Good morning, it’s Tuesday, January 27, 2026. In today’s edition, the top tech trends to watch in legislatures; data center backlash grows; Perry Johnson to run for Michigan governor:
Top Stories
TECHNOLOGY: We’re spotlighting our top six tech trends to watch in legislative sessions this year. Among the highlights: Lawmakers in at least 17 states have already filed bills to regulate companion chatbots amid alarm over their potential harm to children. Bills in 11 states would crack down on AI models used to provide therapy. And legislators in at least seven states have dropped bills to require Apple and Google app stores to verify user ages, after Louisiana, Texas and Utah passed laws last year. (Pluribus News)
SOCIAL MEDIA: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has launched an investigation into TikTok after reports the app suppressed content critical of President Trump. The investigation comes days after the platform finalized an ownership deal that will hand control to Trump-aligned businessmen. (Los Angeles Times)
HOUSING: California’s Department of General Services has launched a new dashboard aimed at speeding up efforts to sell government property to be turned into commercial and residential use. The portal is meant to reduce the time it takes developers to begin construction on the properties. (Sacramento Bee)
DATA CENTERS: Washington Rep. Beth Doglio (D) has introduced legislation to require data centers to report on energy and water use. Data centers would be required to pay into a Department of Revenue fund to be split between energy and higher education budgets. (Spokane Spokesman Review)
MORE: South Dakota legislative leaders have introduced the “Data Center Bill of Rights.” The bill prohibits state government from granting tax exemptions for data centers, though it allows local tax breaks. It requires data center operators to pay for electric and water costs and bars the state from preempting local regulations and restrictions on the centers. (South Dakota Public Broadcasting)
IMMIGRATION: The Indiana Senate has approved legislation requiring law enforcement, government agencies and postsecondary institutions to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The bill would allow the governor to withhold grants and state funding from agencies that fail to cooperate. (State Affairs)
ECONOMY: Colorado Democrats have introduced legislation to ban businesses from charging “unreasonably excessive prices” to captive consumers. The bill would require delivery services like DoorDash to list comparisons of delivery prices versus in-person prices. Another measure would make higher prices for the same good or service — such as a beer at a sporting event — an unfair or deceptive trade practice. (Denver Post)
ELECTIONS: A federal judge has dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking unredacted voter rolls from Oregon. Judges in Georgia and California have rejected similar suits. The Oregon judge rejected DOJ’s contention that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 gave it the authority to request voter records. (Associated Press)
In Politics & Business
MICHIGAN: Businessman Perry Johnson (R) will run for governor, he said Monday, committing $9 million in the next 60 days to boost himself ahead of the August primary. Johnson spent $8 million on a 2022 bid for governor, though he failed to make the ballot after submitting fraudulent signatures on his nominating petition. (State Affairs)
OREGON: Former Portland Trail Blazer Chris Dudley (R) will run for governor again, 16 years after he came within a point of winning office in 2010. Dudley will face a growing primary field that includes 2022 nominee Christine Drazan (R). (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
ARIZONA: Former ASU quarterback Hugh Lytle will run for governor as a candidate of the Arizona Independent Party. Lytle, the founder of Medicaid provider network Equity Health, has hired a Republican-aligned consulting firm to manage his campaign. (State Affairs)
MINNESOTA: Attorney Chris Madel (R) has dropped his bid for governor over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state. Madel serves as a lawyer for the immigration officer who shot and killed Renee Good, the 37-year old mother who died in her car. Madel said he couldn’t support what he called “stated retribution on the citizens of our state.” (Associated Press)
PEOPLE: Iowa Sen. Catelin Drey (D) has been diagnosed with early stage uterine cancer, she said Monday. Drey won a special election in August to flip a GOP-held seat in Woodbury County, breaking the Republican supermajority. (Des Moines Register) Our best wishes for a speedy recovery.
By The Numbers
More than 800,000: The number of power outages reported nationwide on Monday in the aftermath of the snowstorm that blanketed the eastern United States. More than 150,000 customers in Nashville were without power, along with 140,000 in Mississippi and 115,000 in Louisiana. It could take up to 10 days to restore power in Allen County, Ky. (Associated Press)
230: The number of homicides reported in Los Angeles last year, an 18% decline from the year before and the lowest single-year number since the 1960s. Homicide rates dropped to 60-year lows in Oakland and San Francisco as well. (CalMatters)
Off The Wall
The New Jersey Assembly will hold a commemorative session at Princeton’s Nassau Hall in February, 250 years after the building hosted the first meeting of the state legislature. British forces captured the hall a few months later, after which George Washington’s troops liberated the building during the Battle of Princeton. (New Jersey Globe)
The Transportation Security Administration has released a list of the ten most unusual items seized at airport security last year. The items included a replica pipe bomb discovered in Boise, turtles found in pants and a bra in Newark and Miami, concealed knives in Illinois and Dallas and bullets concealed in a bottle of Nesquik in Miami. (UPI)
Virginia “Ginny” Oliver, the legendary Lobster Lady of Rockland, Maine, has died at 105. Oliver, who started lobster fishing with her father at age 10, was the oldest lobsterwoman working in the state. (WABI)
Quote of the Day
“There are still lots of details to dig through, and that’s one of the reasons that I enjoy our budget hearings, even though people worry about my sanity because I actually say things like ‘I enjoy our budget hearings.’”
— New York Sen. Liz Krueger (D), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, on upcoming budget debates. (State of Politics)