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Good morning, it’s Monday, October 2, 2023. Happy birthday to us, Pluribus News is a year old! In today’s edition, SCOTUS to take up social media bills; Texas lawmakers to hold special session; Virginia elections attract big bucks:
Top Stories
SOCIAL MEDIA: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear constitutional challenges to social media anti-censorship laws passed in Florida and Texas in 2021. Justices said Friday they will consider whether restrictions on content moderation violate the First Amendment, and whether a requirement for individual explanations of content moderation decisions is constitutional. (Pluribus News)
EDUCATION: Texas legislators will return to Austin Oct. 9 for a special session, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said in a letter to House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R). Abbott did not specify topics for the special session, but he has said repeatedly he wants legislators to consider public school funding, an increase in voucher programs and education savings accounts. (Texas Tribune)
MORE: Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson (R) says expanding school choice legislation will be a top priority in next year’s session. A school choice bill died in the Senate this year over objections from rural Republicans. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
ABORTION: A federal judge has blocked a provision of North Carolina’s new abortion law that require surgical abortions to take place in hospitals, and a provision that requires doctors to document the existence of a pregnancy within the uterus before prescribing a medication abortion. Most of the 12-week ban remains in effect. (Associated Press)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has issued temporary guidance allowing some gender-affirming care for minors to continue, if patients receive therapeutic hours of care. The regulations define gender dysphoria and gender nonconformity and set a waiting period between when a patient consents and when a prescription can be written. (Nebraska Examiner)
TORT REFORM: Allies of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) are launching a digital media campaign to back his plan to limit what he calls “frivolous” lawsuits and to cap jury damages. Kemp advisors say he will play a direct role in crafting legislation to limit lawsuits. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
LABOR: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vetoed legislation that would have allowed striking workers to collect unemployment checks while they are on the picket line. He cited high costs of unemployment payments in his veto message. Newsom also nixed a bill to create OSHA protections for domestic workers. (Sacramento Bee)
GUN POLITICS: A federal judge has limited a new Maryland law aimed at cracking down on concealed carry of firearms. The judge’s ruling will allow those with concealed carry permits to carry their firearms in establishments that sell alcohol and within 1,000 feet of a protest or demonstration. (Baltimore Sun)
In Politics & Business
VIRGINIA: The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee will add another $1 million to legislative campaigns in Virginia this year. That’s on top of the $1.5 million the Democratic National Committee has given state Democrats. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has poured more than $5 million into the GOP’s campaign to reclaim a majority in the House of Delegates. (Axios)
MORE: Youngkin is hosting major Republican donors for a “Red Vest Retreat” at a luxury resort near Charlottesville this week. The big donors are scouting Youngkin as a potential presidential candidate. (Washington Post)
MICHIGAN: Eleven Republican lawmakers have filed suit seeking to overturn voting rights measures approved by voters in 2018 and 2022. Those measures allowed same-day voter registration, nine days of early voting, absentee voting and other reforms. The lawsuit argues the constitution gives legislatures, not citizens, the right to set election rules. (Michigan Advance)
CALIFORNIA: Incoming Senate President Mike McGuire (D) held his first fundraiser for his 2026 campaign for Insurance Commissioner on Sunday. McGuire, who takes over for Senate President Toni Atkins (D) next year, is term-limited out of office in 2026. Incumbent Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara (D) also reaches his term limit that year. (Sacramento Bee)
MORE: Newsom has named Laphonza Butler (D) to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D) seat in the Senate. Butler, a close advisor to then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D), used to run California’s largest labor union before taking over the fundraising behemoth EMILY’s List. (Sacramento Bee)
DELAWARE: Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long (D) is auditing past campaign finances after discovering “reporting issues” in previous filings. Hall-Long did not elaborate on what those reporting issues are, but she’s pausing fundraising for her gubernatorial campaign until they are resolved. (Delaware Public Media)
By The Numbers
524,076: The number of Florida residents who have lost Medicaid coverage since the end of pandemic-era emergency rules. A report from state House Democrats found nearly 50% of those who have lost coverage are under 21. (Florida Politics)
989: The number of license plate designs offered by Maryland’s Department of Motor Vehicles, more than any other state in the nation. Some of the designs honor the American Sewing Guild, the Ocean City Parrothead Club and the Maryland Republican Party. (Washington Post)
0.15 inches: The amount of rain that fell on Phoenix between June 15 and September 30, the driest monsoon season since the National Weather Service began keeping track in 1895. Phoenix averages more than 2.4 inches of rain over the typical monsoon season. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
Dorothy Hoffner, 104, set a new world record Sunday as the oldest woman to skydive. It’s not Hoffner’s first rodeo: She went skydiving for the first time when she hit 100. (Shaw Local)
What did your neighborhood look like 50 years ago? A century ago? Here’s a cool site that can show you old maps of any location in the world.
Quote of the Day
“We need to help, but Massachusetts needs help.”
— Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka (D), on an influx of migrants the state has spent hundreds of millions of dollars sheltering. (Boston Herald)