Good morning, it’s Monday, August 14, 2023. In today’s edition, California moves to protect online privacy; Michigan Dems plan abortion measures; Virginia finally has a budget:
Top Stories
PRIVACY: California lawmakers are set to give final approval to legislation allowing consumers to require data brokers to delete their personal information, the data equivalent of a do-not-call list. The Delete Act passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee ahead of a key deadline, after winning broad support in the Senate earlier this year. Data brokers would be prohibited from selling or sharing a consumer’s data without permission. (Pluribus News)
ABORTION: Michigan Democrats began introducing new abortion protection bills on Wednesday, seeking to repeal a 24-hour waiting period and structural requirements for abortion facilities. Legislators also want to allow Medicaid to cover abortion services. Lawmakers will not introduce legislation to repeal a law requiring parental consent for minors. (Detroit News, Bridge MI)
IMMIGRATION: A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Texas must remove a floating barrier from the Rio Grande, siding with the Biden administration against Gov. Greg Abbott (R). Judge David Ezra wrote Texas needs federal permission to install an obstruction in navigable waters. Abbott’s administration appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit. (Texas Tribune)
TAXES: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) promised to veto a GOP plan to cut $3 billion in taxes targeted at the second-highest tax bracket and a tax on retirement income. Evers vetoed a $3.5 billion tax cut earlier this year. (Center Square) The Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee approved a planned constitutional amendment to require a two-thirds majority in the legislature to approve future tax increases. (Wisconsin Examiner)
MORE: Virginia lawmakers approved a budget deal Wednesday that includes one-time tax rebates and more spending for school safety and mental health initiatives sought by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). The budget does not include larger tax cuts Youngkin wanted. (Washington Post, Associated Press)
EDUCATION: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) wants lawmakers to revise a state law allowing high school sports transfers, after ten state high school football teams scored at least 60 points in their first games of the season. Lawmakers approved a bill this year, without Justice’s signature, to allow transferring students to be immediately eligible to play at their new schools. (Associated Press)
MORE: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) plans to ask lawmakers to appropriate $30 million for a statewide literacy institute. The institute would provide instruction for students struggling to learn to read and train educators in evidence-based reading instruction. It is modeled on a similar institute in Kansas. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
DRUG POLICY: The California Assembly has approved a measure that would decriminalize some naturally occurring psychedelics. The measure would apply to mescaline, DMT, psilocybin and psilocyn for those over the age of 21. A previous version passed the state Senate earlier his year. (Sacramento Bee)
In Politics & Business
INDIANA: Former state Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers (R) has loaned his gubernatorial campaign $5 million, new records show. Chambers, a wealthy real estate executive before joining Gov. Eric Holcomb’s (R) administration, has hired former state party chair Kyle Hupfer to manage his race. He faces Sen. Mike Braun (R), Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch (R), former Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) and businessman Eric Doden (R) in the GOP primary. (Northwest Indiana Times)
MISSISSIPPI: Gov. Tate Reeves (R) and Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) approved a request from Secretary of State candidate Shuwaski Young (D) to withdraw from the race due to illness. The move will allow the state Democratic Party to choose a new nominee. (Associated Press) Democrats want attorney Ty Pinkins, currently running for a U.S. Senate seat, to take Young’s place on this year’s ballot. (Mississippi Today)
WISCONSIN: State Democrats are launching a $4 million effort to pressure Republicans over their threats to impeach Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz. Republicans have contemplated impeaching Protasiewicz if she does not recuse herself from litigation challenging the state’s district lines. (Associated Press)
FLORIDA: Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell is petitioning the state Supreme Court to get her job back after she was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last month. In a 50-page filing, Worrell said DeSantis’s reasoning — that she had neglected her duty and failed to prosecute crimes — were not substantial enough to warrant her removal. (Spectrum News)
By The Numbers
66,363: The number of applicants for Ohio’s new school voucher program under expanded eligibility criteria approved in the state budget passed earlier his year. The Department of Education has approved 27,553 of those applications already. (Cleveland Plain Dealer) For context: There were 1.75 million students enrolled in Ohio public schools at the start of 2022.
37.5%: The increase in the number of out-of-state patients seeking abortion care in Massachusetts in the first four months after the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. The increase was driven by patients coming from outside New England. (Boston Globe)
$1.9 billion: The estimated hit Hawaii’s economy will take after wildfires destroyed the town of Lahaina last month, according to a new state economic forecast. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
Off The Wall
Coming soon to HBO, apparently: A documentary on the Ohio scandal that brought down former House Speaker Larry Householder. At least two people involved in the racketeering conspiracy case against Householder — the former U.S. Attorney who brought charges and the Republican operative who blew the whistle — have been interviewed by HBO documentarians. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Robert Chatfield, the mayor of Prospect, Conn., is running unopposed for re-election. He will serve his 24th two-year term in office after first winning election in 1977. In his free time, Chatfield serves as the town’s public works director, emergency management director, firefighter and school crossing guard. (New Haven Register)
Quote of the Day
“We’re neither frozen by the fears nor hypnotized by the upside. We’re taking a clear-eyed, humble approach to this world-changing technology.”
— California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), announcing a new executive order creating guardrails around generative artificial intelligence. (Pluribus News)