Good morning, it’s Wednesday, April 8, 2026. In today’s edition, states explore new ways to cut drug costs; Iowa considers using AI to analyze local budgets; liberal candidate wins Wisconsin Supreme Court seat:
Top Stories
HEALTH CARE: Virginia will become the first state to automatically cap payments for some expensive medications by piggybacking on new Medicare drug price negotiations. Lawmakers in Illinois, Louisiana and Rhode Island are pursuing similar legislation, part of a growing trend to extend newly negotiated “maximum fair prices” for certain drugs to those outside the Medicare system. (Pluribus News)
MORE: Tennessee lawmakers are advancing a measure to tax foreign wire transfers as a way to fund the state’s ailing hospital industry. A fiscal note for the proposed bill projects it would generate $55 million, about 38% of which would go to TennCare hospital buybacks. (State Affairs)
ABORTION: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) has vetoed two bills meant to restrict abortion access. One bill would require patients to be provided with abortion information before a procedure, and another would make it easier for a woman who has had an abortion to sue doctors or clinics. Legislative Republicans will attempt to override both vetoes. (Kansas Reflector)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The Iowa House is considering a new $1.4 million program to create a publicly accessible AI-based tool to analyze spending and revenue in Iowa counties and school districts. The AI model would be able to recommend areas for potential savings. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Efforts to regulate AI have stalled in Missouri amid fears the federal government would freeze rural broadband funds. (Missouri Independent)
ELECTIONS: The Alabama Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has approved legislation requiring voters to register with a party to vote in primary elections. Voters would be required to choose a party within 60 days of an election to participate. Alabama is one of 15 states that does not require voters to declare a party affiliation when registering to vote. (Alabama Reflector)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: The Maryland House of Delegates has given final approval to legislation limiting the number of offenses for which minors can be automatically charged in adult courts. The bill would raise the age when a minor could be tried as an adult from 14 to 16, though it allows younger minors to be tried as an adult for murder or rape. (Maryland Matters)
CHILD WELFARE: The Alaska Senate has approved legislation to allow parents to surrender infants in safety devices known as “baby boxes.” The bill would allow parents to surrender an infant in devices installed at fire departments and hospitals without being prosecuted. (Anchorage Daily News)
In Politics & Business
WISCONSIN: Liberal candidate Chris Taylor won a seat on the state Supreme Court with about 60% of the vote on Tuesday, while conservative candidate Maria Lazar took just 40%. Liberals now hold a 5-2 majority on the court, an edge they will hold until at least 2030. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Voters in Port Washington, a suburb of Milwaukee, approved a first-of-its-kind ballot measure to restrict the construction of future data centers. (Politico)
VERMONT: Former nonprofit executive Aly Richards (D) will run for governor, she said this week. She joins economist Amanda Janoo (D) in the Democratic primary. Gov. Phil Scott (R) has not said whether he will seek a sixth two-year term. None of his last three Democratic challengers has earned more than 30% of the vote. (VT Digger)
MISSISSIPPI: Secretary of State Michael Watson (R) will run for lieutenant governor in 2027, he said Tuesday. Incumbent Delbert Hosemann (R) is considering a run for governor in 2027. (Mississippi Free Press)
NEW YORK: Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D) will announce her retirement on Wednesday. She is expected to be replaced on this year’s ballot by Buffalo Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope, who served as Peoples-Stokes’s chief of staff in Albany. (City & State)
By The Numbers
More than 14%: The share of U.S. gross domestic product that comes from California, which has just surpassed Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy. California’s economy is growing faster than China’s and Germany’s. (Bloomberg)
1.4 million acre-feet: The amount of water projected to flow into Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir, this spring. That’s just 22% of the normal flow and the third-lowest amount on record. (KSL)
Off The Wall
Organizers of the Bloomsday running race in Spokane, Wash., have taken down a billboard advertising the annual event after it sparked a public backlash. The billboard read: “Our City. Our Race.” Organizers said they appreciated the feedback they received from the community. (KHQ)
Idaho lawmakers have approved a measure naming hunting the official state sport. Gov. Brad Little (R) signed the bill alongside its chief advocate, Betty Grandy, a 9-year-old from Twin Falls. When Grandy discovered Idaho had no state sport, she polled readers of her family-owned publication, The Grandy Gazette, to gauge what sport would most represent the state’s history and culture. (Idaho Press)
A passenger traveling on a Caribbean Airlines flight from Jamaica to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport gave birth to a baby just as the plane was landing. When the pilot told a ground control operator about the birth, the operator responded: “Alright, tell her she’s got to name it Kennedy.” (UPI)
Quote of the Day
“You pretty much have to take a vow of poverty to do this job, unless you are independently wealthy or carried by some corporation that’s willing to give you as much time off as you need.”
— Washington Sen. Bob Hasegawa (D), on life in a part-time legislature. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)