Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 25, 2024. In today’s edition, states combat traffic fatalities; Missouri judge blocks Title IX expansion; Stein leads Robinson in North Carolina Gov poll:
Top Stories
PUBLIC SAFETY: Traffic fatalities surged during the coronavirus pandemic, reversing decades of improvements in road and pedestrian safety. The statistics are falling back to normal, but state and federal policymakers are still alarmed at the number of Americans who die on the roads.
Utah lawmakers passed a first-in-the-nation law increasing penalties for road rage incidents. New York lawmakers approved legislation boosting red-light cameras in New York City, where intersections that already have those cameras see a 65% reduction in crashes.
Colorado and Pennsylvania became the latest in a long line of states to ban hand-held phones while driving. And the Connecticut Department of Transportation is installing wrong-way driver alert systems on 200 high-risk exit ramps, after the tragic death of a young lawmaker hit by a wrong-way driver last year. Read more at Pluribus News.
LGBTQ RIGHTS: A federal judge in Missouri has halted implementation of the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule extending protections for LGBTQ students, ruling in favor of Republican attorneys general led by Arkansas’s Tim Griffin (R). Judges in the 5th and 6th Circuits have issued similar injunctions. (Arkansas Advocate)
MORE: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed legislation Wednesday banning “gay panic” or “trans panic” legal defenses, which allowed defendants to argue that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity justified assault. (Michigan Advance)
Virtually every state where Democrats have controlled the legislature within the last decade has passed a ban on gay panic defenses, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
HEALTH CARE: The Massachusetts House unanimously passed legislation regulating pharmacy benefit managers, banning or limiting spread pricing, rebates and clawbacks and mandating audits. The bill would eliminate co-pays for generic drugs. (Boston Herald)
WORKFORCE: Massachusetts lawmakers have given final approval to legislation requiring businesses with 25 or more employees to disclose a salary range when posting a job. Gov. Maura Healey (D) is expected to sign the bill, which would make Massachusetts the 11th state to mandate pay transparency. (Associated Press)
TAXES: Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) has called lawmakers back into special session today to consider property tax relief. Pillen wants the state to take over 80% of local K-12 education expenses from local property tax rolls. He has proposed increasing “sin” taxes and removing sales and use tax exemptions on more than 100 goods and services. (Nebraska Examiner)
In Politics & Business
NORTH CAROLINA: A Public Policy Polling survey finds Attorney General Josh Stein (D) leading Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) 48%-42%. (FiveThirtyEight) Most polls in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Roy Cooper (D) have showed a virtual tie between Stein and Robinson.
MISSOURI: Republican candidates running for lieutenant governor ahead of the August 6 primary have spent a whopping $2.5 million on the race so far. State Sen. Lincoln Hough (R) and his allies have spent the bulk of that money as he faces six other Republicans. (KCUR)
MORE: Gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Bill Eigel (R) is out with a new advertisement promising to crack down on illegal immigration, alongside a Latino man translating his message into Spanish. The translator ends the ad with his hands on his head, echoing Speedy Gonzalez: “Ay caramba!” (Mediaite)
ARIZONA: The Fraternal Order of Police has rescinded its endorsement of Sen. Justine Wadsack (R) after Wadsack accused the Tucson Police Department of “political persecution.” Officers had asked Wadsack to come to the police station to sign a ticket for excessive speeding; she was recorded driving 71 miles per hour in a 35 m.p.h. zone. (Arizona Republic)
Drive on any interstate in Arizona and you’d think going twice the speed limit was required.
By The Numbers
23,002,597: The estimated population of Florida on April 1 of this year, according to state demographers. It’s the first time Florida’s population has surpassed 23 million. (Associated Press)
17: The number of California condor chicks that have hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo during this year’s breeding season, smashing a previous record set in 1997. As of the most recent count, there are about 560 California condors in the world, 340 of which were living in the wild. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
Southwest Airlines plans to start assigning seats on its flights for the first time in its half-century history. Southwest also said it would begin flying overnight redeye flights, beginning in February with nonstop service between West Coast cities and Baltimore and Nashville. (Associated Press)
Massachusetts officials cut a check for $46.4 million to the producers of “Don’t Look Up,” the 2021 apocalypse film starring Leonardo DiCaprio — the largest film tax incentive awarded in state history. That’s nearly twice the previous record of $26.7 million awarded to the 2016 remake of “Ghostbusters.” (Boston Globe)
Quote of the Day
“[T]he bigger and broader the law is, the greater chance that there will be a First Amendment violation found by the courts.”
— Nancy Costello, director of Michigan State University’s First Amendment Clinic, on proposed California legislation to regulate social media companies. (Los Angeles Times)