Good morning, it’s Friday, March 28, 2025. In today’s edition, lawmakers seek to ban AI in pricing decisions; New Hampshire, Montana back trans bathroom bills; Mississippi to eliminate income tax:
Top Stories
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Lawmakers have introduced a wave of bills to regulate the use of algorithms to set prices in a host of settings. Some bills would prohibit the use of algorithms to fix prices in a sector, like rental housing markets. Others would ban the use of personal information to offer individualized prices, called surveillance pricing. (Pluribus News)
ABORTION: Georgia’s House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee is considering legislation expanding the state’s existing aboriton ban to cover virtually all abortions. The bill would allow prosecutors to charge women who receive abortions with homicide. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) The Montana House approved a proposed constitutional amendment to define “person” as beginning at fertilization or conception. The proposal will appear on the 2026 ballot. (Montana Free Press)
TRANS RIGHTS: The New Hampshire House approved legislation barring puberty blockers for transgender children. (WMUR) The New Hampshire Senate adopted legislation requiring people to use locker rooms and play on sports teams that conform to their gender assigned at birth. (New Hampshire Union Leader)
MORE: Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) has signed legislation banning transgender athletes from women’s sports and requiring people to use locker room facilities that conform to their sex assigned at birth. (Missoulian) Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) has allowed legislation barring public funds for gender-affirming care for state prisoners to become law without his signature. (Kentucky Lantern)
PRIVACY: The Vermont Senate has unanimously approved comprehensive data privacy legislation allowing users to opt out of targeted advertising and limiting the types of data companies can collect. The Senate stripped out a provision that would have given consumers a private right of action to sue companies that violate the law. (VT Digger)
EDUCATION: The Tennessee House Education Committee has approved legislation giving school districts the right to refuse enrollment to children without legal immigration status. The bill would allow districts to charge tuition to students who cannot prove their legal status. (Tennessee Lookout)
HOUSING: The Washington Senate Housing Committee has approved legislation capping rent hikes at 7% a year. The bill would prohibit rent increases during the first year of tenancy, though it would not apply to buildings less than 12 years old. Landlords would be required to give 90 days’ notice before hiking rents. (Washington State Standard)
PUBLIC SAFETY: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has signed legislation allowing a judge to decide whether to order drivers to install speed limiters in their vehicles. Youngkin struck a provision of the bill that would have required those convicted of reckless driving over 100 mph to install the devices. (Washington Post)
TAXES: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) has signed legislation that will eventually phase out the state income tax. The bill would lower income tax rates to 3% by 2030, and then by 0.2% to 0.3% per year depending on whether the state meets revenue targets. The bill also lowers the grocery tax from 7% to 5%. (Pluribus News)
In Politics & Business
WISCONSIN: Nearly 500,000 voters have cast ballots ahead of next week’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race, up 53% over the same period ahead of a 2023 election. The winner of the contest between Judge Brad Schimel, backed by Republicans, and Judge Susan Crawford, backed by Democrats, will decide the ideological balance of the court. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
GEORGIA: The Senate Ethics Committee held hearings on a bill to remove Georgia from the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, the multi-state partnership meant to clean up voter rolls. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) has been a vocal advocate of the ERIC program. (Georgia Recorder)
ARIZONA: Sen. Jake Hoffman (R) has introduced legislation barring registered lobbyists from serving in the legislature or in statewide office. Hoffman, leader of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, backs U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R) for governor; Biggs’s chief Republican rival, Karrin Taylor Robson (R), was a registered lobbyist until she de-registered this month. (Arizona Republic)
FLORIDA: The state House has approved legislation requiring instruction in cursive writing from second through fifth grades. Students would be required to pass a written exam demonstrating their cursive skills. (Florida Politics)
By The Numbers
37%: The pay hike Georgia’s Senate has approved for Gov. Brian Kemp (R), raising his salary from $182,000 to $250,000. That pay raise would tie him with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) as the nation’s best-paid governors. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Over 70%: The decline in demand for air travel from Canada to the United States in the coming months, according to the aviation data firm OAG. Airlines have axed 320,000 seats in response to the dropping demand. (USA Today)
Off The Wall
The Sundance Film Festival has a new home, after organizers chose to relocate to Boulder, Colo., for ten years beginning in 2027. Boulder beat out Atlanta, Cincinnati, Santa Fe, Louisville and a joint bid from Park City and Salt Lake City. (Colorado Sun) Utah is NOT happy at losing Sundance. (Salt Lake Tribune)
A Green Bay zoo is scrambling to capture two escaped river otters who broke free during a snowstorm last week. One of the otters has routinely visited a trap set up near the zoo, but meddling raccoons set off the trap before it could snare its intended target. (UPI)
If it wasn’t for you meddling raccoons…
Quote of the Day
“Our parents have been getting dirty looks. We definitely have to stay aware. We all wear Elon hats. We all have to clarify. I understand, but it’s a university.”
— Țara Venkataraman, a senior at Elon University, which has been around a lot longer than Elon Musk. (Raleigh News & Observer)