States Consider Bans on Flavored E-Cigarettes

As of April 9, at least 10 states had introduced bans on the sale of flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and other vaping devices. Most of the proposals would exempt establishments that prohibit minors. Some would apply only to e-liquids used to refill vaping products. But at least two states, California and Hawaii, have introduced measures that would ban all sales of all flavored tobacco products, although the House version of Hawaii’s proposal, HB 276, was amended to allow sales of menthol-flavored products.

Gone to the Goats

With wildfires having wreaked so much devastation in the last few years, more rural California towns are looking at warding off such blazes by clearing the brush and other fuels that feed them. One option gaining popularity is as old as time, and purely organic to boot – goats! Yes, as the Los Angeles Times reports, the tiny Sierra town of Nevada City (population 3,100) is looking to employ herds of goats to clear excess vegetation from hundreds of acres of city-owned land. The total cost, however, might be problematic. So city leaders have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise the $30K it will take to bring the goats to bear...so to speak.

Newsom Faces Immediate Crises

Barely a week into his governorship, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is already dealing with two major crises: the bankruptcy of the nation’s largest public utility and a teacher strike in Los Angeles, the country’s second largest school district.

 

Newsom called for both sides to work toward a settlement of the strike but declined to take sides. He has, however, called for lawmakers to pass legislation requiring more transparency from charter school operators, one of several issues of contention between the teachers unions and the L.A. Unified School District. Newsom also noted that his recently-released budget proposal includes over $80 billion in K-12 education funding – a record – and $3 billion for teacher pensions, which he said would also free up tens of millions of dollars in the LAUSD budget.

 

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy declaration by Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation’s largest utility, may be even more problematic. The utility is facing approximately $30 billion in damages from its role in igniting a series of disastrous fires in 2017 and 2018 that killed scores of people and resulted in the loss of thousands of homes and billions of dollars more in damage. 

 

The bankruptcy filing would coalesce the outstanding claims into one large suit that could be heard by a bankruptcy court rather than a jury. It also drew immediate criticism from lawmakers, who said fire victims were unlikely to receive proper compensation for their losses from a bankruptcy court.

 

The filing started a 15-day window before it becomes official. Newsom told reporters last week he is hopeful that can be avoided, but he acknowledged that might not be possible. The biggest priority, he said, is determining a path forward that keeps consumer energy prices down and ensures wildfire victims are properly compensated and the state is still able to meet its long-term energy goals. (STATE NET CAPITOL JOURNAL, ASSOCIATED PRESS, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE)

FCC Funding Spurs Dispute Between States and Cell Phone Carriers

Last year the Federal Communication Commission offered $4.5 billion in funding over the next 10 years to help states provide high-speed mobile broadband service in underserved rural areas.

 

Cell phone carriers informed the FCC that several states, including Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Vermont, were already well covered with high-speed broadband, making the states ineligible for the FCC’s Mobility Fund Phase II (MF-II) reverse auction money.

 

The states disagreed.

 

“When we first looked at the confidential coverage maps we called the FCC staff and said, ‘These maps are wrong,’” said Corey Chase, telecommunications infrastructure specialist for Vermont’s Department of Public Service.

 

He said the FCC told them, “Well, if you don’t think they’re accurate, it would behoove you to do a challenge.”

 

That advice resulted in scores of contractors and volunteers crisscrossing multiple states doing a rendition of the “Can you hear me now?” line from the Verizon ad and, ultimately, in the filing of several state challenges with the FCC.

 

In response to those challenges, the FCC suspended its MF-II program last month so it could investigate whether one or more of the major carriers had violated its auction mapping rules. The accuracy of that data is not only key for determining state eligibility for MF-II funding but also a “public safety issue,” according to Ryan Brown, a deputy commissioner for Mississippi’s Public Service Commission.

 

“We’ve had folks who have been in car wrecks and haven’t been able to call 911; we’ve had elderly people who have fallen and can’t get a signal to call an ambulance,” he said. “Lives are at stake in this matter too.” (STATELINE, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION)

Politics in Brief - January 28 2019

RECORD NUMBER OF ETHICS COMPLAINTS IN AK ELECTIONS LAST YEAR

The ARKANSAS Ethics Commission received 146 citizen complaints against candidates and others during last year’s election cycle. That number was a new record and a 45 percent increase from 2012. (ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE)

 

KS LEGISLATURE ALLOWS UNRECORDED VOTES

Despite a push for greater transparency in KANSAS state government, both chambers of the Legislature allow unrecorded votes on bills in committee. Unrecorded votes are also allowed on amendments to bills before the full chambers, although final votes always get recorded. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

 

PUSH FOR MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION IN MN

MINNESOTA Rep. Mike Freiberg (D) and Sen. Melisa Franzen (D) are working on legislation to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Rep. Raymond Dehn (D) is aiming, instead, to put the issue before the state’s voters as a constitutional amendment in 2020, which would still require the approval of both the DFL-controlled House and the Republican-led Senate first. (MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)

 

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK