Gas and diesel prices hit record highs after a Joliet, Illinois refinery outage, a taxpayer-funded vaccine nonprofit raises executive pay while posting multi-million dollar losses, a coalition of states sues over a new immigration "public charge" rule, Illinois's digital ad tax faces a legal challenge, and the White House Fraud Task Force announces new suspensions tied to Paycheck Protection Program fraud. Regular gas hit an all-time high of $4.33 a gallon nationally, and diesel set a record at $6.29 a gallon, after a power outage at a refinery in Joliet, Illinois disrupted supply across the Midwest. New diesel records were also set in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois, adding to existing records in North Carolina, Virginia, Minnesota, Georgia and California. The Center Square's investigative reporter Mark Stricherz details his reporting on the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute, a nonprofit that receives government and private funding to fight diseases including Ebola overseas. The organization posted a net loss of nearly $4 million in 2024 and $2 million in 2023, while total executive and staff compensation rose by $800,000 to $9 million in 2024. CEO Amy Finan received about $517,000 in total compensation; six other executives made $299,000 or more. The Sabin Institute did not respond to requests for comment. Separately, health care workers battling an unrelated Ebola-related outbreak in Central Africa have reportedly gone unpaid, according to the Wall Street Journal. New York City, joined by a coalition of cities and Democratic attorneys general from states including California, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania, filed lawsuits challenging a Trump administration rule that would expand the "public charge" test used to deny green cards or visas to immigrants likely to use public benefits such as Medicaid or SNAP. The Department of Homeland Security called the legal challenge an "ideological contortion" and said the rule restores a self-reliance standard for immigrants. NetChoice, a trade group representing Meta, Google, X, TikTok and Snap, filed lawsuits in Cook County Court against Illinois's new digital ad tax and Governor J.B. Pritzker's "social media platform fee," both part of a revenue package passed during the spring legislative session. NetChoice argues the measures amount to double taxation, discriminate against interstate commerce and violate the First Amendment; a similar digital ad tax was recently struck down in Maryland. The Trump administration announced the suspension of roughly 870,000 individuals tied to nearly $39 billion in government loan fraud, primarily involving the Paycheck Protection Program. Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Todd Blanche, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler and FBI Director Kash Patel detailed ongoing prosecutions, including a case involving an alleged $55 million fraud scheme and a separate case involving loan applications tied to more than 100 immigrants from Cuba. Also in this episode: the U.S. Supreme Court rejected for now a Trump administration order restricting USPS mail-in ballot processing; a new national firearms survey estimates 88 million American adults own approximately 461 million firearms; and New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced $1 billion in utility rebate checks of up to $200 for more than 8.2 million households. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
