Good morning, it’s Friday, June 21, 2024. In today’s edition, New York Gov signs landmark social media legislation; Texas to take up Ten Commandments bill; Ashcroft leads Missouri GOP field:
Top Stories
SOCIAL MEDIA: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has signed legislation aimed at protecting teenagers from social media harms and from having their data harvested without permission. One of the bills, the Stop Addictive Feeds for Kids Act, requires social media companies to present chronological rather than algorithmic feeds to minors. (Pluribus News)
EDUCATION: The Texas Senate will take up legislation mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in school classrooms, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) said Thursday, a day after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed first-in-the-nation legislation. The House has blocked previous Ten Commandments bills. (Dallas Morning News)
ENTERTAINMENT: The Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee has passed bipartisan legislation that would bar individuals from using software to circumvent purchasing limits when buying tickets online. The “Taylor Swift Bills” would bar people from creating bots to purchase tickets in bulk. (Michigan Advance)
MARIJUANA: The North Carolina Senate has given initial approval to a bill to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. The bill needs a second vote before it heads to the House, where legislators have been historically resistant to back medical marijuana. (Associated Press)
HEALTH CARE: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) has signed legislation legalizing alternative drug therapy using MDMA, or ecstasy, for those with post-traumatic stress disorder. Hobbs vetoed another bill that would have legalized clinical mushroom therapy. (Arizona Republic)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: The Michigan Senate has approved legislation banning “gay panic” or “trans panic” defenses from being used in cases involving murder or assault on the grounds that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity were to blame. The bill needs a final approval from the House before it heads to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). (Michigan Advance)
ANTISEMITISM: The New Jersey Senate State Government Committee advanced a bill that would establish a state definition of antisemitism. The measure adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s 2016 definition of antisemitism. (New Jersey Monitor)
In Politics & Business
MISSOURI: A new Emerson College poll finds Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) leading Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) 23%-20% in the Republican primary contest. State Sen. Bill Eigel (R) comes a distant third, with 6%, while 46% say they are undecided. (Emerson)
INDIANA: Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick (D) endorsed former Rep. Terry Goodin (D) as her running mate. Goodin, who previously described himself as “pro-life,” must be approved by delegates at the state party convention next month. (Indianapolis Star)
CALIFORNIA: The state Supreme Court removed a citizen-led initiative from November’s ballot that would have required voters to approve any new statewide taxes and raised thresholds for approving local taxes. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and other Democratic elected officials argued that only the legislature can put a proposed constitutional revision before voters. (Sacramento Bee)
CRIME BLOTTER: Police arrested Michigan Rep. Neil Friske (R) early Thursday morning for a “felony-level offense,” a Lansing police spokesperson said. Authorities said they were responding to possible gunshots. (Associated Press)
MORE: FBI agents executed search warrants at the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the home of an employee of a city waste contractor. The FBI confirmed the searches but declined to identify the targets of the investigation were. (Los Angeles Times)
By The Numbers
Nearly 100 million: The number of people in the U.S. who spent the first day of summer in temperatures topping 90 degrees. (New York Times)
1.2: The number of jobs per job seeker in the United States, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, down from a peak of two open jobs per job seeker at the height of the labor shortage in 2022. (Stateline)
Off The Wall
Smaller distilleries that had been part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour are joining the more established Kentucky Bourbon Trail in a consolidation unveiled Thursday by the Kentucky Distillers’ Association. The two tours last year combined to host 2.5 million visitors. (Associated Press)
It’s parade time in the Northeast. The Boston Celtics will celebrate the NBA franchise’s 18th championship today in standard fashion: Aboard duck boats in a parade through Boston. On Saturday, Coney Island, N.Y., will hold its annual Mermaid Parade featuring hundreds of mermaids strutting down Surf Avenue, ending with an “opening” of the Atlantic Ocean by the parade’s king and queen. (Associated Press, New York Times)
Quote of the Day
“A hundred days to get your wheelchair fixed? A hundred days is shocking.”
— Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D), speaking to disability advocates as he signed legislation creating a ten-day deadline for authorized wheelchair dealers to fix equipment. (CT Insider)