Good morning, it’s Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In today’s edition, states take hard line with PBMs; Minnesota lawmakers target reverse location warrants; new poll shows tight Ohio governor’s race:
Top Stories
HEALTH CARE: States are advancing new legislation to bar companies that manage prescription drug benefits from simultaneously owning retail or mail-order licenses at chains like CVS Pharmacy and Express Scripts. Arkansas was the first in the nation to pass a bill last year. Tennessee is advancing a similar bill, while bills are still alive in Arizona, New York and Vermont. Proposals died this year in Indiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas. (Pluribus News)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The Colorado House will take up legislation today to prohibit companies from using personal data to set individualized pricing and wages. On Thursday, the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee will hear a bill restricting how chatbots interact with minors. (Denver Post)
We wrote about the push to ban so-called surveillance pricing earlier this month.
LAW ENFORCEMENT: A bipartisan group of Minnesota lawmakers is advancing a measure to make reverse location warrants illegal. Reverse location warrants allow law enforcement to gather data revealing whether cell phones and other devices were present at a certain place at a certain time. Proponents of a ban say the warrants violate constitutional rights of people whose data would get inadvertently swept up. (Associated Press)
HOUSING: A bipartisan coalition of Minnesota lawmakers is pushing a bill to make it easier for local governments to make new rules for housing construction. The bill would block local government from stopping or slowing development that follows those rules. It has yet to be scheduled for a committee hearing. (MinnPost)
ABORTION: Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) has signed legislation making it easier for the state to distribute its stockpile of mifepristone pills. The law removes a requirement that the state sell the abortion-inducing medication for the purchase price plus $5 per dose. (Washington State Standard)
GAMBLING: The Wisconsin Senate is scheduled to take up legislation today to allow online gaming in the state, provided servers are on tribal lands. The measure has split Senate Republicans; Sen. Chris Kapenga (R) said Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) was risking his position by allowing a vote. (State Affairs)
EDUCATION: The Alabama legislature has given final approval to a measure allowing retired public employees to return to work as school bus drivers or public safety officers without losing retirement benefits. The measure allows retirees to come back as sheriff’s deputies, municipal and state police officers, corrections officers and assistant district attorneys. (Yellowhammer News)
GUN POLITICS: The Vermont House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance legislation barring people from owning or buying guns while they are under a court order to receive mental health treatment. The bill would also make it a felony to steal a firearm, and place severe restrictions on owning machine guns. (Associated Press)
In Politics & Business
OHIO: A new Quantus Insights poll shows former state health director Amy Acton (D) running neck and neck with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (R), 46% to 45%. About a quarter of respondents said the cost of living is the most important issue facing them, followed by threats to democracy and border security. (Quantus)
IOWA: Auditor Rob Sand (D) has lost his only rival for the Democratic primary, after Julie Stauch (D) failed to turn in enough signatures required under state law. All five prominent Republicans running for governor turned in enough signatures to make the ballot. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
INDIANA: The first wave of advertisements targeting Republican senators who opposed redistricting attempts has launched against five incumbents seeking re-election. The ads are funded by a PAC affiliated with U.S. Sen. Jim Banks (R). They target Sens. Jim Buck (R), Spencer Deery (R), Greg Goode (R), Travis Holdman (R) and Greg Walker (R). (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
By The Numbers
25%: The increase in fertilizer prices for American farmers in the weeks after the beginning of the war with Iran. Fuel prices are up 36%. (Fargo Forum)
29: The number of days temperatures have dropped below -40 degrees in Fairbanks, Alaska, this year. Only five winters since the early 1900s have featured more -40 days. (Anchorage Daily News)
Nearly 12 million: The number of visitors who passed through California’s nine national parks in 2025, surpassing previous attendance record. Yosemite National Park attracted 4.3 million visits last year, in spite of the federal shutdown and job layoffs. (Los Angeles Times)
Off The Wall
The National Basketball Association will hold a vote at its board of governors meeting next week to explore expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle. The new franchises would begin play in the 2028-2029 season. The NBA expects proposals in the $7 billion to $10 billion range for each team. (ESPN)
We confess, we are not objective on this particular topic.
Marisa Simonetti, a longshot candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota, has been convicted of throwing a live tarantula onto a staircase leading to her then-tenant’s apartment. The tenant had requested pest control services to deal with large spiders in the basement. (CBS News)
Someone has paid a record amount to own a single Cheeto. The Cheetozard, a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto shaped like Pokemon’s Charizard, changed hands for a cool $87,840 in an auction last March. Guinness World Records says it’s the highest price ever paid for a video game likeness corn snack. (UPI)
Quote of the Day
“I will not allow my children to grow up in a Scottsdale where they can’t walk on grass or swim in a pool.”
— Arizona Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R), on legislation that would allow a New York-based hedge fund to pump water from an aquifer in rural La Paz County to sell to Phoenix. (Arizona Mirror)