Several Colorado cities are suing the state over a new law that would keep them from collecting sales and use tax on building materials for public schools.

HB22-1024 passed the legislature this year with bipartisan support in both chambers. Gov. Jared Polis signed it into law in April and it is slated to go into effect in August. In short, lawmakers said they wanted to keep taxpayers from paying extra on school buildings.

“Most times you levy a tax on yourself to build the school and pay off the bond,” sponsored Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, said. “If there’s another tax on that, you’re now taxing yourself to pay off another tax over 25 or 30 years, and with interest.”

She noted that a sales tax of even just a few percentage points can add millions to projects. A 4% sales tax on $25 million worth of building material

The independent state legislature theory was first invoked by three conservative US Supreme Court justices in the celebrated Bush v. Gore case that handed the 2000 election victory to George W. Bush.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The independent state legislature theory was first invoked by three conservative US Supreme Court justices in the celebrated Bush v. Gore case that handed the 2000 election victory to George W. Bush.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case that could dramatically change how federal elections are conducted. At issue is a legal theory that would give state legislatures unfettered authority to set the rules for federal elections, free of supervision by state courts and state constitutions.

The theory, known as the “independent state legislature theory,” stems from the election clause in Article I of the Constitution. It says, “The times, places

This is a MedPage Today story.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade, doctors across the country are facing an array of legal questions and concerns that are so new and uncertain they once seemed out of the realm of possibility, according to experts.

From determining whether they can provide care when the life of the mother is at risk and whether they must report a patient for a self-induced abortion, to considering how to code certain medical treatments and how to avoid allegations of aiding and abetting, doctors – – and other healthcare providers and staff — are finding themselves caught in a precarious legal framework that is still in flux.

“It is a horrible situation to put doctors in, who really just want to help patients,” Jessie Hill, of Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio, told MedPage Today.