For 2024, expect state debates over AI, gender, guns, abortion

As Americans have engaged in fierce disagreement over gender expression and sexual orientation, the costs and reach of racism, and the danger and opportunity presented by rapid technological advancement, state legislatures have been one of the most visible and influential arenas for these debates.

It will probably be no different in 2024.

Lawmakers in dozens of states soon will be returning to work, weighing in on some of the most divisive issues confronting the country, including access to transition-related care for young transgender people, abortion and gun rights.

Lawmakers also will consider new regulations on artificial intelligence, a digital frontier that security experts have described as a serious potential threat — and one where state lawmakers could play a vital role by adopting safeguards that could be a model for the federal government to follow eventually.

“Consensus has yet to emerge, but Congress can look to state legislatures — often referred to as the laboratories of democracy — for inspiration regarding how to address the opportunities and challenges posed by AI,” said a report published in November from the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and poverty think tank.

Several states, including Florida, South Carolina and New Hampshire, are considering legislation that would govern the use of artificial intelligence in political advertising, particularly “deep-fake” technology, which could enable the voice and likeness of a candidate to be co- opted and used in malicious ways.

The South Carolina bill would limit the use of such technology within 90 days of an election and require a disclaimer declaring that the advertisement includes imagery or audio that has been “manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence.”

“The technology that produces this content has advanced rapidly and outpaced government regulation,” Nick Diceglie, a Republican state senator in Florida who introduced legislation in December, said in a statement.

A recent surge of legislation focused on gender expression and sexual orientation, driven by conservative lawmakers across the country, also is expected to continue widely in 2024.

In Missouri, lawmakers have proposed forbidding educators from referring to a student using pronouns that do not align with their “biological sex” without written permission from a student’s parent.

Lawmakers also are considering strengthening the law the state enacted in 2023 that prevents doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors. The new proposals include removing a sunset clause on the current law, as well as an exception that allowed minors who already were prescribed puberty blockers or hormones before the law went into effect to continue receiving treatment.

Twenty-two states have nowpassed laws preventing access to transition-related health care for minors; some have been blocked by legal challenges. The laws were part of a flurry of legislation championed by conservative lawmakers over the past two years that focused particularly on the gay and transgender com

munity.

It included bills aimed at limiting drag performances and classroom discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Virginia is another state where a transgender care ban for minors failed in 2023, as did nearly a dozen other bills assailed by critics as “anti-transgender.” But in 2024, with Democrats reclaiming full control of the General Assembly after the November elections, the majority has indicated that abortion protections, limits on access to guns and a higher minimum wage would rank as their biggest priorities.

Democratic lawmakers have proposed beginning the lengthy process of amending the state’s constitution to guarantee abortion rights, as well as passing a law prohibiting the purchase, possession and sale of assault firearms and some ammunition feeding devices.

Other states, including Kentucky and Tennessee, could see proposals for lessstringent gun control measures, including so- called red-flag laws that authorize the temporary removal of firearms from people who are deemed by the courts to be dangerous.

In Washington, some elected officials— including the state treasurer and lawmakers — are pushing for an ambitious approach to tackling a growing chasm in upward mobility and access to education between upper-income white residents and children who grow up in lower-income families, especially families of color, with a proposal to create trust funds known as “baby bonds.”

The proposal would provide such children with a $4,000 bond by their first birthday, which would be available to themwhen they reach adulthood to use for college, buying a home or starting a business.