Good morning, it’s Wednesday, September 18, 2024. In today’s edition, Newsom signs AI regulations; Republicans lead polls in Missouri, Indiana; redistricting reformers feature Jim Harbaugh in new ad:
Top Stories
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has started working his way through the piles of artificial intelligence legislation sitting on his desk.
Newsom signed two bills aimed at protecting performers on Tuesday. One bill establishes protections for performers who sign entertainment contracts that include AI-related provisions, requiring that performers be represented by a lawyer or a union when negotiating the contract. The other bill would impose penalties for the unauthorized use of digital replicas of a deceased person’s voice or likeness.
Later Tuesday, Newsom signed three bills cracking down on deepfakes designed to confuse or mislead voters. One would bar the knowing distribution of materially deceptive election-related content with malice. Newsom announced his signature on X, the social media platform, above a photo of Elon Musk. Read more at Pluribus News.
Still waiting on Newsom to act on several other important tech and AI-related bills, which he’ll surely do at midnight on a Saturday.
ELECTIONS: Updating a story we brought you yesterday, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating suspicious packages sent to elections officials in at least 16 states. Packages arrived in offices in Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Mississippi and Rhode Island, and another package was intercepted before it reached Connecticut officials. No one has been harmed. (Associated Press, ABC News)
ENVIRONMENT: Republican attorneys general in 24 states have signed letters to the Environmental Protection Agency urging them to deny California’s request for a waiver to implement new standards that would ban the sale of larger diesel vehicles beginning in 2036. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
EDUCATION: Michigan Rep. Mark Tisdel (R) has introduced legislation to require school boards to set cellphone policies by grade level. K-5 students would be barred from having devices on school grounds. Students in grades 9 to 12 would be barred from using phones during instructional time. (Detroit Free Press)
Virginia’s Department of Education has published its final cellphone guidance for schools. The guidelines will require students to turn off and stow phones from “bell-to-bell.” (WTOP)
GUN POLITICS: New York lawmakers have approved a bill to require licensed gun dealers to post a warning about the risks of owning a firearm. The bill would require gun dealers to give buyers the contact information of the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at the time of sale. (State of Politics)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has signed an executive order expanding reentry programs for prisoners who compete their sentences. The order requires developing comprehensive exit strategies including housing, employment, health care and substance abuse treatment. (Washington State Standard)
In Politics & Business
INDIANA: U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R) leads former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick (D) 45%-34% in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Eric Holcomb (R). Libertarian Donald Rainwater takes 6%, according to a new Emerson poll of the race. (Pluribus News)
MISSOURI: Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) has a 52%-36% lead over House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D) in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Mike Parson (R). The same poll showed 58% of Missouri voters plan to back a proposed constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights, while 30% are opposed. The poll found 52% back legalized sports betting, while 25% will vote against. (Pluribus News)
OHIO: Supporters of a redistricting reform amendment are airing a new ad featuring former University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh was suspended for three games last season in a sign-stealing scandal; redistricting reformers likened that scandal to gerrymandering. (Columbus Dispatch)
We don’t usually cover individual campaign ads, but this one gets points for creativity.
WASHINGTON: Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) and former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R) meet in their second gubernatorial debate tonight at 6 p.m. Pacific Time. Our colleague Austin Jenkins is on the panel. Tune in here.
CRIME BLOTTER: Milwaukee police have issued a citation to Reggie Rhoden, executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party, for allegedly throwing a phone during a dispute at the Republican National Convention in July. The phone allegedly hit a member of the Maryland delegation. (Fargo Forum)
By The Numbers
54%: The share of Americans who sometimes or often get their news from social media sites. Facebook (33% of Americans) and YouTube (32%) are the most common sources of news, while Instagram (20%) and TikTok (17%) have shown the most growth over the last five years. (Pew Research Center)
113: The number of consecutive days in which the temperature in Phoenix topped 100 degrees. The streak ended Tuesday when the mercury topped out at 93 degrees. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
More than 800 people from 33 states and Canada participated in this year’s Florida Python Challenge, an annual hunt for invasive Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades. Ronald Kiger took home the $10,000 grand prize for capturing 20 snakes over ten days. (Associated Press)
There’s not enough money in the world to inspire us to go hunting for snakes.
Norway has become the first country in the world with more fully electric vehicles on the road than gas-powered cars. Norway’s road federation said Tuesday that 26.3% of vehicles are fully electric, just more than the number of gas vehicles. Diesel vehicles are still more common than EVs, though. (Washington Post)
Quote of the Day
“There are Pennsylvanians who may be traveling out of state to purchase cannabis, and that’s, I think, something that we want to be focused on doing here in our commonwealth.”
— Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), backing legalized recreational marijuana. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)