Good morning, it’s Friday, January 3, 2025. In today’s edition, lawmakers address data center energy costs; Biden blocks U.S. Steel deal; Colorado AG to run for governor:
Top Stories
ENERGY: State lawmakers are drafting bills to protect electric utility ratepayers from high costs and address environmental concerns related to data centers. Legislators in New York, Oregon and Virginia are preparing bills to increase regulations on those data centers, which demand tons of energy to operate and water to run smoothly.
Those bills are the counterweight to state efforts to attract data centers with tax incentives. States love the idea of attracting new high-tech jobs; their constituents don’t always love the consequences of higher bills and louder environments. Read more at Pluribus News.
ECONOMY: President Biden has formally blocked the proposed deal for Japan’s Nippon Steel to purchase Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, failed to reach a consensus on whether the sale would have national security implications. (Associated Press)
HEALTH CARE: Maryland lawmakers will consider legislation this year to expand the jurisdiction of the state Prescription Drug Affordability Board to cover costs for all state residents. The board has jurisdiction over those on state-run insurance plans only. The board is currently considering upper payment limits on expensive drugs like Ozempic and Dupixent, an asthma medication. (WYPR)
MORE: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has vetoed legislation that would have prohibited state medical boards from disciplining health care professionals who express medical opinions that do not align with board views. The legislation was passed after the Ohio Medical Board suspended the license of a doctor who falsely claimed Covid vaccines caused people to become magnetized. (Columbus Dispatch)
EDUCATION: Connecticut legislators are considering bills to change funding formulas for special education by adding weight to an education cost sharing plan for districts that enroll higher numbers of students in special ed. Current law leaves school districts saddled with as much as $74 million in extra costs for special education. (CT Mirror)
DISASTER RELIEF: North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) traveled to Asheville on his first day in office to sign five executive orders aimed at helping residents recover from Hurricane Helene. One measure will allow the Department of Public Safety to purchase up to 1,000 temporary housing units. Another gives emergency managers the authority to hire contractors for road and bridge repair without going through a public bidding process. (Associated Press)
In Politics & Business
RECALLS: At least 108 recall elections went to the ballot in 2024. Last year, 77 officials were removed from office and 31 survived the vote; 16 more officials resigned in the face of recall efforts. Those figures are about on par with recent years, though efforts to recall officials dropped overall. (Pluribus News)
COLORADO: Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) will run for governor in 2026, the first candidate to announce a bid to replace term-limited Gov. Jared Polis (D). Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D), U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D) and former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D) are all considering runs, too. (Denver Post)
MASSACHUSETTS: Mike Kennealy, secretary of housing and economic development under former Gov. Charlie Baker (R), is considering a run for governor in 2026. (Boston Herald) Kennealy would face Gov. Maura Healey (D), who is likely to run for a second term.
IOWA: Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane (R) will pursue an ethics complaint he filed against Chris Cournoyer, Gov. Kim Reynolds’s (R) pick to become the state’s next lieutenant governor. Lane filed a complaint accusing Cournoyer of harassing a citizen and disclosing confidential information. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
PEOPLE: Former New York Lt. Gov. Mary Anne Krupsak (D) has died at 92. Krupsak, who served with Gov. Hugh Carey (D), was the first woman to hold the state’s number-two job. (State of Politics) Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay (D), who served for 23 days after the sudden death of then-Gov. Lawton Chiles (D), has died at 91. MacKay was the last Democrat to serve in the state’s top office. (Tallahassee Democrat)
By The Numbers
61%: The pay raise Maine legislators will receive at the beginning of the new session. Lawmakers will earn $45,000 for a two-year term, up from $28,000. Maine’s next governor will earn $125,000, up from Gov. Janet Mills’s (D) current paycheck of $70,000, beginning when Mills leaves office. (Portland Press Herald)
Mills makes less than any other governor in America. Colorado, Arizona and Oregon are the only other states that pay their governors less than a six-figure salary.
17: The number of states where the adult website PornHub is blocked, nearly two years after Louisiana lawmakers approved the first age verification law. New laws in Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina took effect this week. (404 Media)
$1 billion: The amount in total revenue generated by legal cannabis since New York allowed recreational sales in 2022. The Office of Cannabis Management said about 300 adult use dispensaries are in operation across the state. (State of Politics)
Off The Wall
New Jersey Sen. Parker Space (R) is recovering from a rattlesnake bite he suffered on Monday while feeding mice to snakes at his family’s Sussex County zoo. Space was back home on Wednesday, and by Thursday he was back to feeding the snakes — including the one that bit him. (NJ Advance Media)
Ray Hibnes of Butte, Mont., swung a 132-lb. kettleball 38 times in one minute to break a Guinness World Record. Hibnes lifted the equivalent of 5,148 lbs., beating the previous record of 4,815 lbs., set by a Swiss man in 2023. (UPI)
Quote of the Day
“Andy, I love you but you have zero aura.”
— A mean tweet aimed at Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), who filmed his annual video reading nasty social media posts. “I wish I knew what that meant, but it doesn’t sound good,” Beshear said, reacting to the post. (Associated Press)