AM

Pluribus AM: CA, FL target pharmacy benefit managers; MA Dems plan gun push; OR Sec/State’s cool tattoo

Good morning, it’s Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. In today’s edition, Calif., Fla. target pharmacy benefit managers; Mass. Dems plan gun safety push; Ore. Sec/State has a cool tattoo:

Top Stories 

MASSACHUSETTS: Legislators are planning to file at least two dozen gun safety bills in what could be the most aggressive push for gun legislation in decades. Proposals will include a ban on assault weapons, barring “ghost guns,” and crackdowns on loopholes that allow dealers to sell parts of guns that can be fully assembled by consumers. (Boston Globe)

CALIFORNIA: Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) is suing Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, the nation’s three largest insulin makers, over the high cost of the diabetes drug. The lawsuit also includes pharmacy benefit managers. Bonta’s suit comes after Arkansas, Kansas and Mississippi filed similar suits. (Los Angeles Times)

FLORIDA: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will ask legislators to approve a measure giving consumers more flexibility to buy prescription drugs. It would also regulate prescription benefit managers, barring them from requiring consumers to use mail programs for prescription drugs. (Associated Press, Florida Politics)

NEVADA: Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) signed an executive order Thursday requiring executive branch agencies to each recommend at least 10 state regulations to be removed by May. Lombardo also signed an order seeking to streamline licensure processes to get more people into jobs that require occupational and professional licenses. (Nevada Independent)

ALASKA: Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) will introduce a carbon management bill to diversify state revenues that are overly reliant on proceeds from oil. The legislation would set out rules for storage of carbon dioxide in underground formations, and for a carbon offset program. (Anchorage Daily News)

GEORGIA: Gov. Brian Kemp (R) will ask lawmakers to provide $2,000 pay raises for teachers and state employees. Kemp will propose spending $150 million to address security concerns in schools, help children catch up from pandemic-era learning loss and spur paraprofessionals to become teachers. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

MICHIGAN: Legislative Democrats rolled out a plan Thursday to cut state income taxes by $1 billion by cutting taxes on retirement income and expanding tax credits for low-wage workers. An estimated 500,000 households would benefit from the cuts. Another bill would expand the earned income tax credits from 6% to 20%, a priority of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). (Detroit News, MLive)

WYOMING: The House Revenue Committee has advanced a measure to permanently fund the state’s 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. The bill would create a trust fund and reserve account of $46 million to sustain the call centers. Earnings from the trust fund, about $2 million annually, would finance the line’s operation. (Casper Star Tribune)

PENNSYLVANIA: House Speaker Mark Rozzi (D) has appointed three Democrats and three Republicans to come up with an agreement over a proposed constitutional amendment giving survivors of childhood sexual abuse a two-year window to file civil claims against their abusers. The state Senate passed a bill that included unrelated amendments. The legislature must pass a bill by Jan. 27 to qualify the proposed amendment for a May 16 election. (Harrisburg Patriot-News, Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

MONTANA: The Department of Public Health and Human Services heard arguments for and against a proposed rule requiring those seeking abortions covered by Medicaid to get pre-authorization to show the procedure is “medically necessary.” Pre-viability abortions are legal in Montana under a 1999 state Supreme Court ruling. (Missoulian)

In Politics & Business

WEST VIRGINIA: Gov. Jim Justice (R) said Thursday he’s seriously considering running for a U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Joe Manchin (D) in 2024. Justice is barred by term limits from seeking re-election. (Twitter) We’re old enough to remember when Justice and Manchin were buddies.

NEBRASKA: Gov. Jim Pillen (R) appointed former Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) to fill a Senate seat left vacant when Ben Sasse (R) left to become president of the University of Florida. Ricketts said he would seek re-election to a full term when the seat is up in 2026. (Lincoln Journal-Star)

OHIO: Supporters of reproductive rights say they are going ahead with a ballot measure to protect abortion. Groups including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio and the ACLU say they will submit a pro-abortion rights initiative to Attorney General Dave Yost’s (R) office by February. (Ohio Capital Journal)

PENNSYLVANIA: The Commonwealth Court said Thursday that the state House’s impeachment of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) last year did not meet constitutionally required standards for removing Krasner from office. The state Senate voted this week to indefinitely postpone an impeachment trial that had been scheduled to begin next week. (Harrisburg Patriot-News, Philadelphia Inquirer)

NORTH DAKOTA: The state House has narrowly approved legislation to legalize sports betting. If the state Senate goes along, voters would get to decide whether to authorize sports bets on the Nov. 2024 ballot. (Fargo Forum) 

TIKTOK: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) joined the parade of governors banning TikTok on state-owned phones and devices. At least 24 states have now banned the app, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. (Associated Press) Evers said a review of state devices found only 12 phones that had the app.

By The Numbers

0%: The share of California under exceptional drought conditions on Thursday, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. It’s the first time since April 2020 that none of the state has fallen under the most extreme drought category, thanks to the atmospheric rivers that have dumped unprecedented rain and snow across the state. A month ago, 7% of the state was in exceptional drought conditions. (Los Angeles Times)

200: The number of gallons of homemade moonshine that Ohio residents would be permitted to produce under a bill proposed by state Sen. Frank Hoagland (R). Producers would not be allowed to sell their products, but they could give it away for free or serve it on private properties. Federal law still prohibits home production of liquor. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

32%: The decline in death rates from cancer in the United States since 1991, according to a new American Cancer Society report. The decline has meant 3.5 million fewer deaths over the last three decades. (BBC)

Off The Wall

Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D) wants legislators to expand automatic voter registration to returning prisoners and Medicaid recipients — but that’s not why we’re including this story here. Instead, check out Fagan’s “VOTE” tattoo, captured in this story at the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

Legal cannabis growers in Massachusetts are scrambling to fight a rapidly spreading crop disease that is killing marijuana plants. Hop latent viroid, which reduces a plant’s THC content, has already cost California growers $4 billion in losses. “It’s like the tenth plague for the cannabis industry,” one cannabis expert said. (Connecticut Public Radio)

Quote of the Day

“I can feel her eyes piercing into me. She said, ‘you forget me, I’m gonna forget to make a plate for you tonight.’”

Maryland Del. Julian Ivey (D), introducing his mother, Prince George’s County Councilmember Jolene Ivey (D), at a swearing-in ceremony for his father, U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D). The Iveys simultaneously hold office at the local, state and federal level — and they’ve even got a consultant in the family: Alex Ivey, another of Glenn’s sons, is a pollster at the Democratic firm Global Strategy Group. (Washington Post)