aim is to “take dark money out of Montana politics.”

What next?
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. citizens believe “money in politics is a problem,” said Bloomberg. As such, other states are joining in the effort to limit corporate political spending. Hawaii has already passed a Montana-style law, which is being challenged in court. And “reformers” in Oregon are pushing for a similar ballot measure, said Oregon Public Broadcasting. Such efforts have “national momentum right now,” Jason Kafoury of Honest Elections Oregon said to the outlet. Expect the Supreme Court to offer the last word.

When the Department of Government Efficiency began cutting up government entities in 2025, among the most severely affected was the Education Department’s little-known National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Now, more than a year later, experts say the gutting of this center has made it very hard to keep track of the nation’s education goals.

What does NCES do?
The federal body is “responsible for collecting, analyzing and reporting data on the condition of U.S. education, from early childhood to adult education, to help improve student outcomes,” said the agency’s website. It produces reports via “direct student assessments, longitudinal studies, international surveys, postsecondary institutions, adult surveys and synthesizing data from federal sources.”

The Trump administration's federal cuts have significantly hampered the agency. As part of nearly $900 million in cuts to the Department of Education last year, NCES’ work was “abruptly terminated and its headcount dropped” massively, said The Guardian. Prior to the funding slashes, NCES had about 100 staffers; it now has just 12, according to a government directory. This has “hamstrung the historically under-resourced agency’s ability to collect and report on a range of data on K-12 and college students,” said The Guardian.

What will NCES do now?
The American Statistical Association has put together a report on how the situation at NCES could be improved. More streamlined data collection would allow NCES to “much more readily modernize how it meets its responsibility to report on the condition and progress of education,” said the report. NCES should also be “ensuring that data is handled safely and ethically and is more useful to state and local practitioners,” said Education Week.

It would be beneficial for NCES to “become a more modern data-centric partner to states” instead of returning to the “structure it had before it was largely dismantled” and relying on the methods it used before being gutted, said StateScoop. “What’s lacking is national comparability,” said Shelly Martinez, an independent statistical consultant who worked on the report, to the outlet. “There’s an interest and an understanding that there’s federal data that could really enhance those analyses, and that evidence is building.”

China’s Lin Shan, who won silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, competes in the women’s 1m springboard final diving event during the Asian Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Center before taking gold. 
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty Images

With summer at its end, many people are thrilled with the arrival of cooler weather, warm-beverage season and changing leaves. But you can also ring in the fall with a collection of new albums from big-name artists.

Mykki Blanco, ‘Cafe Paradiso’
Unlike his prior albums, “Cafe Paradiso” follows Blanco as he “emerges completely reborn, trading the persona-driven theatrics of previous releases for something more interior, sensual and exacting,” said Transgressive Records. The LP also pulls large amounts of symbolism from Blanco’s life on the road, having lived in Chicago, New York City, Portugal, Switzerland and more. (out now)

Leon Bridges, ‘Happiness Anytime’
The artist’s new album will combine the “sonic warmth of his beloved 2015 debut, ‘Coming Home,’ with the adventurous groove of his Khruangbin collaborations,” said DIY Magazine. There’s a “feeling that we have to fix the problems of the world; you feel inadequate, or it can be debilitating. My role is to be light,” said Bridges in a release. The LP’s eponymous single is out now. (out now)

Ane Brun, ‘I Thought We Were the Same’
The Norwegian musician is back with a vengeance with “I Thought We Were the Same,” her 11th studio album. The LP is “promised as Brun’s most personal work yet,” said The Needle Drop. With her latest release, Brun “wanted to experiment with how far I could take my music into a clearer and more pop sound with distinct choruses and hooks without the music losing its nerve,” she said in a release. (Nov. 6)