Good morning, it’s Friday, January 9, 2026. In today’s edition, lawmakers get antsy over data center tax breaks; New York City plans free child care; new polls in Illinois, Florida:
Top Stories
ENERGY: Lawmakers in Arizona, Michigan, Virginia and Washington are advancing bills to end sales tax breaks for data centers, a sign of growing backlash against a building spree by tech companies aiming to win the AI race. Bipartisan groups of lawmakers say their constituents don’t want data centers in their back yards. At least 32 states exempt data center equipment from sales taxes. (Pluribus News)
MORE: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has signed legislation establishing a new battery storage incentive program, requiring the state to procure three gigawatts of storage by 2030. The bill lowers barriers for installation of solar panels on homes and businesses and allows the state Commerce Commission to accelerate renewable energy projects before federal tax credits expire. (Pluribus News)
CHILD CARE: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) outlined a new plan to create universal access to child care for 2-year-olds. Hochul said the state committed funding the program for the first two years. Hochul also unveiled a $470 million investment to create universal pre-K throughout the state. (State of Politics)
MORE: Attorneys general in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York have sued the Trump administration over frozen money for public benefit programs. The administration announced the freeze this week over alleged fraud concerns following the child care fraud scandal in Minnesota. (Associated Press)
HOUSING: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) used his final State of the State address to regulate the practice of investors buying up stocks of housing to rent out. Newsom proposed changes to the state tax code to dissuade investor purchases, similar to a proposal President Trump made on his social media network on Wednesday. (CalMatters)
HEALTH CARE: Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) has sued Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and Eli Lilly, alleging the companies conspired to artificially inflate insulin prices and diabetes medication. The lawsuit also includes pharmacy benefit manager companies Express Scripts, CVS Caremark and Optus. About 20 states have sued in recent years over insulin prices. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)
EDUCATION: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has signed legislation requiring school districts to bar students from using cell phones and smart devices during school hours. Murphy signed the bill at Ramsey High School, where cell phones have been banned for a year and where 80% of teachers report increased engagement in class. (New Jersey Monitor)
NATIONAL GUARD: The New Hampshire House has approved legislation requiring a declaration of war before the National Guard could be deployed to a foreign country. A similar bill died in the state Senate in 2024. (WMUR)
In Politics & Business
ILLINOIS: An Emerson College poll finds former state Sen. Darren Bailey (R) leading the Republican field for governor with 34% of the vote. Conservative activist Ted Dabrowski (R) registers second at 8%, while DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick (R) clocks 5%. Gov. Pritzker sports a 51% approval rating. (Emerson)
FLORIDA: A poll conducted for U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds’s (R) gubernatorial campaign finds him with 47% of the vote, compared with just 5% who back businessman James Fishback (R) and 4% who support former House Speaker Paul Renner (R). If First Lady Casey DeSantis (R) enters the race, Donalds would lead 39% to 26%, the poll found. (Florida Politics)
OHIO: Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has formally endorsed entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (R) as his successor. DeWine’s nod comes after he tried to recruit other candidates to run for governor, and in spite of his close work with former state health director Amy Acton (D), the likely Democratic nominee. (Columbus Dispatch)
GEORGIA: Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett (D) will run for Secretary of State, she said Thursday. She joins Fulton County State Court Judge Penny Brown Reynolds (D) and two other candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to replace incumbent Brad Raffensperger (R), who is running for governor. (Associated Press)
By The Numbers
54%: The share of Canadians who own residential property in America who say they intend to sell those homes within the next year. Most who intend to sell cite the Trump administration as the reason they plan to divest. (Florida Politics)
More than 301,000: The number of students who enrolled at a University of California campus in the fall, the largest number in history. More than 200,000 of those students are California residents. (Los Angeles Times)
$94,675: The average annual pay for a Connecticut state employee, up 35% since Gov. Ned Lamont (D) took office in 2018. Wages have risen over the last seven years under a collective bargaining agreement signed by former Gov. Dannel Malloy (D). (Inside Investigator)
Off The Wall
A new Economist poll finds soccer is now America’s third-most popular sport, surpassing baseball and trailing only football and basketball. More than a third of American sports fans say football is their favorite sport, compared with 17% who pick basketball, 10% who chose soccer and 9% who opted for baseball. (Fox Sports)
Residents in Gander, Newfoundland, formed an impromptu shuttle service to help stranded airline passengers get from the airport to four local hotels this week. About 200 passengers aboard planes that couldn’t land in St. John’s because of weather were shuttled to hotels after a manager at one hotel posted on a local Facebook group at 10 p.m. Wednesday night. (CTV)
Quote of the Day
“Every parent understands this — our kids are increasingly more anxious, more addicted, less free, less happy, because so much of their lives is lived online.”
— California Gov. Newsom, using his final State of the State address to urge lawmakers to take action to limit the influence of social media. (State Affairs)