Episode
AI Is Being Used to Speed Up Government Transparency But There Are Still Concerns | The States
- Podcast
- The States
- Published
- Jul 21, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2630
- Processing state
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Summary
Arizona's primaries, AI in government transparency, Illinois FOID card challenge, Michigan's Line 5 project, and states with the best schools. Arizona voters are deciding primaries for governor, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction, with polls suggesting Republican Andy Biggs will emerge as Governor Katie Hobbs' November opponent over David Schweikert. Reveal's Jeff Wolff discussed how AI is being used at federal, state, and local levels to speed up public records requests, reduce processing costs, and improve auditing, while noting AI interactions themselves create new discoverable government records. Also, in this episode: Illinois State Police and Cook County's State's Attorney filed formal denials to a federal lawsuit challenging the state's FOID card requirement, disputing claims that the law violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. Michigan regulators granted a key permit for Enbridge's Line 5 tunnel project, which would relocate a 73-year-old pipeline carrying 500,000 barrels of oil and natural gas daily under the Straits of Mackinac into a tunnel beneath the lakebed, following a 16-month review and 70,000 public comments. The Bay Mills Indian Community and other tribal and environmental groups condemned the approval and vowed to continue fighting the project, while additional state and federal permits, plus a pending Michigan Supreme Court case, still stand between the project and construction. A WalletHub analysis ranked Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin as the top states for education based on 32 metrics, while West Virginia, Oregon, Oklahoma, Alaska, and New Mexico ranked lowest. Governor Josh Shapiro signed a budget increasing funding for the state's 47 rape crisis centers by $12 million, while…