state laws

“Books open doors for students to explore new ideas, deepen their understanding of the world and develop the critical thinking skills they need to succeed,” said Education Secretary Steve Zrike. “Our schools should encourage that curiosity and give students access to books that challenge them, inspire them and help them grow as learners. This law affirms that commitment and supports the educators and librarians who make those opportunities possible every day.”

“Students need books that reflect a wide range of perspectives,” said Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez. “This legislation equips our fantastic librarians and teachers to continue doing their jobs and to provide students with a wide worldview rather than one that is restricted.”

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the statewide ban on 287(g) agreements in the Local Cops, Local Crime Act, signed into law in May as part of a comprehensive package of immigration protections, has taken effect. The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act ensures that local law enforcement agencies remain focused on keeping New York communities safe, rather than being used for federal civil immigration enforcement, diverting critical resources to do the job of ICE.

“Here in New York, we need local police focused on keeping our communities safe—not serving as de-facto ICE agents, not conducting civil immigration enforcement, and not carrying out the Trump Administration’s callous immigration agenda,” Governor Hochul said. “That’s why I championed our new law banning 287(g) agreements and ensuring local cops remain focused on real crime in our communities. Starting today, ICE can no longer commandeer locally-funded police to aid an out-of-control federal agency with an $85 billion budget.”

The Arkansas Legislative Council on Friday approved the rules for Medicaid’s coverage of doulas, part of a 2025 law requiring the program and private insurance to cover such services for Arkansans. The council’s rules subcommittee gave preliminary approval Thursday.

Doulas provide emotional, physical, educational and logistical support to parents-to-be and serve as middlemen between them and other medical professionals. The coverage requirement law was aimed at improving the state’s maternal health outcomes.

State legislators have heard concerns from both patients and medical professionals about the inappropriate use of AI tools, and so far in 2026 they’ve responded with more than a dozen new laws adopted in 11 different states.

According to the Transparency Coalition’s recently released 2026 Mid-Year State AI Legislation Report, seven states limited the use of AI in medical authorization decisions made by healthcare insurance companies. Five states prohibited the offering of AI chatbot-based therapy services.

Lieberman credited this year’s breakthrough in large part to the advocacy of Republican state Representative Melanie Stinnett, who has often said publicly that she developed an interest in this topic after meeting a disenfranchised man while knocking doors on the campaign trail. 

“I saw the impact on a person in my district,” she told KCUR in Kansas City, adding that she is compelled by evidence that people whose voting rights are restored are less likely to be re-incarcerated: “If we can get people engaged and keep them out of our jails and prisons, then I think we should be doing everything we can.”

Social media platforms will face a bevy of new restrictions in New Jersey that limit their use of children’s data, restrict algorithmic content recommendations to minors, and block notifications during school hours, among a range of others.

The new restrictions, which are set to take effect in September 2027, flow from legislation Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed Tuesday and are New Jersey’s bid to regulate tech giants the governor said federal policymakers had largely left to their own devices.

“Big tech isn’t just the big tobacco of our era. They are worse. They designed platforms that highjacked our kids’ attention spans,” Sherrill said at a bill signing ceremony in Jersey City. “The typical American teen spends about 35 hours a week, almost a full-time job, on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.”

The restrictions in the New Jersey Kids Code Act would require privacy settings on minors’ social media accounts be set to their strictest mode and would limit platforms’ ability to request minors change those settings.

It would restrict platforms’ use of children’s data to the purposes for which it was collected and bar algorithmic content recommendations unless a minor specifically requests more or less content from a given account or of a specific type.

The restrictions mandate that social media platforms limit the discoverability of children’s accounts, both to adults on their own sites and through search engines.

Siting Solutions chalked up significant wins in Illinois, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington state, as well as moderate policy gains in Maryland and New Jersey — all states controlled by Democrats.

“This bill has helped put one piece of my fractured life together,” Soto said. “That cushion will make my life a little easier, but in no way does any amount of money give me back the years that I’ve lost.”

Soto and cousin David Ayala were 20 and 18 when they were arrested following the shooting deaths of 16-year-old Julie Limas and Hector Valeriano, 18, a U.S. Marine on leave, in 1981. They were sentenced to natural life in prison before they were exonerated and released in 2023.

Soto said he would be eligible for the new payout limits and planned to put it toward “a decent apartment” and costs associated with law school.

He advocated for the bill with other exonerees and the Illinois Innocence Project, he said, “for everyone who comes after me.”

Newsom said on Monday that as the federal government pulls back from supporting EVs, California would instead be “putting its foot on the accelerator” — and that the instant rebate program would “[make] it easier for families to drive clean, breathe clean, and keep more money in their pockets.”

The program has secured $270 million in funding — half of that from the state budget and the other from participating EV automakers. 

“Where the federal government is unwilling to step up, states must venture once more unto the breach,” Pritzker said at a news conference in Chicago. “History has shown time and again that thoughtful regulation is a requirement for sustainable innovation when our economic and national security is at stake.”

The legislation that Pritzker signed will require large AI developers — those with more than $500 million in annual gross revenue — to publish explanations of how their products could pose a “catastrophic risk” and how those risks would be addressed. The requirements take effect Jan. 1, 2028.