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Rochester's Davis-Fetch Building Corp. seeks tax exemptions for LeRoy expansion
The contractor wants to build a new $1.2 million 16,500-square-foot space on Lent Avenue in the village.
Data privacy déjà vu as bill bounces between chambers over exemption confusion
Exemptions are, again, a key sticking point of Maine’s attempt to pass a comprehensive data privacy law.
Did a Jeweled Ring Buy Belgium a Trump Tariff Exemption?
Democrats are questioning a Belgian diamond trade group that gifted Trump an jewel encrusted ring weeks before being given a tariff exemption.
North Carolina lawmakers hit pause on hospital tax break changes
After intense lobbying, proposals to scale back property and sales tax exemptions for nonprofit North Carolina hospitals do not advance.
Business Group Fighting Tax Hikes Shields Information About Funders
Using an exemption to a 2012 law, the Partnership for New York City has revealed the names of donors to its political arm, but not the amount each gave.
Kindergarten vaccine exemptions are climbing
Doritos as "real" "food," public-sector health care in trouble, and more health news from Morning Rounds
Trump’s Medicaid work mandate could kick thousands of homeless Californians off coverage
A majority of California’s roughly 180,000 people experiencing homelessness have health insurance through Medi-Cal. Providers predict that many will lose insurance under President Donald Trump’s upcoming work mandates even if they qualify for exemptions.
California may let Linux bypass age check
Exemption in amendment offers relief to open source software makers
US grants Aurora exemption for self-driving trucks safety feature
The U.S. Transportation Department said late Wednesday it approved a five-year exemption for Aurora and other self-driving trucking companies from rules that require drivers to place warning devices around a stopped truck.
South Korea considers scaling back athlete military service exemption, sports minister says
Three footballers apologised this week for appearing to celebrate avoiding conscription after winning Asian Games gold.
China grants a singer a rare exemption over censorship after an unapproved tribute song
Authorities in Chengdu, China, have granted a rare exemption to singer Na Ying after she performed an unapproved song at a weekend concert.
Communities worry for their health after Trump weakens pollution limits: 'It's a kick in the gut'
Biden-era changes to the Clean Air Act would have tightened regulations for industrial sites, but the Trump administration has given exemptions to hundreds of facilities. People living near the sites are concerned about air quality and their well-being.
Trump places a 25% tariff on high-end computing chip imports
The tariff will cover hardware central to the AI boom like Nvidia's H200 processor and AMD's MI325X chips, with some exemptions.
Amazon asking town of Niagara for more in sales tax exemptions
Amazon is basing their request off the rising construction costs.
Waukee sports complex for sale; legal dispute continues over nonprofit status, property tax
The Kettlestone Central Sports Complex in Waukee is up for sale following a legal dispute over its nonprofit status and property tax exemption.
Legislation would provide tax exemption for full-time Ulster County residents
Sen. Michelle Hinchey and Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger announced a bill to pilot a property tax exemption for full-time residents.
Ninth Circuit axes work threshold for entertainment industry pension withdrawal exemptions
Las Vegas case changes how you assess withdrawal exposure for multiemployer pension plans
Science diplomacy lessons from a North Korean volcano
Mount Paektu, a mythic, active volcano on the border between North Korea and China, is almost the epitome of a scientific challenge that crosses political lines. In 946 CE, it erupted in one of the five biggest volcanic events of the past 10,000 years, kicking up huge quantities of ash and sending destructive mud flows down river channels for hundreds of kilometres. Should this happen again, the entire region, including easternmost Russia, South Korea and even Japan could be hit. “It’s definitely got the potential to be big,” said James Hammond, a professor of geophysics at Birkbeck, University of London. An eruption on the scale of 946 would have “huge regional impact.” For the past 15 years, Hammond has helped lead a groundbreaking collaboration with North Korean scientists to study the volcano, navigating scientific sanctions, tough export controls on scientific equipment and a long, pandemic-enforced exodus from the country. Although he seems more at home on far-flung research expeditions – before speaking to Science|Business, Hammond was camping out on a Greenland ice sheet – he has also advised the European Commission on its changing science diplomacy strategy. His long experience with North Korea has made Hammond sceptical of blanket bans on science collaboration, no matter the country.This is a live question in Europe, where in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, institutional ties with Russian universities were almost entirely severed, although some scientists fear this could undermine our understanding of climate change’s impact on the Arctic. Here, Hammond tells the story of the Mount Paektu mission and the policy lessons he takes from it. Ominous rumblingsThe genesis of Hammond’s collaboration came in 2002, when Mount Paektu began to rumble ominously. Earthquake activity picked up and the volcano began to emit unusual gases. North Korean scientists took notice. “People felt we need to know more about this volcano,” said Hammond. In 2011, North Korean vulcanologists put out a request for international expertise to help them learn more. At the time, Hammond and his collaborator, Clive Oppenheimer, were working on a vulcanology project in another sanctioned country, Eritrea, and so decided to answer the call. Within a month, they had flown into Pyongyang. “It was pretty incredible,” recalls Hammond (left). “We were made to feel like honoured guests, and invited to official celebrations.” The scientific opportunity was huge. Paektu is unusually positioned, a thousand kilometres from where tectonic plates rub against each other in the Pacific. “It was an incredibly interesting volcano, but not much research had been done, at least not in the international community,” he said. “There was so much we felt we could do. And we had these partners that were super keen to engage.”The mission received an unusual visitor in the form of volcano-obsessed filmmaker Werner Herzog, who accompanied Hammond and Oppenheimer while directing his 2016 film Into the Inferno about volcanos across the world. Four days into the trip, the German director delivered a long speech about reunification to his North Korean hosts, recalls Hammond. “He got to the heart of the Koreans and how they felt, and how they thought, in a way that I'm not sure I ever will,” he said. UN sanctionsHowever, Hammond realised he’d been “naïve” about how difficult it would be to collaborate with North Korea, which was sanctioned far more heavily than Eritrea. “We didn’t fully appreciate the all-encompassing nature of restrictions,” he said. In 2016, as tensions escalated over Pyongyang’s nuclear tests, a United Nations resolution banned all joint scientific work with North Korea. However, the UN sanctions did allow countries to request carve outs, and the UK successfully requested an exemption for Hammond’s work. Related articlesEU pushes for joint science diplomacy, but care needed to avoid gridlock, experts sayRussia severs its last ties with German scienceAnchor Greenlanders in Arctic climate research, experts tell EU ahead of policy updateExport controls have also delayed Hammond’s work. In one case, it took 18 months to get approval from the UK government to take seismometers, which measure earthquakes, to North Korea. “It was frustrating,” he said. “But they didn’t just say no.” However, one instrument, called an induction coil, used to measure how the earth conducts electricity, was blocked entirely because it can in theory be used to detect submarines. Karaoke bondingSince the collaboration started in 2011, Hammond has visited the country around 15 times, although the pandemic closed off North Korea for more than five years. A trip last November was Hammond’s first since the outbreak. Despite this lengthy interlude, Hammond has deep bonds in the country. The North Korean scientists Hammond works with are somewhat isolated, as they struggle to access the latest research papers and travel to international conferences. That said, they are “excellent geophysicists” and are “very well trained in the field,” he said. Over karaoke and chats about their families, “we’ve made friendships, for sure,” he said. The authorities have to sign-off things like the placement of seismometers, for example, but Hammond said these requests have been approved. “Everything that we've asked for within a scientific context has been delivered.”Scientific backchannels? These kind of personal links between scientists across political lines are one purported benefit of science diplomacy. During the Cold War, some historians argue, scientific contact between the US and Soviet Union laid a groundwork of trust for other cooperation, such as on arms control. Hammond agrees that backchannel contacts to North Korean geophysicists are hardly likely to defuse a military crisis on the Korean peninsula, but the simple fact of the scientific collaboration makes contacts between diplomats that little bit easier. “It creates opportunities to understand each other a little bit better,” he said. “When maybe you have those more difficult discussions as diplomats, it's coming from a slightly better place.” Cutting tiesDrawing lessons from the Mount Paektu mission for today’s links with Russian science isn’t simple. The analogy is far from exact, Hammond said, “because one is essentially a Cold War, versus a pretty hot war in the case of Russia.” But Hammond’s broader argument is that the challenges we face, such as climate change, pandemics, biodiversity loss, pollution and so on, have globalised in an unprecedented way, making blanket shutdowns in collaboration with any country unwise.He’s somewhat critical of the UN scientific sanctions imposed on North Korea in 2016, even though they did allow for exceptions. “I think a blanket halt to some of these things, when we face big global challenges [. . .] that’s quite a risky thing to do,” he said.Institutional endorsement?European academics are still by and large free to work individually with Russian counterparts. However, official, institutional partnerships have largely ended. Shortly following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian university rectors wrote a public letter endorsing the war, meaning European universities fear official collaboration could also be seen as a kind of endorsement. Hammond acknowledges there is a risk of legitimising regimes, and state-controlled universities, through scientific cooperation. “That’s the trade off you have to make,” he said. Strategic projectsWith Russia, instead of giving a green light to restart all Arctic science, a middle ground might be firing up a few carefully selected “strategic” projects, said Hammond. After all, European countries are still collaborating with Russia on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, an experimental nuclear fusion plant in the south of France. However, even if Europe did try to revive Arctic science with Russia, there’s no guarantee Russian scientists would play ball. A series of high-profile arrests of physicists in Russia accused of sharing their findings with the outside world has made collaboration fraught. Even before the invasion of 2022, “the Russian regime made it increasingly difficult, and this sort of discouraged people,” Dag Rune Olsen, rector of the Arctic University of Norway, told Science|Business last year.
New York hospitals push for exemption from federal H-1B visa fee
Hospitals warned U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that the policy could have “detrimental impacts” on the healthcare sector.
Katie Uhlaender: Athletes risk paying the price if Protect College Sports Act is passed
A five-time Olympian argues the Protect College Sports Act would grant the NCAA an antitrust exemption while stripping athlete rights under Title IX.
Trump's college sports committee tackles laundry list of issues and calls on Congress to act quickly
The presidential committee asked to find solutions for spiraling costs in college sports recommended creating a task force to look at pooling media rights, limiting coaches salaries, and rewriting eligibility and transfer-portal rules, along with at least a dozen other ideas. A draft document of the committee's proposals, obtained by Yahoo Sports, wants Congress to quickly pass legislation that would create the task force, which would receive the antitrust exemption and the right to override individual state laws that the NCAA and other collegiate sports leaders are seeking.
Film exhibitors welcome entertainment duty exemption for local films, theatre in Federal Territories
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — The Malaysian Association of Film Exhibitors (MAFE) has welcomed the exemption of entertain...
Colorado Scales Back Software and Other Business Tax Exemptions
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed legislation repealing a series of business tax exemptions to raise revenue for an expanded working families tax credit and balance out revenue gaps resulting from President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax law.
What Health Equity Champions Can Learn from Pharmaceutical Sales
The same mechanics can now help people meet new Medicaid work requirements or exemptions, increase referrals to evidence-based health interventions, and dramatically increase enrollment in vital programs that improve health outcomes and reduce inequities.
Chronically ill people face confusion over new Medicaid work rules and ‘medically frail’ exemption
Patients, advocates, and experts fear the difficulty in documenting a frailty exemption to Medicaid work requirements will lead to millions losing coverage.
Pakistan Unveils Rs 18.8 Trillion Budget 2026-27: Tax Relief for Salaried Class, Landmark Exemption for Women's Health Amid Regional Crisis
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presents federal budget for fiscal year 2026-27 during a National Assembly sessionISLAMABAD, July 22, 2026 (...
Football fans are being taken for a ride by the NFL — the DOJ could stop that
Nobody should be surprised that the Justice Department has opened an investigation into the NFL’s antitrust exemption — but it’s far from clear how this game will end.
Idaho judge ruling allows abortion if it protects mother’s health, prevents self-harm
The Idaho federal judge's decision, released Thursday, marks a major change to Idaho abortion ban’s exemptions.
Ultra-Orthodox conscription dispute pushes Israeli government to brink
Israeli government faces collapse as coalition parties clash over military draft exemptions for Haredi constituents.
Midterm Election Update: Vaccines
Federal vaccine policy has shifted toward fewer recommended routine childhood vaccinations, more emphasis on individual decision-making, and greater skepticism about the safety and efficacy of some vaccines. The changes coincide with declining childhood vaccination rates, rising exemptions from school vaccine requirements, and a major measles resurgence.
Madjo already compared to Belgium's Lukaku
Aston Villa are still awaiting the outcome of their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as they try to register Brian Madjo, who joined from Metz for £10m in January and does not turn 18 until January next year. Under-18s cannot complete international transfers, but Villa have argued Madjo was born in London and should be exempt, despite having three caps for Luxembourg. Fifa does allow some exemptions for minor players to make moves, including if a 16 or 17-year-old transfers within the European Union - something the UK is no longer part of.
Examining the Sports Broadcast Act: Rep. Fitzgerald on backlash against NFL's TV deals
House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust chairman Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.) joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss details of the hearing today examining a special exemption provided to the NFL from the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.
Some conservative states aren’t using Medicaid hardship exemption
States like Missouri and Iowa are choosing to not take up exemption designed to help low-income people keep coverage during hardship
Florida Policy Institute warns proposed homestead exemption changes will cost billions
Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling on lawmakers in a Special Session to revise homestead exemption taxes, restructuring property taxes in Florida.
Budget 2027: Entertainment duty exemption for local film, theatre tickets in Federal Territories, creative sector gets RM130m
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Tickets for local films and theatre performances in the Federal Territories will be fully ex...
Medicaid Work Rule Leaves Homeless People in the Cold
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government’s list of exemptions left off homeless people.
Back-to-school season expected to worsen record measles outbreak
With kids returning to school amid the worst year of measles in more than 30 years and a record number of children report exemptions from vaccines, the likelihood that the spread of measles will wo…
Court rules against Detroit Axle over Trump tariffs
The U.S. Court of International Trade’s opinion validated the president’s elimination of the “de minimis” tariff exemption for goods valued at $800 or less.
Chicago mayor proposing corporate head tax again, sources say
Take two? Mayor Brandon Johnson will again propose Chicago hit big corporations with an employee head tax — with an exemption in less wealthy parts of the city — when
Don Gaetz backs up Gov. DeSantis proposal to eliminate homestead exemption tax
Gaetz said the elmination of the property tax is necessary for Florida residents to keep up with inflation.
U.S. school vaccination rates inch down again as exemptions reach record high
It’s the fourth consecutive year that the national average exemption rate has reached a new record, and the vast majority are parents withholding shots for nonmedical reasons.
Why a case pivotal to the anti-vax movement could end up at the Supreme Court
The legal argument that vaccine mandates without a religious exemption violate the First Amendment could deliver the anti-vaccine movement its biggest win.
How Pa.'s falling school vaccination rates and enforcement failures put thousands of children at risk
A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.
Federal curveball upends NC’s plans for Medicaid work rule
New exemption guidance from CMS on who qualifies as "medically frail" has forced the state back to the drawing board.
Some conservative states aren’t using Medicaid hardship exemption
States like Missouri and Iowa are choosing to not take up exemption designed to help low-income people keep coverage during hardship
Democrats say Trump increased investments in drugmakers that were given Medicare exemptions
The report from congressional Democrats found that Trump’s pharmaceutical stock holdings grew from a maximum reported value of $1.7 million in 2024 to as much as $56.2 million at the end of 2025.
Recap: Glocester Council Expands Planner's Hours for Health Grant, Continues Senior Tax Hearing
The Glocester Town Council made the town planner full-time to run a rural health grant and continued its senior tax exemption hearing to Nov. 5.
Massie files bill to let small farmers process their own livestock
The bipartisan Red Meat Inspection Exemption Act would cut red tape and costs at a time consumers are looking for lower food prices, Massie said in a news release.
Medicaid work rule leaves homeless people in the cold
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government's list of exemptions left off homeless people.
Trump increased investments in drugmakers that benefited from Medicare exemptions, Democrats say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investments in pharmaceutical companies made on behalf of President Donald Trump increased significantly after he returned to the White House last year, with his portfolio adding mil...
As Trump urges GOP to retreat from anti-vax rhetoric, DeSantis doubles down on exemption bill amid rising measles cases
Florida advances exemptions as national GOP moderates vaccine tone
WA Democrat asks: Should cops have to pay taxes?
A proposal from a Washington member of Congress to grant special exemptions to federal, state and local police from paying most income taxes was not well-received online.
Florida Department of Health backs off vaccine exemption expansion
The Florida Department of Health is moving forward with its push to remove the requirement for four vaccines for children entering schools, but has dropped its attempt to expand exemptions for the immunization requirements.
Virginia's business reputation at the center of state budget impasse
Lawmakers are split on whether to end a tax exemption for data centers early.
San Anselmo business given exemption to sell cigars as city restricts tobacco sales
Mississippi’s top health officer: Measles cases are ‘inevitable’ as county vaccination rates fall
Mississippi’s kindergarten vaccination rates declined during the most recent academic year, continuing a downward trend that began after the state started granting religious exemptions for school vaccine requirements.
Democrats raise doubts about proposed hikes to homestead exemptions
Ahead of the opening gavels, the opposition party memorializes its complaints.
City council debates higher taxes on big corporations, expanding small business exemptions
The proposal could exempt 18,000 small businesses from city taxes while generating millions in new revenue, but critics warn it could drive companies away.
Communities worry for their health after Trump weakens pollution limits: 'It's a kick in the gut'
Biden-era changes to the Clean Air Act would have tightened regulations for industrial sites, but the Trump administration has given exemptions to hundreds of facilities. People living near the sites are concerned about air quality and their well-being.
Caregiver tax credit, athlete exemption from PE: CT politics news
Plus: Proposals for a bigger Correction Ombuds office, a life jacket requirement for children and more Office of the Child Advocate staff.
EU Proposes Tax Simplification Measures in Bid to Boost Business
The European Union will propose a streamlining of rules and exemptions in the area of taxation, its latest effort to reduce bureaucracy.
China grants singer a rare exemption after she includes unapproved tribute song
Authorities in Chengdu, China, have granted a rare exemption to singer Na Ying after she performed an unapproved song at a weekend concert.
FCC says "The View," "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" may not be exempt from "equal time" rules for politicians
FCC appears to be taking a dim view of whether late-night and daytime TV talk shows that interview politicians deserve an exemption from the "equal time" rules
Lakers’ Luka Doncic Will be Eligible for Awards After All
Lakers superstar Luka Doncic will be eligible for awards like MVP and All-NBA despite not meeting the minimum games played threshold. Doncic and Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons were both granted their extraordinary circumstances challenges, as reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania. Doncic’s exemption was related to the birth of his daughter in Slovenia in […] The post Lakers’ Luka Doncic Will be Eligible for Awards After All appeared first on LA Sports Report.
Mills pushes for Jay exemption in data center bill
On March 23, the Jay Board of Selectpersons wrote to Mills to encourage her to veto the bill in its current form or ensure that there’s an exemption for their town.
Yakima considers business license fee changes, might remove nonprofit exemption
The proposal would change how businesses are charged based on number of employees, and add non-religious nonprofits to list of businesses charged.
Philly businesses face new city taxes and higher bills this season
An exemption to the Philadelphia business income and receipts tax, known as BIRT, was eliminated in 2025, leading to new taxes for smaller operations.
Wisconsin health providers worry new Medicaid work requirement hurts doctor-patient relationship
The new rule, which was included in Republicans' "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" last year, provides exemptions for a number of groups, including people who are pregnant, have children under age 19 who live with them and people with a recognized disability.
Wrangell updates local sales tax and business license laws
One change met with some pushback. The borough initially proposed sales tax exemptions for churches and nonprofits for “occasional” business lasting less than three days per year.
To protest rising taxes, Russia’s small businesses take their ‘flash mobs’ online
With the costs of the war in Ukraine growing, the Kremlin has been raising taxes on and rolling back exemptions for Russian small businesses.
Mamdani tries to clear up confusion on new tax on luxury second homes
Only the approximately 17,000 owners who got a letter needed to pay or prove an exemption.
Hollywood Warns California Against Sabotaging Film Incentives
The entertainment industry is seeking an exemption from a new limit on corporate tax credits, saying it will undercut production incentives.
Minnesota DHS roll out eligibility tool ahead of federal Medicaid work requirement changes
Individuals enrolled in Medical Assistance can check if they meet the federal work reporting requirements set for 2027, as well as review a list of exemptions by using the new renewal lookup tool provided by DHS.
Opinion | The Government’s Costly Definition of ‘Small Business’
A system of subsidies and exemptions wastes taxpayer dollars and discourages companies from growing.
If homestead exemption hike fails with voters, Byron Donalds vows to 'bring it back'
Donalds' backup plan involves a group in state government that last met in 2007.
Kindergarten vaccine exemptions jump to another record high
Coverage among kindergarteners for the major vaccines fell in more than half the states, continuing a years-long trend, as measles cases climb.
Ending UK customs relief on low-value imports could push up prices, BCC says
Business group warns of harm to small firms and trade as it calls for phased end to ‘de minimis’ exemptions
Medicaid work requirements challenged by coalition of 26 states
Led by Massachusetts and California, the plaintiffs say CMS ignored the will of Congress by strictly defining a “medically frail” exemption that would allow a person access to safety net medical coverage.
Fact check: Trump, RFK Jr. and others make false claims on night 2 of GOP convention
(CNN) — President Donald Trump delivered another rapid-fire series of false claims on the second night of Republicans’ midterm convention on Thursday. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did his own barrage of wrongness. And various other speakers uttered statements that were untrue, misleading or missing critical context.Here is a fact check of some of the assertions from the final day of the convention. This is not intended as a comprehensive list of Thursday’s falsehoods.Trump’s many false claimsTrump made numerous false claims, some of which he also made in his longer speech Wednesday.Trump claimed that there were “no empty seats” in the Dallas arena as he spoke Thursday, which was visibly untrue. CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene, who was there, wrote in a live chat right after Trump made the claim that “I’m looking at rows of empty seats” and that “the idea that there are ‘no empty seats’ is just laughably untrue,” though she also said the room was mostly full. Trump has for years made false claims about supposedly never having had an empty seat.Trump further inflated one of his favorite fictional figures, claiming Thursday that “$22 trillion” in investment has come into the US; on Wednesday, he had put it at “over $20 trillion,” and even that lower figure has no apparent basis in reality. As of the time he spoke Thursday, the White House’s own website claimed there had been “$11.2 trillion” in “major investment announcements” this term, not “over $20 trillion,” and the White House figure was itself a major exaggeration of actual investment.Trump, talking about elections, lied that “there’s never been bigger cheaters” than Democrats; there is no basis for broadly describing Democrats as election cheaters. For the second straight night, Trump falsely claimed that the Biden administration allowed “25 million people” to pour into the country, though that number is nowhere close to correct. Trump again falsely claimed that former President Joe Biden and other Democrats “created the worst inflation in American history,” though even peak Biden-era inflation, 9.1% in June 2022, was far from the all-time record of 23.7%; it was a 40-year high, but the rate then fell sharply before Trump returned to office.Trump also baselessly claimed that Democrats would “defund the police” and give “voting rights and welfare to 25 million illegal aliens” if they won the midterms. Republicans will still control the White House in 2027 and 2028 and the president would be in position to veto any such changes if a Democratic-controlled Congress sought to make them, but there is no indication that Democrats want to do so. Also, even groups favoring strict immigration policies estimate that the total undocumented population is far less than “25 million” or even 20 million.As he did Wednesday, Trump claimed the US now has the world’s lowest prescription drug prices. The assertion is so broad that it is unclear what exactly Trump is referencing. But experts told CNN they highly doubt that the prices for brand-name drugs in the US are generally less than they are in other countries, and the Trump administration has not provided details to prove the claim.“It’s tough to claim that you’re getting the lowest prices anywhere in the world and then also not have any evidence to support that,” said Andrew Mulcahy, a senior health economist at RAND, while Diederik Stadig, senior healthcare economist at financial institution ING, said, “To say that the US now has the lowest drug prices in the world is at this moment not true.”And as he did Wednesday, Trump said “more Americans are working today than ever before” – which is true but nearly meaningless, since the number of people working in the US generally rises over time simply because the population rises over time.“There are more Americans working because there are more Americans. That’s the entire analysis,” Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan professor of public policy and economics, wrote in his newsletter in August.RFK Jr.’s false claims on the pandemic, Trump’s record and moreFalse claim about Democrats and the 2024 electionKennedy unsuccessfully ran for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination before withdrawing to run as an independent and then eventually endorsing Republican candidate Donald Trump. In Kennedy’s Thursday convention speech, he complained of how the Democrats handled the nomination race.At one point, he said, “For the first time in history, they cancelled their own convention. No voter ever cast a primary ballot for Kamala Harris, no elected delegate was ever consulted; the party of ‘No Kings’ simply anointed a queen.”Kennedy is entitled to express unhappiness about how quickly Democratic leaders coalesced around then-Vice President Harris after Biden unexpectedly dropped out of the race in July 2024, after the primaries were over and less than four months from Election Day. But it’s not true that the party canceled its convention or that delegates didn’t get any say.The convention was held; it was a four-day event in Chicago in August 2024. Democratic convention delegates officially nominated Harris in a virtual roll call vote in advance of the convention. It’s true that Harris was the only candidate on the roll call ballot, but that’s because she was the only candidate who gathered enough delegate signatures to appear on the ballot.It’s clear that party elites’ backing of Harris played a key role in the unusual nomination process. But Kennedy’s specific allegations that the convention was abandoned and delegates were cut out of the process are not true.False claim that Democrats closed ‘every church’ during the Covid-19 pandemicWhile attacking Democrats, Kennedy claimed that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, “They closed every church in our country for a year.”It’s not true that every church in the country was closed for a year, nor even that every church in a Democratic state was closed for a year.Every state issued some type of guidance or order about social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic, but many states – including some led by Democrats and some led by Republicans – incorporated religious exemptions into those limitations on social interactions.According to a Pew Research Center analysis from April 2020, 15 states allowed religious gatherings to continue without a limit on their size. That set of states included Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which all had Democratic governors. And at least two states with Republican governors, Alaska and Idaho, were among the states that prohibited religious gatherings at least briefly.False claim that Trump ‘ended nine wars’Trump has repeatedly claimed that he has ended “eight wars.” Kennedy went one higher on Thursday, declaring, “President Trump has ended nine wars.”That’s false. Trump hasn’t even ended eight wars.Trump’s list of eight includes two situations that were never actually wars during his tenure: a diplomatic dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia and a mysterious supposed situation between Serbia and Kosovo. The list also includes a war, involving Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, that hasn’t actually ended despite a peace agreement brokered by the Trump administration.In addition, the list includes the war between Israel and Hamas, but Israel continues to conduct frequent attacks in Gaza despite a US-brokered ceasefire agreement. And it includes the brief 2025 conflict between Israel and Iran, though Israel proceeded to join the US in starting another war against Iran in 2026.Claim about reversing a decline in longevityKennedy speaking of the Trump administration, claimed Thursday: “We have now reversed a 30-year decline in longevity. “Kennedy referenced preliminary data that he said he had received from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, but it’s unclear what metric of longevity he’s referring to.CDC data shows that US life expectancy had been steadily increasing for decades before a sharp drop during the Covid-19 pandemic. Life expectancy had already started to rebound in 2022, under the Biden administration, and reached a new record high in 2024 before Trump’s second term began.Preliminary data shared by the CDC in July suggests that life expectancy probably hit another record high in 2025.CNN has reached out to HHS for clarification on Kennedy’s comments.Claim that Democrats ‘lost 360,000 children’Speaking about Democrats, Kennedy said: “They somehow lost 360,000 children and they turned our federal government into the biggest child trafficking operation in world history.”Trump and other Republicans have made similar claims. But there’s no basis for the assertion that Democrats “lost” so many children or that the federal government was engaged in human trafficking.A 2024 report from the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement had reported that more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children failed to appear as scheduled for immigration court hearings after being released or transferred out of custody between fiscal years 2019 and 2023 – a period that, notably, includes two years and four months under the first Trump administration. The report also said that 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children during this period were not given notices to appear in court.The report said that ICE had “no assurances” these children “are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.” But it did not say all the children were actually “lost” and did not definitively assert that any of them were trafficked – let alone that the government was somehow involved in a trafficking operation. And, again, the report spanned parts of both a Republican administration and a Democratic administration.Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told CNN in 2024: “Long story short, no, there are not 320,000 kids missing. 32,000 kids missed court. That doesn’t mean they’re missing, it means they missed court (either because their sponsor didn’t bring them or they are teenagers who didn’t want to show up). The remaining 291,000 cases mentioned by the (Office of the Inspector General) are cases where ICE hasn’t filed the paperwork to start their immigration court cases.”Vance on inflation, crime and taxes on Social SecurityA false claim about the media and Biden-era inflationVice President JD Vance mocked the media during part of his speech on Thursday. But he made a false claim about Biden-era inflation while lampooning how the media supposedly challenged him over another false claim on that subject.Vance said: “The president and I would go during a campaign, we’d say, ‘You know, inflation is as high as it’s been in 100 years,’ and the fake news would say, ‘No, no, no, it’s as high as it’s been in 68 years.’ That ain’t good, ladies and gentlemen.”Mainstream journalists, at least, wouldn’t say that inflation under Biden was as high as it had been “in 68 years.” Rather, CNN and others noted that peak inflation under the Biden administration, 9.1% in June 2022, was the highest in about 40 years.Vance is entitled to make his general point that this correction still doesn’t make Biden-era inflation sound good, but his specific number was, again, wrong. And he didn’t acknowledge that inflation fell sharply under Biden after hitting the 40-year high, declining to 2.9% in Biden’s last full month in office, December 2024, and 3.0% in January 2025, when Trump and Vance were inaugurated.The rate was 3.4% in July 2026, the most recent month for which data is available.Trump didn’t end taxes on Social SecurityVance claimed, “We’ve ended taxes on Social Security.” Several other convention speakers, including Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania and Ohio House candidate Derek Merrin, similarly said the administration has achieved “no tax on Social Security.”It hasn’t. The big domestic policy bill Trump signed in 2025 did create an additional, temporary $6,000-per-year tax deduction for individuals age 65 and older (which phases out for individuals earning $75,000 per year or more), but as the White House has implicitly acknowledged, millions of Social Security recipients will continue to pay taxes on their benefits even before the temporary new deduction expires after 2028.The Social Security Administration said in 2025 that “the bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits.Claim about violent crime rate under BidenWhile criticizing the Biden administration, Vice President JD Vance claimed Thursday that the US “became a country where violent crime exploded, unless, of course, you could afford private security.”But violent crime did not explode under Biden. In fact, as FactCheck.org reported last month, data collected and published by the FBI shows that the national violent crime rate was at a lower level in 2023 and 2024, the last two full calendar years of Biden’s term, than it was in 2020, the last full calendar year of Trump’s first term. The year 2020 was highly unusual in many ways – violent crime jumped amid the Covid-19 pandemic – but Biden nonetheless left office with violent crime lower than it was when he took over. In fact, the 2024 violent crime rate was even lower than the 2019 rate under Trump before the pandemic.There was an increase in violent crime during the earlier part of Biden’s term. But given the subsequent decline, it’s misleading at best to claim violent crime “exploded” with no further context.Asked earlier this month about Trump’s similar previous claims to have reversed a Biden-era upswing in violence, crime data expert Jeff Asher said in an email: “No, crime began dropping significantly in 2023 during the Biden administration. Murder fell at record rates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 and, while 2026 may not feature a record decline nationally, it is still on track to see a sizable double-digit decline this year. Violent crime similarly fell nationally in 2023 and 2024, though the drops were more muted than the decline that was recorded by the FBI in 2025.”Other GOP speakersMike Johnson’s false claim about the inflation Republicans inherited from BidenSome other speakers at the convention took aim at inflation under Biden. House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed that “Republicans inherited from the Biden administration record-high inflation.”That’s not true. The inflation rate was 2.9% in Biden’s last full month in office, December 2024, and 3.0% in January 2025, when Trump took over. That’s lower than the most recent rate, 3.4% in July 2026, and nowhere close to the all-time record of 23.7%, which was reached in 1920, or the highest point of Jimmy Carter’s presidency, 14.8%, which was reached in 1980.Johnson correctly said moments later that inflation reached “a 40-year high of 9.1% inflation” under Biden. But a 40-year high is not an all-time record. More importantly, Johnson didn’t explain that 9.1% was much higher than the rate Trump inherited or that the 9.1% rate occurred in June 2022, with roughly two-and-a-half years left in Biden’s term.The cumulative increase in prices from the beginning of the Biden administration to the end was also not the highest in US history. Federal figures show that beginning-to-end inflation under Biden was less than half of that during Carter’s term.What Johnson left out of his claim about a congressional resolutionWhile attacking Democrats as extreme, Johnson said: “Just last week, nearly every Democrat in the House of Representatives voted against condemning socialism and Marxism. They voted against it.”But the resolution didn’t use the word “Marxism.” And Johnson didn’t mention that the resolution wasn’t only about condemning socialism. Rather, it contained other language that Democratic leadership said was the focus of the party’s opposition to the resolution.The resolution’s first provision said it “condemns and denounces socialism in all its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America, and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States.” But its fifth provision said it “calls for enactment of the SAVE America Act,” Trump’s favored elections bill, which contains various provisions opposed by many Democrats.So while it’s very possible many Democrats would have opposed the resolution even without its expression of support for the SAVE America Act, the call to pass this elections bill served as a poison pill that ensured most Democrats wouldn’t support it.“House Resolution 1490 explicitly calls for enactment of the so-called SAVE America Act, which is the top legislative priority of far-right extremists,” Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement last week.A New Mexico candidate left out key context in an attack on his opponentGreg Cunningham, a Republican House candidate in New Mexico, used some of his Thursday speech to criticize his Democratic opponent, Rep. Gabe Vasquez. Cunningham said of Vasquez: “He even voted against a resolution honoring the sacrifices and service of the brave men and women in law enforcement who protect, every day, our communities.”But Cunningham left out important context about the resolution. While its focus was expressing support for law enforcement, its preamble contained statements praising the Trump administration and criticizing “leftist activists,” “progressive politicians” and “sanctuary city policies” for allegedly making law enforcement less safe.In other words, a House member might vote against such a resolution, as the vast majority of Democrats did, because they disagreed with conservative components of it, not the general expressions of support for law enforcement. (CNN has reached out to Vasquez’s campaign and House office for comment on his vote.) It’s common for parties to write resolutions in a way that would make it difficult for opponents to support but would open those opponents to campaign attacks if they voted “no.”An Ohio candidate’s misleading attack about Democrats and votingMerrin, the Republican candidate running against Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur for a House seat in Ohio, claimed in his speech, “While Democrats talk about letting illegal immigrants vote in our election, Republicans fight for proof of citizenship, photo ID and fair elections.”It’s a big country, so it’s possible some Democrat somewhere is talking about letting undocumented people vote in some election. But Merrin’s claim is misleading at best. There is no proposal from Democrats in Congress to let undocumented people vote in the 2026 midterms – the election Merrin appeared to be referring to when he said “our election” – or vote in future federal elections.CNN has reached out to Merrin’s campaign for an explanation of his claim.House Majority Leader Steve Scalise invoked a similar theme in his speech Wednesday, claiming that Democrats had voted last week “to allow illegals to vote in our federal elections.” But there was no congressional vote on letting undocumented immigrants vote in any elections.Rather, there was a vote on the non-binding Republican resolution that included multiple provisions, including one that “reiterates the notion that American elections are for American citizens only,” one supporting Trump’s favored elections bill and one denouncing socialism.Opposing that multi-clause resolution doesn’t necessarily mean someone supports voting by any non-citizens, let alone non-citizens in the country illegally.This article has been updated with additional items.CNN’s Deja Oliver contributed to this report.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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