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Pluribus AM: States deploy Guard units to help Florida’s recovery

Good morning, it’s Friday, October 11, 2024. In today’s edition, states prepare onslaught of AI legislation; National Guard units head to Florida; New Jersey targets rent algorithms:

Top Stories

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: State lawmakers are preparing an onslaught of new legislation to regulate and oversee artificial intelligence adoption next year, many modeled on some of the key bills that passed in states like California, Colorado, Illinois and Utah this year.

AI safety advocates are working to spread two California bills in particular: One that would require generative AI developers to disclose information about the data they use to train their models, and another that would mandate developers make available detection tools to allow users to spot AI.

Expect major AI regulation packages to come up in Connecticut, Texas and New York, where lawmakers are finalizing plans for next session. Those bills, and more, will pressure the booming AI industry to mount a multi-front lobbying campaign to convince lawmakers that regulations should come from the federal level. Read more at Pluribus News.

DISASTER RELIEF: States are beginning to deploy National Guard members to Florida to help with relief efforts from Hurricane Milton. Guard members from New Hampshire, Nebraska, Missouri, Delaware, Indiana and more are headed to the state.(Omaha World Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Northwest Indiana Times, WMUR)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Texas lawmakers held hearings Thursday on ways to combat retail theft, including tougher penalties for criminals and lowering monetary thresholds for thefts to count as felonies. An industry group estimated Texas retailers lost $5.9 billion to theft in 2022. (KXAN)

HOUSING: Two New Jersey lawmakers have introduced legislation to bar algorithmic tools used by landlords to set rents and keep housing supply off the market. The measure comes after a ProPublica investigation found the website RealPage, which uses algorithms and data provided by member landlords, is helping drive up rents nationwide. (New Jersey Monitor)

HEALTH CARE: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has signed legislation allowing home health care workers to unionize. Whitmer also signed bills granting low-income residents access to a broader range of care centers, and increasing pay for health care workers. (Michigan Advance)

In Politics & Business

MONTANA: A new New York Times/Siena College poll finds Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) cruising to re-election. Gianforte leads former gun industry executive Ryan Busse (D) 57% to 35%, the poll shows. (New York Times)

Gianforte won election four years ago by a 13-point margin.

MORE: Attorneys for Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R) and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel offered closing statements in a disciplinary hearing over alleged inflammatory and derogatory statements Knudsen made about the state Supreme Court during litigation in 2021. Other attorneys facing similar charges have faced suspension or disbarment — but none of those attorneys were the state’s top law enforcement officer. (Daily Montanan)

There’s a long backstory here, well detailed in the story above.

NORTH CAROLINA: A new poll from Emerson College finds Attorney General Josh Stein (D) leading Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) 50%-34%. (Emerson) Stein has led by double digits in 12 consecutive public polls, dating to mid-September.

WASHINGTON: State lawmakers are set to receive a 14% pay raise over the next two years, after winning approval from the Washington Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials. Rank-and-file lawmakers will earn a base of $71,126 by 2026. (Washington State Standard)

By The Numbers

2.5%: The size of the cost-of-living increase Social Security recipients will see in their monthly checks beginning in January, the Social Security Administration said Thursday. That’s an average increase of about $50 a month. (Associated Press)

$1.8 billion: The size of losses incurred by Alaska’s seafood industry last year, a decline caused by fishery collapses and economic challenges. The declines caused an estimated 38,000 jobs to disappear nationwide. (Alaska Beacon)

Off The Wall

Former NFL legend and podcast host Marshawn Lynch may want to add a new line to his resume: Mayor of Oakland, his home town. Lynch’s podcast co-host, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), hinted that polls have already been conducted: Newsom said Lynch’s favorability rating is high among Oakland voters. (Politico)

Ultra runners tackled the Taco Bell 50K last week, a grueling race in which they had to stop at ten Taco Bells in the Denver area — and eat a menu item at nine of them. One of the race’s key rules: Throwing up is grounds for disqualification. (Colorado Sun)

“I haven’t had Taco Bell since I was drunk in college,” one ultramarathoner told the Sun.

Quote of the Day

“I like being married and my wife would absolutely not have anything to do with it.”

University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd (R), who ran for governor in 2018, on whether he would mount another campaign. (State Affairs)