Good morning, it’s Monday, June 22, 2026. In today’s edition, states update anti-stalking laws for the digital age; Ayotte vetoes trans bathroom ban; Trump dual endorses in South Carolina GOP runoff:
Top Stories
PUBLIC SAFETY: Lawmakers in four states advanced bills this year to update anti-stalking and harassment laws to account for new electronic tracking technology. A bill in New Jersey would make unauthorized electronic tracking of another person a fourth-degree felony, with exceptions for parents tracking their kids. New York legislation would create a new type of civil protection order courts could grant. And Illinois lawmakers approved a bill adding electronic harassment and digital surveillance to domestic violence laws. (Pluribus News)
MORE: The New Jersey Senate has unanimously approved legislation to classify political violence as a new criminal offense. A charge of political violence would serve as a penalty enhancement attached to an existing crime, allowing for longer prison sentences for such a conviction. (NJ Advance Media)
HEALTHCARE: Tennessee officials have sent letters to about 400 families enrolled in a medical assistance program for severely ill or disabled children requiring them to report their immigration status if they want to continue receiving care. The letters cite legislation approved last month that requires local governments to verify that public benefit applicants are citizens or lawfully present in the United States. (Pluribus News)
BANKING: The Delaware legislature has given final approval to a package of laws updating the state’s banking laws for the first time in 45 years. The bills create definitions in Delaware code for digital assets and virtual currency, allow for more interstate mergers, and apply state laws to crypto businesses and money transmitters like PayPal. (Delaware Public Media)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) has again vetoed legislation requiring transgender people to use bathroom and locker room facilities corresponding with their sex assigned at birth. Ayotte has vetoed three such bills; she urged legislators to send her a narrower bill. (New Hampshire Union Leader)
WORKFORCE: Michigan’s Senate Labor Committee is considering legislation prohibiting employers from requiring workers to check email, phones or group messaging apps outside of normal working hours. The measure would ban retaliation against workers who use the law and set up fines of up to $500 per violation. (Detroit News)
EDUCATION: The Texas Board of Education will meet this week to vote on whether to require schoolchildren to read about a dozen Bible passages and religious stories. Among the proposed stories are Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath and Daniel and the Lion’s Den, a story supplied by the Christian Broadcasting Network. (Texas Tribune)
In Politics & Business
SOUTH CAROLINA: President Trump has endorsed both candidates in the Republican gubernatorial runoff. Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette (R) ahead of the May 22 primary, and he added an endorsement of Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) over the weekend. Early polls in the runoff show Wilson leading Evette. (The State)
RHODE ISLAND: The state Democratic Party will not issue endorsements in the race for governor, lieutenant governor or attorney general. Gov. Dan McKee (D) won 81 of 167 delegate votes, just ahead of former CVS executive Helena Foulkes (D) but shy of the 85 votes he needed for an outright majority. (Providence Journal)
INDIANA: Former congressional aide Max Engling (R) has won the Republican nomination for Secretary of State, ousting incumbent Diego Morales (R) at this weekend’s state Republican convention. England edged out Knox County Clerk David Shelton (R) on the second ballot. He will face Beau Bayh (D) and former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, running as a member of the new Lincoln Party, in November. (State Affairs)
OHIO: Ohio Equal Rights, a pro-LGBTQ group, said it will aim to place initiatives on the 2027 ballot that would eliminate a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution and add language to an anti-discrimination law including sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to the list of protected classes. They need to collect 413,487 valid signatures from 44 of 88 counties to make the ballot. (Ohio Capital Journal)
By The Numbers
1 hour, 52 minutes, 51 seconds: The time it took Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) to run the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Canal Park, Minn. Walz claims the title of “fastest governor in America,” finishing 20th out of the 110 men in his 60-64 age group. (Duluth News Tribune)
$600 million: The amount Arizona lawmakers have re-appropriated from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority. That’s 60% of the $1 billion initially appropriated to the fund, which is supposed to be seeking new water sources for the state. Lawmakers have used the budget as what WIFA officials call a “soft rainy day fund” to plug other financial holes. (State Affairs)
Off The Wall
Connecticut Rev. Robert Hoggard (D) was arrested last week and charged with 14 counts of second-degree forgery and six counts of perjury for allegedly forging more than a dozen signatures on nominating petitions he turned in for a run for state representative in 2024. The person who challenged Hoggard’s signature petitions was state Rep. Brandon Chafee (D), the candidate Hoggard was running against. (CT Insider)
The Transportation Security Administration is warning World Cup fans to pack ranch dressing in their checked bags. European and Asian fans discovering the American staple have been packing ranch to take home with them. In a clever social media post, TSA hailed the successful “dip-lomacy.” (UPI)
Quote of the Day
“Six months ago, politicians of both parties were falling all over each other to bring data centers to their states. Now that the public backlash has erupted, they are working just as hard to distance themselves from these projects.”
— Dan Schnur, a political scientist at UC Berkeley and USC, on the changing politics of data centers. New California legislation could prove a test for Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who vetoed some data center rules last year. (Los Angeles Times)