Good morning, it’s Tuesday, May 2, 2023. In today’s edition, Okla. latest to ban gender-affirming care, Texas next; Wash. Gov. Inslee won’t run for 3rd term; Fla. set to vote on immigration restrictions:
Top Stories
IMMIGRATION: The Florida House is expected to vote as early as today on legislation requiring hospitals to collect data on their patients’ immigration status, requiring employers with more than 25 workers to use E-Verify and criminalizing bringing undocumented immigrants into the state. The bill allocates $12 million for transporting migrants out of state. (Florida Politics)
HEALTH CARE: Oregon’s state House has approved a bill protecting abortion access and gender-affirming care on a party-line vote after six hours of debate. The bill would shield patients and providers from lawsuits originating in other states. (Associated Press) Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) has signed legislation allowing women to obtain birth control without a prescription. (Associated Press)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) has signed a bill making it a felony to provide children with gender-affirming care. (Associated Press) A St. Louis County judge has blocked Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s (R) proposed rule barring gender-affirming care for minors and adults, just hours before it took effect. (KCUR) The Texas House is debating a gender-affirming care ban for minors, after the bill passed the state Senate. (Dallas Morning News)
WORKFORCE: Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced a measure that would allow workers aged 14 and over to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants. If adopted, Wisconsin would have the lowest alcohol service age limit in the nation. (Associated Press)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed legislation allowing the death penalty for criminals convicted of child rape. The measure is intended to force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a 2008 decision that found capital punishment in such cases unconstitutional. (Orlando Sentinel) The North Carolina Senate unanimously approved a bill increasing punishments for distributing obscene literature or performances. (Associated Press) The Pennsylvania Senate has approved a bill banning safe injection sites after Philadelphia planned to open one. (Associated Press)
GUN POLITICS: The Florida House is set to vote on a measure banning credit card companies and financial institutions from assigning specific classification codes to firearm and ammunition purchases. The bill passed the Senate last month. (Florida Politics)
TECHNOLOGY: Uber and Lyft are opposing an Illinois bill that would end an exemption that frees rideshare companies from responsibility for passenger safety. The state House approved the bill in March. (Center Square) PornHub has blocked users in Utah from access to its site days before a new measure requiring adult websites to verify the age of users. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Lede of the day: “State Sen. Todd Weiler picked up the phone Monday morning and received an angry, profanity-laced tirade from a Utah man upset that he could no longer access PornHub, thanks to a bill the senator sponsored.”
MARIJUANA: The Montana Senate has approved a bill allocating marijuana tax revenue between infrastructure funding, habitat and parks programs and veterans. Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) says he has concerns with the bill. (Daily Montanan) Supporters of legal marijuana will try again to qualify a measure for the Ohio ballot later this year. They need 124,000 signatures to qualify. (Ohio Capital Journal)
The last time Ohio voters had the chance to legalize recreational pot, supporters used a mascot named Buddie to promote their campaign. Click here for a photo.
In Politics & Business
WASHINGTON: Gov. Jay Inslee (D) will not seek a fourth term in office in 2024, he said Monday. Inslee is only the second governor in Washington history to serve three consecutive terms. Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) and Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz (D) are likely to get in the race. (Pluribus News)
Washington hasn’t elected a Republican governor since John Spellman in 1980.
MONTANA: State Rep. Zooey Zephyr has filed a lawsuit seeking to lift disciplinary actions that prevent her from accessing the state House floor. Zephyr was barred from debate by House Republicans after she criticized a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors. (Pluribus News)
IOWA: The state House has approved a measure requiring in-person participation at presidential caucuses. The bill is aimed to preserve Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential contest, after New Hampshire officials threatened to jump ahead of them if remote voting was allowed. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
INDIANA: Software engineer Donald Rainwater (L) will run for governor in 2024. Rainwater received 11.4% of the vote in 2020, the highest level of support for any third-party candidate in Indiana history. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
WHITE HOUSE: Count Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) out of the presidential contest. Youngkin said he would not run during an event at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Beverly Hills on Monday. (Los Angeles Times)
By The Numbers
$3.77 billion: The amount state governments collected in sales and excise taxes on recreational marijuana in 2022, down about 2% from the year prior. Revenue fell even though six new states — Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — began selling legal pot. (Pluribus News)
$186,000: The amount one Maryland driver owes the District of Columbia in unpaid traffic tickets. The scofflaw has 339 outstanding tickets on his or her record. (Washington Post)
$2.9 billion: The budget surplus Connecticut is likely to have this year, according to a consensus report. That’s great news — except it’s $400 million less than originally forecast, as investment-related income tax receipts fell. (CT Mirror)
123,000: The number of housing units California added in 2022, the highest number since 2008. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) pledged to build 3.5 million homes by 2025, then revised the goal to 2.5 million homes by 2030. (Sacramento Bee)
Off The Wall
Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D) has apologized for taking a consulting job with a marijuana company, a few days after Gov. Tina Kotek (D) called on the state ethics commission to investigate. Fagan was paid $10,000 a month, with bonuses if she helped the firm get licensed in other states. (Associated Press) Fagan said she had resigned from the company. (Oregonian)
The Connecticut legislature’s Planning and Development Committee has approved legislation requiring members of local boards and commissions to show their faces when talking and voting while they participate remotely. No more camera-less zooming. (New Haven Register)
Speaking of legislating by zoom, Minnesota state Sen. Calvin Bahr (R) has become internet-famous for appearing remotely in a Legislative Audit Commission meeting while lying in bed shirtless. A spokeswoman said Bahr had been working his day job as a trucker until 4:45 a.m. before hitting the sack. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Quote of the Day
“We’ve had floods on the first two floors, we’ve had floods where the cars have floated off in the parking lot, we’ve had air conditioning units that — basically just like the elevators — they don’t even make parts for anymore.”
— Alabama Secretary of the Senate Patrick Harris, on the aging state house building. Officials are proposing to build a new state house on a 2.5-acre site in Montgomery. (Yellowhammer News)