CA Adopts Less Stringent Wildfire Protection Rules The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (BOF) approved regulations designed to protect homes from wildfires. The new rules are less stringent than what some had recommended. The rules were mandated...
Wearable Recording Device Privacy Bill Nears Passage in CA A fast-moving bill ( SB 1130 ) in California would make it a misdemeanor to use a wearable recording device to capture sound or video of another person anywhere within a place of business where there...
Private Equity Healthcare Deals Down in 2026 The number of healthcare deals in the second quarter of 2026 involving private equity was down 18.5% from the same period last year, according to a report from PitchBook , a company that tracks private investment....
Less than a decade after Vermont became the first state to enact a data-broker registration law, states are beginning to demand more from data brokers than basic registration and disclosure. In 2023, California authorized the creation of a mechanism allowing consumers...
PA Lawmakers to Target Flock License Plate Cameras A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania lawmakers plans to introduce legislation that would set oversight and privacy safeguards for automated license plate readers, including Flock cameras. Those protections include...
MD Lawmakers to Consider Drug Price Cap Bill in 2027 Maryland legislators will consider a bill next year aimed at speeding up the process of capping prescription drug prices. The measure, to be sponsored by Del. Jennifer White Holland (D), would allow the state’s...
Since the beginning of 2025, state lawmakers across the country have considered numerous proposals to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, while some legislatures have enacted broader AI laws with workplace implications. [See Artificial...
VA Study Calls for Tighter Regulation of Data Center Water Use Virginia, a leading data center market , released a long-delayed report examining the industry’s possible impact on the groundwater supply in the state’s eastern region. The report by...
‘No Robo Bosses Act’ on Move in CA A fast-moving bill in California ( SB 947 ) would require human oversight when employers use artificial intelligence in certain employment decisions. Introduced by Sen. Jerry McNerney (D) in February, the No Robo...
Last year, Colorado became the first state to use a prescription drug affordability board to set a binding payment limit for a specific drug. Now a federal judge has temporarily blocked that limit, raising questions about whether states can impose such caps on...
OH EPA Scraps Proposed Data Center Water Discharge General Permit The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced in a community notice last week that after “carefully reviewing the significant volume of public comments” regarding its proposed...
FDA Advisory Panel Supports Widening Access to Several Peptides Last week an advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration voted in favor of allowing compounding pharmacies to produce six peptides previously banned over safety concerns. Despite being...
California often leads other states on public policy. But on one particular issue currently before the California Legislature—the use of behavior-based telematics in auto insurance—it is following them. Usage-based insurance, or UBI, uses mileage...
STATE NET® THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SERIES The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has triggered an unprecedented building boom across the U.S. Behind every AI chatbot query, every cloud backup and every streamed video sits a data center, a massive...
Data Centers to Increase Power Costs in 13 States by Billions Power costs for millions of households and businesses in 13 eastern states and the District of Columbia will increase by $6.3 billion within the next three years, according to the results of an electricity...