Good morning, it’s Tuesday, September 1, 2026. In today’s edition, California adopts bills on rooftop solar, data centers, immigration detention facilities; anti-gerrymandering measure makes Colorado ballot; why top West Virginia Republicans are feuding over an historic hotel:

Top Stories

California lawmakers wrapped up their session overnight. Deep breath, lots of California news today…

ENERGY: California lawmakers approved legislation allowing consumers to install solar panels without an interconnection agreement with utility providers. Similar so-called plug-in solar bills have been signed into law in Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Vermont and Virginia. California lawmakers also approved bills speeding the installation of heat pumps in homes and advancing fusion energy development. (Pluribus News)

MORE: California lawmakers agreed to a package of rules regulating water and energy use by large data centers. The bills require the California Public Utilities Commission to create special rates and updated rules for data center electricity use. (Los Angeles Times)

REDISTRICTING: A proposed initiative to ban gerrymandering will appear on Colorado’s ballot this year after supporters collected enough signatures to qualify. The measure could prevent Democrats from trying to redraw map lines to counteract Republican gerrymanders in other states. (Colorado Sun)

IMMIGRATION: The California Assembly gave final approval to legislation imposing an annual tax on private detention centers. Money from the tax would fund immigration-related services. (Sacramento Bee) The state Senate last week approved a “bill of rights” for immigrants in private detention facilities, including the right to access medical and mental health treatment, clean drinking water, livable quarters and safe food. (Sacramento Bee)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: California lawmakers have approved a bill barring anyone from knowingly using AI to falsely represent a real person engaging with a government agency. The bill is meant to protect against the rising use of AI in public comments, records requests and other forms of civic engagement. (Los Angeles Times)

WILDFIRES: California legislative leaders announced a deal over wildfires sparked by utility companies. The bill would create a program to pay damage claims more quickly, deny short-term bonuses for utility CEOs at companies responsible for fires and sets limits on attorneys seeking to represent victims. (Sacramento Bee)

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) had wanted additional provisions seeking to limit insurance companies from recovering money from a utility after a fire.

PUBLIC LANDS: California lawmakers have approved legislation prohibiting government agencies from “substantially burdening” the ability of Native Americans to exercise religious ceremonies on state land. The bill would give Native American tribes more say over the use of state land. (Sacramento Bee)

ANTITRUST: The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states have sued Amazon, claiming the e-commerce retailer raised advertising costs for more than a million companies. The FTC said higher advertising costs were passed on to consumers. Both Republican and Democratic attorneys general joined the suit. (New York Times)

In Politics & Business

WEST VIRGINIA: U.S. Sen. Jim Justice (R) has made little secret of his interest in running for governor again, and Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) has begun needling Justice over the loss of control of The Greenbrier, the historic hotel Justice’s family bought out of bankruptcy in 2009. The two Republicans, who have a history of antipathy toward each other, traded shots online last week. (Pluribus News)

NEW MEXICO: Voters will decide on a constitutional amendment this year to allow lawmakers to collect a $64,000 salary. New Mexico is the only state where lawmakers do not earn regular pay. Voters have rejected measures to increase lawmaker compensation six times in the past, the last time in 1992. (Pluribus News)

ALASKA: Former state Sen. Tom Begich (D) has ended his campaign for governor and will back former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D) in November. Kreiss-Tomkins and Begich finished first and second in the all-party primary last month. Begich said his exit was meant to unite Democrats against the three Republicans who advanced to November’s general election. (Associated Press)

RHODE ISLAND: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is backing former CVS executive Helena Foulkes (D) in her challenge to Gov. Dan McKee (D). Pelosi was college roommates with Foulkes’s mother. She appeared with Foulkes at a get-out-the-vote rally over the weekend in Providence. (Providence Journal)

As far as we can tell, this is the first time Pelosi has campaigned against a sitting Democratic governor.

By The Numbers

More than 1 million: The decline in vacation days travelers spent in Hawaii in July, compared with 2025. More tourists visited the islands, but their average trips were shorter than last year amid rising costs. (Honolulu Star Advertiser)

$29 billion: The projected cost of Minnesota’s Medicaid program by 2029, up 40% from current spending levels. (Minnesota Reformer)

Off The Wall

Gerard Perreault prompted a bomb squad response when he hauled in a military explosive while magnet fishing in the Pawtuxet River in West Warwick, R.I. The incident marked the third time Perreault had found a military-grade explosive in just the last two months. (Providence Journal)

Prediction market company Kalshi has banned Ben Midgley, a former Republican candidate for governor of Maine, from the site for three years after Midgley wagered on his own campaign. Midgley said he wasn’t aware that candidates were not allowed to support themselves. (Portland Press Herald)

Congratulations to Dawn, the first winner of Colorado’s new Fat Marmot Week award. Dawn weighed in at 13 pounds, a body mass increase of more than 50% from his initial weigh-in. Dawn was described as “a very special boy who enjoys the taste of rocks.” (Denver Post)

Quote of the Day

“[F]or a while, the Democratic Party didn’t seem to be listening to them. That’s why building relationships is a whole lot more important to me than a party.”

— Mark Legvold (D), a candidate for a rural Minnesota Senate district, who says he wants to put the “F back in DFL,” or the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. (MinnPost)