Iowa Lawmakers May Boost Sales Tax for Outdoors

A fraction of a penny sales tax increase in Iowa that would go to environmental and outdoor recreational improvements may get a hearing from lawmakers in the Hawkeye state this year, according to legislative leaders.

 

Iowa voters changed the state constitution in 2010 to establish the Iowa Natural Resources and Outdoors Trust Fund, but anti-tax sentiment in the legislature has kept the fund from being filled.

 

But Iowa Senate President Charles Schneider (R) and House Majority Leader Chris Hagenow, also a Republican, said some lawmakers now see the idea of a small sales tax increase more favorably. Businesses have been suggesting possible projects that could benefit from a three-eighths of one cent hike to the sales tax, and the leaders told the Greater Des Moines Partnership, which supports the increase, that the discussion is drumming up interest in the statehouse.  

 

The proposal would generate $180 million more a year for improvements in water quality, soil conservation, wildlife habitat, and boosting outdoor recreation. Iowa’s legislature starts in January. (DES MOINES REGISTER)

Budgets in Brief - December 10 2018

CT ON PACE FOR FISCAL YEAR-END SURPLUS

Higher-than-forecast income tax receipts leave CONNECTICUT on pace for a nearly $250 million budget surplus, state comptroller Kevin P. Lembo said this week in a regular monthly forecast. Lembo projected the Constitution State’s $19 billion General Fund will close June 30 with a $245.7 million surplus. He said job gains in recent months have boosted income tax collections. Gov.-elect Ned Lamont (D) has said he doesn’t want to tap into the surplus, preferring that the state retain its reserves as a safeguard against the next recession. Legislative leaders, however, have said lawmakers will likely at least discuss the possibility of spending some of the reserve. (CONNECTICUT MIRROR)

 

SD GOV PROPOSES SPENDING INCREASES IN FINAL BUDGET

In his final budget, retiring SOUTH DAKOTA Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) is suggesting lawmakers boost spending by $53 million, mostly on education, state worker pay and Medicaid. Gov.-elect Kristi Noem (R) will use Daugaard’s final budget as a blueprint, but will make her own proposals. She has said she doesn’t anticipate major differences in the plan she’ll present to lawmakers in their coming session. Daugaard recommended a General Fund budget of just under $1.7 billion for the coming fiscal year starting July 1. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

 

KY GOP MAY TRY AGAIN ON PENSIONS

If KENTUCKY’S Supreme Court strikes down a bill that made state pension benefits more austere, Republican leaders in the Bluegrass State legislature say they’ll likely put forth a new bill to relieve its shortfall. The new law passed this past spring did away with defined benefit pensions for future teachers and lowered the guaranteed rate of return in 401(k)s for other state workers, among other changes. Its passage led to large protests in Frankfort, and the new rules aren’t in effect because they’ve been blocked by court challenges. A Supreme Court decision on the case could come any time. Republican lawmakers and Gov. Matt Bevin (R) say changes are needed to deal with the Commonwealth’s $37 billion unfunded pension liability. (WFPL RADIO [LOUISVILLE]).

 

IN LAWMAKERS WANT SAY ON TOLL ROAD WINDFALL USE

Legislators in INDIANA are criticizing Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) for not consulting them on how to spend a $1 billion windfall from the renegotiation of a toll road lease. Holcomb this past fall unilaterally laid out plans for spending the money, including using $600 million of the extra cash to speed up the completion of Interstate 69 through the state. Most of the money is earmarked for transportation infrastructure improvements under Holcomb’s plan, though some would go for rural broadband access. Lawmakers from both parties meeting this week ahead of Indiana’s upcoming legislative session criticized Holcomb for designating the money for spending without legislative input. “There has to be some legislative oversight,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Ryan Mishler (R) said, adding lawmakers will discuss what they may be able to do about it. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

 

-- By SNCJ Correspondent DAVE ROYSE

NC Lawmakers Add ID Requirement to Voter Bill Amid Fraud Probe

North Carolina lawmakers have voted to require identification for people who vote absentee, a reaction to allegations of voter fraud that have led to calls for a new congressional election in part of the state.

 

The House added a provision on absentee ballot IDs to a larger bill dealing with voter identification for people who vote in person. The bill passed on a 67-40 vote, with most Republicans backing it and Democrats mostly opposed. The bill now returns to the Senate, which passed its own version last week. Democrats contend that the ID requirements will make it harder for legitimate voters to cast their ballot.

 

If the bill wins final passage, the State Board of Elections would have to write a rule for how to require IDs from absentee ballot voters.

 

“This situation we’re all reading about is an embarrassment and an impediment to the integrity of our entire election system,” said bill sponsor Rep. David Lewis (R).

 

An effort to require IDs for absentee voters came as U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said this week that the House may call for a new election for the Tarheel State’s Ninth Congressional District seat because of the alleged absentee ballot fraud. Republican Mark Harris got about 900 more votes than Democrat Dan McCready, but officials so far haven’t certified the results because of the investigation into irregularities in absentee ballots. The state elections board has a hearing planned for later this month.

 

Officials have said hundreds of absentee ballots that were requested by voters were never returned.

 

Several news outlets have reported on voters who told of campaign workers who collected their ballots with the idea that they would turn them in, a practice that is already illegal in North Carolina, where only certain relatives and guardians are able to drop off a voter’s absentee ballot if the voter doesn’t do it themselves. Reports have also surfaced that a consultant linked to the Harris campaign oversaw a crew of workers that collected ballots, and the state elections board has subpoenaed the firm and the Harris campaign. (NEWS & OBSERVER [RALEIGH], CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, WASHINGTON POST, HUFFINGTON POST)

Effort Planned in PA to Block New Voting Machines

A powerful Republican state senator said he will propose legislation to keep Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) from forcing Keystone State counties to buy new voting machines.  

 

Wolf and Democratic lawmakers say getting new machines online before the 2020 presidential election is a priority for the state to be able to guard against hacking. Four out of five Pennsylvania voters uses an electronic voting machine that lacks an auditable paper record of votes, and Wolf has told counties to have machines that leave a paper trail by the next presidential election. Counties say replacing systems around the state will cost about $125 million.

 

Senate Majority Whip John Gordner (R) says lawmakers should have to approve such a requirement, and that not all machines need to be replaced. Some that aren’t tied to the internet could still be used, he argues, without threat of being hacked. Gordner says he hopes his bill will be heard in committee next month as Pennsylvania starts its two-year legislative session. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Politics in Brief - December 10 2018

CRITICS ASSAIL NJ DEMS REDISTRICTING PROPOSAL

Government watchdog groups, civil rights organizations and redistricting experts are criticizing a Democratic proposal in NEW JERSEY that seeks to change the state constitution to entrench the party’s power in the Garden State. Democratic leadership in the state is pushing a measure that would require a 2021 redrawing of the state’s 40 districts in a way that would ensure no more than 15 would lean Republican. The measure would force mapmakers to consider partisanship when redrawing districts, something many reformers have pushed to end in other states. The ACLU, the NAACP and The Center for American Progress are among groups that are critical of the measure. (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER)

 

KENNEDY WILL SKIP LOUISIANA GOV’S RACE

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said this week he won’t run for governor of LOUISIANA, leaving Republicans without a high-profile candidate to challenge Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) but opening the field for other candidates who had been waiting for Kennedy’s decision. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham (R) said on Twitter that he’ll enter the race. Kennedy reminded political observers why he would be missed if he’d left Capitol Hill, where he’s known as one of the more colorful quotes in Congress. “I hope someone runs for Governor who understands that Louisiana state government does not have to be a big, slow, dumb, wasteful, sometimes corrupt, spend-money-like-it-is-ditchwater, anti-taxpayer, top down institution,” Kennedy said. (TIMES-PICAYUNE [NEW ORLEANS], ROLL CALL)

 

FL SUPREME COURT WON’T HAVE ANY BLACK JUSTICES

Starting in January, the FLORIDA Supreme Court will be without an African-American justice for the first time in 36 years. Three state Supreme Court justices must retire because they have reached the mandatory retirement age of 70, and their terms all will end on Jan. 8, the day incoming Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis (R) will take office.  Florida governors are required to choose new Supreme Court justices from a list sent to the governor by the Judicial Nominating Commission. That commission, with members all appointed by outgoing Gov. Rick Scott (R), has put forward a list of 11 nominees, none of whom is black. The seven-member court will be without a black justice for the first time since 1983. (NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA)

 

FL ELECTION SUPERVISOR TO FIGHT SUSPENSION

Embattled Broward County, FLORIDA elections supervisor Brenda Snipes will fight a suspension issued by outgoing Gov. Rick Scott (R). Snipes, who faced criticism over the county’s difficulty conducting recounts, had said she’d step down on Jan. 4. But when Scott suspended Snipes, citing “misfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty,” she decided to rescind her resignation. Scott, who was elected to the U.S. Senate, noted in an executive order that his campaign sued Snipes for not providing a record of uncounted votes in the county, which includes Fort Lauderdale. The governor also alleges Snipes’ staff misplaced ballots and failed to meet deadlines. Removing Snipes requires a state Senate hearing. Snipes’ backers say the suspension is aimed at embarrassing her. (TAMPA BAY TIMES)

 

-- Compiled by SNCJ Correspondent DAVID ROYSE