Good morning, it’s Wednesday, April 16, 2025. In today’s edition, Arkansas backs kids’ privacy bill; red states bar SNAP spending on sugary foods; new governor candidates in Michigan, Oklahoma:
Top Stories
SOCIAL MEDIA: The Arkansas House has given final approval to a state version of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0. The bill extends privacy protections to teens through age 16, including restrictions on targeted advertising. The measure would restrict the information companies could collect from children or teens without permission. (Pluribus News)
EDUCATION: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) has signed legislation banning 11 ultra-processed additives from public school meals. Under the law, foods like Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts, Froot Loops and nacho cheese Doritos would be barred from schools. (Arizona Republic)
MORE: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) has asked the Trump administration to allow the state to ban SNAP recipients from using benefits to purchase candy, soft drinks and other unhealthy food. (Talk Business & Politics) Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) signed an executive order barring the use of SNAP benefits to purchase unhealthy foods. (Indianapolis Star)
We wrote about the red state push against using SNAP benefits for sugary food here.
EVEN MORE: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) has signed legislation expanding free lunch programs to students who currently qualify for reduced price meals. (KSL) North Carolina’s House Education Committee has approved a bill barring books and media with sexual content from school libraries. Schools could face lawsuits for noncompliance. (NC Newsline)
HEALTH CARE: Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) has signed legislation allowing the dewormer ivermectin to be sold as an over-the-counter medicine. Idaho now joins Arkansas and Tennessee as the only states to allow over-the-counter sales of the drug, which the FDA says is ineffective in treating Covid infections. (Idaho Capital Sun)
MORE: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) has signed legislation barring pharmacy benefit managers from paying pharmacists less than Medicaid does. The bill, which also bans miscellaneous fees, won unanimous approval in the legislature. (AL.com)
ENVIRONMENT: The Montana Senate has given final approval to legislation that would phase out styrofoam containers used in food packaging or delivery by 2030. The bill would allow the Department of Environmental Quality to issue fines to establishments that still use styrofoam containers. (Daily Montanan)
GUN POLITICS: The Montana legislature has approved a measure barring local governments from passing red flag laws, measures that allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms from those deemed a danger to themselves or others. (Missoulian)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The Texas Senate has approved legislation restricting the types of flags that may be flown at public schools. The bill limits flags to the U.S. flag, a state flag or a flag representing a college or university. It would ban the display of pride flags. (KVUE)
In Politics & Business
MICHIGAN: Former Attorney General Mike Cox (R) will run for governor in 2026. He joins U.S. Rep. John James (R), Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R) and activist Anthony Hudson (R) in the GOP primary. (Detroit Free Press)
OKLAHOMA: House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson (D) will run for governor in 2026, she said Tuesday. Munson is the only Democrat in the race so far; Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) and former House Speaker Charles McCall (R) are among the Republican candidates. (KOCO)
TEXAS: State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R) will run for Attorney General in 2026. Middleton said he would commit $10 million of his own money to his campaign. Former U.S. Attorney John Bash (R) has already declared his campaign. (KXAN)
COLORADO: State Sen. Jeff Bridges (D), chair of the Joint Budget Committee, will run for state Treasurer in 2026, he said Tuesday. He joins Rep. Brianna Titone (D), Jefferson County Treasurer Jerry DiTullio (D) and management consultant John Mikos (D) in the Democratic primary. (Colorado Public Radio)
By The Numbers
$500,000: The amount the Republican State Leadership Committee has invested in support of a Maine ballot measure to require voters to show a photo identification when they cast a ballot. The measure would also limit each municipality to a single ballot drop box and allows partisan designees to collect ballots. (Maine Public Radio)
$3.72 billion: The amount Canadian tourists spent in California in 2024, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) office. Newsom has launched a tourism campaign to lure Canadians to the state. (Los Angeles Times)
812: The number of billionaires in America, according to Americans for Tax Fairness, up from 551 billionaires in 2017. Those billionaires are collectively worth about $6.5 trillion. (CT Insider)
Off The Wall
Nashville artists Lydia Popovich and Dan Dion have launched a campaign to rename the city’s airport in honor of Dolly Parton. The pair have collected 51,000 signatures on Change.org. Parton’s response in a recent interview: “I mean, it does sound like a lot of fun to say: ‘Your flight is departin’ from Nashville’s D. Parton.” (UPI)
The hottest new show in Swedish television: “The Great Moose Migration.” The program, which is just a livestream of moose crossing the Angerman River about 190 miles northwest of Stockholm, broadcasts 24 hours a day for the next 20 days. It’s part of a Scandinavian trend of slow television. (Associated Press)
Our version of slow television: Legislative floor debates.
Quote of the Day
“We really do prepare for downturns.”
— Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R), who instructed state agencies to plan for a possible recession. (Salt Lake Tribune)