January 27, 2026

FL Addresses How to Round Penny-Free Cash Transactions

Bill Setting Rounding Rules for Cash Transactions Advances in FL The Florida Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee advanced a bill ( SB 1074 ) that would direct retailers how to round cash transactions now that pennies have stopped being minted. Under the provisions of the measure, in-person cash transactions ending in 1 or 2 cents would be rounded down to zero cents, those ending in 3 or 4 cents would be rounded up...

January 27, 2026

NH to Consider Banning Political Discrimination in Workplace

NH Bill Aimed at Banning Political Discrimination in Workplace New Hampshire Rep. Terry Roy (R) has introduced a bill ( HB 1464 ) that would prohibit employers from refusing to hire, barring from employment, firing or discriminating against a person because of “that person’s political affiliation or opinion.” The measure would also criminalize harassing, annoying or alarming another person based on...

January 27, 2026

ACA Health Plan Enrollments Down

ACA Health Insurance Enrollments Down by More Than 800,000 About 830,000 fewer Americans have signed up for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans than last year, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. As of Jan. 3, about 22.8 million people had registered for individual market health insurance coverage since the start of the 2026 ACA marketplace open enrollment period on November 1, 2025...

January 26, 2026

States Reconsider Coverage of Weight-Loss Drugs

What a difference a year makes. In March of last year, we reported that many states were considering requiring insurers to cover popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Victoza. But not anymore. California and New Hampshire stopped covering glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) prescriptions for obesity treatment under Medicaid at the start of this year. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South...

January 21, 2026

State Legislation Targeting Data Centers & More

State Lawmakers Target Data Centers State lawmakers are considering legislation to protect consumers from rising energy prices as data centers drive up demand. A bill [ HB 3546 (2025) ] passed in Oregon last year created a new rate classification for large energy users like data centers. Similar measures have been introduced in California, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Wisconsin this year. A slate of...

January 21, 2026

ME’s Rideshare Driver Minimum Rate Bill

ME Could Become Next State to Set Minimum Rate for Rideshare Drivers Maine lawmakers are considering a bill ( HB 563 ) to mandate that drivers working for transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft receive a minimum per-trip rate based on the number of minutes or miles they drive. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Eleanor Sato (D), said the measure was modeled after a law passed in Washington State four years...

January 21, 2026

Nursing Home Oversight Improvements in VA

Virginia Touts Improved Oversight of Nursing Homes Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) hosted a public event last week to highlight improvements in oversight of the state’s 300 nursing homes. Those improvements include the filling of key leadership positions at the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Licensure and Certification and the opening of a new regional office in Northern Virginia. Timelines for...

January 20, 2026

Top Labor and HR Compliance Issues for 2026

This year labor and human resources compliance professionals should expect increased state-level enforcement activity—particularly in Democrat-led states—on a variety of employment-related issues, according to Elias Kahn , senior product manager for labor and employment, tax, employee benefits and executive compensation for the Practical Guidance team at LexisNexis®. We asked Kahn, a frequent contributor...

January 13, 2026

Meta’s Nuclear Energy Deal and AI Chatbot Bills

Meta Signs Nuclear Energy Deal Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has committed to acquire more than 2,600 megawatts of electricity over the next 20 years from nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania operated by energy company Vistra. The deal has drawn bipartisan support, including from Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno (R) and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), both of whom commented on its employment and...

January 13, 2026

More PBM Bills and Reversal of Course on GLP-1 Drugs

States Continue to Focus on PBMs Just two weeks into the new year, bills dealing with pharmacy benefit managers have already been filed in Missouri, New Jersey and Ohio. Last year states enacted 44 laws concerning PBMs, the most in a decade. ( PLURIBUS NEWS ) States Reverse Course on Weight Loss Drugs California’s Medicaid program has stopped covering GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Wegovy, due to rising costs...

January 13, 2026

States Continue to Focus on AI Early in 2026

Artificial intelligence, arguably the biggest issue for state lawmakers the past two years, is shaping up to be a primary topic for state legislation in 2026 as well. According to the LexisNexis® State Net® legislative tracking system, more than 150 bills concerning AI have been pre-filed or introduced for this year’s session in 19 states, with several legislatures taking a particular interest in the rapidly...

December 23, 2025

NY’s New AI Safety Bill & More

NY Gov Signs AI Safety Bill New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed legislation ( AB 6453 / SB 6953 ) establishing safety and reporting requirements for major developers of so-called frontier artificial intelligence models. Developers that fail to comply with the law will face penalties of up to $1 million for a first violation and up to $3 million for subsequent violations. The state is the second, after California ...

December 23, 2025

Top Issues for State Lawmakers in 2026

For two years running , we’ve opened our annual story predicting the top issues for state legislators in the coming year by noting just how tense and uncertain things are, with the war in Ukraine and a concerning economy at home. Someday, we hope to head into a new year without having to say that. But it’s not going to be this year. If there’s anything predictable about 2026, it’s unpredictability...

December 16, 2025

Multistate H-1B Visa Fee Lawsuit & More

States Sue to Block H-1B Visa Fee The attorneys general of 20 states, led by California and Massachusetts, filed a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking the Trump administration’s new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, which allow employers to hire foreign workers with specialized skills when similarly qualified American workers can’t be found. Administration officials have argued that some employers had been abusing...

December 16, 2025

FL House Speaker Proposes Healthcare Package

Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) unveiled a two-bill healthcare package aimed at aligning the state with President Trump’s new federal framework. HB 693 would tighten eligibility for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. HB 697 would require prescription drug manufacturers to report international drug pricing data, direct the Agency for Health...

December 16, 2025

Will Trump’s Executive Order Stifle State Efforts to Regulate AI?

President Donald Trump has waded into one of the most pressing and prevalent issues in state capitols these days: regulating artificial intelligence. In early December, the president said on his Truth Social platform that he intended to sign an executive order preempting state-level AI regulations. “There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI,” Trump wrote on Dec. 8 . “We...

December 09, 2025

New State Rounding Rules Coming for Cash Transactions?

Federal Government’s Penny Pinching Could Spur States to Set New Rounding Rules for Cash Sales Retailers are pushing for national rules to allow businesses to round cash sales to the nearest nickel, as a result of the federal government’s decision to stop minting pennies. But ten states have laws prohibiting that practice. The National Conference of State Legislatures is urging states to set their own rounding...

December 09, 2025

OH Gov’s Veto of Youth Work Hour Expansion Bill & More

OH Gov Vetoes Bill to Expand Youth Work Hours Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) vetoed a bill ( SB 50 ) that would have allowed 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. year-round. DeWine said in his veto message that he didn’t like the idea of teens working so late on school nights. ( DAYTON DAILY NEWS ) UT Lawmakers to Consider Repeal of Collective Bargaining Ban Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) called the state Legislature...

December 09, 2025

Trump’s One National Rule for AI & More

Trump to Issue National AI Rule President Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order this week establishing a single national rule for artificial intelligence, presumably preempting various state laws on AI. Trump didn’t provide details about the rule, but the White House circulated a draft executive order last month providing for the preemption of state AI laws via lawsuits and the withholding of federal...

December 09, 2025

Pay Transparency Remains Priority for States

A legacy of the #MeToo Movement has been an increased focus nationwide on pay transparency. Pay transparency laws are perhaps most often thought of as requirements that employers disclose compensation figures to promote fairness and reduce pay disparities due to gender, race or ethnicity, a theme of #MeToo . Fourteen states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota...

November 25, 2025

More State Bills Aimed at AI-Driven Rental Pricing & More

States Continue to Target AI-Driven Rental Pricing Nineteen states are considering bills that would limit the use of third-party software relying on competitor data to set rental housing prices, according to analysis by the American Economic Liberties Project, a non-profit, non-partisan, anti-monopoly think tank. New York enacted such a law ( SB 7880 ) in October, while California enacted a broader law ( AB 325 ) banning...

November 25, 2025

State AI Law Preemption Efforts & More

Trump, Congress Weigh Measures to Preempt State AI Laws The Trump administration circulated—and then put on hold—a draft executive order aimed at preempting state laws regulating artificial intelligence. The order would have directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to create a task force specifically for challenging state AI laws and directed the Department of Commerce to review state laws and issue guidelines...

November 25, 2025

Legislation Regulating Neural Data Picks Up Steam

Last year, after Colorado and California became the first states in the nation to expand privacy protections to include neural data, we said more states could follow suit . This year two more have done so. In May, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed SB 163 by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov (R) to include neurotechnology data under the protections of the Big Sky Country State’s Genetic Information Privacy Act . A month...

November 21, 2025

Medical Debt Protection Bills in MI

MI Lawmakers Advance Medical Debt Protections The Michigan Senate’s Health Policy Committee has advanced a trio of bipartisan bills aimed at reducing the burden of medical costs on residents of the state. SB 449 , SB 450 and SB 451 would require hospitals to implement a financial assistance program allowing patients who are uninsured and have annual incomes at or below 350% of the federal poverty line to receive...

November 21, 2025

EU’s Major Course Change on Regulating Big Tech

EU Reversing Course on Tech Regulation After aggressively regulating the technology industry for over a decade, the European Union is moving to loosen its landmark digital privacy and artificial intelligence rules, in response to growing concern that European tech companies are falling behind those in the United States and China. The potential changes include scaling back the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR...