Good morning, it’s Friday, December 12, 2025. In today’s edition, Indiana redistricting push goes down in flames; Trump issues order targeting state AI laws; Florida GOP rolls out major health care reform package:
Top Stories
REDISTRICTING: The Indiana Senate voted down a plan to redraw U.S. House district lines, a big loss for President Trump and congressional Republicans. Twenty-one Republicans joined the Senate’s 10 Democrats to kill the bill, while 19 Republicans voted in favor. (State Affairs)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: President Trump signed an executive order Thursday requiring Attorney General Pam Bondi to establish a litigation task force to challenge state restrictions on AI on interstate commerce and other grounds. The order requires the Commerce Secretary to publish a report on “onerous” state laws that conflict with the administration’s AI policy. (Pluribus News)
The Trump administration’s push to preempt state-level AI laws is getting pushback even from some Republicans who don’t share his AI evangelism.
MORE: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed several AI-related bills into law. One would require creators of any AI-based advertisements to disclose the use of fake actors. Another would require the heirs or executors of anyone who is deceased to give consent before their name, image and likeness is used for commercial purposes. (State of Politics)
HEALTH CARE: Florida House Republicans have rolled out a new health care package that would tighten eligibility for social safety net programs, loosen industry regulations and reform prescription drug pricing. One bill sets new limits on Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and SNAP. A second bill sets price control provisions on prescription drugs and new regulations on pharmacy benefit managers. (Pluribus News)
HOUSING: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a podcast interview he will make a new legislative push on housing, with an emphasis on prefab construction, new materials and productivity gains made possible by technology. Newsom said new technology can speed the construction process. California managed to build just 110,000 housing units last year, well below what it needs to keep up with demand. (State Affairs)
ANIMAL WELFARE: The New Jersey Senate Economic Growth Committee has approved legislation barring the sale of cats, dogs and rabbits at pet stores. Supporters say the bill would stop the flow of ill or abused dogs from puppy mills. Fewer than 20 pet stores in the state still sell animals. (New Jersey Monitor)
DISASTER RELIEF: A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore $3.6 billion in canceled FEMA disaster mitigation funding. The administration said in April it would end the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which helped fund pre-disaster projects to harden infrastructure. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia sued. (Associated Press)
In Politics & Business
MINNESOTA: MyPillow founder Mike Lindell (R) will formally run for governor, he said Thursday, after filing papers creating a campaign committee earlier this week. Lindell will face House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R), former state Sen. Scott Jensen (R), state Rep. Kristin Robbins (R) and lawyer Chris Madel (R) in the GOP primary. (MinnPost)
OHIO: Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is signaling he will back entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (R) as his successor, but he’s not quite ready to announce an endorsement. DeWine declined to criticize likely Democratic nominee Amy Acton, who served as DeWine’s state health director during the Covid pandemic. (State Affairs)
DeWine had worked to recruit another Republican to jump into the race. His chosen candidate, Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel (R), declined to run.
WISCONSIN: A three-judge panel will hear arguments in a Democratic challenge to state congressional district lines that plaintiffs hope will be resolved before the November elections. Hearings today will determine the timelines for moving two separate cases forward after the state Supreme Court ordered the panel to oversee the litigation. (Associated Press)
2028: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) visited a meeting of the Democratic National Committee Thursday in Los Angeles as he considers a 2028 presidential bid. Newsom said he is nervous that his forthcoming autobiography contains candid details about his life and those around him. (Los Angeles Times)
By The Numbers
Nearly 5 trillion: The amount of water, in gallons, that has fallen on Washington State in the last week as an atmospheric river washed over the Pacific Northwest. Many communities north of Seattle are under flood evacuation orders. (Seattle Times)
Nearly 40,000: The number of people who have died on California roadways in the last decade. More than two million have been injured over the same span. (Associated Press)
121,000: The number of animals in the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, down from a peak of 490,000 in 2003. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game conducted the most recent census of the herd, which suggests additional hunting restrictions are likely. (Alaska Beacon)
Off The Wall
Louisiana lawmakers have voted to spend $2 million on a rodeo festival at the Superdome in New Orleans in April. The festival, part of Gov. Jeff Landry’s (R) initiative to diversify the types of attractions that come to the state, will fill a blank space on the calendar after Wrestlemania 42 relocated to Las Vegas. (Louisiana Illuminator)
Michigan Sen. Michael Webber (R) has spearheaded legislation to rename a section of road in East Lansing for Magic Johnson, who won a national championship with Michigan State University. But Senate Local Government Committee chair Veronica Klinefelt (D) is unlikely to allow the bill to come up for a hearing because Johnson, 66, is still alive. A Klinefelt spokesperson said her intention is to rename highways after people who are deceased. (MLive)
Quote of the Day
“We don’t want our main export to be our younger New Yorkers. We want to keep them here.”
— New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (D), whose office released a report showing the state’s Gen Z and younger millennial residents struggling with high unemployment rates, large debt burdens and soaring housing costs. (State of Politics)