By Dana Wormald | Editor
Good morning, New Hampshire, and welcome to Wednesday. Today, Molly Rains enters the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies to find out what it all means for New Hampshire now and in the future. Also, Stateline’s Kevin Hardy looks at the growing consensus among state lawmakers throughout the nation, independent of party divides, on the need to overhaul the nation’s childcare system. And, from States Newsroom’s Amelia Tywman, U.S. senators aim to take a bipartisan approach to AI ethics. Thank you for reading, and for supporting our work. — Dana
Blockchain technology was first applied to a financial product in 2008 by the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin, the first digital or "crypto" currency. (Photo illustration by Namthip Muanthongthae/Getty Images)
By Molly Rains
For Rep. Keith Ammon, a New Boston Republican and the prime sponsor of House Bill 639, regulating cryptocurrency is a matter of getting the state out of the way. The goal, he said in a phone interview Monday, is “to protect from too much regulation.” Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed HB 639 — deemed the “Blockchain Basic Laws” by Ammon and six Republican co-sponsors — earlier this month. The move brought New Hampshire a step closer to the other states moving to legislate the fast-evolving technology within their borders.
An employee at Cubby’s Childcare Center in Bridgeport, West Virginia, plays with two infants in July. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers say it’s time to rethink the nation’s fragile childcare system. (Photo by Amelia Ferrell Knisely/West Virginia Watch)
By Kevin Hardy
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is calling for an overhaul of the nation’s childcare system, which they say is failing children, parents, and providers. The group of 13 Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who have spent the last year studying childcare access and affordability problems, offered an array of policy recommendations during the National Conference of State Legislatures annual summit in Chicago this week.
By Amelia Twyman
A proposed federal commission on artificial intelligence ethics could help address moral questions associated with the rapidly developing technology, but there are still some areas in which they believe the proposal falls short, experts say.
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