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...
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...
On June 10, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) sued Bridge It Inc., the company behind the fintech app Brigit , alleging that its Instant Cash advances violate the state’s payday lending laws. Brigit Chief Operating Officer Fara Remtulla said...
On June 16, Vermont became the 23rd state to enact a comprehensive consumer privacy law when Republican Gov. Phil Scott signed SB 71 , the Vermont Data Privacy and Online Surveillance Act. The measure, now Act 145, takes effect Jan. 1, 2028. The law gives consumers...
As in every part of society it touches, artificial intelligence is changing hiring practices—and state legislators are concerned about the implications. Consider two aspects of AI in labor that lawmakers have wrestled with this year: discrimination and...
After months of reporting on state lawmakers’ concerns about so-called surveillance pricing—using personal data and algorithms to offer different consumers different prices for the same or similar goods and services—with little major legislation...
Property insurance costs are rising fast, and homeowners are feeling the pinch. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found 71% of U.S. homeowners say their premiums have gone up over the last few years, with 42% saying they have gone up a lot. That’s...
In this sharp-elbowed world of partisan politics, Republicans and Democrats seem to have found at least one thing they can agree on in 2026: plug-in solar. Otherwise known as “balcony solar,” these do-it-yourself kits allow users to generate their...
Less than halfway through the year, data centers have emerged as one of the hottest technology-related issues in state legislatures. As of May 15, nearly 300 bills with “data center” in the title or summary had been introduced in 39 states this year—up...
For about two decades now, states have tried to make employers—especially large ones—pay when their workers rely on public health coverage. In 2006, Vermont enacted a Health Care Fund contribution assessment that required employers to pay quarterly...
On Jan. 7, 2025, two weeks before Donald Trump was inaugurated, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the Biden administration issued a new rule barring credit reporting agencies from reporting medical debt and prohibiting creditors from considering medical...
Smart glasses, like Ray-Ban Meta frames, allow wearers to take photos and videos, listen to music and make calls without ever picking up a phone. The technology, however, can also permit users to record others without them noticing and that has begun to worry...
On March 11, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) signed HB 2303 . The law, which takes effect June 11, bars employers from requesting, requiring or coercing workers or job applicants to accept a subcutaneous microchip implant, while exempting devices used for diagnosis...
Who could have predicted this? Prediction markets have emerged as one of the biggest stories of 2026. The online platforms and apps, which allow users to bet on anything from who will win the Oscar for best actor to the temperature in Los Angeles tomorrow, have...
Nearly two years after the Environmental Protection Agency set drinking water limits for so-called forever chemicals, the synthetic compounds remain a focus for state legislators. Formally known as per- and polyfluorinated substances or PFAS, the chemicals are...