Good morning, it’s Monday, July 8, 2024. We hope you enjoyed the long weekend. In today’s edition, the emerging trends of 2024; abortion measures set to qualify in 3 more states; lobbying spending booms:
Top Stories
TRENDS: Halfway into 2024, we took a look at the major trends developing in state legislatures across the nation. We’ve seen more action on tech legislation, and especially bills relating to artificial intelligence, than ever before. Lawmakers are also tackling digital privacy and youth social media issues.
States are crafting major housing measures to boost construction of low- and middle-income units, opening new doors to alternative dwelling units and changing land use rules to encourage more building. Legislators are taking the NIMBY-ism backlash that local lawmakers can’t stomach.
And states are taking steps to cap profits drug companies can earn, as the cost of medicine skyrockets. Legislation in Vermont this year targeted health insurers, pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit managers to cap costs, while other states are rolling out lists of drugs that must be price-capped. Read our full take on the five big trends of the year right here.
PUBLIC HEALTH: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has given approval to Oregon, Illinois, Kentucky, Utah and Vermont to begin offering free Medicaid and addiction services for those who are about to be released from prison. Four other states piloted programs for inmates 90 days before release. (Oregonian)
ABORTION: The Kansas Supreme Court struck down two laws restricting abortion access. The pair of 5-1 rulings held that the state constitution protects abortion rights, invalidating a law that barred “dilation and evacuation” abortions and another law that imposed licensure restrictions on doctors. (KCUR)
EDUCATION: Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann (R) will propose a package of bills next year aimed at reducing chronic absenteeism. Among his proposals: Measures to restrict the use of cell phones in schools, raise school attendance officer salaries and allow low-performing schools to consider modified calendars. (Supertalk)
MARIJUANA: Delaware lawmakers have approved legislation providing legal protections for Delaware banks that want to work with legal marijuana businesses. The bill allows banks, credit unions and other financial firms to work with marijuana businesses free from the threat of prosecution. (Delaware Public Media)
In Politics & Business
ABORTION: Supporters of reproductive rights submitted enough signatures to qualify ballot measures in Arizona, Nebraska and Arkansas by deadlines last week. If enough signatures are valid in each state, they would join Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota, where pro-abortion rights measures have already qualified for the ballot. (Pluribus News)
WISCONSIN: The state Supreme Court has ruled that elections officials can place ballot drop boxes in their communities this fall, reversing a 2022 ruling limiting the use of drop boxes. The flip comes after liberals captured control of the court last year. (Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) abruptly pulled a proposed ballot measure to overhaul criminal justice rules. Newsom’s office said it wouldn’t have been able to meet ballot deadlines. The state District Attorneys Association is sponsoring a separate measure to combat retail theft by amending Proposition 47, which voters approved in 2014. (Sacramento Bee)
ARKANSAS: Supporters of legal medical marijuana submitted 111,000 signatures to qualify for November’s ballot by Friday’s deadline. They need 90,704 of those signatures to be valid. Their proposed amendment would expand the medical marijuana market. (Talk Business & Politics)
PEOPLE: Alabama Sen. Garlan Gudger (R) is recovering at UAB Hospital after a jet ski accident on July 4. Gudger suffered fractured vertebrae and ribs and a punctured lung. He’s expected to fully recover. (Yellowhammer News)
By The Numbers
88 billion: The number of gallons of water Texas’s six largest cities — Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso — lost last year because of aging water infrastructure. The losses cost those cities millions of dollars every year. (Texas Tribune)
1: The number of states — Michigan — where the governor’s office is exempted from Freedom of Information Act requests. Bipartisan legislation moving through Lansing would open the governor’s office and the legislature to public records requests. (MLive)
$69.6 million: The amount Colorado lobbyists earned in the last fiscal year, a record high. Lobbying spending has more than doubled in the last decade. (Denver Post)
Off The Wall
California Gov. Newsom (D) and retired NFL running back Marshawn Lynch will debut a new podcast next week, a project iHeartRadio bills as “Gavin Newsom like you’ve never heard him and Marshawn Lunch exactly how you’d expect him.” The odd couple were brought together by Doug Hendrickson, Lynch’s longtime agent and Newsom’s longtime friend. (Los Angeles Times)
One of us, a Seahawks fan from birth, is unabashedly pro-Marshawn Lynch.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has added googly eyes to the front of several subway trains in an effort to make riders smile. A group of enthusiasts donated the plastic googly eyes, but the agency went with decals that are less likely to fall off. (Associated Press)
Quote of the Day
“The more money you have usually translates to a louder voice in politics.”
— Colorado Senate President Steve Fenberg (D), on the increase in lobbying spending in his state. (Denver Post)