Good morning, it’s Wednesday, June 26, 2024. In today’s edition, GOP lays out its 2024 campaign plan; Big Tech nears deal with news agencies over California bill; Utah Gov. Cox survives primary challenge:
Top Stories
REPUBLICANS: The Republican State Leadership Committee said in a memo to donors it intends to spend $38 million in key races this year in efforts to preserve existing majorities and to reclaim Democratic majorities. That’s about a quarter of what the three major Democratic groups have pledged to spend on legislative campaigns this year. (Pluribus News)
ABORTION: The Pennsylvania House approved a bipartisan bill to expand insurance coverage for contraception in the state. The measure would require Medicaid and CHIP insurance programs to cover contraception without cost-sharing. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
MORE: The Delaware Senate has given final approval to legislation requiring most private insurance plans and Medicaid to cover abortions. The legislation prohibits insurance plans from charging copays or deductibles for abortion services. (Associated Press)
JOURNALISM: Big tech companies and newspaper publishers appear to be nearing a deal to require social media platforms to pay news outlets for the articles they distribute. A measure requiring such payments cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, but senators said talks between the two industries could head off the bill’s future. (Los Angeles Times)
CYBERSECURITY: Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) is filing suit against the Chinese parent company of Temu, the online marketplace. Griffin alleges the company’s app collects much more information than necessary and creates a malware risk. (Talk Business & Politics)
ECONOMY: The North Carolina Senate has given final approval to legislation barring payments to the state using a central bank digital currency. The legislation bans the state from participating in any future testing of a digital currency backed by the Federal Reserve. (Carolina Journal)
Bonus: The bill’s chief sponsor is Sen. Brad Overcash (R).
AID IN DYING: The Delaware Senate has given final approval to legislation legalizing medical aid in dying. The bill would allow a terminally ill adult to administer medication ending their life after making two verbal and one written request on their own behalf. (Delaware Public Media)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: A Missoula County District judge has ruled a 2023 Montana law defining sex as only male or female is unconstitutional. The judge ruled the law wasn’t clear in its title when the legislature approved it last year. (Daily Montanan)
PUBLIC HEALTH: The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that four states — Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas — will begin voluntarily testing milk tanks for bird flu, in an effort to track the spread of the virus through dairy cows. The USDA has tracked 126 cases of bird flue in a dozen states through last week. (Daily Montanan)
In Politics & Business
UTAH: Gov. Spencer Cox (R) led state Rep. Phil Lyman (R) 57%-41% in Tuesday’s Republican primary, handing him an almost certain second term in office. Lyman refused to concede the race, and he hinted at raising challenges to Cox’s victory. Cox faces state Rep. Brian King (D) in November. (Salt Lake Tribune)
SOUTH CAROLINA: State Sen. Katrina Shealy (R) lost renomination in a primary runoff held Tuesday. Shealy is the third Senate Republican woman — all of whom filibustered a measure to restrict abortion rights — to lose her primary this year. (SC Daily Gazette)
NEVADA: Supporters of a ballot measure to require voters to show identification at the polls have submitted 179,000 signatures, about 77,000 more than they need to qualify for November’s ballot. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
OHIO: The state House Republican campaign committee’s political accounts are now under the control of High Bridge Consulting, the top strategists for Senate President Matt Huffman (R). Huffman, running unopposed for a seat in the state House this year, aims to depose incumbent Speaker Jason Stephens (R), who lost control of the campaign account in a court decision this week. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
Talk about adding insult to injury.
NORTH CAROLINA: Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical giant behind GLP-1 drug Ozempic, will build a 1.4 million-square foot factory in Clayton, N.C., to boost production of its landmark product. The company plans to spend $4.1 billion on the facility. (Bloomberg)
By The Numbers
$163.6 million: The amount Connecticut gamblers wagered on sports in May, a nearly 50% increase over May 2023. Overall wagering stands at $873 million for the year, up 25% from last year’s pace. (Covers.com)
7: The number of Arizona House Democrats who have resigned from office this year. State Rep. Laura Terech (D) will resign effective Sunday to take another role in state government. (Arizona Capital Times)
Critically, Terech represents a swing district, a potential wrench in Democratic hopes of reclaiming the state House, where Republicans hold the narrowest of majorities.
Off The Wall
A wax sculpture of Abraham Lincoln installed in February at an elementary school in Northwest Washington has succumbed to this week’s heat wave. The statue’s head had melted by Monday, and its right foot was no more than a blob. It’s the second time the Lincoln statue had melted. (Washington Post)
The Los Angeles Police Department called in the bomb squad and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives to help deal with a 75 ton stockpile of illegal fireworks at a site in Gardena, Calif. The massive fireworks cache was one of the biggest busts in state history. (Los Angeles Times)
Quote of the Day
“While we will never be able to match the constellation of national Democrat organizations that spend on state legislative races dollar for dollar, we can still fight back with smart, targeted investments of our own.”
— Republican State Leadership Committee president Dee Duncan, on his committee’s $38 million spending plan this year. (Pluribus News)