By KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate Republicans are taking slightly different approaches when it comes to the tax cuts that lawmakers are looking to include in their massive tax and spending cuts bill.

Republicans in the two chambers don’t agree on the size of a deduction for state and local taxes. And they are at odds on such things as allowing people to use their health savings accounts to help pay for their gym membership, or whether electric vehicle and hybrid owners should have to pay an annual fee.

The House passed its version shortly before Memorial Day. Now the Senate is looking to pass its version.

While the two bills are similar on the major tax provisions, how they work out their differences in the coming weeks will determine how quickly they can get a final product over the finish line. President Donald Trump is pushing to have the legislation on his desk by July 4th.

Here’s a look at some of the key differences between the two bills:

Tax break for families

The child tax credit currently stands at $2,000 per child.

The House bill temporarily boosts the child tax credit to $2,500 for the 2025 through 2028 tax years, roughly the length of President Donald Trump’s second term. It also indexes the credit amount for inflation beginning in 2027.

The Senate bill provides a smaller, initial bump-up to $2,200, but the bump is permanent, with the credit amount indexed for inflation beginning next year.

Trump campaign promises

Trump promised on the campaign trail that he would seek to end income taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits. Also, he would give car buyers a new tax break by allowing them to deduct the interest paid on auto loans.

The House and Senate bills incorporate those promises with temporary deductions lasting from the 2025 through 2028 tax years, but with some differences.

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The House bill creates a deduction on tips for those working in jobs that have customarily received tips. The House also provides for a deduction for overtime that’s equal to the amount of OT a worker has earned.

The Senate bill comes with more restrictions. The deduction for tips is limited to $25,000 per taxpayer and the deduction for overtime is limited to $12,500 per taxpayer.

The House and Senate bills both provide a deduction of up to $10,000 for interest paid on loans for vehicles made in the United States.

And on Social Security, the bills don’t directly touch the program. Instead, they grant a larger tax deduction for Americans age 65 and older. The House sets the deduction at $4,000. The Senate sets it at $6,000.

Both chambers include income limits over which the new deductions begin to phase out.

More SALT

The caps on state and local tax deductions, known in Washington as the SALT cap, now stand at $10,000.

The House bill, in a bid to win over Republicans from New York, California and New Jersey, lifts the cap to $40,000 per household with incomes of less than $500,000. The credit phases down for households earning more than $500,000.

The Senate bill keeps the cap at $10,000. That’s a non-starter in the House, but Republicans in the two chambers will look to negotiate a final number over the coming weeks that both sides can accept.

Medicaid providers

The House bill prohibits states from establishing new provider taxes or increasing existing taxes. These are taxes that Medicaid providers, such as hospitals, pay to help states finance their share of Medicaid costs. In turn, the taxes allow states to receive increased federal matching funds while generally holding providers harmless through higher reimbursements that offset the taxes paid.

Such taxes now are effectively capped at 6%. The Senate looks to gradually lower that threshold for states that have expanded their Medicaid populations under the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” until it reaches 3.5% in 2031, with exceptions for nursing homes and intermediate care facilities.

Industry groups have warned that limiting the ability of states to tax providers may lead to some states making significant cuts to their Medicaid programs as they make up for the lost revenue in other ways. The Medicaid provision could be a flashpoint in the coming House and Senate negotiations. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was highly critical of the proposed Senate changes.

“This needs a lot of work. It’s really concerning and I’m really surprised by it,” he said. “Rural hospitals are going to be in bad shape.”

Tax breaks for business

The House bill would allow companies for five years to fully deduct equipment purchases and domestic research and development expenses. The Senate bill includes no sunset, making the tax breaks permanent, which was a key priority of powerful trade groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Clean energy tax credits

Republicans in both chambers are looking to scale back the clean energy tax credits enacted through then-President Joe Biden’s climate law. It aimed to boost the nation’s transition away from planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions toward renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

Under the Senate bill, the tax credits for clean energy and home energy efficiency would still be phased out, but less quickly than under the House bill. Still, advocacy groups fear that the final measure will threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs and drive up household energy costs.

Odds and ends

The House bill would allow millions of Americans to use their health savings accounts to pay for gym memberships, with a cap of $500 for single taxpayers and $1,000 for joint filers. The Senate bill doesn’t include such a provision.

The House reinstates a charitable deduction for non-itemizers of $150 per taxpayer. The Senate bill increases that deduction for donations to $1,000 per taxpayer.

Republicans in the House bill included a new annual fee of $250 for EV owners and $100 for hybrid owners that would be collected by state motor vehicle departments. The Senate bill excludes the proposed fees.

By LUENA RODRIGUEZ-FEO VILEIRA

Muslims will soon welcome a new year in the Islamic lunar calendar, known as the Hijri calendar.

The Hijri New Year, beginning on the first day of the month of Muharram, signals a chance for spiritual reflection and religious resolutions, set in the month following the annual Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Here’s what to know about the holiday and how Muslims observe it:

The Hijri New Year will begin around Thursday

This Hijri New Year is expected to fall on or around June 26, ushering in the year 1447 A.H. (which stands for “anno hegirae” or “the year of the Hijrah” in Latin).

The exact date can vary depending on when regional Islamic authorities see the crescent moon.

Because the Hijri calendar is lunar, the dates of Islamic months and holidays — such as Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr — change annually. The new year corresponds with the first sighting of the crescent moon during Muharram, the first of 12 months in the Hijri calendar.

The calendar began in year 622

The Hijri calendar begins counting from 622 C.E., the year the Prophet Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina, fleeing persecution.

This journey, known as the Hijrah or migration in Arabic, led to the religious, social and political consolidation of the then-nascent Muslim community.

FILE – Sufi Muslims perform Zikr, or remembrance of God, as they sing Islamic songs during a parade to commemorate the beginning of the Islamic new year, 1446 Hijri, in Cairo, Egypt, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

The day is more solemn than festive

Muharram is one of four sacred months during which Islam forbids warfare, a condition that encourages increased prayer, charity and reflection throughout the month. More than 20 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Syria, have designated the Hijri New Year a national holiday.

While the passage of the Islamic New Year is generally more solemn and introspective than festive, Muslims may observe the holiday differently, according to their school of thought.

For Shiite Muslims especially, the first 10 days of Muharram mark a significant period of mourning: On the 10th of Muharram in 680 C.E., the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein was killed in battle.

Ten days into the new year on Ashoura, waves of Shiite mourners walk the streets dressed in black, beating their chests or self-flagellating in public grief.

Sunni Muslims commemorate Ashoura through voluntary fasting, as the day for them marks Moses’ parting of the Red Sea.

The wars in Iran and Gaza will impact observations of the new year

Mass demonstrations of mourning on Ashoura are known to unfold in Tehran and other cities in the Shiite-majority Iran.

But more than a week into a campaign of strikes by Israel, the streets of Tehran have been largely deserted, businesses are closed, and with no bomb shelters open, many shelter on the floor of metro stations. Thousands have fled the city.

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Israel launched a major attack on Iran on June 13, striking the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure in Tehran and triggering a war between the two longtime foes.

Ashoura demonstrations in Pakistan, Lebanon and Iraq have also been a site of tributes to Palestinians.

This Hijri New Year is the second to pass since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023. Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has since killed more than 55,000 Palestinians in the predominantly Muslim area, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said most of the dead are women and children.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL

The number of abortions in the U.S. rose again in 2024, with women continuing to find ways to get them despite bans and restrictions in many states, according to a report out Monday.

The latest report from the WeCount project of the Society of Family Planning, which supports abortion access, was released a day before the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended nearly 50 years of legal abortion nationally for most of pregnancy.

Currently, 12 states are enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions, and four have bans that kick in at or about six weeks into pregnancy — often before women realize they are pregnant.

While the total number of abortions has risen gradually over those three years, the number has dropped to near zero in some states while abortions using pills obtained through telehealth appointments has become a more common method in nearly all states.

Pills are used in the majority of abortions and are also prescribed in person.

The overall number of abortions has risen, but it is below historic highs

The latest survey, released Monday, tallied about 1.1 million abortions nationally last year, or about 95,000 a month. That is up from about 88,000 monthly in 2023 and 80,000 a month between April and December of 2022. WeCount began after Roe was overturned, and the 2022 numbers don’t include January through March, when abortions are traditionally at their highest.

The number is still well below the historic peak in the U.S. of nearly 1.6 million a year in the late 1990s.

The Society of Family Planning relies primarily on surveys of abortion providers and uses estimates.

Pills prescribed by telehealth now account for one-fourth of US abortions

WeCount found that in the months before the Dobbs ruling was handed down, about 1 in 20 abortions was accessed by telehealth.

But the last three months of 2024, it was up to 1 in 4.

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The biggest jump over that time came in the middle of 2023, when laws in some Democratic-controlled states took effect with provisions intended to protect medical professionals who use telehealth to prescribe pills to patients in states where abortion is banned or where there are laws restricting telehealth abortion.

WeCount found that about half telehealth abortions last year were facilitated by the shield laws. The number of telehealth abortions also grew for those in states without bans.

WeCount is the only nationwide public source of information about the pills prescribed to women in states with bans. One key caveat is that it is not clear how many of the prescriptions result in abortion. Some women may change their minds, access in-person abortion — or could be seeking pills to save for future use.

The WeCount data could help explain data from a separate survey from the Guttmacher Institute, which found the number of people crossing states lines for abortion declined last year.

Anti-abortion efforts are focused on pills

Anti-abortion efforts are zeroing in on pills.

Three states have sued to try to get courts to limit telehealth prescriptions of mifepristone, one of the two drugs usually used in combination for medication abortions. President Donald Trump’s administration last month told a judge that it does not believe the states have legal standing to make that case.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year found that anti-abortion doctors and their organizations didn’t have standing, either.

Meanwhile, officials in Louisiana are using criminal laws, and there is an effort in Texas to use civil penalties against a New York doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to women in their states. Louisiana lawmakers have also sent the governor a bill to further restrict access to the pills.

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO

CHICAGO (AP) — Many of the protesters who flooded the streets of Los Angeles to oppose President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown wore masks or other face coverings, drawing scorn from him.

“MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests,” Trump posted on his social media platform, adding that mask-wearing protesters should be arrested.

Protesters and their supporters argue Trump’s comments and repeated calls by the Republican president’s allies to ban masks at protests are an attempt to stifle popular dissent. They also note a double standard at play: In Los Angeles and elsewhere, protesters were at times confronted by officers who had their faces covered. And some U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have worn masks while carrying out high-profile raids in Los Angeles and other cities.

All of which begs the question: Can something that covers your mouth protect free speech? Protesters say the answer is an emphatic yes. Several legal experts say it’s only a matter of time before the issue returns to the courts.

‘What do these people have to hide, and why?’

Trump’s post calling for a ban on masks came after immigration raids sparked protests, which included some reports of vandalism and violence toward police.

“What do these people have to hide, and why?” he asked on Truth Social on June 8.

The next day, Trump raged against the anti-ICE protests, calling for the arrest of people in face masks.

It’s not a new idea. Legal experts and First Amendment advocates warn of a rising number of laws banning masks being wielded against protesters and their impacts on people’s right to protest and privacy amid mounting surveillance.

The legal question became even more complicated when Democratic lawmakers in California introduced legislation aiming to stop federal agents and local police officers from wearing face masks. That came amid concerns ICE agents were attempting to hide their identities and avoid accountability for potential misconduct.

“The recent federal operations in California have created an environment of profound terror,” state Sen. Scott Wiener said in a press release.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the California bill “despicable.”

“While ICE officers are being assaulted by rioters and having rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at them, a sanctuary politician is trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

State restrictions on mask-wearing

At least 18 states and Washington, D.C., have laws that restrict masks and other face coverings, said Elly Page, senior legal adviser with the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law. Since October 2023, at least 16 bills have been introduced in eight states and Congress to restrict masks at protests, the center says.

The laws aren’t just remnants of the coronavirus pandemic. Many date back to the 1940s and ’50s, when many states passed anti-mask laws as a response to the Ku Klux Klan, whose members hid their identities while terrorizing victims. Amid protests against the war in Gaza and Trump’s immigration policies, Page said there have been attempts to revive these rarely used laws to target protesters.

Page also raised concerns about the laws being enforced inconsistently and only against movements the federal government doesn’t like.

In May, North Carolina Senate Republicans passed a plan to repeal a pandemic-era law that allowed the wearing of masks in public for health reasons, a move spurred in part by demonstrations against the war in Gaza where some protesters wore masks. The suburban New York county of Nassau passed legislation in August to ban wearing masks in public.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, last month sent a letter to the state’s public universities stating protesters could be charged with a felony under the state’s anti-mask law. Administrators at the University of North Carolina have warned protesters that wearing masks violates the state’s anti-mask law, and University of Florida students arrested during a protest were charged with wearing masks in public.

An unresolved First Amendment question

People may want to cover their faces while protesting for a variety of reasons, including to protect their health, for religious reasons, to avoid government retaliation, to prevent surveillance and doxing, or to protect themselves from tear gas, said Tim Zick, law professor at William and Mary Law School.

“Protecting protesters’ ability to wear masks is part of protecting our First Amendment right to peacefully protest,” Zick said.

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Geoffrey Stone, a University of Chicago law professor, said the federal government and Republican state lawmakers assert that the laws are intended not to restrict speech but to “restrict unlawful conduct that people would be more likely to engage in if they can wear masks and that would make it more difficult for law enforcement to investigate if people are wearing masks.”

Conversely, he said, First Amendment advocates oppose such laws because they deter people from protesting if they fear retaliation.

Stone said the issue is an “unresolved First Amendment question” that has yet to be addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court “has made clear that there is a right to anonymity protected by the First Amendment.” Few of these laws have been challenged in court, Stone said. And lower-court decisions on mask bans are mixed, though several courts have struck down broader anti-mask laws for criminalizing peaceful expression.

Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the right to speak anonymously has “deep roots in the nation’s founding, including when anonymous pamphlets criticizing British rule circulated in the colonies.”

Federal agents wearing masks

“The right to speak anonymously allows Americans to express dissenting or unpopular opinions without exposing themselves to retaliation or harassment from the government,” Terr said.

First Amendment advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers have called the masks an attempt by ICE agents to escape accountability and intimidate immigrants. During a June 12 congressional hearing, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, criticized ICE agents wearing masks during raids, saying: “Don’t wear masks. Identify who you are.”

Viral videos appeared to show residents of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts confronting federal agents, asking them to identify themselves and explain why they were wearing masks. U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, a Democrat who represents Cape Cod, decried “the decision to use unmarked vehicles, plain clothed officers and masks” in a June 2 letter to federal officials.

Republican federal officials, meanwhile, have maintained that masks protect agents from doxing.

“I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is,” ICE acting Director Todd Lyons said.