Pluribus AM: Fla., Iowa pass LGBTQ education bans; Colo. moves abortion protections; N.Y. budget held up by bail reform feud
Good morning, it’s Monday, April 3, 2023. Pluribus News is six months old today! In today’s edition, Fla., Iowa move LGBTQ education bans; Colo. passes abortion protections; N.Y. lawmakers feud with governor over bail reform:
Top Stories
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The Florida House approved a bill to ban instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity through eighth grade. The bill would prevent teachers from using a student’s preferred pronoun. (Orlando Sentinel) The Iowa House Education Committee has advanced a bill barring instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation through sixth grade. (Iowa Public Radio)
EDUCATION: The Florida House unanimously approved a bill barring social media sites from public school devices and networks. (Florida Politics) The House also approved legislation requiring middle schools to start after 8 a.m. and high schools to begin after 8:30 a.m. (Florida Politics) The Idaho legislature gave final approval to a bill allowing parents to sue libraries over “harmful” books. (Idaho Statesman)
ABORTION: The Florida Senate on Monday will take up a measure barring abortion after 6 weeks. (News4Jax) New Mexico’s Supreme Court has blocked local anti-abortion ordinances from taking effect pending the outcome of a case on equal protection and due process. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed a bill last month overriding local ordinances. (Associated Press)
MORE: The Colorado House late Saturday approved bills placing restrictions on advertising for crisis-pregnancy centers, codifying protections for abortion providers and doctors who provide gender-affirming care, and extending insurance coverage to reproductive care. (Denver Post)
FLORIDA: The state House voted to approve a constitutional amendment that would make school board races partisan. Voters would have to approve the amendment next year. (Orlando Sentinel)
MARYLAND: The state House has approved a measure lifting statutory limits for survivors of child sexual abuse, allowing them to sue their alleged abusers. The state Senate passed an identical bill last month. (Maryland Matters) Lawmakers reached a deal on a $63 billion budget that will cut 10% from a school voucher program aimed at low-income students. (Washington Post)
NEW JERSEY: The state Assembly unanimously passed legislation allowing people with autism to note their diagnosis on a driver’s license. The bill now heads to Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) desk. (NJ Advance Media) Lawmakers are considering a bill to require reserved parking spaces for parents traveling with pre-teens. (NJ Advance Media)
NEW YORK: Saturday’s budget deadline came and went without a deal between lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) as they debate the fate of bail reform language. Legislators return to Albany today to vote for a budget extension that will avoid a state shutdown. (State of Politics)
TEXAS: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) and House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) are feuding over dueling plans to cut property taxes. The Senate, controlled by Patrick, wants to raise homestead exemptions. The House wants to tighten an “appraisal cap” that limits the amount by which taxes can rise in a given year. (Texas Tribune)
In Politics & Business
WISCONSIN: Voters head to the polls tomorrow to choose a new Wisconsin Supreme Court justice. Democratic-backed Milwaukee Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz has vastly outspent Republican-backed former Justice Dan Kelly. Control of the court is at stake. (Associated Press) Suburban Milwaukee voters will pick a candidate in an open Senate seat that would decide whether Republicans gain a supermajority. (Wisconsin Examiner, Associated Press)
IOWA: Secretary of State Paul Pate’s (R) office has moved more than 565,000 voters to “inactive” status under a new law that impacts voters who did not cast a ballot in the previous general election. If those voters do not cast a ballot before November 2026, their registrations will be canceled. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
COLORADO: State Democrats elected political consultant Shad Murib as their new party chairman. Murib worked for both Gov. Jared Polis (D) and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D). (Colorado Sun)
WHITE HOUSE: Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) will run for president, he said Sunday. Hutchinson, 72, will formally launch his campaign April 26 in Bentonville, with stops planned in Iowa, Indiana and Kentucky. (Talk Business & Politics, Associated Press) A super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) says it has raised $30 million. (New York Times)
By The Numbers
$20.4 billion: The amount of money states pledged in subsidies to attract semiconductor and electric vehicle manufacturing plants last year, according to Good Jobs First, a watchdog group that tracks corporate giveaways. (Associated Press)
More than $100 million: The amount Nevada spent on a software upgrade for the state’s Human Resources and finance operations system before Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) canceled the project. The upgrade, plagued by years of delay, began under former Gov. Brian Sandoval’s (R) administration. (Nevada Independent)
Off The Wall
Don’t miss this drone video that captured a five-hour fight between two gray whales and 30 orcas that took place last week in Monterey Bay. The orcas eventually broke off the attack when the gray whales headed to shallower water. (Sacramento Bee)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for president? Someone filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to create the Greg Abbot Presidential Campaign, but Abbott’s team says they aren’t connected to the group. A phone number listed on the FEC forms goes to an Arby’s in Grand Prairie. (KXAN)
Quote of the Day
“It was a family-oriented dinosaur.”
— L.J. Krumenacker, an Idaho paleontologist, on the oryctodromeus, now Idaho’s official state dinosaur. The oryctodromeus is found only in eastern Idaho and southwestern Montana. Lawmakers voted unanimously to adopt it as their newest state symbol. (Idaho Capital Sun)