Finance & Revenue

States are grappling with the use of AI in public education. A survey of AI in public education legislation includes Virginia’s  House Bill 1186 that “requires school boards to create a policy prohibiting students from being “required, encouraged, or permitted” to use an AI chatbot for instruction, lessons, or assignments in any course.”

Virginia Mercury | Va. lawmakers propose guardrails for artificial intelligence use in education

A town in Connecticut asked its residents to help firefighters remove snow from fire hydrants during the February winter storm. In response, the city received more than a hundred public comments. Every single public comment was positive. On Facebook. When does this happen?

Governing | “When’s the last time you saw 150 comments on Facebook and there was not a single negative one?”

Imagine a state removing references to federal tax code from its statutes. Is this the ultimate state’s right move? Maybe. It is what Oregon is doing, and Republicans in the state want voters to approve it. SB1507

Consider this: states like Oregon must have a balanced state budget while the federal government does not. 

KGW | As legislature passes bill partially unhooking Oregon from federal tax code, GOP rep plots ballot challenge

To fund local waste management programs, Connecticut has a nickel per nip tax, which is a surcharge on tiny liquor bottles. That’s 50 ml and smaller.

The tax generated revenue amounted to $4.9 million from 2024 to 2025. After which, the tax revenue is reallocated to local jurisdictions where the liquor is sold. Some towns want to expand the tax revenue’s use to cover drunk driving initiatives and public safety.

Governing | Connecticut Towns Cash In on Mini Liquor Bottle Surcharge

Time to add to your list of the ways that states can impact the investment practices of private entities. A statement from Texas Attorney General concerning an agreement with an investment group describes the agreement as “This sets a new standard for institutional investors that every company should follow.”

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair has said that they have exclusive regulation over prediction markets in the face of state legislation. Bonjour, federal preemption. The CFTC has also filed an amicus brief in a case about Nevada Gaming Commission saying that Crypto.com’s prediction market is unlicensed sports betting.

Route Fifty | Feds want to stop states regulating, blocking prediction markets

Utah’s Republican Governor spoke at the Politico Governor Summit and shared his thoughts on tax incentives for data centers. He said, “We should be supporting these data centers –– it doesn’t mean we should be handing out favors to these data centers. These companies have more money than any companies in the history of the world. They can build these things.”

Next Gov | Republican governor asserts states’ right to legislate AI

You know that rather common belief that taxing the wealthy leads to wealthy people moving? The data says that doesn’t happen. 45 million tax returns of $1 million in taxable income reveals that they don’t move. Why? Stickiness, business jargon for sure, but also high people stay put.

@time

Illinois Governor has proposed suspending tax incentives for data centers. @meetthepress

Oklahoma’s legislature is embracing accountable innovation. Why? The phrase emerged from the state’s AI regulations. Oklahoma is an early adopter of state executive level AI designated oversight. 

The state is looking to make sure AI is reliable and that humans using AI tools can be more efficient, thus, accountability. Balancing speed and scale so that tech and humans can come together.

Route Fifty | How Oklahoma has embraced ‘accountable innovation’

Wisconsin is considering a constitutional amendment to RESTORE the Legislature’s oversight of agency rule making. If passed this would allow the majority of each chamber to revoke a state agency rule. AJR 133

New York Times wants us to know that 17 state legislatures are making moves to limit state agency powers related to technology, finance, and energy.

Their list of regulatory limits relate to small nuclear reactors, electricity costs, and all in the name of economic growth. South Carolina’s Republican Speaker of the House explained that unelected bureaucrats should not be making rules.

The driving force in South Carolina is the Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act to remove state-level controls on business, work places, and the environment. For South Carolina this is phase two. Phase one passed last year with Model legislation from ALEC.

New York Times | Republican State Legislators Rush to Limit Their Own Regulators

U.S. population growth in Q3 & Q4 of 2904 and Q1 & Q2 of 2025 was 0.5%, a decrease of more than 50%. This is one of the slowest population growth rates in history. Let’s remember population growth includes migration.

Governing | 1.8 million

Lawmakers in Indiana are considering HB 1042 that would allow pensions to invest in crypto exchange traded funds and would allow some pension members to choose self directed brokerage accounts that offer crypto investments.

Route Fifty | Indiana lawmakers consider crypto pension investments, ATM scam crackdown

Texas has doubled its investment in Israeli bonds. The Comptroller release states that it is “marking the largest one-time investment in Israel bonds in Texas history and elevating the state from the sixth-largest to the second-largest U.S. state investor in these securities.”

Texas Comptroller

Missouri legalized sports betting. In December $543 million in sports bets were placed in the state. More than 99% of these bets were via online platforms.

The state revenue? $521,000. Why? promotional offers offset the taxable profits, leaving less than $1 million to help problem gamblers and public education.

Governing | Missouri’s Sports Betting Boom Generates Little State Revenue

Utah Legislature wants to expand the number of justices on the state Supreme Court Why? Republicans are not pleased with the court’s ruling on things from redistricting to abortion.

FOX 13 SLC | Legislature advances bill to add justices to Utah Supreme Court

In 2021 Texas passed SB 13 that prohibited state funds to companies that took what was seen as an anti-fossil fuel stance. The Comptroller maintained a list. The list included large investment companies and others. This week a district court ruled that SB 13 is unconstitutional under the 1st amendment protecting nonviolent (economic) protest, and the 14th for being unconstitutionally vague.

For the legal types- the court ruling was on a summary judgment motion, as in the other side (the state) didn’t do enough.

@CATOInstitute Released revenue data that shows that without foreign born people the nation’s debt would be 205% of GDP. Foreign born people also created revenue surpluses EVERY year for a combined $14.5 trillion.

Nebraska became the 12th state to prohibit the imposition of an orphan tax which is when a state diverts federal survivor benefits for youths in foster care to help reimburse the costs of their care.

The number of questions I had when I read this was astounding, but also at one point I wanted to get an LLM in tax law, so it tracks for me.

Federal HHS notified Governors in 39 states to stop the diversion of survivor benefits.

Governing | Nebraska Safeguards Foster Youth Benefits by Ending ‘Orphan Tax’

State legislatures are talking about affordability in 2026. We’ve talked about states working to control consumer data based personalized pricing that sets prices based on what consumers can pay, not the value of a good. 

Colorado legislators are proposing an additional solution that is free market driven. They seek  to ban price setting based on captive audiences. This is when you have no other choice like in airports, hospitals, or stadiums. They point to $80 Tylenol in hospitals, $20 beer at Nuggets games, and $10 bottle of water at airports. House Bill 26-1012

Colorado Newsline | ​Surveillance pricing​ ban among affordability bills proposed by Colorado Democrats

Let’s take a peek at the way state legislatures are working to protect their judiciaries from AI infiltrating judicial precedents and the sanctity of courts. 

“Since the beginning of 2025, there have been 518 documented cases in which generative AI produced hallucinated content used in U.S. courts, according to a database by Damien Charlotin.”

Only Lousiana has passed A state law concerning how and if AI can be used in the judicial system. HB 178

10 state bar associations have passed formal guidance. This includes Texas.

Stateline

Colorado has a proposal to codify tax incentives for data centers while tying those tax breaks to consumer protections. In exchange for tax breaks, the bill will “require the electric utility that will provide power to the facility to “verify that the data center will not cause unreasonable cost impacts to other utility ratepayers.” HB26-1030

Colorado Newsline | Bill to provide tax breaks for data centers reintroduced by Colorado lawmakers

Michigan has added a new tax for cannabis. Meet the 24% cannabis wholesale tax on recreational cannabis. This new wholesale tax is on top of the 10% retail excise tax and standard sales tax.

Supporters say the tax revenue will fund roads and other services. Opponents say the tax will grow black market sales. 

We talked about a similar situation in California, where the state lowered cannabis taxes because high tax rates pushed sales to illegal sales.

Click on Detroit | New cannabis wholesale tax takes effect

Americans for Tax Fairness data shows the exponential increase in campaign contributions after the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. In 2008 the wealthiest Americans contributed about $16 M to campaigns. By 2016 they contributed $628 M to campaigns, and in 2024 the total was $2.4 billion. @perfectunion

San Francisco is suing processed foods manufacturers under the state Deceptive Trade Act asserting that the industry misleads consumers.

Sounds a lot like tobacco litigation, yes?

Governing | San Francisco Takes a Big Swing Against Ultra-Processed Foods

Colorado’s TABOR, which returns tax dollar surpluses to Colorado tax payers, could be eliminated this legislative session. Why? It’s the political atmosphere, a general fund with an $850 million deficit, and the threats of repealing federal funding.

CBS News | Colorado legislature to consider a measure that could essentially end TABOR refunds in the near future

Florida’s Governor wants Floridians to vote on meaningful property tax reform in November 2026. HJR 203 would increase the homestead by $100,000 over the next decade, with a full exemption for non-school taxes in 2037. 

60% of Florida voters need to approve the measure for it to be effective.

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Politico | Florida’s Legislature gets ready for more GOP sniping, tough choices and DeSantis’ swansong

NBC 6 South Florida | House proposal to phase out property taxes in Florida moves forward

@APnews reports that a new Gallup poll says 45% of adults identify as independent. It’s ok if you’re bad at math, 45% means that nearly half of all adults in the U.S. are rejecting the Republican and Democratic parties.

20 years ago, about 1/3 of adults identified as independent.

@WashingtonPost included data centers as an issue that will impact the 2026 election cycle. Why?  Communities are increasingly more active in opposing data center developments. 

Virginia has the nation’s first standalone Chief Resilience Officer to prepare the state for disasters. What does this even mean? 

Virginia’s CRO will oversee an “interagency team to support coordination, planning, and implementation of resilience efforts. Virginia also announced $67 million in grants and loans for community resilience.” 

Governing | How 11 States Strengthened Disaster Resilience in 2025

The Tax Foundation published its annual ranking of state corporate taxation. 44 states levy a corporate income tax rate between 2-11.5%, while 4 states, including Texas, levy a corporate gross receipts tax. According to the Tax Foundation, “Gross receipts taxes are generally considered more economically harmful than corporate income taxes.”

The Michigan Legislature began with protests against data center projects and calls from elected officials to roll back data center tax incentives.  A trend in the making as of 2025.

Michigan Advance | Frustrations with data center projects bubble over at Michigan Capitol

Arkansas’ sport betting revenue is up 28.1% over the same period in 2024.

This is how Arkansas taxes sports wagers “All casino revenue in Arkansas is taxed at the same rate, whether that revenue is from slots, table games, sports betting or any other game the casino offers. Casinos pay 13% in taxes on all revenue up to $150 million within a one year period. When a casino reaches $150 million within that year, the remaining revenue is taxed at 20%.”

Talk Business | Arkansas online sports wagering tax revenue up 28.1% through October

A ballot initiative in Portland, Oregon backed by the Portland Police Association, will shift 25% of Portland Clean Energy Fund tax to fund the hiring of 400 additional police officers.

Wweek | Ballot Initiative Will Seek to Reroute 25% of Climate Tax Revenues to Hiring Police

Ever wondered what happens when additional taxes are imposed on wealth? According to the data, wealthy people don’t immediately move. They stay put where they built their careers and their lives. This juicy nugget is for those people who still like facts and data. 

Low wage workers move states at a rate of 4.5% while those who earn $1 million or more move states at nearly half that rate, 2.4%.

Governing | Taxing Millionaires Will Send Them Fleeing? Not So Much.

Let’s deep dive into Virginia’s data center tax breaks. Data center tax incentives are 80% of all economic incentives in Virginia. Since 2011 data centers have paid no sales and use tax in Virginia. This amounts to $2.7 billion in lost tax revenue. In 2024, the state’s main data center tax exemption equated to a loss of $1 billion in state tax revenue. An annual report from the state’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission said that Virginia’s incentive spending on data centers is rising in proportion to capital investment. 

Governing | Virginia’s Data Center Tax Breaks Cost the State $1 Billion

Since 2012,  Pew Charitable Trusts has reviewed the effect of R&D tax incentives. Do the tax credits spur innovation? Not really, but some think the tax credits scatter innovation into other states. A study of 3 incentive programs in Virginia found the credits insignificant to meaningful impact on R&D in the state. A study in Arkansas found that R&D tax incentives are a long term investment by the state and short term benefits are not an appropriate measurement. Florida concurs with Arkansas.

Governing | States Spend Big on R&D Tax Credits. Are They Paying Off?

Caramel-by-the-Sea has criminalized playing pickleball. The town made playing pickle ball a misdemeanor due to noise complaints from neighbors of the only public pickle ball court(s) in the city.

KSVB | Carmel makes pickleball at Forest Hill Park a crime under new misdemeanor ban

Since we last chatted, the Texas Governor announced a property tax reform package that includes eliminating school district taxes. You can read details of his 5 point plan here. 

Here’s where things diverge. In announcing the plan, the Governor said, “The state already has five legal limits that limit the ability for us to increase spending. The same must be true for every jurisdiction that imposes property taxes.”

Texas Public Radio | Texas Matters: Killing hemp and ending school property taxes

Illinois imposed a “25-cent “privilege” tax on wagering licensees for each mobile or online bet up to 20,000,000 bets and 50 cents on each bet after that. The operators can then pass the cost on to bettors.”

What happened after the tax was imposed? Sports betting decreased 15% in the first month.

Governing | Illinois Sports Betting Drops After New Wager Tax Takes Effect

A new study from non-profit Good Jobs First tracks which states offer incentives for data centers and which states disclose what company receives the incentives. 36 states offer incentives.

11 states disclosure the recipient including Texas, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

Stateline | Most states don’t disclose which companies get data center incentives, report finds

Virginia enacted an AI registry for state use of AI. There are concerns that it is taking too much time for AI approval for the registry and that there is not a single standard for approval. 

So, how is the State of Virginia using AI? Scaled processing of claims; customer support; agency chatbots; website translation; commercial software like M365; predictive analysis for pavement maintenance, agentic AI for water permit processing; and software development.

Virginia Mercury | Virginia’s artificial intelligence registry faces transparency challenges, study shows

Oklahoma State Question 836 will ask voters to decide whether Oklahoma should have open primaries. Conversations to make this switch began 10 years ago. 

If you’re like me, you are wondering why a traditionally red state will make this move?   Supporters in Oklahoma point out that California became even more of a one party state after approving open voters. 

OCPA | BACKERS OF OKLAHOMA OPEN-PRIMARY PLAN TOUT CALIFORNIA AS MODEL, SUCCESS STORY

Professional athlete gambling accusations have brought to light new sports betting terms to know. Meet microbets and prop bets. 

A prop bet is “A wager on an event or player performance not directly tied to the game’s outcome.” A micro bet is “a subset of proposition bets. They can be resolved within seconds and are tied to live game action. Examples include whether the next basket will be for two points or for three.”

NY Times | Microbets, Parlays and Prop Bets: A Guide to the M.L.B. Gambling Scandal

39 states offer some form of online sports betting. According to CBS Sports, the states not offering online sports betting include: Alabama, California, Alaska, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.

Researchers at @MITSloan dug into bond market responses to AI and here are “Some of their findings:
• Long-term U.S. Treasury yields decline more than 10 basis points through 15 trading days following AI model releases.
• Falling bond prices could be an indication that investors don’t believe AI will have a widespread positive effect on domestic living standards”

Bill drafting season for 2027 has begun. In Montana that means the leader of the Senate wants to “rein in what he described as “political agendas” at teacher educational conferences. ”  “Woke” teachers are top of mind in Montana. 

“Woke” is defined by Merriam Webster as: “chiefly US slang : aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice”

Daily Montanan | First 2027 Legislature bill draft requested in response to ‘woke’ seminars at teachers’ conference

Yesterday the Tax Foundation released its 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index . 2026’s top 10:

1. Wyoming
2. South Dakota
3. New Hampshire
4. Alaska
5. Florida
6. Montana
7. Texas
8. Tennessee
9. Idaho
10. Indiana

Makerspaces date back to 1821 at the Mechanics Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland. They are spaces that help residents learn, create, and even launch businesses. The first noted version in the U.S. was in 2011 in an east coast library.

Rural U.S. is seeing benefits of makerspaces from rural kids being accepted to out of state universities like Texas A&M to residents delving into entrepreneurship.

Daily Yonder | Big Ideas in Small-Town Makerspaces

A data center in West Feliciana Parish will receive up to $90 million a year in new revenue through a 30-year agreement.

How? In lieu of property taxes from the data center, the local government will receive Payment in Lieu of Taxes or PILOT courtesy of a newly formed nonprofit public corporation.

The practical terms are that the data center will transfer its property to the local government which in turn will lease it back to the data center for rent which would replace property taxes.

GovTech | Data Center Deal Could Net Louisiana Parish $90M a Year

28% have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in U.S. media. When Gallup started this polling in the 1970s, confidence in the media was near 70%, peaking above 70% in the 1980s. @Gallup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set for North America. As currently scheduled, 11 U.S. cities are set to host games which are estimated to bring in a $17.2 billion GDP boost.

For those unfamiliar with North America this includes Canada, the United States, and Mexico. I heard a football/futból/fotbol announcer exclude Mexico from North America, so way to go geography education. Was I the only kid whose parents quizzed her about world geography at restaurants as a young child?

Route Fifty | Planning for mega-events: How governments can prepare for the World Cup

Assembly Bill A9138 and Senate Bill S8518 Propose a tiered tax system for crypto mining based on electric use.

Montana passed a new law,  the Financial Freedom and Innovation Act, that allows Montana based companies that issue digital tokens to register as non-securities assets. This makes Montana among the first states to do so.  The State Auditor’s office has authority to regulate the burgeoning industry and prosecute bad actors.

Daily Montanan | Montana moves forward on regulatory framework for blockchain, digital assets

We talked last week about how the  Michigan Legislature passed a 24% retail tax on cannabis. Industry has filed a lawsuit to invalidate the tax arguing that the tax is inconsistent with the voter approved proposition, and the passage of the 24% tax rate required greater vote thresholds.

Is 24% the highest retail cannabis tax rate?

Washington State has a 37% retail tax. Illinois has a 25% retail tax on certain THC concentrations.

. Tax Foundation

The Nevada Legislature is moving toward a special session to boost its film tax credit. During the regular session the increased film tax credit died in the Senate on the final day. 

The push to expand the film tax credit is supported by construction, development, builders- the tradespeople who build what the film and television productions need.

Nevada Independent | Unions launch ‘full court press’ for NV film tax credit in upcoming special session

RQ-0620-KP seeks to answer whether county commissioners can accept anonymous donations. The question arose in Newton County and concerns an anonymous donation to a meal delivery service for seniors operated by the County.

Which government pays the national guard when it is deployed to another state? Interesting question, right? If the national guard is mobilized by the federal government, the federal government pays the national guard. During a shutdown, these service members are not paid.

Oregon Capital Capital Chronicle | Paying National Guard troops to deploy to Portland would cost millions

During COVID some state and local governments, sought to expand traditional outreach to social media influencers. New Mexico’s program, RenewNM, reached over 84% of state residents aged 18 or older, including 91% of Spanish-speaking New Mexicans and 67% of Native Americans aged 18 or older. It has changed government outreach.

NYC has used social media influencers who had children under 13 to share childcare information. Detroit released an RFP calling for a “Coordinator for Social Media Influencers.”

Route Fifty | Governments are relying more on social media influencers

54% say that the U.S.’s best days are in the past. That’s up 13 points from September 2024. The glass is half  empty, at best.   More ominous,  is that 58% say things are “very” to “pretty” bad in the U.S. today. 

As a n added bonus, both political parties unfavorable views are 50ish%

CNN via Governing

Utah has a Tax Commission that holds hearings to review and approve local tax increases. As of late, 39 local tax increases, totaling $80 million in local tax revenue, have been denied by the Commission.

In prior years, the Commission advised local entities to improve their compliance with state laws, and now the commission acts with strict enforcement. Hello, Texas, wouldn’t some like strict compliance with state approval of local tax increase compliance? 

Fox 13 SLC | 39 tax hikes across Utah have been rejected because of a change

This week the Securities and Exchange Commission issued this order approving the Texas Stock Exchange. It allows TSE to begin operations as a national exchange in 2026.

Texas State Securities Board also issued an order approving the operation of TSE.

Texas Governor’s Press Release.

Minnesota passed a budget that will increase the state’s 10% cannabis gross receipts tax to 15% and repeal local government cannabis aid. This change is expected to raise $76.5 million over its budget biennium.

California governor has AB564 on his desk that will halt a cannabis tax increase of 25%.

CBS News | Bill reversing 25% tax hike on California’s legal cannabis industry heads to Newsom’s desk

Missouri and Texas maybe two peas in a pod. Missouri legislators are looking for a way to lessen property tax burdens. An option being discussed is that in lieu of local districts increasing property taxes, the districts could increase revenue with a sales tax increase instead.

Missouri Independent | Missouri House property tax committee weighs options for tax relief

The U.S. Supreme Court may hear a case about prediction market platforms this term. The question is whether prediction market platforms are considered betting or financial products. 

How did we get here? Let’s peak at a law suit by a state Attorney General alleging that one such platform offers “event contracts” such as “sports event contracts” which  is tantamount to sports betting.

Similarly, the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a cease and desist letter to a prediction market platform earlier this year. 

Law.com | Supreme Court Will Likely Decide Legal Status of Prediction Markets, Law Professor Says

Congress is expanding the federal low income housing tax credit. The tax credit was in the big beautiful bill to the tune of financing 1 million units of low income housing. We have increased tax credit funding and in a bill called the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, Congress made it easier to finance the construction.

Governing | One Housing Assistance Program Congress Is Actually Expanding

A bill to increase penalties for “political violence” has been introduced in Ohio. The bill would elevate politically motivated murder to aggravated murder. It would apply to elected officials, their staff, journalists, and activists peacefully exercising their 1st amendment rights. HB 457

A new gaming bill is gaining traction that bans sweepstakes casinos. If you’re like me, you’re asking what in the world is a sweepstakes casino? Seems to be online gaming. There is at least 1 trade association, the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance. 

California legislature passed AB 831 to ban sweepstakes casinos. The bill is awaiting the Governor’s signature. Louisiana governor vetoed a similar ban stating that the Louisiana Gaming Control Board already had authority to take enforcement action. Sweepstakes casinos are restricted in CT, DE, ID, KY, LA, MD, MI, MT, NV, NJ, NY, OH, WA & WV

Nebraska legislature is looking at impeaching a University of Nebraska regent that was charged with a felony DWI after an accident that caused serious injury. The Nebraska Constitution prohibits a person convicted of a felony from holding a public office.

Nebraska Examiner | State Sen. Kauth takes steps toward impeaching NU regent, Pillen weighs in

States are introducing and passing more bills. We also seeing states take on specific issues like finance, tech, and healthcare at a much faster clip than Congress. This analysis is based on data from a Fiscal Notes recap of 2025 state legislatures.

Governing | In 2025, States Continued to Be More Active Than Congress

Missouri’s Governor is proposing that a ballot measure must pass every congressional district in the state. This requirement would effectively make ballot propositions toothless. Why the uproar? Missouri was the first state to vote to overturn a statewide abortion ban.

Governing | Missouri Gov. Seeks Strict Limits on Ballot Measures

Nevada launched a retirement plan for Nevadans who do not have retirement saving options through their private employers. 12 other states have similar programs. 

The state will require employers with 6 or more employees, that do not offer a retirement plan for their employees, to enroll their employees in the state Savings Trust. SB 305 (2025 | NV)

Governing | Nevada Rolls Out Retirement Plan for Workers Without Other Options

Google and the State of Virginia have partnered to offer 10,000 scholarships to learn AI and other certification skills. Within 6 weeks, 4500 signed up for the scholarships. The workforce development program aligns with the state’s public education goals as the only state that has integrated AI into its public education in K-16.

Virginia Governor | Governor Glenn Youngkin Unveils New “Virginia Has Jobs” AI Career Launch Pad in Partnership with Google

San Jose, California is implementing a grant program to help AI companies with economic and workforce development programs. The pilot program began with $200,000. The city will also help connect grantees with professional services like cybersecurity and IT support.

Route Fifty | California city leverages AI to spur local economic, workforce development

Memphis, Tennessee via its Chamber of Commerce has been sending mailers supporting an xAI data center. The mailer, a first of its kind to be sent by the Chamber, included statements such as “in full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and oversight”; “will continue to prioritize compliance with existing standards and policies”; and included 9 logos for oversight agencies that monitor the data center. Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee Lookout | Inside the Memphis Chamber of Commerce’s push for Elon Musk’s xAI data center

An audit requested by a California Assembly member revealed that the State of California could save $225 million by not mandating full return to work. The savings come from smaller leases, parking expenses, and other office building costs while maintaining productivity levels.

@cbsnewsSacramento

Fairfax (Virginia) County Public School system is paying for a security detail for the superintendent of its largest school district due to security concerns. As more public officials are publicly confronted, safety concerns continue to rise. Will we see more use of public resources to pay for security details for public officials? probably yes.  

Virginia Mercury | Fairfax will hire security for its superintendent. Could Va. see this elsewhere?

California is considering AB 882 (2025 | CA) that would open California courts to electronic recording of court proceedings. It would apply to civil proceedings when a litigant cannot afford to retain a court reporter.

There will be an estimated 40% decline in international students in U.S. higher education institutions starting this fall semester. The decline is tied to slow VISAs, and federal policy changes. It is estimated that the decline will have an overall economic impact of $7 billion to the U.S. economy.

The UK is expected to gain the students that the U.S. is losing. Our loss will be the U.K.’s win. 

AP | College applications rise outside US as Trump cracks down on international students

Montana’s Governor Gianforte signed Executive Order 5-2025 that creates the 406 JOBS Initiative. His goal is to have state agencies align their priorities with national education and workforce development goals set by the White House. 

The Governor said, “406 JOBS stands for four pathways to employment, zero barriers to work, and six high-demand sectors. Those sectors include health care, construction, hospitality and recreation, advanced manufacturing and computing education and child care and financial and professional services. “

Daily Montanan | Gianforte announces executive order bolstering workforce development in trades and AI

A bipartisan group of state attorneys general have created Operation Robocall Roundup to nip annoying robocalls int he bud.  The attorneys general are sending warning letters to 37 voice service providers, which transmit the calls, demanding they stop illegal robocalls from being routed through telecom networks.”

NJ Monitor | Bipartisan state attorneys general target nuisance robocalls

Let’s run down how the Chicago Bears are approaching building a new stadium by asking for property tax breaks from the state legislature. The new Arlington Heights stadium will be indoors, and to begin construction the Bears need the legislature to approve tax breaks by October. Which tax breaks will be approved is up in the air. The Governor’s Office is considering sales tax reinvestment for the stadium. While the team wants property tax certainty.

25 News | Chicago Bears seek ‘mega’ tax relief bill from Illinois legislature to build stadium

NBC 5 Chicago | As Bears seek ‘property tax certainty,’ how would Arlington Heights be impacted

CBS News | Pritzker unenthused about tax relief bill for Bears stadium in Arlington Heights, Illinois

Since Congressional redistricting is the topic du jour this summer in legislative circles. Let’s see what Missouri state Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin said, because it’s not something we see in print often:

“He wants to be sure Missouri’s representation matches Missouri’s Christian conservative majority. If he calls a special session to address this, we will of course take it up.”

”AI investments could grow the economy by as much as 0.7% in 2025, according to a calculation by Jens Nordvig, an economist and the founder of economic data platform Exante Data. That would represent half of the 1.4% growth projection for the U.S. economy this year from the Federal Reserve.

Washington Post via Governing | 0.7%

50 state attorneys general, via the National Association of Attorneys General, have asked the Department of Justice to increase enforcement actions against illegal online gambling. They say illegal online gambling in 2024 equates to $4 billion in lost state revenue. 

Utah news Dispatch | 50 attorneys general ask DOJ to step up against illegal online gambling

Congress seeks to define how AI can be used in the financial services industry. Say hello to S.2528 – A bill to establish AI Innovation Labs that permit certain persons to experiment with artificial intelligence without expectation of enforcement actions.

The bill’s author, U.S. Senator Rounds (R-SD), says “By creating a safe space for experimentation, we can help firms innovate and regulators learn, without applying outdated rules that don’t fit today’s technology.”

South Dakota Searchlight | Senator reintroduces AI regulation bill during first hearing as chair of subcommittee

Montana, New Jersey, and Rhode Island all implemented higher tax rates for second homes and luxury real estate. Montana’s higher tax on non-owner occupied primary homes reduces primary home taxes by 18% over two years.

Montana Free Press | How Montana’s new second-home tax could shift your property tax bill

Wyoming now has a property tax exemption that is 25% of the fair market value of eligible single-family residences.   

Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy

A candidate for a Detroit School Board position withdrew after it was revealed that they used AI to complete election forms.

Chalkbeat Detroit | Amid questions over ChatGPT use, Detroit school board candidate withdraws

@fortunemag wants us to know that “Ten of the last 15 major sports transactions that have happened in the world have been financed by JPMorgan. Mergers may have slowed but one asset class continues to increase in valuation and interest: sports team franchises.⁠”

In the last 15 years, 80,000 college educated Mississippians have left the state than migrated to the state. For perspective, 80,000 equates to the 2nd largest city in Mississippi. This shifts the tax burden in Mississippi onto the remaining population. It also equates to higher utility rates for Mississippians.

In response, a nonprofit,  Rethink Mississippi is searching for solutions to the state’s brain drain. Mississippi Today

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Mississippi Today | Mississippi’s slow but steady ‘brain drain’ is the state’s greatest threat

The Virginia lottery is working to add AI to “improve gamers’ experience.”  FY 24 lottery sales in Virginia were $5.5 billion which sent $934 million to its public schools. 

The Executive Director of the Virginia lottery says, “I see a day — and we’re starting to have these kinds of conversations — where artificial intelligence is not just used to know when someone likes to play these games at certain times, we give them the bonuses there, and we then monitor if they’re playing too much.”

Route Fifty | Virginia Lottery looks to AI to improve gamers’ experience

Bipartisan Congressmen have filed the e-permit Act based on this White House fact sheet. The democrat bill author says, ““Our permitting system is old, complicated, and slow — if we want to build the infrastructure, roads, bridges, broadband, and clean energy of the future, we need to modernize and streamline the permit process.”

The republican bill author says, ““The government, industries, and citizens all agree that it takes too long to build in America.

We’ve talked about legislation that prohibits the use of AI for setting rent prices. But, now in what is arguably an expansion of deceptive trade practices, SB 295 ( 2025 | CA) and SB 384 ( 2025 | CA), would prevent the use of AI for price setting, especially when the data used by AI is no public data. Hello data brokers.

New Hampshire’s Republican Governor vetoed HB 324 (2025 | NH) that sought to provide a new means to enforce school book bans and created new causes of action. She said “Current State law appears to provide a mechanism for parents through their local school district to exercise their rights to ensure their children are not exposed to inappropriate materials. Therefore, I do not believe the State of New Hampshire needs to, nor should it, engage in the role of addressing questions of literary value and appropriateness, particularly where the system created by House Bill 324 calls for monetary penalties based on subjective standards.”

Every Library | EveryLibrary Applauds New Hampshire Governor’s Veto of HB324 and Urges the Legislature to Reject SB33

California is considering whether AT&T should be a carrier of last resort for landlines. By excluding AT&T from this definition, they would no longer be required to provide landlines. Besides copper theft, they say only 5% still have landlines. I have a landline. Doing my part to keep Austin weird. AB470 (2025 | CA)

ABC 7 Los Angeles | Legislature considers allowing AT&T to stop providing landline service to California customers

Oregon passed SB 1177 (2025 | OR)  that creates a billion dollar wildfire fund by using funds from a tax rebate fund. (Don’t worry your pretty little self, an overwhelming majority of Oregonians will continue to receive their tax rebates.) The need for a wildfire fund was raised by the Governor who wants a stable and reliable fund source for natural disasters.

Governing | Oregon Proposal Would Create Billion-Dollar Fund for Wildfires

Oklahoma’s Small Business Incubators Incentives Act has been around since 1988. The goal of the legislation is to diversify the economy by creating an incubator program that includes a 10 year tax incentives for small businesses. Today, it is raising eyebrows over its data policies. This year the  OK Legislature passed SB 573 (2025 | OK) to establish reporting requirements for the incubators.

OK Voice | Lawmakers call for probe of Oklahoma incubator program amid data collection concerns

Wisconsin’s Economic Development Corporation is utilizing AI to standardize its customer relationship platform; improve data management, centralize IT support; and  deploy AI-powered assistant to provide information on call recordings, email drafts, context before meetings, and a dashboard for tracking daily tasks. 

Route Fifty | How Wisconsin’s economic development arm has embraced AI