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Good morning, it’s Tuesday, March 5, 2024. In today’s edition, California’s new effort to block Wall Street homebuyers; SCOTUS stays Texas immigration law; voters head to Super Tuesday polls:
Top Stories
HOUSING: California Senate Housing Committee chair Nancy Skinner (D) has introduced legislation to ban real estate investment trusts and institutional investors from buying single-family homes. Democrats in several other states have introduced measures aimed at blocking Wall Street from buying single-family homes, though none have yet passed. (Pluribus News)
IMMIGRATION: The U.S. Supreme Court placed a hold on a new Texas law that allows state law enforcement officials to arrest undocumented immigrants and order them to leave the country. Justice Samuel Alito ordered the law shelved for a week while the high court considers arguments in the case. (Associated Press) Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed legislation that would have allowed Arizona law enforcement to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants. (Arizona Republic)
SOCIAL MEDIA: The Florida Senate has approved revised legislation blocking those under 14 from owning a social media account. The revised measure allows 14-15 year olds to have an account with parental permission. The new bill allows social media platforms to use “standard or anonymous” age verification tools to protect privacy. (WLRN)
TECHNOLOGY: The Oregon legislature has given final approval to a bill that would allow consumers the legal right to fix home electronics. The right-to-repair bill requires manufacturers to provide access to tools, parts and manuals required to repair electronics. (Oregonian)
Oregon will become the fifth state with right-to-repair laws on the books, after California, Colorado, Minnesota and New York.
AGRICULTURE: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has signed legislation banning ownership of agricultural land by people, companies and governments from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela. The law expands an existing ban that barred foreign ownership of more than 160 acres of ag land. (South Dakota Searchlight)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: The Iowa House approved legislation that would result in first-degree murder charges for a dealer who supplies fentanyl-laced drugs to someone who subsequently overdoses. Conviction would carry a mandatory life sentence. The sentence would apply even to those who didn’t know the drugs were laced with fentanyl. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
MORE: Washington lawmakers approved a voter-initiated petition to allow police greater ability to pursue people in vehicles. The law means officers would no longer need reasonable suspicion that someone inside the vehicle has committed violent crimes. (Associated Press)
PUBLIC HEALTH: The Indiana Senate has given final approval to a measure that would allow parents to sue pornographic websites if their children get past age verification barriers. The bill would require those sites to verify a user’s age, with fines of up to $5,000. (Indianapolis Star)
ECONOMY: The Iowa House approved legislation that will bar local governments from adopting or enforcing guaranteed income programs. The bill targets a Polk County (Des Moines) pilot program that provides 110 people with $500 a month. (Des Moines Register)
Guaranteed income pilot programs are in effect in about 30 municipalities and regions across the state, according to Stanford’s Basic Income Lab.
In Politics & Business
SUPER TUESDAY: Voters head to the polls today in (deep breath) Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
Key races we’re watching: The GOP gubernatorial primary in North Carolina, where Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) is likely to face Attorney General Josh Stein (D) in November. Texas legislative primaries, where Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and allies have spent millions opposing state legislators who voted down his education savings plans. And California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) mammoth mental health proposal, Prop. 1, is up for a vote.
PEOPLE: Washington Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig (D) will not seek re-election this year. Billig served 14 years in the legislature. (Seattle Times)
MORE: Oklahoma Rep. Kyle Hilbert (R) will take a place in history when he takes over the Speaker’s gavel next year: He’ll be just 30 years old, making him the second-youngest person ever to lead a state House in American history. (KGOU)
We feel old.
By The Numbers
105,012: The number of public and shared private electric vehicle chargers in California, the first state to top six figures. Los Angeles County has more than 30,000 chargers alone. (California Energy Commission)
$700 million: The amount the Kansas City Royals say they need from the city and Missouri to fund a new ballpark. Jackson County voters will be asked to approve upwards of $1 billion in sales tax hikes to help both the Royals and the NFL’s Chiefs build new stadiums. (Missouri Independent)
300,000 to 1 million: The range of estimates of the number of tourists who will flock to Arkansas on April 8 to view the total solar eclipse. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said it would amount to one of the largest tourism events in state history. (Talk Business & Politics)
Off The Wall
South Dakota Sen. Tom Pischke (R) has been banned from the floor of the House of Representatives for the remainder of the session after he placed a bottle of syrup on the desk of Rep. Kristin Conzet (R). Conzet helped defeat Pischke’s resolution to honor the late Nancy Green, whose likeness was used to create the Aunt Jemima character. (South Dakota Searchlight)
A Southern California man has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling refrigerants into the U.S. from Mexico, making him the first person charged with violating regulations intended to curb the use of greenhouse gasses. (Associated Press)
Library scofflaws in Worcester, Mass., can now get their suspended library cards replaced if they bring in a photograph, drawing or magazine clipping of a cat. The program, dubbed March Meowness, is a way for the library to forgive those who misplaced or damaged a book without forcing them to pay for it. (New York Times)
Quote of the Day
“You’re averaging 4 minutes a bill. You do the math.”
— Arizona House Speaker Pro Tem Travis Grantham (R), who has instituted a shot clock — like those in a basketball game — that counts down the number of bills left to be considered in a given day. Grantham uses the clock to keep legislators concise in their remarks. (Arizona Republic)