Maine lawmakers weighed a bill that would establish a working group to study the use of AI, social media and cell phones in public school settings Wednesday. While a member of the public testified in support of the legislation, some members of the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs worried about the cost, the effort's potential redundancy and that it could place an undue burden on Department of Education staff.

Lawmakers in the state legislature approved the bipartisan Arkansas Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act Tuesday and the measure now heads to the governor's desk for signature. HB-1717 is modeled after the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 2.0 (see 2503040037), and would ban tech companies from collecting, retaining and disclosing minors' data, except in a few situations.

A proposed committee substitute for a North Carolina bill aimed at creating social media protections for minors passed the House Commerce and Economic Committee Tuesday by voice vote and will now be referred to the Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) should veto SB-86, legislation intended to protect children from online harms, NetChoice wrote the governor in a letter announced Tuesday (see 2504040064).

An Oregon bill requiring carmakers to follow state privacy laws concerning collecting and using drivers' personal data from their car passed the House 51-0 Thursday. HB-3875, sponsored by Rep. David Gomberg (D), had support from consumer justice organizations, but opponents wanted commercial vehicles deleted from the bill (see 2503190031). The bill, which has no amendments, previously passed the House Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee on an 8-0 vote (see 2504010075).

The U.S. District Court for Southern New York Friday partially dissolved a preliminary injunction prohibiting Treasury Department employees who are not in a Senate-confirmed position from accessing department systems that contain personally identifiable information (PII) or financial information of payees. The court ruled the states were unlikely to succeed on their E-Government and Privacy Act of 1974 claims.

Legislation that would amend the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act passed the House unanimously Friday with a 99-0 vote, and now returns to the Senate with amendments. SB-297, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov (R), would add child protections, halve the comprehensive privacy law’s 60-day right to cure, slash the legislation’s applicability thresholds and tighten exemptions (see 2502130054). Previously, the Senate unanimously passed updates to the law as well (see 2502240069).

Three amendments to a bill that would ban tech companies from collecting, retaining and disclosing minors' data, except in a few outlined situations, passed by a voice vote in the Arkansas House Aging, Children and Youth & Legislative Affairs Committee Monday. Rep. Zack Gramlich (R), one of the bill's sponsors, said the amendments served to clarify language and definitions in the bill.

Several Massachusetts Senate leaders announced in a release Monday that they've introduced a bill aimed at protecting reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare providers, patients, and advocates against a potentially hostile environment on the federal level and in other states. The bill "would protect the personal information of people who provide, receive, or support reproductive and gender-affirming care," the lawmakers said.

Civil society organizations were nearly excluded from a Maryland AI working group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center said Friday. However, consumer privacy advocates will get to join the group under the version of HB-956 that passed the Maryland General Assembly earlier this week, EPIC said.