A bill that would channel public money to scholarships for private school tuition in Nebraska is headed to a final step needed for passage this year.

The bill, introduced by Omaha Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, does not appropriate taxpayer dollars directly toward private school vouchers. Instead, it would allow businesses, individuals, estates and trusts to donate a portion of owed state income tax to be used for scholarships covering private school tuition.

Businesses and individuals could donate up to $100,000 per year; estates and trusts could offer up to $1 million a year. The bill would allocate $25 million a year over the next two years and up to $100 million annually thereafter to cover such donations — money that otherwise would have gone into the state’s general revenue fund.

The money would be overseen and allocated by nonprofit groups. On Thursday, lawmakers voted to include an amendment that would cap the amount those groups could take from donations for administrative costs at no more than 10%. The amendment also included reporting requirements to track the scholarship allocations.

The bill includes a tier system for scholarships that prioritizes low-income students and those being bullied in their current school.

Public school advocates have blasted the measure as a ‘school voucher scheme’ that will hurt the state’s K-12 public school system.

‘Proponent’s game plan to force passage of their private school tax scheme is to threaten to hold hostage state funding of public schools –- public schools that educate 90% of all the kids in Nebraska,’ Nebraska State Education Association President Jenni Benson said in a statement. ‘If lawmakers cut promised state funding for public schools, it puts more pressure on our already-high property taxes.’

A group representing Roman Catholic-run schools in the state — which would be the recipients of the most of the scholarship funds — celebrated the bill’s advancement, echoing Linehan’s stance that the move is geared to help families in need.

But the Nebraska Catholic Conference did not address opponents’ concerns that its schools might discriminate against students and families — particularly those within the LGBTQ+ community — on the basis of religious tenets.

Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt, who opposes the bill, introduced an amendment earlier in the session that would have banned private schools benefiting from the vouchers from discriminating against families — including those within the LGBTQ+ community. It failed on a largely party-line vote.

If passed, Nebraska would become one of the last states to offer some form of public money for private school tuition.

The San Diego City Council will soon vote on whether to ban homeless encampments in many public locations, but some activists aren’t happy about it.

‘You are failing at your job and you’re blaming the unhoused population for your failure,’ one woman said during a heated public comment period. ‘You suck,’ she added, walking away from the microphone to applause and cheers.

More than 100 people attended the city’s Land Use and Housing Committee meeting Thursday to offer their opinions. Even more called in or emailed the committee about the proposal.

After more than two hours of public comment, the committee passed the ordinance 3-1, sending it to the full council for a vote.

The proposed ordinance would ban people from erecting tents within two blocks of schools or homeless shelters, in parks, along trolley tracks or near waterways. City workers regularly find items like electronics, drugs, human waste, fuel and more in these areas, which pose a risk to the environment and public health, according to a staff report on the proposal.

‘We want a city that feels and looks safe and healthy, and we can’t do that with the encampments on the street right now,’ said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, according to local news station CBS 8.

Many business owners and residents testified in favor of the ordinance, saying they witness almost daily public drug use, litter and other illicit behavior. Some said walking around the city with their families has become unsafe with tents blocking sidewalks and aggressive behavior from people suffering mental health issues.

‘Now I am as liberal as they come,’ one man said, adding, ‘For those who want help, we have to have a heart for them. For those who don’t want help, we have to have a hard line that says it’s not okay to block [sidewalks].’

But homeless advocates said the ordinance will only hurt people who are already suffering.

‘The ordinance basically just criminalizes homelessness,’ Felipe Cervantes, a volunteer with a student-run group The Mustard Seed Project told CBS 8. ‘It doesn’t solve a problem and it punishes people.’

Whitburn, who proposed the ordinance, said it would only be enforced if there is shelter space available for homeless people.

‘But there are also plenty of unsheltered folks who don’t welcome assistance,’ Whitburn said during Thursday’s hearing. ‘Individuals who for whatever reason have just decided they’re just going to live in an encampment on the sidewalk or a park or a canyon or riverbed. This ordinance addresses those individuals.’

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is taking control of prison litigation away from the Department of Corrections and moving it to his office in their latest public disagreement.

Marshall informed the department that the attorney general intends to remove the assistant attorney general status of the department’s six attorneys, the Alabama Department of Corrections said Thursday in an emailed statement.

‘We will not speculate about the impact the AG’s decision will have on the ADOC, but I am confident in the ability of our Legal Division to protect the interests of this department throughout this transition. We will continue to focus on the critical mission of the ADOC — to provide public safety through the secure confinement, rehabilitation, and reentry of offenders,’ Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said in a statement Thursday.

A spokesperson for Marshall did not immediately return an email seeking comment about the reasons for the change. The governor’s office directed questions to the prison system.

The prison system is in the midst of high-stakes litigation that is pricey and carries potential long-term ramifications for the direction of the state’s prison system. The Department of Justice has sued the state, alleging that male prisoners are housed in violent prisons that violate the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. A federal judge has also ordered the state to increase prison staff in an ongoing lawsuit over prison health care.

Marshall has had prior disagreements with the prison system. Earlier this year, he sued the ADOC and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to try to block the release of inmates to supervised release, arguing that victims’ families had not been properly notified.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday temporarily allowed access to the abortion pill mifepristone after a Texas ruling last week set limits to the use of the drug. 

Justice Samuel Alito halted the lower court rulings that seek to limit access to mifepristone Friday, which in turn freezes the litigation being pursued by anti-abortion groups and maintains availability. 

The conservative justice asked for challenges to the lower court ruling to be filed by Tuesday at noon.

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled last week that the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) improperly approved mifepristone.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed emergency requests Friday to freeze Kacsmaryk’s injunction, along with Danco Laboratories. 

The halt on the ruling gives the Biden administration more time to issue challenges.

Kacsmaryk’s ruling would limit the drug’s distribution and jeopardize mifepristone’s FDA approval.

The Biden administration is planning to defend mifepristone’s availability in light of the landmark Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022. 

Anti-abortion groups and Republican legislators across the country are advocating for abortion bans and restrictions. 

The Supreme Court will keep the Texas ruling on hold until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. The court is expected to issue another order by that time.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone in 2000. It has been used to terminate more than 5 million pregnancies.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Supreme Court is allowing challenges to the structure of two federal agencies to go forward in federal court.

The high court ruled unanimously Friday to allow challenges to the structures of the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission to go forward in federal court. Lower courts had split on whether those challenges could proceed.

In one case, the FTC had brought an enforcement action against Axon Enterprise, the Arizona-based company best known for developing the Taser, arguing that its purchase of its competitor Vievu for approximately $13 million was improper. The other case involved an SEC enforcement action against Michelle Cochran, a certified public accountant. Axon and Cochran responded by suing in federal court and arguing that the structure of the FTC and SEC respectively are unconstitutional. Each said that the administrative law judges that oversee enforcement actions are insufficiently accountable to the president, in violation of separation-of-powers principles in the Constitution.

Both lawsuits were initially dismissed. Axon and Cochran appealed and while a federal appeals court in California said Axon’s lawsuit could not go forward, a federal appeals court based in New Orleans said Cochran’s case could move ahead.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote in an opinion that the question for the court was whether federal courts can ‘resolve the parties’ constitutional challenges to the Commissions’ structure.’ ‘The answer is yes,’ she wrote, saying federal courts are not barred from ‘entertaining these extraordinary claims.’

The cases the court ruled in are Axon Enterprise v. Federal Trade Commission, 21-86, and Securities and Exchange Commission et. al. v. Cochran, 21-1239.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida’s address to the New Hampshire GOP’s annual fundraising dinner on Friday was momentarily interrupted a couple of minutes into his speech by a handful of female protesters.

The demonstrators, who appeared to chant ‘Jews Against DeSantis’ made their way all the way to the podium at the sold-out event at a hotel ballroom in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city, before they were quickly removed by security.

DeSantis, remaking on the incident, told the audience to cheers and applause that ‘you’ve got to have a little spice in the speech. Right,’ before quickly returning to his prepared remarks.

All guests attending the event, which is the state party’s top annual fundraiser, had to pass through a security sweep before entering the ballroom.

New Hampshire state party chairman Chris Ager told Fox News earlier on Friday that the fundraising dinner would bring in over $250,000, which Ager said is a ‘record.’ And he noted that over 500 people would be in the audience, adding that ‘we had to close ticket sales earlier this week at 520 people.’

The trip is DeSantis’ first this cycle to New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and second contest overall in the GOP presidential nominating calendar. The popular conservative governor from Florida has already stopped this year in Iowa (which holds caucuses kicking off the Republican schedule) and Nevada (which holds the fourth contest) and next week visits South Carolina (which votes third).

While DeSantis remains on the 2024 sidelines, he’s expected to launch a presidential campaign sometime after the end of Florida’s legislative session, which concludes next month. But behind the scenes, he’s already made plenty of moves toward launching a campaign, including beefing up staff in Tallahassee.

The New Hampshire fundraising dinner is named after Amos Tuck, who is considered by many to have founded the Republican Party in the 1850s in Exeter, New Hampshire. Exeter, along with Ripon, Wisconsin, and Jackson, Michigan, claim to be the birthplace of the GOP.

FIRST ON FOX: The super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024 dropped a new ad going after former President Trump with the two prominent Republicans slated to speak at the National Rifle Association (NRA) leadership forum in Indianapolis.

DeSantis and Trump are both set to speak at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum Friday in a potential showcase of 2024 GOP candidates. DeSantis has not officially announced a bid for president yet.

Ahead of the forum, Never Back Down, the super PAC backing DeSantis as a potential 2024 GOP candidate, dropped an ad around the forum and will be handing out flyers with similar messaging.

‘Trump promised NRA members he’d have their back,’ the video ad exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital says. ‘But when Second Amendment rights came under attack, Trump abandoned us and stood with liberal Democrats.’

‘Half of you are so afraid of the NRA,’ Trump says in a clip included in the ad. ‘We have to fight them every once in a while, that’s OK.

‘Some of you people are petrified of the NRA,’ Trump continued. ‘You can’t be petrified. They have great power over you people. They have less power over me. I don’t need them. What do I need?’

The ad highlighted Trump’s call ‘for red flag laws,’ raising the age to buy assault weapons and clips of him backing ‘taking the guns early.’

‘Take the guns first, go through due process second,’ Trump said.

The ad highlights Trump endorsing Democrat-backed gun control measures, including raising the age to buy an assault rifle to 21 as well as red flag laws.

The ad also links Trump to several prominent Democrats, saying he ‘agreed with’ former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and his rival President Biden, as well as several others.

The flyers that will be handed out by Never Back Down say Trump agreed ‘with Joe Biden on Red Flag Laws,’ attacked ‘the NRA and sided with Michael Bloomberg,’ agreed with ‘Kamala Harris on banning bump stocks’ and sided ‘with Liberals on their gun control wish list.’

‘Trump the gun grabber doesn’t deserve a second chance,’ the flyer states.

When asked for comment on the ad and flyers, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, ‘Where’s Ron?’

Trump is slated to give a speech at the NRA forum alongside other prominent Republican leaders this weekend.

The event will be held in Indianapolis Friday with a ‘stacked lineup’ of leaders such as Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana Sen. Mike Braun, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and others. 

This will also mark the first time DeSantis has spoken at the annual event. He will be brought in via a ‘special video appearance,’ according to the NRA. Florida made history recently when DeSantis signed a permitless carry bill into law, making the U.S. a constitutional carry-majority nation.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed reporting.

President Biden repeated a long-debunked claim while addressing Ireland’s parliament Thursday, boasting that he ‘traveled 17,000 miles’ with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

‘I met more with Xi Jinping than any world leader has over the last 10 years – 91 hours of just one-on-one conversations, 68 in person, I traveled 17,000 miles with him through Asia, primarily, and through China,’ the president said. 

‘He once asked me on the Tibetan Plateau, he said, ‘Can you define America for me?’ It’s the God’s truth. I said, ‘Yes, I can, in one word,’ he added. ‘Possibilities.’

Biden previously made the ‘17,000 miles’ the claim in November, prompting Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler to give the president a ‘bottomless Pinocchio’ rating, meaning he had said it over 20 times during his presidency up to that point.

Kessler previously fact-checked Biden’s claim in February 2021, calling it ‘bogus,’ saying he could only confirm one instance in which Biden and Xi appeared to have traveled together when they visited Qingchengshan High School in Dujiangyan when he was vice president in August 2011.

‘This was a reference to the total travel back and forth — both internally in the U.S. and China, and as well as internationally — for meetings they held together,’ a White House official explained at the time. ‘Some travel was in parallel, some was separately to joint destinations.’

Even so, the miles only add up to 5,600 at the most, Kessler reported, 

The Bottomless Pinocchio rating, which was previously reserved only for former President Donald Trump, is designated for ‘false or misleading statements repeated so often that they became a form of propaganda,’ Kessler reported.

President Biden received a somewhat hostile welcome during his visit with President Michael Higgins of Ireland on Thursday — from the Irish president’s dog.

As the two leaders strolled around Higgins’ residence, they approached the president’s furry friend, who appeared excited until Biden neared.

The Bernese mountain dog, who goes by the name Misneach, immediately began barking and backed away from the group as Biden approached.

Biden appeared to reason with the dog, pointing his finger at it and speaking, but Misneach remained at a distance.

Biden arrived in Ireland on Tuesday to speak on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, but his tour around the country became unexpectedly eventful.

On Tuesday, Northern Ireland police reported a ‘security breach’ around Biden after a five-page document that contained classified information was found on a Belfast street.

On Wednesday, Biden mixed up a New Zealand soccer team known as the All Blacks with the Black and Tans, a British police force group known for its brutal occupation of Ireland in the 1920s.

While engaging in conversation at the Windsor Bar in Dundalk, Biden began talking about the tie he was wearing: ‘This was given to me by one of these guys, right here,’ Biden said. ‘He was a hell of a rugby player. He beat the hell out of the Black and Tans.’

Fox News’ Greg Norman, Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Patrick Ward contributed to this report.

The penalties associated with New Hampshire’s 24-week abortion ban will remain in place after the state Senate on Thursday killed legislation that would have removed them.

The Republican-led Senate voted 14-10 along party lines to reject a bill that would have removed the civil and criminal penalties from the 2021 ban on abortion after the 24th week of pregnancy. It also rejected adding an explicit right to abortion up to 24 weeks to state law. Both bills had passed the House, where Republicans hold a narrow 201-196 majority.

Democrats unsuccessfully argued that the state should codify abortion rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and ending the nationwide right to abortion.

‘Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, this Legislature has not taken one single, proactive affirmative step to protect access to abortion,’ said Democratic state Sen. Becky Whitley, of Hopkinton. ‘We have not taken one single step to reassure women that we do not intend to further restrict their fundamental rights. Words spoken on this floor are important, but they are not law. They are not enough. Granite Staters want action.’

Republicans insisted that the existing law is sufficient.

‘I really think that our law is crystal clear,’ said Republican state Sen. Sharon Carson, of Londonderry. ‘A woman can safely get an abortion here in New Hampshire up to 24 weeks. This is not needed.’

The votes came a day after a federal appeals court in Texas issued a ruling that at least temporarily preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone but reduced the period of pregnancy when it can be used and said it could not be dispensed by mail. The Justice Department said it would ask the Supreme Court for an emergency order to put any action on hold.

While that court fight plays out, lawmakers in states dominated by Democrats are seeking to protect access and Republicans are trying to tighten restrictions. New Hampshire lawmakers are considering more than half a dozen bills on both sides of the issue, but with the closely divided Legislature, none have been enacted.

On Thursday, state Senate Democrats argued that the penalties associated with New Hampshire’s ban — up to seven years in prison and fines up to $100,000 — have made it more difficult to attract health care providers to the state at a time when hospitals are struggling with staffing shortages.

‘Leaving these criminal penalties in place will send a message to the providers here, and especially those considering moving here, that we as a state believe that a decision that should be fundamentally between a woman and their doctor could potentially be a criminal one,’ said Democratic state Sen. Donna Soucy, of Manchester.

But Republicans countered that having no penalty would make the law unenforceable, and that there was no evidence that the penalties have scared doctors away.

‘I think what we should do is see what the data is in a couple of years, and then we can really make an informed decision,’ said Republican state Sen. Daryl Abbas, of Salem.

The House rejected multiple bills last month to further restrict abortion access while also killing a proposal that would have asked voters to weigh in on adding ‘reproductive autonomy’ to the state constitution.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who considers himself an abortion rights supporter but also signed the current abortion ban into law as part of the state budget, supported both of the bills that failed in the state Senate Thursday.