Good morning, it’s Tuesday, September 16, 2025. In today’s edition, states eye chatbot regulations; California increases CEQA exemptions; Utah court strikes down district lines:
Top Stories
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: State lawmakers are facing mounting pressure to regulate AI chatbots as concerns grow over threats to minors. Lawmakers in California and New York introduced first-of-their-kind bills this year, and those sponsors are talking to legislators in other states about bills to be introduced in 2026.
Attorneys general in 44 states sent letters to 13 AI companies last month, warning of consequences if chatbots expose children to sexualized content. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is investigating Character.AI and Meta’s AI Studio for allegedly marketing chatbots as mental health tools. (Pluribus News)
HOUSING: California lawmakers on Saturday voted to increase exemptions under the state Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, to speed housing projects. The bill exempts projects from environmental review in cities with populations between 85,000 and 95,000 in a county with a population of 440,000 to 455,000 — seemingly crafted to apply to a specific apartment complex near the Santa Barbara Mission. (Sacramento Bee)
REDISTRICTING: The Utah Supreme Court ruled current congressional district maps cannot be reinstated, throwing control of U.S. House district lines to an independent commission voters approved in 2018. Lawmakers appealed to the high court after existing district lines were struck down earlier this year; the Supreme Court unanimously sided with the lower court judge. (Salt Lake Tribune)
MORE: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) says his office needs lawmakers to finish up redistricting plans by Thanksgiving to ensure administrative deadlines are met ahead of next year’s elections. The Joint Committee on Congressional Redistricting meets for the first time next week. (State Affairs)
GUN POLITICS: Minnesota lawmakers heard testimony from five parents of students injured in the attack on the Church of the Annunciation school last month who back a ban on assault-style weapons. The working group heard testimony in favor of requiring gun buyers to complete a safety course, requiring serial numbers on firearms and requiring gun owners to store weapons in a locked unit. (Minnesota Reformer)
SPEECH: Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) will create new committees to study bias and free speech on university campuses. Lawmakers have called for the removal of teachers, professors and public officials who criticized Charlie Kirk after his murder. (Texas Tribune)
PUBLIC HEALTH: Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said in a podcast interview published Sunday he does not want mRNA Covid vaccines to be available in the state. Ladapo didn’t say what steps he or the state Department of Health would take to ban the shots. (Orlando Sentinel)
MORE: The California legislature approved a first-in-the-nation bill creating a statutory definition of “ultraprocessed foods,” requiring the Department of Public Health to decide what products are too harmful to remain in school meal programs. Those foods must be phased out by 2035. (State Affairs)
In Politics & Business
MINNESOTA: Voters head to the polls today to select a replacement for the late House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D), three months after she was assassinated in her home. Democrat Xp Lee and Republican Ruth Bittner are facing off in a contest that will determine control of the chamber; the district leans heavily Democratic. (Associated Press)
COLORADO: House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese (R) has resigned from office after a nasty end to this year’s legislative session. Pugliese and Majority Leader Monica Duran (D) had a very public falling out over the handling of a group chat by Republican lawmakers. (Colorado Public Radio)
NEW YORK CITY: A new CBS News poll finds Assemb. Zohran Mamdani (D) leading former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (I) 43% to 28%, with Curtis Sliwa (R) at 15% and Mayor Eric Adams (I) at 6%. That’s in line with recent polls in the city; 80% of voters said New York is very or somewhat unaffordable. (CBS News)
GOVERNORS: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is the latest Democratic governor to stop paying dues to the National Governors Association, after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) quit earlier this year. Democrats are frustrated by the NGA’s lack of response to the Trump administration’s withholding of federal funds to states. (Detroit News)
By The Numbers
About 112: The number of scientific grants from the National Institutes of Health in Pennsylvania that have been impacted by cuts or freezes from the Trump administration. That equates to about $40 million in lost funding. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
$12 million: The amount of revenue above forecast collected by Nebraska in August. It’s the second month in a row Nebraska has seen higher-than-anticipated revenue. (Nebraska Examiner)
Off The Wall
Utah Auditor Tina Cannon (R) is accusing Senate President Stuart Adams (R) of attempting to evict her from the state Capitol Building. The Capitol Preservation Board, of which Adams is a member, wants to use Cannon’s office space on the rotunda for a visitor’s center. Cannon’s office is currently auditing the Capitol Preservation Board. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Peru has beaten Venezuela in the first “World Cup of Breakfasts” online competition, organized by a Spanish web streamer. Peru’s winning dish consists of fried pork, sweet potato, onion salsa and French bread. Peruvian President Dina Boluarte congratulated her nation. (UPI)
We happily volunteer to serve as judges in the next World Cup of Breakfasts.
Quote of the Day
“We are getting hit from so many angles and we have to be very careful we don’t get closer to the cliff. When you fall down there, there is no democracy.”
— Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), warning of threats to democracy and opposing both President Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) redistricting plan. (Los Angeles Times)