Jerrod KingeryAs the new year begins, state legislatures across the U.S. will be convening for their 2025 sessions, setting the stage for debates and decisions on a wide variety of priorities. Lawmakers in each state are preparing to tackle critical issues, including housing affordability, healthcare access, technology and education, shaping policies that will affect millions of Americans.
All 50 U.S. state legislatures are scheduled to convene for their regular sessions in 2025. While most state legislatures begin their sessions in January, some sessions are already underway.
Here are a selection of states and their top legislative priorities:
- California: The California Legislature is currently in a special session, convened back in December by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The session looks to provide legal resources to safeguard California values, including the state’s economy, civil and reproductive rights, clean air and water and support for working families, in response to potential challenges from proposed federal policies.
- Ohio: In Ohio, the new two-year General Assembly session began on January 6. Lawmakers have identified top priorities, including addressing rising property taxes, increasing regulation of legalized recreational marijuana and exploring fracking as a path to energy independence. This session runs through December 2026.
- New York: The New York State Assembly’s 2025 session opened on January 8. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State proposals include an inflation relief plan to return approximately $3 billion to taxpayers, expanding the child tax credit to a maximum of $1,000, increasing access to childcare through new and upgraded facilities and a major investment in the Hudson Valley Rail Service to improve safety and reduce delays.
- Texas: Looking ahead, Texas will launch its biennial session on January 14. Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to prioritize key agenda items including his school choice plan that failed to pass during the last legislative session. The plan would create a school voucher program, allowing parents to send their children to private schools using public money. Gov. Abbott has also prioritized reducing property taxes and enhancing security at the southern border with Mexico.
In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) is also poised to take center stage in many state legislatures this year. In 2024, lawmakers introduced 636 AI-related bills, and 2025 is already off to a fast start, with 223 AI-focused measures filed so far.
Lawmakers across the U.S. are increasingly focusing on the energy challenges posed by AI data centers, which are quickly becoming critical infrastructure as the technology takes hold in business and government. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the country is already home to over 5,000 data centers, with demand projected to grow at an annual rate of 9% through 2030.
This rapid expansion has raised concerns about energy consumption, grid reliability and environmental sustainability, prompting policymakers to explore strategies for balancing the technological and economic growth these AI data centers bring to their states with responsible energy management.
Below is a full list of states and the dates their legislatures convene:
- Alabama – February 4, 2025.
- Alaska – January 21, 2025.
- Arizona – January 13, 2025.
- Arkansas – January 13, 2025.
- California – December 2, 2024.
- Colorado – January 8, 2025.
- Connecticut – January 8, 2025.
- Delaware – January 14, 2025.
- Florida – March 4, 2025.
- Georgia – January 13, 2025.
- Hawaii – January 15, 2025.
- Idaho – January 6, 2025.
- Illinois – January 8, 2025.
- Indiana – January 8, 2025.
- Iowa – January 13, 2025.
- Kansas – January 13, 2025.
- Kentucky – January 7, 2025.
- Louisiana – April 14, 2025.
- Maine – December 4, 2024.
- Maryland – January 8, 2025.
- Massachusetts – January 1, 2025.
- Michigan – January 8, 2025.
- Minnesota – January 14, 2025.
- Mississippi – January 7, 2025.
- Missouri – January 8, 2025.
- Montana – January 6, 2025.
- Nebraska – January 8, 2025.
- Nevada – February 3, 2025.
- New Hampshire – January 8, 2025.
- New Jersey – January 14, 2025.
- New Mexico – January 21, 2025.
- New York – January 8, 2025.
- North Carolina – January 8, 2025.
- North Dakota – January 7, 2025.
- Ohio – January 6, 2025.
- Oklahoma – January 3, 2025.
- Oregon – January 21, 2025.
- Pennsylvania – January 7, 2025.
- Rhode Island – January 7, 2025.
- South Carolina – January 14, 2025.
- South Dakota – January 14, 2025.
- Tennessee – January 14, 2025.
- Texas – January 14, 2025.
- Utah – January 21, 2025.
- Vermont – January 8, 2025.
- Virginia – January 8, 2025.
- Washington – January 13, 2025.
- West Virginia – February 12, 2025.
- Wisconsin – January 6, 2025.
- Wyoming – January 14, 2025.
Photo courtesy Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
