Good morning, it’s Wednesday, January 22, 2025. In today’s edition, Dems, GOP set immigration battle lines; Utah wants to be a nuclear groundbreaker; Iowa considers limits on mugshots:
Top Stories
IMMIGRATION: Democratic attorneys general in 22 states launched the first legal challenges to President Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. The twin suits, filed in Washington and Massachusetts, claim the order violates the 14th Amendment and a century of Supreme Court precedent. (Pluribus News)
An interesting nugget: Washington Attorney General Nick Brown’s (D) office said staffers had been monitoring Trump’s campaign speeches and mining Project 2025 for more than a year to prepare legal challenges.
MORE: Four Republican attorneys general have sued to require the Census Bureau to block undocumented immigrants from the decennial reapportionment process in the 2030 count. The suit, brought by Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio and West Virginia, alleges that both Ohio and West Virginia unfairly lost a seat in Congress because undocumented immigrants were counted in 2020 Census. (Associated Press, Ohio Capital Journal)
ABORTION: The Virginia Senate has approved a proposed constitutional amendment establishing the right to abortion and reproductive care. The measure must pass two consecutive legislative sessions before voters get to weigh in. (Associated Press)
MORE: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has signed legislation allowing pharmacists to prescribe and dispense birth control drugs, regardless of a patient’s age or evidence of a prior contraceptive prescription. (MLive) Nebraska lawmakers will consider legislation requiring anyone seeking a medication abortion to attend an in-person appointment with a physician. (Nebraska Examiner)
TRANS RIGHTS: North Dakota’s House Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony over legislation to define gender under state law as the sex of an individual assigned at birth. The committee also heard a bill to establish conversion therapy as an ethical treatment for those questioning their gender or sexual identity. (Fargo Forum)
ENERGY: Utah Senate President Stuart Adams (R) wants his state to be the first to house micro-nuclear reactors to achieve his goal of tripling energy production by 2050. Adams said energy expansion would fuel data centers that would place Utah at the head of the pack on artificial intelligence. (Salt Lake Tribune)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Iowa’s House Public Safety Committee has advanced legislation that would restrict the dissemination of booking photos from law enforcement agencies until the subject is convicted of the crime for which they were arrested. Supporters said the bill would prevent unfair judgements against those who haven’t been convicted. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
AGRICULTURE: South Dakota’s House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee unanimously advanced legislation that would require special labels on lab-grown meat. The bill would require clear labeling on cell-cultured protein products, though those products are still years from mass-production levels. (South Dakota Public Broadcasting)
TAXES: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) proposed increased spending for some state services and a middle-class tax cut as part of her $252 billion budget plan for next fiscal year. New York’s budget is in better-than-expected shape because of surging tax collections driven by Wall Street profits. (Pluribus News)
In Politics & Business
DEMOCRATS: Minnesota Democratic Party chairman Ken Martin has emerged as the favorite to run the Democratic National Committee. Martin claims the support of 200 DNC members, about 25 shy of the number he needs to win outright. Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman Ben Wikler claimed to have nearly as many commitments as Martin. (New York Times)
MICHIGAN: Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) will run to replace Gov. Whitmer in 2026, she said Tuesday. Benson is the first prominent Democrat in the race; Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a former Democrat, is running as an independent. Lt. Gov. Carlin Gilchrist (D) is considering a bid too. (Associated Press, Detroit News)
ARIZONA: U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R) has filed papers to run for governor in 2026. Biggs, a former Senate president, has served in Congress since 2017. He would face businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson (R), who is running with President Trump’s encouragement. (Arizona Republic) Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) is expected to seek re-election.
NEW JERSEY: Gov. Phil Murphy (D) will endorse former Gov. Jim McGreevey (D) in McGreevey’s race to be mayor of Jersey City. McGreevey left the governor’s office in the face of scandal in 2004. (New Jersey Globe)
Who says there are no second acts in American lives?
By The Numbers
8 inches: The amount of snow that fell on Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans on Tuesday, smashing the previous record of 2.7 inches set back in 1963. About 100 miles of Interstate 10 are shut down in the face of the rare southern blizzard. (New York Times)
More than 30: The number of bills relating to transgender rights introduced by Texas Republicans this year. The bills involve everything from bathroom access to driver licenses. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
Washington Rep. Cindy Ryu (D) has authored legislation designating Nov. 22 as Kimchi Day, in line with an annual celebration of the fermented vegetable treat in South Korea. Washington would join California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia in celebrating kimchi if Ryu’s bill makes it through the legislature. (Washington State Standard)
Ohio legislators have approved a bill requiring employers to give workers access to their pay information, including an employee’s gross and net wages and money added to or subtracted from their paychecks. Eight other states do not require employers to give workers access to their pay information. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Quote of the Day
“If we don’t get housing right, Utah’s No. 1 export will not be its products. It will be our kids and grandkids.”
— Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz (R), on his priorities for the new legislative session. (Deseret News)