FORMER FL SENATE PRESIDENT TAKES JOB WITH MAJOR DONOR

Outgoing FLORIDA Senate president Joe Negron (R) has taken a job with private prison operator Geo Group. When Negron became Senate president in 2016, the company contributed $270,000 to a political committee he controlled, and he supported legislation beneficial to Geo in particular and private prison interests in general, including a bill that nearly passed in 2012 which would have privatized the state’s entire prison system. (MIAMI HERALD)

NE DEMOCRATIC PARTY DROPPING CAUCUS SYSTEM

NEBRASKA’s Democratic Party has voted to discontinue using caucuses, which it has been doing since 2008, and go back to using a regular primary system. According to a press release the party is making the change to “ensure all Democrats and Independents can participate in our Presidential primary while also voting for critical down ballot candidates.” (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD)

KS SENATOR SWITCHES PARTIES

KANSAS state senator Barbara Bollier has switched parties from Republican to Democrat. She cited President Trump as a factor in her decision, but she also has a history of clashing with Republican leadership over LGBT and other issues and serves a district that leans Democratic. (WICHITA EAGLE)

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) unveiled a $675 million proposal to dramatically reshape how patients in the Evergreen State’s mental health system are cared for.

Inslee’s plan calls for hundreds of new community mental-health beds and the creation of a first-of-its-kind partnership with the University of Washington to establish a new teaching hospital focused on behavioral health. It would also address an ongoing worker shortage by committing $4 million to developing more mental-health workers by creating a new state-funded scholarship program for students who agree to work in high-demand behavioral health fields at state hospitals and community sites.

Other tenets include funding long-term housing options and tailoring treatment for patients who don’t need 24-hour supervision or care.

“We know we need to transform our mental-health-care system,” Inslee said during a news conference announcing the proposal. “For too long, we’ve had too long of a line of people who need to get into the door of mental-health-care treatment.”

The Washington mental health system has been the subject of numerous court orders and lawsuits in recent years, including for keeping patients in emergency rooms and other inappropriate settings without proper treatment because of a lack of bed space, or in jail for extended periods of time awaiting mental competency evaluations.

The state’s largest mental health facility, Western State Hospital, has also been cited several times by federal officials for lackluster patient safety and care standards. Thigs got so bad that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services this year decertified the facility, costing the state more than $50 million in federal funding.

Under Inslee’s proposal, some patients from both Western State and Eastern State hospitals would be moved to new community beds.

Because federal law bars reimbursing for treatment at community facilities with more than 16 beds, Inslee has historically favored smaller sites that stay within that limit. But Inslee cited a recent offering from the Trump administration to allow states to request a waiver from the law, which he said could facilitate building the larger facilities the state needs.

The next hurdles will be convincing lawmakers to endorse the necessary funding and local communities to embrace having the facilities in their neighborhoods. Inslee acknowledged that the latter might be the harder of the two.

“We’re going to need to talk to neighborhoods and communities to make sure they’re comfortable with those provisions,” he said. (SEATTLE TIMES, LEWISTON TRIBUNE, WASHINGTON GOVERNOR’S OFFCE)

A spokesperson for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said the governor will unveil a proposal early next year to legalize recreational marijuana use in the Empire State. It would presumably come after a new Democratic majority is sworn in to both legislative chambers.

The proposal would mark a significant change of heart for Cuomo, who has previously opposed efforts to legalize recreational weed use, calling it “a gateway drug.” Cuomo spokesman Tyrone Stevens noted the governor’s new position came about after a series of 17 “listening sessions” in cities around the state.

“Now that the listening sessions have concluded, the working group has begun accessing and reviewing the feedback we received and we expect to introduce a formal comprehensive proposal early in the 2019 legislative session,” he said.

There is also the fact that recreational marijuana use became legal in neighboring Massachusetts this year, and New Jersey is close to following suit. A report by New York Comptroller Scott Stringer earlier this year posited that legalizing weed would create a $3.1 billion-a-year market in New York. (NEW YORK POST, NBC NEWS, HILL)

WALKER LIKELY TO SIGN WI GOP POWER GRAB BILLS

Outgoing WISCONSIN Gov. Scott Walker (R) signaled his intention to sign a package of bills passed by lawmakers in the lame duck session that are widely interpreted as a move by majority Republicans to limit the power of Gov.-elect Tony Evers (D). In a long Facebook post, Walker said Evers would still have some of the strongest powers of any governor in the nation. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, GOVERNING)

EVERS FORMS WI PRISON REFORM PANEL

WISCONSIN Gov.–elect Tony Evers (D) announced the formation of a state task force to develop an action plan for reforming the Badger State prison system. Task force members will include two former state Supreme Court justices and three people who previously ran the system. (WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO)

RICKETTS OPEN TO NE ‘STAND YOUR’ GROUND LAW

NEBRASKA Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) said he is open to working with lawmakers to develop a so-called “stand your ground” law in the Cornhusker State. Such statutes give residents far greater latitude to use lethal force to defend themselves in their homes, workplaces and other locations. (LINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR)

BULLOCK WINS LEGAL BATTLE WITH MT AG

The MONTANA Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Steve Bullock (D) acted within the law when he circumvented the State Board of Land Commissioners to finalize an eastern Montana conservation easement. The ruling overturned a legal opinion issued by Attorney General Tim Fox (R). As a result of the ruling, the Land Board will no longer cast the deciding vote on conservation easements. (MISSOULIAN)

VA GOV PITCHES WATER CLEANUP PLAN

Anticipating a budget surplus in the coming year, VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph Northam (D) proposed dedicating $90 million each year starting in fiscal year 2020 to a cost-sharing program to help farmers make their properties more environmentally friendly. He also proposed a one-time $50 million deposit into a state fund that provides cities and counties that include urban areas with matching grants to manage the quality of water running off roads, parking lots and sidewalks. Lawmakers must approve the proposal. (DAILY PRESS [NEWPORT NEWS])

SNYDER SIGNS MI GREAT LAKES TUNNEL BILL

MICHIGAN Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed legislation Wednesday (SB 1197) to create a new authority to oversee a controversial proposal to replace the Line 5 tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac. Opponents say the plan puts the state at risk for a catastrophic spill during the seven to 10 years it is expected to take to dig the $350-million tunnel in bedrock beneath the straits. Snyder named a top aide, an academic and a labor leader as the authority’s three members. Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Attorney General-elect Dana Nessel (D) both oppose the new line, saying Line 5 should be decommissioned instead. (LANSING STATE JOURNAL)

DC Superior Court Blocks

A WASHINGTON D.C. Superior Court blocks an effort to force a new referendum on a law that would overhaul how servers, bartenders and other tipped workers are paid. District voters approved the original measure, Initiative 77, in June, but the law was later overturned by the DC Council. Judge Neal E. Kravitz ruled that elections officials failed to follow proper procedure when they allowed referendum supporters to collect signatures (WASHINGTON POST).

OH Senate Approves HB 58

The OHIO Senate approves HB 58, which would require all Buckeye State school kids to be proficient in writing cursive by the fifth grade. It returns to the House (HILL).

MI House Approves HB 5526

The MICHIGAN House approves HB 5526, a bill that would create an A-F letter grading system for Wolverine State schools. It moves to the Senate (MLIVE).