Good morning, it’s Thursday, March 20, 2025. Tip-off time is three hours away! In today’s edition, states get crypto-curious; Texas Senate advances library bill, housing expansion, THC ban; Washington Gov’s top aide out just weeks into his term:
Top Stories
CRYPTOCURRENCY: Lawmakers in at least 19 states are considering bills to create strategic cryptocurrency reserves or allow treasurers to invest public money in alternative currencies. Most bills would allow states to invest up to 10% of public money in crypto. They are written in such a way as to limit investment options to Bitcoin, the currency with the highest market capitalization. (Pluribus News)
As one expert pointed out to us, allowing a treasurer to invest in crypto is much different from requiring such an investment. Treasurers are notoriously conservative in their investment decisions.
TRANS RIGHTS: A New Hampshire House committee has advanced legislation barring puberty blockers for transgender minors. The bill now heads to the House floor, where Republicans hold a majority. (WMUR)
EDUCATION: The Ohio House has approved an education reform bill to ban faculty from striking, ban tenure and faculty evaluations from collective bargaining agreements and allow administrators to call for post-tenure review for professors who get poor evaluations. The bill also bans diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, though it does not define DEI. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
MORE: The Texas Senate approved legislation giving school boards, rather than librarians, final say over what books can appear in school libraries. The bill also gives parents the authority to challenge books. (Texas Tribune) The Senate also approved legislation banning DEI initiatives from K-12 schools. (Texas Tribune)
HOUSING: The Texas Senate approved a bill to reduce the amount of land cities can require for new single-family homes, allowing smaller homes on smaller lots. The bill would only apply to new subdivisions, rather than existing neighborhoods. (Texas Tribune)
MARIJUANA: The Texas Senate has approved a ban on all forms of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and hemp. The bill would outlaw products with any amount of THC, including gummies, beverages, vapes and flower buds. The House is considering a bill to impose stricter oversight and licensing regulation rather than banning THC altogether. (Texas Tribune)
PUBLIC HEALTH: The Nebraska legislature voted unanimously to add a 20% wholesale excise tax on “nicotine-like” alternative tobacco products like Zyn. Current law taxes those products under the state’s 5.5% sales tax. Lawmakers said the increased tax rate would generate $56.4 million in 2027. (Nebraska Examiner)
AID IN DYING: The Delaware House has approved legislation allowing medical aid in dying. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces a narrow path to passage. Then-Gov. John Carney (D) vetoed a similar bill last year, but Gov. Matt Meyer (D) has said he would sign it. (Delaware Public Media)
TRANSPORTATION: The Michigan House has approved a nine-bill package allocating $3.14 billion to road funding. The package would allocate $2.2 billion in corporate income tax revenue to fix infrastructure, as well as $945 million in gas tax funding. (MLive)
In Politics & Business
WASHINGTON: Gov. Bob Ferguson’s (D) chief strategist Mike Webb has resigned in the face of allegations he created a hostile work environment. Webb defended himself, though he said he regretted the allegations. His exit follows departures of two top legislative liaisons just weeks into Ferguson’s term in office. (Seattle Times)
KANSAS: Voters will get to decide next August whether to make state Supreme Court seats elected positions, after the state House gave final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment. Justices are currently appointed by the governor from a list of three finalists selected by a nine-member nominating commission. (Kansas Reflector)
OREGON: The House Rules Committee heard testimony Wednesday over legislation that would allow open primaries, in which voters could select candidates of any political party. The two top vote-getters in primary elections would advance to a general election regardless of party affiliation. Unaffiliated voters make up 36% of Oregon’s registered voters. (Willamette Week)
IOWA: The state Senate has approved legislation to ban ranked-choice voting in municipal, state and federal elections. No jurisdictions in Iowa use ranked-choice voting. (Des Moines Register)
By The Numbers
$524 million: The latest tranche of disaster relief spending approved by North Carolina lawmakers in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The package includes $327 million to pay for recovery from previous storms unrelated to last year’s hurricane. (Associated Press)
$72 million: The amount of tax revenue Maryland collected from recreational cannabis sales in 2024. Recreational sales in the first full year of legalization totaled more than $1.1 billion. (Baltimore Sun)
Off The Wall
A Texas woman who won an $83.5 million lottery prize is fighting with state lottery officials who say they cannot give her a payout while they investigate how she purchased her ticket. The woman bought the winning ticket through an online app run by a courier, an unregulated industry which the state is now investigating. (Texas Tribune)
Washington State officials have awarded the Medal of Merit, the state’s top honor, to Jimi Hendrix, the Seattle-born guitar legend who died in 1970 at 27. Hendrix served as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army before launching his musical career. (Spokane Spokesman-Review)
Quote of the Day
“We’re beginning to understand that cars are a privacy nightmare.”
— Oregon Rep. David Gomberg (D), on legislation giving drivers more control over how automakers collect and use personal data. (Oregonian)