With the new year comes a series of new laws scheduled to take effect across the country throughout 2025 on issues such as artificial intelligence, traditional university admissions, and surgical treatment for transgender youth.
More than six states will enact new data privacy and consumer protections, while federal regulations will require air travelers to present a compliant license or identification card to board domestic flights.
After a busy election cycle, state legislatures are poised to tackle another year of hot-button political issues under the Trump administration. Some of the laws that will take effect in 2025 are listed below.
Guardrails for AI
Two states will begin regulating the use of AI with the aim of mitigating the potential harms of the rapidly growing technology.
In Illinois, it will be illegal to intentionally distribute an audio- or video-based digital replica of an individual created by generative AI without that individual’s consent. The law also imposes a ban on the use of digital replicas of individuals for 50 years after their death, unless they have given their prior consent.
There are still certain cases where this law does not apply, such as when a digital replica has a political, public interest, educational or news value, such as parody. That is, unless it is falsely presented as genuine.
The Recording Academy has been a vocal supporter of this legislation since its introduction in February, defending its passage as a victory for protecting artists and creators from AI. Illinois Rep. Jennifer Gong Gershowitz, who introduced the bill, said the bill’s motivation came from cases of fraudulent use of artist identities in AI-generated music.
“I echo the concerns of members of Congress who were actually spurred by constituent concerns about the dangers posed by AI, the potential use of AI as a tool, and not just in a positive way, but also in protecting someone’s right to privacy.” We’ve also seen it in ways that can compromise or actually steal their identity,” Gon Gershowitz said.
Another Illinois law addresses AI-generated child pornography and prohibits the use of the technology to create real or purported indecent material of children. The law also separately prohibits the nonconsensual distribution of digitized sexually explicit images, which is a Class 4 felony.
“What we wanted to do was ensure that law enforcement could prosecute child pornography cases without having to prove that the images were of actual children,” Gon Gersho said. Witts said. “The goal here is to ensure that violence against children does not become normalized.”
Meanwhile, California is working on using AI in Hollywood. One law would require entertainment industry performers to give informed consent before using AI to replicate their voices or likenesses, and the second law would require entertainment industry performers to provide informed consent before using AI to replicate their voices or likenesses, and a second law would require performers in the entertainment industry to provide informed consent before using AI to replicate their voices or likenesses. It extends protection to digital replicas created within 70 years of the person’s death.
Gon Gershowitz said states are taking the lead in filling the gap left by the lack of federal legislation on AI. He emphasized the need for a balance between supporting innovation in the United States and ensuring that “new technologies, such as next-generation AI, continue to serve the interests of humanity.”
Data privacy and consumer protection
Eight states will implement privacy laws this year: Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota, and Tennessee.
Michelle Hong Donovan, a partner at law firm Duane Morris LLP, said the law would impose stricter obligations on companies handling personal data and give consumers more transparency about how their data is collected, used and shared. It is said that it gives the right to ask for. Each state has its own requirements and standards, such as Nebraska, which exempts small businesses, so not all businesses need to comply.
Maryland’s law is the most restrictive of the new laws, including a provision that restricts companies from collecting personal data only when it is “reasonably necessary” to perform a service or provide a product. . The law also completely prohibits the sale of sensitive data.
Donovan, who specializes in privacy and data security, said that before 2020, there were few laws addressing privacy nationwide, except for online privacy laws in some states. Federal laws primarily focus on specific industries, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, she added.
But now, eight states with laws going into effect in 2025 join a growing list of 19 total states that have passed comprehensive privacy laws.
“I expect more legislation to be passed in the next year, so this is probably just the beginning,” Donovan said.
California to ban Legacy admission
Legacy applicants in California will no longer have an advantage in the college admissions process starting in September 2025.
The state law prohibits legacy or donor preferences at private nonprofit institutions and eliminates preferences given to applicants with family or financial ties to the school. The University of California System abolished traditional admissions in 1998.
The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, requires all private universities in California to submit annual reports to document their compliance. Passage of the bill comes after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action admissions policies in 2023 and after an FBI investigation in 2019 into college admissions cheating involving dozens of wealthy parents, including Hollywood actors. This was done after it was revealed.
“It’s all about fairness,” then-Congressman Phil Ting previously told NBC News. “We want people to be able to work hard and get an education because they have worked hard and are truly the most qualified students, not because their wealthy parents or wealthy families are the donors. This is intended to level the playing field.”
The law will not take effect for new classes until fall 2026.
New Hampshire bans gender reassignment surgery for minors
New New Hampshire’s new law bans transgender minors from undergoing gender reassignment-related surgeries and prohibits doctors from referring patients to out-of-state surgeries.
The law does not affect other forms of gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed a health care bill in July along with another bill banning some transgender students from competing on school sports teams, but a federal judge partially blocked its implementation. was prevented.
Sununu said in a statement that the law protects the health and safety of children in the state by preventing them from undergoing “irreversible, life-altering surgeries.” Chris Ertschul, a senior staff attorney at the New England-based GLBTQ Legal Advocacy Association (GLAD), said decisions surrounding treatment are “very heavy and serious,” but between doctors and patients and, in the case of minors, parents. He said that it will be decided.
“Congress has opened the door to regulating health care for transgender people, singling them out on different criteria than other people, and targeting procedures that aren’t even done in New Hampshire, which is of course extremely “It’s rare,” Erczur said.
A study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health suggests that gender reassignment surgeries are rarely performed on transgender youth. Erczur expressed particular concern about laws that prohibit referrals, saying they “deprive families of even the opportunity to consult others to obtain the information they need to make decisions that are right for their families.”
New Hampshire is one of 26 states that restrict or ban surgical treatment for transgender youth, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ rights think tank. Ertschul said New Hampshire, where Republicans control the governor and both houses of Congress, has largely resisted legislative efforts targeting LGBTQ+ people over the past five years.
“This represents a major shift in what’s happening on the ground in New Hampshire,” Ertschul said. “I’m hearing from families talking about leaving the state, and they’re worried about sending their children to school because many question whether transgender people are safe anymore in New Hampshire.” I hear from families who are feeling the same.
The Supreme Court is currently considering a challenge to a Tennessee law restricting gender reassignment treatment for minors, but the surgical ban was not at issue in the justices’ hearing. The conservative-dominated court appears poised to uphold the law, which would have far-reaching implications for young people’s access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy across the country.
National ID regulations
Starting May 7, 2025, people 18 and older will be required to carry a Real ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card to fly domestically or access certain federal facilities .
Air travelers will be turned away at airport security checkpoints if they cannot present either an ID that meets the enhanced standards of the Real ID Act or an acceptable alternative, such as a passport.
The Department of Homeland Security has extended the Real ID enforcement deadline, citing a lack of state compliance and the COVID-19 pandemic making it more difficult to obtain new IDs at state Department of Motor Vehicles offices. has been postponed many times.
Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 based on recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. Under the law, state-issued licenses and identification cards must be equipped with anti-counterfeit technology and require records checks at the time of issuance.
All Real ID compliant cards have a star symbol at the top of the ID.
