Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 3, 2025. In today’s edition, states move to protect kid vloggers; Wisconsin court strikes down 1849 abortion ban; Iowa AG won’t run for governor:
Top Stories
VLOGGERS: Five states have enacted new protections for child actors who appear in online videos that are monetized, after lawmakers in Montana and Utah approved new bills this year. Similar bills were introduced in another eleven states; they require parents to set aside a share of earnings made from online videos that feature children, to be given to those children when they reach age 18. (Pluribus News)
ABORTION: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has invalidated an 1849 law interpreted as banning all abortions. The 4-3 ruling, with liberal justices in the majority, held that changes to state law over the last half century implicitly repealed the 1849 statute. (State Affairs)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The Rhode Island legislature has approved a bill banning deepfakes within 90 days of an election, unless the authors disclose that a new ad was created using artificial intelligence. Lawmakers raced to adopt the bill before Congress passed reconciliation legislation that barred states from regulating AI — a provision that was stripped from the final Senate-passed measure. (Boston Globe)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: California’s new state budget includes a plan to pay incarcerated firefighters the federal minimum wage during active fires. The bill won bipartisan support in the legislature; more than 1,800 state prisoners live in minimum-security conservation camps, where they can be activated to fight fires. (CalMatters)
ENERGY: The federal Bureau of Land Management has rescinded a 2012 memorandum of understanding that gave California the authority to set oil permitting rules on federal lands. Oil production in California has fallen by about 35% in the last decade as fewer wells are drilled. (State Affairs)
MORE: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) will create a nuclear energy task force aimed at bolstering the industry. NextEra Energy has filed a request with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to restore its operating license to bring online a 622-megawatt facility in Palo back online by late 2028. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
HOUSING: Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) will launch the Housing Accountability and Production Office, or HAPO, to facilitate the construction of 36,000 new homes the state must build every year to meet demand. Agency staff will act as liaisons between developers, local governments and state agencies. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)
In Politics & Business
IOWA: Attorney General Brenna Bird (R) will run for re-election, rather than the open seat left by retiring Gov. Reynolds. Bird had been teasing a gubernatorial bid for months. Rep. Eddie Andrews (R) and former Rep. Brad Sherman (R) are already in the race, and U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) and state Sen. Mike Bousselot (R) are exploring bids. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
GEORGIA: State Rep, Tim Fleming (R) will run for Secretary of State, he said Wednesday. Fleming, a former top aide to Gov. Brian Kemp (R), is the first Republican to formally enter the race; Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) has not yet said whether he will seek a new term. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
FLORIDA: Freshman Rep. Mike Redondo (R) has won election to become House speaker after the 2030 elections. Redondo won a unanimous vote among the 22 members of the House Republican class. (Florida Politics)
Florida is the only state that elects a speaker-designate so many years in advance.
OREGON: Supporters of a ballot measure to privatize the sale of liquor have submitted an initial 1,000 signatures, a first step toward gaining ballot access. Major liquor industry groups are not supporting the measure; instead, it’s backed by two veteran signature-gathering operatives. They have to collect 117,173 valid autographs to make the 2026 ballot. (Willamette Week)
By The Numbers
$367.9 million: The surplus Arkansas ended with this fiscal year, 1.7% above revenue forecast but down 4% over the previous year. Income tax revenue declined 6.6% over the last fiscal year, the biggest decline. (Talk Business & Politics)
26: The number of candidates who have filed to run for governor of Florida in 2026. That figure includes eight Republicans, four Democrats, ten non-party or independent candidates, a Libertarian and a member of the Constitution Party. (Tallahassee Democrat)
Just over 6,000: The number of arrests U.S. Border Patrol agents made in June, the lowest level of border encounters since the 1960s. (New York Times)
More than 15,000: The number of comp hours earned by employees of Montana’s Legislative Services Division. The agency, burdened by demands from lawmakers who want bills drafted and extra interim committees, has just about 100 employees, meaning the average employee is sitting on almost four weeks of extra time off. (Daily Montanan)
Off The Wall
Mississippi police issued 120 citations for squatted vehicles, cars with front bumpers higher than their rear fenders, at the annual Scrapin the Coast event in Biloxi this year. It’s the first time the event was held after the state passed a new law outlawing squatted vehicles. (Supertalk)
The Women’s European Soccer Championship will feature a rare matchup tomorrow when Sweden faces Denmark — and Swedish defender Magdalena Eriksson faces off against her partner, Denmark captain Pernille Harder. The last time the two met in a matchup earlier this year, Eriksson elbowed Harder in the face. (Associated Press)
That had to be an awkward dinner conversation.
Quote of the Day
“Let me tell you something: If I go to a meeting in my district and I say my solution is to start a new study committee, they would stone me probably.”
— Ohio Senate Finance Committee chairman Jerry Cirino (R), on lawmakers preparing to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) veto of property tax cuts. (State Affairs)