Good morning, it’s Monday, August 12, 2024. In today’s edition, Kids Code backers launch new efforts; Illinois Gov signs AI bills; Hawaii Speaker Saiki loses Dem primary:
Top Stories
ONLINE PRIVACY: Minnesota Rep. Kristin Bahner (D) will try again next year to advance sweeping online safety legislation targeted at minors in the face of sustained industry opposition — and this time, she may be joined by colleagues in as many as six other states.
A coalition of youth and parent advocacy groups backing “safety by design” Kids Code legislation, also known as Age-Appropriate Design Code, has modeled their efforts on legislation passed in the United Kingdom in 2020. California became the first state to approve a similar law in 2022, but the courts got involved and efforts in other states stumbled in 2023.
But a revised version won passage this year in Maryland, and elements of a Kids Code bill won approval in Vermont. Similar versions were introduced but fell short in Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and South Carolina — a broad range of states that hints at the push to come next year. Read more at Pluribus News.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed legislation protecting employees from discrimination and requiring transparency in the use of AI for employment-related decisions. He also signed laws protecting performers from wrongful use of their voices in AI systems, and clarifying that child pornography laws apply to AI images and videos. (Center Square)
HOUSING: Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) has signed housing bills that offer grants of up to 20% of construction costs to qualified workforce housing projects; exempting affordable housing construction from a realty transfer tax; and requiring manufactured home communities to fix health and safety violations before raising rents. (Delaware Public Media)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) has signed legislation that will allow LGBTQ parents to make medical and financial decisions for their non-biological children. The law is meant to provide full legal recognition to same-sex parents. (Boston Herald)
EDUCATION: The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district judge’s ruling halting parts of Iowa’s new law allowing book bans in schools. The ruling means the law, signed last year by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), can take effect; it also prohibits teachers from bringing up gender identity and sexual orientation issues with younger students. (Associated Press)
ENERGY: The Nebraska Public Power District said Friday it would study 16 potential locations for a next-generation nuclear power plant. The district won a $1 million grant from the Department of Economic Development to carry out the study. (Omaha World-Herald)
In Politics & Business
NORTH CAROLINA: Attorney General Josh Stein (D) leads Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) 43% to 38% in the race for governor, according to a new Carolina Journal Poll conducted by the GOP pollster Cygnal. U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R) leads U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson (D) 42% to 38% in the race to replace Stein as attorney general. (Carolina Journal)
New video shows Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Michele Morrow (R) encouraging then-President Trump to use military power to stay in office. Morrow protested outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, though she has said she didn’t enter the building. (Raleigh News & Observer)
HAWAII: Longtime House Speaker Scott Saiki (D) has lost his bid for a new term to attorney Kim Coco Iwamoto (D), who won this weekend’s Democratic primary. Iwamoto is likely to become the first openly transgender candidate to win a seat in Hawaii’s legislature. (Associated Press)
GEORGIA: The state Election Board has finalized a new rule that requires county election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results. But the board did not define what “reasonable inquiry” means, leaving some observers nervous that boards could delay certification if they don’t like the result. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
By The Numbers
1,000,024: The amount by which registered Republican voters outnumber registered Democratic voters in Florida. It’s the first time since the late 1980s Republicans have outnumbered Democrats by such a wide margin. (WUSF)
The last time a Republican presidential candidate beat a Democrat by more than a million votes in Florida was 1984, when Ronald Reagan scored 65% of the vote there.
$8.5 billion: The amount Oklahoma collected in general fund revenue in Fiscal Year 2024, about 2.1% above estimates. Total collections were off about 6% from last year’s record, though that wasn’t unexpected. (McCarville Report)
18: The number of medal-winning Olympians from California, the highest count from any state during the 2024 games in Paris. Florida follows with 17 medalists, and the most golds, while Texas produced ten medal winners. (Newsweek)
$6.9 billion: The budget Los Angeles organizers have to work with when putting on the 2028 Summer Olympics. The committee says it’s raised $1 billion of its $2.5 billion goal for domestic corporate sponsorships. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
Delegates to the Democratic National Convention later this month will get the chance to try two JBeers — craft beers made by Chicago-area brewers specifically for Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D). One is a West Coast IPA, and the other is a Mexican-style lager. Pritzker debuted the new brews, double-fisted, at an event Friday. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Missouri’s Department of Revenue rejected 16 vanity license plate applications last year, including plates that would have read “FB1CAR,” “UFAUF0”, “B1SHHH” and “5LOWAF.” At least those are the plates we’ll include in this family-friendly newsletter. (Kansas City Star)
Quote of the Day
“I’ll be staying in my own office.”
— Connecticut Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney (D), who will serve as acting governor when Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (D) head to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. Looney said he wouldn’t bother heading upstairs to put his feet up on Lamont’s desk. (CT Post)