AI job fears: About 70% of Americans worry artificial intelligence could take their jobs, a new The Center Square poll found.
Philadelphia immigration law: The U.S. Justice Department sued Philadelphia over a new law restricting how federal officers operate in the city.
Meta campaign finance: Washington state's highest court upheld a $35.2 million penalty against Meta for hiding details about its political ads.
Los Angeles schools: Los Angeles approved new screen time limits for all K-12 students, including a full ban for the youngest grades.
Supreme Court gun cases: The justices relisted several Second Amendment cases, some challenging whether 18- to 20-year-olds can buy handguns.
Most Americans concerned AI could take their jobs, poll finds
Photo: Luke Southern / Unsplash / Edited in Canva
What we found: About 70% of Americans are at least somewhat concerned that artificial intelligence could replace their jobs, according to The Center Square's Voters' Voice Poll of 2,585 registered voters. Roughly 36% said they were very concerned and 34% somewhat concerned. Only 9% said they were not at all concerned. Noble Predictive Insights conducted the poll from June 1 to June 4.
The stakes: The worry falls hardest on people with the least cushion to absorb it. About 41% of voters in households earning under $50,000 a year said they were concerned. Roughly 40% of those with a high school degree or less said they were very concerned.
The backstory: Concern split by party and age. About 41% of Democrats were very concerned, compared with 31% of Republicans. Voters 65 and older were more worried than those under 30. Pollster Mike Noble said AI companies should spend less effort building data centers and more teaching people to use the technology as a tool.
Where it stands: Noble said younger voters better grasp AI's long-term effect on work. He argued that teaching people to use AI as a tool, not a replacement, is the real challenge ahead.
3 States
Pennsylvania: The U.S. Justice Department sued Philadelphia over a new city law that would require federal officers to show identification, bar them from wearing masks in some cases, and limit their use of unmarked vehicles. The department called the measure unconstitutional. It said the suit is the latest in a series of challenges to state and local policies it views as obstructing federal enforcement, including in Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, and California.
Washington: The Washington State Supreme Court upheld a $35.2 million penalty against Meta, ruling the company broke state campaign finance law by failing to disclose details about its political ads. Tech industry groups warned in filings that Washington's platform-focused rules could become a blueprint that pushes digital platforms out of political advertising altogether.
Tennessee: Tennessee taxpayers are giving Starbucks $30 million for new corporate offices, even as The Center Square found the state's FastTrack grant program has issued about 70 clawbacks when companies failed to deliver promised jobs. A 2024 state audit found $7.9 million written off as uncollectible after companies went bankrupt or dissolved. Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas offer similar grants, which carry the same risk when promised jobs don't materialize.
2 Issues
Education: The Los Angeles Unified School District board approved limits on screen time for all K-12 students this week, including a full ban for students through first grade starting in August. Older grades face daily or weekly per-subject caps that phase in through January 2027, covering smartphones, tablets and laptops that became routine classroom tools during the pandemic. The policy reflects a wider concern that students spend too much time on screens in class, with supporters arguing that hours of screen content do not make for a better education just because it is online.
Healthcare: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act, which seals reproductive and gender-affirming health records from being accessed outside the state without a patient's consent. The law comes four years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and as states pass conflicting rules on reproductive care. The Chicago Abortion Fund says one in four people who travel out of state for an abortion now come to Illinois. Republican state Rep. Bill Hauter, a practicing medical professional, argued the law mischaracterizes what a medical record is for and risks leaving records incomplete.
1 Number
$140,000
That was the largest single payout one Minnesota county made to a retiring employee for unused sick leave and vacation in 2024. It went to the county's intergovernmental relations director, whose annual pay was about $138,000. More than a dozen of the county's payouts topped $100,000 over the past four years, and more than 80 topped $50,000. In all, the county paid out more than $2 million to retiring employees in each of those years, peaking at about $2.7 million in 2024.
Gun cases in limbo at the Supreme Court as Virginia's ban nears
The U.S. Supreme Court relisted a batch of Second Amendment cases, several of them challenging whether 18-to-20-year-olds can buy handguns. We break down which cases the justices are weighing, what lower courts are signaling, and why gun owners in other states are watching closely.
Mike DeWine, Governor of Ohio
DeWine vetoed a Republican bill that would have required photo identification for absentee ballots, saying it would add expense and burden mail voters without making Ohio's elections more secure. Senate President Rob McColley called the veto disappointing and contrasted Ohio with Democrat-controlled states such as Virginia and Hawaii that have repealed photo ID laws. The move places Ohio in the middle of a national fight over voting rules.
According to The Center Square's Voters' Voice poll, what share of American voters say the U.S. should remain in NATO?
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with President Trump on Wednesday and praised his push for higher allied defense spending. Trump stayed critical of European partners and has floated leaving the nearly 80-year-old alliance.
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