#state-government — Public Fediverse posts

Maryland Matters: ‘Super fun’: The tale of how a prehistoric shark became Maryland’s official state shark . “Two days earlier, in the final hours of Maryland’s legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill to make megalodon — the largest shark that ever lived — the state shark. It became official on Tuesday, when Gov. Wes Moore signed Senate Bill 35 into law, declaring in one line […]

North Dakota Monitor: AI driving rise in child sexual abuse material cases, North Dakota investigator says. “A member of the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation told state lawmakers Wednesday the agency needs more tools to address a rise in child sexual exploitation involving images generated by artificial intelligence.”

Mississippi Today: Families of men killed or hurt by law enforcement urge Mississippi officials to stop blocking public records. “The families of four men who died or allegedly were beaten in encounters with Mississippi law enforcement gathered outside the state attorney general’s office Thursday to urge officials to stop denying them access to video capturing the incidents, years after they […]

KTBS: Louisiana Treasury launches new website to track public education spending. “The Louisiana Treasury has launched a new website that allows the public to track how tax dollars are being spent on public education in real time.”

Engadget: GM agrees to pay $12.75 million to settle California lawsuit over misuse of customers’ driving data . “Following its settlement with the FTC earlier this year over its sale of drivers’ data to brokers, General Motors has now also reached a settlement in California. The company agreed to pay $12.75 million in civil penalties to settle the lawsuit led by Attorney General Rob Bonta on […]

NC Newsline: NC bills target data center boom, seeking tax changes, consumer protections. “The measures come about amid an anticipated data center boom in the state. At the moment, North Carolina offers sales tax exemptions on data center purchases of electricity and equipment. These tax breaks were initially enacted in 2006 and expanded in 2015 as a way to attract more data centers as economic […]

Oklahoma Voice: Internal Oklahoma agency memos, bulletins will soon be available for public review. “Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed the Guidance Transparency Act, requiring state agencies to make available online and in person agency statements, memoranda, bulletins and other non-legally binding materials that communicate policies and rules and explain how those are being interpreted.”

Florida Phoenix: Florida has a new law regulating AI data centers. “AI data centers will be required to pay for their own utilities and not shift the costs to customers now that SB 484 is law. Appearing Thursday in Lakeland with Florida Secretary of Commerce Alex Kelly, Gov. Ron DeSantis thanked the Legislature for passing the bill, even though it was less expansive than what the governor […]

Wall Street Journal: What is a ‘compute tax’ and why is the idea gaining traction?. This is an MSN-syndicated version of the article and has no paywall. “Many people are concerned about massive job loss as a result of AI, the concentration of the market, AI’s consumption of resources, and the community impact of expanding data centers. Some see taxation as a way to offset the loss of […]

NBC News Bay Area: Santa Clara County sues Meta over misleading ads. “Santa Clara County filed a civil lawsuit Monday against Meta, accusing the social media company of targeting users with misleading and fraudulent advertisements. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of all California residents, alleges the Menlo Park-based company tolerated and profited from scam ads on its platforms.”

WISH TV: Indiana expands platform for health care prices. “Indiana is expanding and renaming its health care price transparency platform, formerly known as the Indiana All Payer Claims Database, Gov. Mike Braun’s office announced Thursday. Now called Indiana Health Prices, the platform will integrate comprehensive prescription resources, hospital cash prices, and voluntary provider […]

Oklahoma Voice: Permanent school cellphone ban signed into law by Oklahoma governor. “Oklahoma’s school cellphone ban will become permanent beginning next school year. Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed House Bill 1276 into law, making the state’s previously established yearlong ban permanent.”

Gizmodo: Meta and TikTok Are Getting Your Data From State Healthcare Sites: Report. “According to a report from Bloomberg, all 20 state-run healthcare marketplaces include advertising trackers that share information with Big Tech companies.”

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials: Florida DOT Archaeologists ‘Dig’ the Museum Scene. “Florida DOT’s Archaeological Collections & Curation is just getting started as the museum only exists online for now. But the agency is building a template other state departments of transportation could potentially follow as more road and bridge projects uncover more […]

State of Colorado: Governor Polis Announces New Tool to Help Coloradans Navigate Life After Disaster. “Today, Governor Polis announced the new Colorado Disaster Recovery Navigation Tool to help Coloradans navigate recovery and rebuild after natural disasters. This new tool provides a step-by-step guide for what to do in the aftermath, immediate and long-term, of a natural disaster.”

Colorado Newsline: I helped write Colorado’s first AI chatbot bill. Here’s what I learned about state action.. “I’ve had a front row seat to the work happening in the states on the front lines of the effort to learn the mistakes of the social media era that are now coming home to roost. And I can tell you with confidence, what’s coalescing isn’t a patchwork of regulations, it’s a […]

Nevada Independent: Nevada sues Discord, alleges social media platform is a ‘haven’ for child sex predators. “Nevada filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the popular social media platform Discord, claiming the company makes it too easy for sexual predators to connect with children.”

The Hill: Pennsylvania lawsuit alleges AI chatbots posed as doctors, therapists. “Pennsylvania is suing an artificial intelligence company to stop it from misrepresenting its AI chatbots as licensed professionals who can provide medical advice. The lawsuit alleges Character.AI chatbots claimed to be licensed medical professionals, including psychiatrists, available to engage users in […]

Reuters: New Mexico seeks $3.7 billion, changes to Meta platforms in youth harm trial. “The U.S. state of New Mexico on Monday asked a judge to declare Meta Platforms a public nuisance, order the company to pay $3.7 billion and overhaul its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms to protect young users.”

Spotted in my RSS feeds: GovAuctions. From the About page: “GovAuctions lets you search every government surplus auction at once. You can filter by location, category, and price, save items to a watchlist, and get alerts when new auctions match what you’re looking for.”

Reuters: Meta faces New Mexico trial that could force changes to Facebook, other platforms. “The case, which will be tried before a judge in Santa Fe, stems from ‌a lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a Democrat, accusing the social media giant of designing its products to addict young users and failing to protect ‌children from sexual exploitation on its platforms.”

Lookout Santa Cruz: California will soon have more than 300 data centers. Where will they get their water?. “More than 90% of data centers in the U.S. get most of the water they need for cooling from municipal systems, estimated Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Riverside. During the hottest summer days, a large 100-megawatt facility can use about […]

Bangor Daily News: Maine Legislature fails to reverse Janet Mills’ veto of data center ban . “Maine lawmakers on Wednesday failed to override Gov. Janet Mills’ contentious veto of a measure that would have made the state the first in the U.S. to temporarily bar development of large data centers.”

ABC4: Utah-led coalition finalizes $700 million settlement with Google; consumers to receive settlement funds. “A Utah-led coalition involving attorneys general for all U.S. states announced today that they have reached the final steps in a $700 million settlement with Google, with the majority of funds going to impacted consumers.”

Indiana Attorney General: Attorney General Todd Rokita launches IN Fuel Watch. “Attorney General Todd Rokita today launched IN Fuel Watch, a new public online portal that provides real-time gasoline prices at more than 4,600 Indiana gas stations around the entire state. The user-friendly website allows Hoosiers to search, filter and sort stations by price, city or name.”

Texas Tribune: Texas is giving data centers more than $1 billion in tax breaks each year. “Texas will lose out on $3.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years thanks to an exemption for the state’s booming data center industry, according to the comptroller’s office.”

State of Michigan: MDHHS launches statewide map to expand access to free gun locks and promote safe firearm storage. “The interactive map identifies 150 locations across Michigan where individuals can obtain free cable-style gun locks and provides an opportunity for community organizations, health departments and other partners to request supplies to distribute locally.”

Maryland Matters: Maryland property search tool is back online, nearly two weeks after cyber attack. “Maryland’s property ownership database is back online as of Monday after a nearly two-week hiatus because of a cybersecurity incident. After state officials detected suspicious activity on their servers, they took down the state officials took the State Department of Assessments and Taxation […]

Forward Kentucky: Officials can hide texts, emails on private devices from records requests, state Supreme Court rules. “The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday that emails and text messages created by public officials on private devices are not public records, a decision that a dissenting supreme court justice fears could destroy ‘the public’s right to know what its government is doing.'”

MinnPost: New app using AI aims to expand civic engagement in Minnesota. “For anyone who isn’t familiar with how legislation is written and advanced at the state Capitol, the process can feel like it was deliberately created to confuse. Enter CivicLoon, an app that uses artificial intelligence created by a local programmer with the aim of closing that gap between what elected representatives […]