Good morning, it’s-a-me, Tuesday March 10, 2026. In today’s edition, lawmakers take narrower approach to AI guardrails; Wyoming bans abortions after 6 weeks; Tennessee, Nebraska advance housing bills:
Top Stories
This week, State Affairs takes you inside the new energy crunch, showing how it’s reshaping policy, politics and your wallet. Check out all our coverage right here.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Lawmakers who once sought broad regulations on AI systems have switched tactics and are now taking a sector-by-sector approach. Connecticut and California are seeking to regulate the use of AI systems in workplace decisions. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) signed a bill barring insurers from using AI as the sole basis to downcode claims. An Oklahoma bill would require human involvement in classroom AI tools. (Pluribus News)
MORE: The Minnesota Senate is debating legislation to create penalties for firms that allow chatbot technologies to be used by minors. The bill would allow residents adversely affected by chatbots to file civil suits against AI companies. (MPR News)
The New Jersey Department of Education will use AI to score most of the writing students do on a new statewide standardized test. (NJ Advance Media)
ABORTION: Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) has signed legislation banning abortion when there’s a detectable fetal heartbeat, or about six weeks after conception. The state’s only abortion clinic said it would cancel appointments with patients in their second trimester and refer those patients to other states. Abortion rights backers said they would file suit to block the law. (Wyoming Public Media)
MORE: The Mississippi legislature has given final approval to a bill criminalizing mailing abortion drugs to patients. The bill would require anyone obtaining medication like mifepristone and misoprostol to visit a doctor in person. Doctors and providers would face imprisonment and civil penalties. (Mississippi Free Press)
EDUCATION: The Georgia Senate on Monday approved legislation requiring computer science courses in high schools. Studying computer science could be embedded in career-focused courses on technical and agricultural education to meet the requirement, which would begin in the 2031-2032 school year. (State Affairs)
HOUSING: The Tennessee Senate has approved legislation banning the sale of single-family homes in large counties to buyers who already own more than 100 such residences. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Charlene Oliver (D), dovetails with President Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to limit support for institutional investors buying single-family homes. (State Affairs)
MORE: The Nebraska legislature has given preliminary approval to a bill adding new taxes to a documentary stamp tax to add revenue to new housing funds. The extra $1 per $1,000 in property cost would develop workforce housing in rural areas and homes for middle-income workers in the state’s three largest counties. (Nebraska Examiner)
PUBLIC HEALTH: The Florida House unanimously approved legislation creating a first-degree felony of distributing xylazine, an animal tranquilizer increasingly showing up in street drugs. The bill would also ban licensed dealers from possessing, selling or delivering nitrous oxide, another drug used by minors. It exempts grocery stores selling finished food products that use nitrous oxide as a propellant. (Florida Politics)
In Politics & Business
NEW MEXICO: State Democrats meeting in a preprimary convention chose former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (D) as their preferred gubernatorial candidate by a wide margin. Haaland scored 73.5% of the vote, compared with 26.5% for Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman (D). Both candidates won enough support to make the June 2 primary ballot. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
IOWA: U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) and Auditor Rob Sand (D) both submitted signatures to qualify for the race to replace retiring Gov. Kim Reynolds (R). Sand submitted 24,756 signatures, nearly eight times the number required and what his campaign called the most in state history. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
WISCONSIN: Conservative Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler will not seek re-election in 2027, opening another seat on the state’s highest court. Liberals will control the court through at least 2028, and could secure a longer-lasting majority if the liberal candidate wins a forthcoming election next month. (State Affairs)
FLORIDA: The state Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from supporters of a measure creating a legal recreational marijuana market, probably the final blow to efforts to qualify for November’s ballot. Secretary of State Cord Byrd’s (R) office said supporters had failed to submit enough signatures by the Feb. 1 deadline to qualify. (State Affairs)
CRIME BLOTTER: Former Missouri House Speaker John Diehl (R) has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges for misusing Covid-era relief funds for his personal benefit. Diehl admitted to using money meant for his law firm for country club dues, his home mortgage and swimming pool maintenance. (Associated Press)
By The Numbers
78.8 million lbs.: The total lobster harvest in Maine this year, down about seven million lbs. from the 2024 harvest. Lobster harvests peaked in 2015 and 2016. Lobsters sold for an average of $5.85 per pound from boats, the third-highest price on record. (Maine Public Radio)
$70 million: The estimated savings in health care expenses after Massachusetts banned the sale of flavored tobacco products in 2020. A separate report found the ban on flavored products reduced smoking prevalence by 1.37 percentage points. (State Affairs)
Off The Wall
Minnesota state Rep. Katie Jones (D) and her husband took an e-bike to a very important event — the birth of her son. The couple also rode e-bikes home from the hospital a few days later. (Minnesota Star Tribune)
The only company in America authorized to sell lost luggage detailed a list of the oddest things left behind at airports last year. Unclaimed Baggage said it had obtained a fully-assembled robotic unit, a prosthetic knee joint, a full set of 10-karat diamond grills and a fragment of a meteorite that fell to earth in 1576. (UPI)
Last week, we told you about the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks planning to host a game honoring Magic City, Atlanta’s famed adult entertainment club. The NBA wasn’t thrilled, and now the night is off. But a performance by the rapper T.I. and the sale of the club’s famous lemon pepper wings are still on, the team said. (Associated Press)
Quote of the Day
“Midnight means midnight — not midnight in five or ten seconds.”
— Utah Sen. Nate Blouin (D), objecting to legislation that would have allowed Salt Lake County to break itself into multiple counties. Senators were still voting when the clock struck midnight on Saturday, marking the end of session. (Salt Lake Tribune)