Yesterday, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report with 2017 data on health insurance status in each state. In 2017, 28.5 million people (or 8.8 percent) did not have health insurance at any point during the year. The uninsured rate and number were not statistically different from 2016. In some states the uninsured rate change between 2016 and 2017 was statistically significant. In three states – California, Louisiana, and New York—the percentage of people without insurance decreased, but in 14 states the percentage increased. The states where the uninsured rates increased are Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia.

U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster has offered a discussion draft of an infrastructure bill that speaks to a number of longstanding, difficult issues, including the future of the Highway Trust Fund, the short- and long-term future of the federal gas tax and the speed with which transportation projects are delivered. While most predict the bill has little chance of making it all the way through the process this year—at least prior to the midterm election—Shuster said in a statement the discussion draft is “intended to further the national conversation about the current state of America’s infrastructure and highlight some of the major roadblocks to funding and improving our transportation network.”