REGISTER NOW: Don’t miss our conversation with Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R) on Monday, April 17 at 12:30 p.m. ET. Sign up for a reminder!
Good morning, it’s Friday, April 14, 2023. Don’t forget to do your taxes. In today’s edition, DeSantis signs abortion ban; Mont. moves to ban TikTok; Minn. proposes ‘Amazon tax’:
Top Stories
ABORTION: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation banning almost all abortions after six weeks, after the state House gave the bill final approval Thursday. The bill would make performing or “actively participating” in an abortion a felony punishable by prison time and fines. (Pluribus News, Orlando Sentinel) Montana’s legislature has given final approval to a bill explicitly excluding the right to an abortion from a constitutional right to privacy. (Daily Montanan)
GUN POLITICS: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has signed bills requiring universal background checks on gun sales and safe storage in places where minors are present. She signed the bills during a ceremony at Michigan State University, where a mass shooting claimed three lives in February. (MLive) The Michigan House approved a red-flag law that supporters said could have stopped the MSU attack. (MLive)
MORE: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed a bill blocking the creation of gun registries and barring efforts to track financial transactions related to firearm purchases. (Supertalk)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The Missouri House has given final approval to a bill banning gender-affirming care, setting up a fight with the Senate over competing legislation. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) has approved a rule that would require adults seeking gender-affirming care to undergo 18 months of therapy before receiving care. (Associated Press) The Nebraska Senate advanced a gender-affirming care ban on Thursday, setting up a final vote soon. (Lincoln Journal Star)
SOCIAL MEDIA: The Montana House has approved a statewide ban on the social media platform TikTok. The bill would ban companies like Apple or Google from allowing users to download the app from their stores. The bill must still pass a final vote. (Montana Free Press)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: The Indiana Senate has unanimously approved legislation barring police from lying to children during interrogations. The bill now heads to Gov. Eric Holcomb (R). (WKRC) The Florida House has approved a bill eliminating a requirement of a unanimous jury recommendation for imposing the death penalty. (Orlando Sentinel)
EDUCATION: The Nebraska Senate is advancing school choice legislation that would give tax credits for donations to organizations that provide scholarships for students who attend private or parochial schools. (Nebraska Examiner) The Texas Senate has approved a bill to allow parents to receive a notice every time their children check out a book, and to prohibit “harmful” or indecent material. (Texas Tribune)
HEALTH CARE: Florida’s House of Representatives has approved a measure expanding the state’s KidCare Medicaid program to cover children whose families earn up to 300% of the federal poverty level, or $83,250. The bill is a priority for House Speaker Paul Renner (R). (Florida Politics) The Oregon Senate has approved a measure to give patients with a history of opioid use more access to overdose reversal medication. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)
MINNESOTA: The House Ways and Means Committee approved a package of tax and fee increases for transportation projects. One of the proposed taxes would impose a 75-cent fee for delivery of taxable merchandise to homes and businesses. (Twin Cities Pioneer Press)
Call it the Amazon tax.
In Politics & Business
NEW YORK: Democrats will try to redraw congressional district boundary lines after a state judge blocked previous efforts ahead of the midterm elections, when Republicans had a surprisingly good outcome. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Attorney General Letitia James (D) have filed an amicus brief arguing that the legislature should have the authority to draw lines, not a special master appointed by the court. (City & State)
OHIO: House Speaker Jason Stephens (R) has tapped state Reps. Phil Plummer (R) and Jeff LaRe (R) to oversee the House GOP’s campaign account, a compromise with supporters of state Rep. Derek Merrin (R) after months of infighting. Plummer backed Merrin for Speaker, while LaRe backed Stephens. (Statehouse News Bureau)
MINNESOTA: The state House approved a bill creating automatic voter registration systems and allowing 16- and 17-year olds to pre-register to vote. The bill also bars corporations with foreign leadership from contributing to political campaigns. (MPR News)
NEVADA: A state Senate committee has advanced legislation making threats to election workers a felony. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
UTAH: House Speaker Brad Wilson (R) has formed an exploratory committee as he considers challenging U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R) in the 2024 GOP primary. Romney has not yet formally announced plans to seek re-election. (Associated Press)
ARIZONA: State Sen. Raquel Terán (D) has resigned from office as she campaigns for a U.S. House seat held by Rep. Ruben Gallego (D). Gallego is challenging U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I). (Arizona Republic)
By The Numbers
$32 million: The amount spent lobbying the Colorado legislature since July, up 10% over 2022. Xcel Energy was the biggest lobbying spender, dropping almost $296,000 to woo lawmakers. (Colorado Sun)
9%: The share of California that remains in drought after this year’s winter storms. At the beginning of October, 99% of California was in drought. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s (R) office has blamed a design error for a question added to online applications for state job and commission positions that attracted some notice earlier this week. The question asked: “What is an accomplishment of the Governor’s that you admire the most?” (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
Alaska state Rep. Jesse Sumner (R) got frustrated that the state Legislative Legal Services office didn’t generate bill text for his proposal to legalize gambling on state ferries — so he used Microsoft’s Bing AI program to generate the text. Then he asked the AI system to write a bill to replace the Legislative Legal Services office. (Alaska Landmine)
Lots going on here.
Quote of the Day
“OSP is urging the public not (to) go searching for money on the highway — which is very dangerous and contributes to hazardous conditions.”
— Oregon State Police spokesperson Capt. Kyle Kennedy, after a driver on I-5 in Eugene threw wads of $100 bills out his car window. Some drivers stopped to pick up the bills. The man told police he was doing well financially and wanted to “bless others.” (Oregonian)