Good morning, it’s Tuesday, May 13, 2025. In today’s edition, Newsom wants a crackdown on homeless encampments; Texas backs psychedelic drug research; Sand, Feenstra enter Iowa governor’s race:
Top Stories
HOMELESSNESS: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) offered a model ordinance for cities and counties to limit homeless encampments. The model bill would prohibit persistent camping in one location, bar encampments from preventing pedestrian foot traffic and require local officials to make reasonable efforts to identify shelter prior to clearing a camp. (Pluribus News)
About one in four unhoused people in America live in California.
EMINENT DOMAIN: The Iowa Senate has approved legislation limiting the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines. Proponents of the bill want to stop Summit Carbon Solutions from using eminent domain to build a 2,500-mile pipeline connecting Great Plains states. (Des Moines Register)
Divisions between the House and Senate on eminent domain limits has been as fraught a battle in Iowa as the fight over school vouchers in Texas.
IMMIGRATION: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) has signed legislation requiring police to collect fingerprint and DNA samples from undocumented immigrants who are arrested. The DNA samples will be submitted to a database maintained by the state Department of Forensic Sciences. (AL.com)
HEALTH CARE: The Iowa House has given final approval to legislation creating new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers. The bill limits PBMs from requiring patients to go to specific pharmacies. It requires pharmacies to be reimbursed at average state or national drug costs. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
MENTAL HEALTH: The Texas House has approved legislation funding a grant program for research and medical trials of ibogaine, a psychoactive compound used to treat PTSD, opioid addiction and other mental health conditions. Veterans who received treatment in Mexico testified in favor of allowing the trials. (Dallas Morning News)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: A Texas House committee has advanced legislation requiring judges to deny bail to criminal defendants charged with violent offenses. One bill would require judges to automatically deny bail to any undocumented immigrant accused of certain felonies. (Texas Tribune)
PUBIC HEALTH: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has signed an executive order blocking the federal government from access to personal health data related to autism. The order comes two days after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rolled out a plan to use NIH data, Medicaid and Medicare data to determine the cause of autism. (WTTW)
In Politics & Business
IOWA: State Auditor Rob Sand (D) will run for governor, he said Monday. Sand, the only statewide elected Democrat, already has $8.6 million in the bank. (Des Moines Register) U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) has filed papers to run for governor as well, making him the highest-profile Republican to enter the race. (Des Moines Register)
KANSAS: Former Gov. Jeff Colyer (R) is taking steps to run for his old job in 2026. Colyer ascended to the position when then-Gov. Sam Brownback (R) quit to take a post in the first Trump administration; he lost the 2018 primary to now-Attorney General Kris Kobach (R), who subsequently lost the general election to Gov. Laura Kelly (D). (Kansas Reflector)
FLORIDA: State Sen. Jason Pizzo will run for governor as an independent, jumping into the contest two weeks after he left the Democratic Party. Pizzo had served as Senate minority leader before splitting from the party. (Tallahassee Democrat)
NEW JERSEY: President Trump has endorsed former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R) in the Republican primary for governor. Ciattarelli came within three points of upsetting Gov. Phil Murphy (D) four years ago. Conservative radio host Bill Spadea (R) was also angling for Trump’s backing. (New Jersey Globe)
FLORIDA: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has rejected a proposal from the state Republican Party to participate in a summit with House and Senate leaders, with whom he is feuding. House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) and Senate President Ben Albritton (R) are also feuding over a tax cut plan. (Orlando Sentinel)
By The Numbers
96%: The share of California voters who know enough about former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) to have formed an opinion. Harris’s favorable rating is 50%, while her unfavorable rating stands at 46%, according to a new Berkeley poll. (Los Angeles Times)
65%: The share of America’s fire fighters who work as volunteers. In New York, almost 90% of fire fighters are volunteers. (State of Politics)
$30 per hour: The minimum wage for workers at hotels with more than 60 rooms, under a proposal that will go before the Los Angeles City Council tomorrow. That’s on top of a new $8.35 per hour increase to pay for health care. (Los Angeles Times)
Off The Wall
Pennsylvania Sen. Dawn Keefer (R) ignited a firestorm over the weekend when she posted a video of herself lighting up a budget proposal from Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) with a flame thrower. In the video, Keefer compared her opposition to the budget to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. (TribLive)
The Texas House has advanced legislation that would allow pregnant mothers, parents and legal guardians to drive in the carpool lane regardless of how many people are in the car. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jeff Leach (R), called the bill a gift to moms on Mother’s Day. (Texas Tribune)
But adding in all parents? That’s going to be a crowded carpool lane.
Liam and Olivia were the most common names given to children born in 2024, according to the Social Security Administration, the sixth year in a row those names have topped the annual list. Emma is the second-most popular name for girls, while Noah ranks number two for boys. (Associated Press)
How popular was your first name the year you were born? Find out right here.
Quote of the Day
“We’re not going to vote against Jesus, I promise you that.”
— Alabama Rep. Chris Sells (R), after a House committee rejected legislation requiring local school boards to adopt a policy on released time for religious instruction. (Alabama Reflector)