Good morning, it’s Friday, January 2, 2026. Happy new year! In today’s edition, social media mobility gets bipartisan backing; Tennessee seeks new AI rules; previewing the 2026 midterm environment:
Top Stories
SOCIAL MEDIA: A new push to allow consumers to transfer social media data between platforms is gaining strength among state lawmakers after Utah passed a first-in-the-nation law in 2025. Similar bills have been filed in New Hampshire, New York and South Carolina, while a Vermont bill carries over from last year.
The bipartisan concept is being pushed by Project Liberty, a $500 million initiative launched by former L.A. Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. The Digital Choice Act would grant consumers the right to access and move social media data. It would also allow users to request that a platform delete their personal data. Industry groups warn it would harm consumer privacy and online security. (Pluribus News)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Tennessee Rep. Mary Littleton (R) has introduced legislation making it a crime to knowingly train AI systems to encourage suicide or homicide or to simulate a human-like relationship. The measure excludes basic customer-service bots, video game characters or voice assistants like smart speakers. It would bar AI systems from presenting themselves as licensed mental health or medical health professionals. (State Affairs)
NATIONAL GUARD: President Trump is dropping his push to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland. Troops were never deployed in Chicago and Portland amid legal challenges, and the Guard had already left Los Angeles. California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) called the return of Guard troops to state command a “major litigation victory.” (Associated Press)
CONSUMER PROTECTIONS: A bipartisan pair of Ohio senators are proposing bans on junk fees. The separate bills call for transparency on mandatory fees and surcharges in consumer transactions, and surcharges specifically tied to credit cards. Six other states, mostly controlled by Democrats, have approved junk fee bans. (State Affairs)
HEALTH CARE: California’s Medi-Cal program has ended coverage of popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy, citing skyrocketing costs. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Wisconsin are all planning or considering restrictions on paying for the GLP-1 drugs, despite a Trump administration agreement with pharmaceutical companies to cut costs. (Los Angeles Times)
IMMIGRATION: California is delaying the revocation of 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants after immigrant rights groups sued to block the suspensions. The delay will allow more time to let legally qualified drivers keep their licenses, though the Trump administration has threatened to withhold $160 million in state funding. (Associated Press)
In Politics & Business
MIDTERM ELECTIONS: Fresh off electoral victories in Virginia and New Jersey and buoyed by historical trends, Democrats are optimistic heading into this year’s elections that they have one of the best chances in recent memory to secure substantial gains in state legislative elections — a chance to claw back some of the gains Republicans made in the red wave of 2010.
In interviews with nearly a dozen legislative leaders from around the country, both parties say they will focus campaigns on the growing affordability crisis that defined the presidential contest in 2024. Democrats plan to blame President Trump’s policies. Republicans say they will attempt to shift the blame to Democratic governors.
Many of the legislative battlegrounds overlap with the states key to an electoral college win. Democrats hope to win control or make big gains in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Republicans are targeting the Michigan Senate, the Minnesota Senate and the Pennsylvania House, all narrowly controlled by Democrats.
Midterm elections are historically difficult for the party that controls the White House. Trump’s Republicans lost seven legislative chambers and 312 seats in 2018. President Barack Obama’s Democrats lost 21 chambers and 677 legislative seats in 2010. Republicans say they took note of their losses in 2025, embracing an affordability message that those campaigns lacked. (Pluribus News)
By The Numbers
$340 million: The amount Indiana netted from Hoosier Lottery in 2025, down 7.9% from last year. That decline mirrored lower sales in other states across the nation. (State Affairs)
91%: The share of North Dakotans who say they are proud to call the state home, according to a poll commissioned by the North Dakota News Cooperative. Among voters, 32% said they were proud their state is a safe place to live, while 29% cited people in their communities and 27% said they were proud of values around faith and family. (North Dakota Monitor)
$7.6 million: The amount Connecticut lawmakers spent sending newsletters to voters over the last five years. Democrats spent about two-thirds of that money. (CT Insider)
Off The Wall
Lake Superior State University has released the 50th edition of its “Banished Words list,” the roundup of overused slang. Among the top contenders: “Cooked,” “demure,” “incentivize,” “my bad” — and, of course, “6-7.” (Associated Press)
We get more emails about our 6-7 jokes than anything else. That’s either a testament to how obnoxious the saying is, or evidence that our other jokes are terrible.
Rex, a wallaby that escaped from a New Jersey farm, has been captured after it returned to a Walmart parking lot for a second time. The wallaby escaped its cage earlier this week after being moved to a barn amid high winds. The farm said Rex is safe and healthy at home. (UPI)
City and state offices in Juneau have been closed this week after record-breaking snowfall. Alaska’s capital saw 63.7 inches of snow in December, nine inches higher than the previous record set in December 1964. (Alaska Public Media)
Quote of the Day
“You know, ‘Do you want to go through another two years? What’s the world going to look like?’”
— Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R), on whether he’ll seek re-election in 2026. Vos, who narrowly survived a primary challenge in 2024, is the longest-serving House speaker in Wisconsin history. (State Affairs)