Stateline.

1 Putting Lands Out of Range

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The West is in a fighting mood. The Trump administration's move to review dozens of national monuments to determine whether they should be shrunk or abolished has raised alarm across the region, High Country News reports. Support for the monuments has been strong in Colorado, Montana, Washington and other states. In California, for example, lawmakers introduced three bills to prevent the administration from weakening environmental laws. One. the Public Lands Protection Act. would give California "right of first refusal" on lands the federal government wants to sell in the state, and would give the state a say in transferring land to a new owner.

2 Abortion Services Update

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Lawmakers in 43 states have introduced abortion restrictions this year to date. according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization. In 17 of those states, bills would ban abortion at certain stages of pregnancy, including as early as six weeks; in five states, legislation would require a woman to undergo an ultrasound while a provider shows and describes the image to her even over her objection. Twenty-two states now have six or more abortion restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

3 Private Choices

The Texas Senate passed legislation creating a tax credit scholarship program to subsidize private school tuition for students with disabilities. Under the "private school choice" program, an estimated 6.000 students would receive scholarships of up to $10,000 to attend private schools. About 26,000 more would get $500 to stay in public schools and pay for services or transportation. The scholarships would be funded by donations from insurance companies that would receive tax credits in return. Critics are concerned that private schools receiving the scholarship money won't be held to the same accountability standards as public schools serving kids with special needs.

4 Getting to the Point

In a move that Crocodile Dundee would certainly appreciate, Texas lawmakers passed a law allowing adults to openly carry knives with blades longer than 5.5 inches-swords, spears, daggers. machetes and more. The new law, which goes into effect this month, doesn't apply to schools, prisons, hospitals, amusement parks, sports events or places of worship or where alcohol is served. With Montana and Oklahoma also axing their bans on bladed weapons in recent years, perhaps...