Introduction: From Legislative Sessions to Implementation

With 2026 legislative sessions across the South now concluded, the policy landscape is entering a new phase. Attention has shifted from legislative debate and passage to implementation, as states begin putting newly enacted policies into practice and assessing what comes next for proposals that did not advance.

This transition also provides an opportunity to look beyond individual legislative outcomes and highlight some of the work taking place across EPU’s broader network. Throughout the 2026 legislative sessions, alumni members of EPU’s Unum Fellows Program introduced and advanced proposals addressing a range of issues affecting communities across the South. At the same time, EPU continues to examine how communities are approaching opportunity and long-term growth at the local level.

Rather than another legislative roundup, this August update serves as a progress report: highlighting the work of EPU’s Unum Fellows, considering what implementation means for legislation enacted this year, and examining approaches Southern communities are using to expand opportunity and strengthen their communities.

Special thanks to E Pluribus Unum’s 2026 Summer Policy and Government Relations Interns, Lauryn Bone of Tuskegee University and Fletcher Neely of Tulane University, for their research and contributions to this update. Both Lauryn and Fletcher are natives of Birmingham, Alabama, and brought their insight and perspective to EPU’s policy work throughout the summer.

Spotlight: Unum Fellows Alumni at Work

Why the Fellows Matter

In 2021, EPU welcomed its second cohort of Unum Fellows, bringing together ten legislators from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee. During the fellowship, participants worked alongside EPU staff and policy advisors to advance legislative goals aimed at promoting shared opportunity and prosperity in their communities.

Five years later, members of that cohort continue to shape policy in statehouses across the South. A review of legislation introduced and supported by Cohort II alumni during the 2026 legislative sessions offers an opportunity to revisit their work and examine the issues they continue to advance as state leaders.

Advancing Health and Family Well-Being

Health and family well-being emerged as one of the clearest areas of legislative activity among Cohort II alumni during the 2026 sessions. Across several states, fellows supported proposals aimed at reducing barriers to care, strengthening protections for patients, and improving access to preventive and emergency health services.

In Tennessee, Rep. Harold Love, Jr., sponsored legislation (House Bill 1943) requiring hospitals to screen and stabilize pregnant patients experiencing active labor and emergency medical conditions, regardless of their ability to pay. The measure took effect July 1, 2026. Love also enacted legislation (House Bill 1944) requiring universal newborn screening for sickle cell trait and notification of parents or guardians when a positive result is identified.

In Alabama, Rep. Juandalynn Givan co-sponsored bipartisan legislation (House Bill 300) eliminating deductibles, copayments, and other cost-sharing for supplemental and diagnostic breast examinations. The measure was enacted and takes effect January 1, 2027.

Other proposals did not advance but reflected similar concerns. In Mississippi, Rep. Zakiya Summers co-sponsored legislation (House Bill 1099) that would have established clearer emergency-care protections, including requirements that emergency departments screen and stabilize patients without delaying or denying care based on factors such as ability to pay.

Strengthening Economic and Family Stability

Across the 2026 sessions, Cohort II alumni also pursued legislation addressing how child care, stable housing, transportation, and affordable services shape economic security and access to opportunity.

Child care emerged as one notable area of activity. In Tennessee, Rep. Harold Love, Jr. sponsored legislation (House Bill 2413) streamlining child-care permitting, inspections, and zoning requirements, including provisions intended to make it easier to establish employer-based child care facilities. In Mississippi, Rep. Zakiya Summers co-sponsored bipartisan legislation (House Bill 17) that would have created a task force to examine the state’s child care workforce shortage, including teacher wages and strategies for expanding access to affordable care. The measure passed the House but did not advance in the Senate. In North Carolina, Sen. Jay Chaudhuri’s work during the 2025-2026 legislative biennium included a proposal to establish a child-care pilot (Senate Bill 593) that would have covered 75 percent of tuition costs for eligible full-time child-care workers, another approach aimed at strengthening the child-care workforce while addressing affordability.

Other Fellows approached economic stability through housing and household costs. In Georgia, Rep. Kim Schofield co-sponsored bipartisan legislation (House Bill 1035) that would have protected owner-occupied homes from foreclosure over certain non-tax debt, such as unpaid utility or homeowners’ association charges. In Louisiana, Sen. Royce Duplessis proposed changes to auto-insurance rate setting (Senate Bill 267) and sought to reduce homeowners’ insurance costs for participants in the state’s Fortify Homes program (Senate Bill 355).

Transportation and access also surfaced in the cohort’s work. Mississippi Rep. Christopher Bell proposed creating a statewide transit corporation (House Bill 427) to coordinate regional public transportation and support longer-term transit investment, recognizing the connection between reliable transportation and access to employment, education, health care, and other essential services.

Taken together, these efforts reflect a broad view of economic security. Rather than focusing solely on jobs or wages, Cohort II alumni addressed many of the underlying conditions that can determine whether families are able to participate fully in the economy and maintain long-term stability.

Protecting Voice and Participation

Democracy and civic participation also emerged as a shared priority among Cohort II alumni, with Fellows in three states pursuing legislation aimed at establishing stronger state-level voting rights protections.

In Mississippi, Rep. Zakiya Summers sponsored the Robert G. Clark, Jr., Voting Rights Act of Mississippi (House Bill 1446), which would have established protections against voter suppression and vote dilution, created a state Voting Rights Commission, established a preclearance process for certain election changes, expanded language access, and created a public elections database. In Alabama, Rep. Juandalynn Givan co-sponsored legislation (House Bill 486) proposing many similar protections, including a state Voting Rights Commission, preclearance requirements, expanded voting opportunities, and restoration of voting rights for certain individuals with felony convictions.

Louisiana Sen. Royce Duplessis likewise introduced a state Voting Rights Act (Senate Bill 365) that would have established protections against voter suppression and vote dilution, created a Louisiana Voting Rights Commission, and established a state preclearance process for election changes in certain jurisdictions. None of the three proposals advanced during the 2026 sessions.

Other alumni engaged in questions of civic participation and representation through different legislative tools, including Georgia Rep. Park Cannon, whose resolution recognizing Bayard Rustin Day (House Resolution 1714) was adopted during the 2026 session.

These proposals were introduced before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its April decision in Louisiana v. Callais, but that ruling has added significance to ongoing conversations about state-level voting protections. Together, the Fellows’ proposals demonstrate that legislators across multiple Southern states were already exploring state-based approaches to protecting access to the ballot and representation as the federal voting rights landscape continued to evolve.

Where Progress Found Common Ground

Across the cohort, some of the clearest legislative progress came through targeted proposals addressing specific challenges facing individuals and families. Measures related to emergency maternal care, diagnostic health services, newborn screening, child-care regulation, and educational opportunities for incarcerated individuals were among those that gained bipartisan support or ultimately became law. In Louisiana, for example, Rep. Aimee Adatto Freeman co-sponsored legislation (House Bill 111) expanding earned-time opportunities for eligible incarcerated individuals who complete an associate’s degree.

Other proposals faced a more difficult path. Comprehensive state voting rights legislation did not advance in Mississippi, Alabama, or Louisiana, while several proposals addressing housing, insurance affordability, transportation, and other consumer and economic concerns also stalled during the legislative process.

The outcomes varied by state and issue, but the Fellows’ 2026 work illustrates the different forms legislative progress can take. Some ideas became law, others advanced further in the legislative process, and still others helped place issues and potential policy approaches into the broader conversation.

Looking Ahead

Five years after their participation in the Unum Fellows program, Cohort II alumni continue to advance policy across statehouses throughout the South. Their work during the 2026 sessions reflects both areas of legislative progress and policy ideas that remain active even when they did not advance this year. Their continued work highlights EPU’s longer-term reach of supporting leaders whose policy work and public service extend well beyond the fellowship itself.

From Passage to Practice

While a governor’s signature marks the end of the legislative process, it also marks the beginning of the work required to turn policy into practice. Once legislation is enacted, many different actors are responsible for developing programs, issuing guidance, allocating resources, and creating the systems necessary to carry out new laws.

Implementation can also determine how quickly, consistently, and effectively a policy reaches the people and communities it was designed to serve. Effective dates matter, but so do administrative capacity, funding, public awareness, and coordination among the institutions responsible for carrying out the law.

Implementation Watch

Louisiana: Expanding Youth Apprenticeship Pathways

Louisiana’s Senate Bill 322, now Act 490, took effect August 1, 2026. The law updates eligibility requirements for the Louisiana Youth Apprentice program, which is designed to connect young people with paid, work-based learning opportunities while they prepare for careers.

What We’ll Be Watching: How implementation expands access to youth apprenticeship opportunities, strengthens employer participation, and creates clearer pathways between education, training, and employment.

Alabama: Putting Literacy Requirements Into Practice

Alabama’s Senate Bill 168 took effect June 1, 2026, with several of its requirements beginning in the 2026-2027 school year. The law strengthens requirements around evidence-based reading instruction, prohibits the use of the three-cueing model and certain visual-memory approaches for teaching word recognition, and extends those expectations to educator-preparation programs.

Implementation is already underway, with the Alabama State Department of Education providing resources and guidance on instructional practices, interventions, professional learning, materials, and literacy coaching for the 2026-2027 school year.

What We’ll Be Watching: How local school systems and educator-preparation programs adjust instructional materials and practices, how teachers are supported through the transition, and how consistently the new requirements are implemented across the state.

Virginia: Giving Localities a New Tool to Preserve Affordable Housing

Virginia’s House Bill 4 took effect July 1, 2026, creating a framework that allows localities to require advance notice when affordability restrictions are scheduled to expire and establish a right of first refusal to preserve certain properties as affordable housing. Because the law gives local governments new authority rather than establishing an automatic statewide program, its impact will depend largely on whether and how localities choose to use it.

What We’ll Be Watching: Which localities choose to use the new authority, how they structure their preservation programs and partnerships, and whether the tool helps communities retain affordable units that might otherwise be lost as existing restrictions expire.

What Implementation Can Tell Us

As implementation moves forward, questions of access, administrative capacity, coordination, funding, and public awareness will help determine how these policies function beyond their statutory language. Tracking that transition offers a fuller picture of policy change across the South, from decisions made in state capitols to their effects in communities.

Community Spotlight: Building Economic Opportunity in Southern Cities

Economic opportunity is shaped not only by decisions made in state capitols, but also by the strategies communities develop locally. Recent EPU research examining Richmond, Virginia, and Lexington, Kentucky, highlights several approaches Southern communities are using to support economic growth, strengthen local capacity, and connect residents to opportunity.

While Richmond and Lexington differ in size, economic base, and regional context, both demonstrate the importance of connecting economic development with broader community priorities. Their approaches emphasize workforce and talent development, partnerships with higher education, collaboration across public and private sectors, and investments that make communities attractive places to live, work, and build businesses.

Investing in People and Talent

Both communities treat workforce development as an important component of economic growth. Richmond has paired business recruitment and expansion with efforts to strengthen workforce pipelines, including partnerships involving employers and higher education institutions. Lexington similarly benefits from a strong higher education presence, including the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University, while regional economic development efforts emphasize connecting talent with growing industries.

Building Through Partnerships

Collaboration is another recurring feature. Richmond’s economic development efforts include partnerships among local government, businesses, educational institutions, and community stakeholders, while Lexington’s approach extends beyond the city itself through a nine-county regional economic development strategy.

Connecting Growth and Community Development

The research also highlights the relationship between economic development and quality of life. Richmond’s mixed-use development efforts, including the Diamond District and planned City Center Innovation District, connect business and investment strategies with housing, public spaces, transportation, and neighborhood development. Lexington’s regional strategy similarly recognizes quality of life, infrastructure, and community assets as components of its economic competitiveness.

Lessons from Southern Communities

Richmond and Lexington do not offer a single blueprint for economic development, nor are their approaches identical. Instead, they illustrate how Southern communities can draw on their own institutions, industries, partnerships, and regional strengths to pursue economic opportunity. Across both communities, several common ingredients stand out: investing in people, leveraging higher education and other anchor institutions, building public-private partnerships, coordinating across jurisdictions, and connecting economic growth to the broader conditions that make communities places where people can thrive.

Looking Ahead

As the 2026 legislative cycle gives way to implementation, the policy landscape across the South will continue to evolve. Newly enacted laws will move from statutory language into programs, regulations, classrooms, workplaces, and communities, while proposals that did not advance this year may return in future legislative sessions and new ideas emerge in response to changing needs and priorities.

In the months ahead, EPU will continue tracking how policies highlighted throughout this year’s updates move into practice, as well as emerging issues that may shape the next legislative cycle. We will also continue examining how state and local leaders across the South are approaching shared challenges and identifying opportunities to strengthen economic security, community well-being, and civic participation.

This next phase offers an opportunity to look beyond legislative outcomes alone and consider how policy decisions are experienced in practice, where implementation is gaining traction, and where challenges or opportunities remain.