The temptation to use Halloween and the entire month of October as a tie-in to new product launches is great for brands, as the season's themes are wide-ranging, fun and unabashedly commercial. That said, PR firms and departments need to be careful at this time of year. Without a keen and up-to-date picture of media mentions, companies could stumble into PR issues.
Before digressing into warnings about Halloween promotions, it pays to remember how valuable it can be to launch or promote a product with a strong link to the holiday. This is especially true for food and beverage makers, as there is perhaps no holiday tied so closely to snacking.
Foodbev Media recently ran down some of this year's launches and tie-ins from around the world, including some clever uses of Halloween imagery on products that have not previously had any link to the holiday. For instance, Frito-Lay has debuted black Doritos-brand chips adorned with vampire imagery - exclusive to Japan, at least for now.
The source noted that UK discounter Lidl went even further away from traditional Halloween snacks, debuting tri-color pasta with ghost, bat and pumpkin shapes. The opportunities to launch a new flavor, shape or packaging design in the run-up to Halloween are nearly limitless. With a little effort, you can make just about anything scary, but sales forecasting is important as companies can misjudge demand and end up in crisis mode with product that will not be relevant again for a year.
Not every brand that launches a tie-in to the season is having a happy Halloween. In fact, those that make mistakes will likely need much more active PR departments than their competitors. The U.K.'s The Telegraph recently ran down a list of offensive Halloween costumes for this year, the type of context no brand wants. Celebrities are also not immune from some Halloween backlash, here is a roundup of recent celeb costume snafus.
While some of the ideas mentioned in The Telegraph's roundup are clearly in bad taste and courting controversy, others may have seemed like a good idea at some time. In the age of Instagram and Snapchat, brands that end up in trouble over their decisions will likely need up-to-the-minute media monitoring to quickly realize there is a problem and distribute messaging to counter any lasting reputation damage. Truly great PR departments can learn from others to prevent such a situation from ever happening.
When teams perform active and up-to-date media monitoring regarding topics of interest, they may realize in advance that a trending topic turned into product or costume idea holds the potential to miss the mark or just downright offend. Such thinking by costume manufacturers may have prevented the creation of an outfit designed to evoke Kim Kardashian becoming the victim of a robbery in Paris, which took pride of first place in The Telegraph's offensive costume list.
Sometimes, events in the Halloween season cause PR problems for companies that weren't even trying to engage with the season. In these cases, it's especially important for organizations to stay aware of potential issues and counter them carefully.
The Guardian, for example, reported that McDonald's decided to keep its popular Ronald McDonald character out of the public eye in the U.S. market after a rash of incidents throughout October in which individuals dressed as clowns have intimidated or frightened passersby.
By observing the tone of coverage around clowns worldwide, the restaurant chain made a proactive decision to avoid possible negative associations. The decision was seemingly reached not based on any incident with Ronald McDonald, but the general attitude toward the frightening clown sightings. Preemptive actions are possible if PR departments have keen and timely awareness of media activity.
To be successful, brands must make sure to keep their campaigns tasteful, understand public sentiment and stay aware of current trends.These insights and tie-ins can provide relevant and appropriate options for branded campaigns and product launches in October. Just in case something does go wrong, it pays to be hyper-aware of any negative coverage of the business or products in question--this level of visibility is made possible today with technology monitoring media 24x7. Halloween is a season of tricks and treats, but brands don't want to be haunted by PR mistakes made during October.
On October 14, the International Standards Organization published a new standard that companies and organizations can use to certify their anti-bribery and corruption compliance procedures. Companies can meet the ISO 37001 standard if they implement a series of requirements to demonstrate their efforts to prevent bribery and corruption. While ISO 37001 certification does not automatically mean a company will receive a “pass” if an FCPA violation is uncovered, it does support principles underpinning the standard used by many regulators around the world.
Combatting corruption isn’t just about ethical behaviour; it’s about creating a level playing field for emerging and developed economies and for small and large businesses alike. By some estimates, the cost of corruption exceeds $2.6 trillion—and no one can afford that level of waste. Why should a company seek to become certified?
Ultimately, the success of the ISO 37001 will depend on the willingness of regulators and companies to take it seriously. Nonetheless, the principles behind the standard are ones which should be followed by all companies. Whether or not they seek ISO 37001 certification, companies of all sizes should invest in a risk-based approach to compliance, with proportionate due diligence depending on the risk level. This enables companies to manage spend as efficiently as possible while strengthening compliance to support business growth in new markets.
What a difference a year and even a week makes. When we started tracking the presidential election coverage a year and a half ago, we aimed to test a few theories:
As the campaigns wind down, here is what we have found out.
Throughout the election, Trump has maintained a significant lead in coverage over time and share of voice. He handily beat his Republican primary contenders in both media and polling data. Share of voice and media coverage continued at their high levels post primaries, but his coverage lead did start to narrow against Clinton and his polling numbers seemed to be falling.
A few of our experts dug in deep to see if there was truly a correlation between coverage and polling results. What we discovered: Media coverage has been impacting Trump and Clinton in different ways. As Trump’s media coverage rose, his polling numbers rose as well. Surprisingly, rises in media coverage of Clinton also correlated to upward movement in Trump’s polling numbers. This may explain some of the recent polling as well. Since the FBI letter and report leaked last week, Clinton has experienced more media coverage and her polling has declined, while Trump’s numbers have surged slightly.
Naturally, we looked at other factors—including sentiment—which yielded additional insights. Check out the complete analysis for yourself.
So, is social media playing a role in the election or just providing us with an indication of results to come? Despite my Facebook and Twitter feeds spewing countless election posts—often without fact-checking—the impact of social media on the election is yet to be determined. If nothing else, social media offers us instant results and reactions to debates and scandals. Take for instance the Twitter sentiment for 11 swing states on the morning after the last presidential debate. Analysis by the Applied Policy Research Institute at Wright State University shows that sentiment on Twitter remained close, but there were clear moments in the debate that led to tweetstorms on behalf of both candidates.
Looking at trending hashtags for the last 7 days, we can see support for Clinton and Trump. As you can see FBI was trending, though in a small way compared to media coverage.
This campaign season has been more tumultuous than most, no doubt about it. The evidence on which states are blue and which are red is pretty clear. Who is winning in those Purple states and how is the coverage breaking out for the swing states:
Media Coverage 30 days
Media Coverage7 days
Projected margin of victory - fivethirtyeight.com, 11/4
Ohio
Trump
Clinton
Trump +2.3
Colorado
Tie
Clinton +3.8
Florida
Clinton + .1
Iowa
Trump +3.4
Michigan
Clinton +4.0
Nevada
Clinton +.3
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Clinton +3.7
Virginia
Clinton +4.8
Wisconsin
Clinton +4.6
New Hampshire
Clinton +2.5
A number of states are swinging harder than the Cubs when they were faced with a 3-1 deficit in the World Series. At least we know how that turned out. (Go, Cubs!) But with media coverage, social media and polling projections all being relatively tight, election night promises to be a real nail-biter too. Who will pull off the big win? Let’s just hope it doesn’t go into extra innings.
When voters head to the polls this week, many will cast votes based on who they think will be better on critical economic issues like job creation. While much of the conversation has centered on jobs being shipped overseas or raising the minimum wage, another equally intense debate is going on outside the campaign bubble over the future of work itself. Specifically, will fast-advancing technologies like artificial intelligence create mass unemployment by replacing millions of people worldwide with robots and other automation? And if so, what can and should government be doing about it now?
There are definitely those who think that dire future is a possibility. A report issued by the World Economic Forum in January of this year said 7.1 million jobs globally could be lost to redundancy and automation, though those losses could be offset by the creation of about 2 million jobs related to the technology that replaced those workers in the first place. As bad as that sounds, some observers believe the job losses could actually be much worse. A 2013 study by researchers at Oxford University estimated that approximately 47 percent of all current U.S. jobs are in danger of being transitioned to automation and computerization. That is particularly scary given that a 2015 report from the U.S. Government Accounting Office says over 40 percent of the U.S. job force is already working on contingency: the self-employed, company or independent contract workers, part-timers, temp services and on-call employees.
In their book “The Second Machine Age,” MIT researchers Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee say fears of such happenings have become ever more easily stoked for a simple reason: while evolving technologies have been forcing workplace evolutions for the duration of human history, none has been as rapid as this one.
“The computer processor doubles in power every 18 months, 10 times greater every five years, it’s a very different scale of advancement and it’s affecting a broader set of the economy than the steam engine did, in terms of all the cognitive tasks. It’s happening a lot faster and more pervasively than before,” they write. The result is a world where “science fiction keeps becoming reality.”
Examples abound. Robotics and other forms of automation are already in wide use in manufacturing, health care and many other industries. And this year the advent of the driverless car has pushed that boundary even further. A driverless taxi service began limited trial operation in Singapore in April, with a similar test fleet of autonomous taxis taking to the streets of Pittsburgh in August. Both services still require a human backup operator to be on board. Even so, far more driverless ride services are in the works, including from huge industrial players like Ford, Volvo, General Motors, Tesla, Google and Apple.
That possibility has professional drivers of all kinds concerned. It is a worry shared by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said at a forum in May that such technology could soon lead to “tremendous upheaval” in the workforce.
“If you have self-driving cars, then what happens to the 12 percent of the population whose job it is to drive a car or drive a truck?” he said.
Or, for that matter, any other industry where humans could possibly be replaced by a machine? And what role does government play in determining that answer?
To be sure, there are many who doubt such extremes will come to pass. Or who cheer them on, believing that having machines to take care of repetitive workday functions will allow humans to spend more time on creativity and projects that benefit them – and their employer - than they are spending now. In an op-ed in the Washington Post last February, University of Cincinnati economics professor Michael Jones posits the coming transition will be neither disaster nor blessing.
“Research as well as recent history suggest that these concerns are overblown and that we are neither headed toward a rise of the machine world nor a utopia where no one works anymore. Humans will still be necessary in the economy of the future, even if we can’t predict what we will be doing,” he writes.
He is undoubtedly correct that humans will not go completely out of style any time soon. But with so much change already underway, some will clearly be displaced. So what of the ones whose current jobs do go the way of the dinosaur?
The obvious need is to help people displaced by technology find new jobs, says Barbara O’Connor, Emeritus Director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at Sacramento State University. O’Connor, also a former national AARP board member and the current Director and Secretary of the California Emerging Technology Fund, agrees that many new technologies will need human oversight at all times.
“Technology like telemedicine doesn’t need to displace workers. Optimally it would facilitate things like scheduling and the handing off of information. For it to work it will still need hands-on, real human contact. But it will make those people better informed and more efficient,” she says.
Even so, she believes there will be some negative impact, and that it will be disproportionately harder on older workers, some of whom are still not comfortable with such ubiquitous job search functions as posting their resume online. At a minimum, she says, it is imperative that both the public and private sectors help such workers – many of whom still have years left in the workforce – become more digitally literate.
“The goal isn’t just to get someone a Baccalaureate degree at age 55,” she says. “The goal is to help them get a good paying job.”
O’Connor adds that whoever is elected this week – from the presidency to state legislatures – it will “be incumbent on them to deal with helping older, displaced workers that are hard to employ.”
In that regard, University of California Davis Economics professor Ann Stevens believes there is definitely a role for government, particularly in how it approaches institutions like the community college system. Community colleges have long been workhorses in many states, helping both young people transition to a four-year college and older workers retrain for new careers. But the Great Recession sparked dramatic cuts in funding for higher education in almost every state, with all but a handful still funding at less than 2008 levels. With resources still so uncertain, she says it will be critical to bring together a coalition of local and state government with the private sector to help bolster community colleges and the kind of transformative training they provide.
“You need to look at this not as the end of a bunch of jobs but as a major transition in the types of jobs this economy supports,” she says. “In that way there is a clear role for government to play in helping workers trained in old jobs to transition, both in encouraging them to make that transition and, in some cases, to help promote the kind of training that will help workers retool for those jobs.”
Former California Assembly member Lloyd Levine is a big advocate for training, but he says it goes well beyond just displaced workers. He believes technological training needs to begin in schools as early as kindergarten and continue throughout a child’s K-12 education. But there is an equally important group that also needs to educate itself better about impending technology changes: lawmakers.
“Lawmakers are rarely well versed in technology,” he says. That matters a lot when it comes to knowing what kind of regulations, if any, to apply to technology like autonomous cars.
“It’s incumbent on lawmakers to educate themselves about new technologies,” he says. “They have a hard time knowing which technologies will succeed or fail. Legislation may not be appropriate at all. How can you know for sure when you don’t know how something works or if it will even last long enough to matter?”
Levine advocates for looking for tech solutions to tech problems rather than turning to legislation. But he also says we should all be cognizant of the lessons of the past as we chart a path for dealing with job transformation.
“You’re not going to stop technology,” he says. “So we need to be looking at history, at quality of life issues and how we handled similarly large shifts in the past. What did we do right? What did we get wrong? And how will we do it better in the future.”
State spending on higher education nationwide is down nearly $10 billion - an average of $1,598, or 18 percent, per student - from where it was before the Great Recession began in 2008, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Per-student funding has returned to pre-recession levels in only four states - Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming - while it is still down by 20 to 30 percent in 17 states, by 30 to 40 percent in seven states and by over 50 percent in Arizona and Illinois.
Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
A local ballot measure that will be contested on Nov. 8 could open the door for a statewide income tax in Washington. The citizen initiative on the ballot in Olympia, which would tax household incomes over $200,000, will likely face a legal challenge if it passes. That could result in the state Supreme Court reversing its rulings in the 1930s striking down graduated income taxes.
“There’s a very good possibility they would rule another way,” said Philip Roberts, a history professor at the University of Wyoming and the author of a book about the income tax in Washington. Every generation interprets constitutional language differently, he said.
Such a reversal by the state’s highest court could, in turn, lead to legislative action. Washington Sen. Maralyn Chase (D), who’s introduced bills in the past to create a statewide income tax and lower other taxes, which have failed in part because opponents have argued an income tax is unconstitutional, said, “I think if the Olympia measure could get to the Supreme Court, it would be very helpful.”
But the state’s judicial system could also kill the measure before its constitutionality is considered. The proposal has already been challenged on the grounds that its scope is too broad for a local initiative. The measure was ultimately allowed to remain on the ballot, but its passage would probably reignite that legal battle. (OLYMPIAN)
For 45 states and over 10,000 local jurisdictions, sales taxes provide a key source of revenue. But those taxes apply mainly to goods in most states. As the nation has shifted to a service-based economy, however, states have sought to expand their sales taxes accordingly; roughly half have considered such proposals in the last five years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and other sources.
Missouri is bucking that trend. On Nov. 8 the state’s voters will become the first in the nation to decide whether to constitutionally prohibit the expansion of sales taxes from goods like cars to services like car repairs. Amendment 4 would bar the imposition of state and local sales taxes on any service not taxed on Jan. 1, 2015.
The National Association of Realtors and other organizations have raised over $5 million in support of the measure, according to Ballotpedia.
“If we can do this here, it would be a model for the rest of the country,” said John Sebree, chief executive of Missouri Realtors.
But despite opponents of the initiative reportedly not having raised any money to fight it, a poll in October by The Missouri Times showed over 49 percent of likely voters opposed it, while just 23 percent supported it. (NEW YORK TIMES, MISSOURI TIMES, BALLOTPEDIA)
The budget woes in Kansas that have come since the enactment of major tax cuts by Gov. Sam Brownback (R) and the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature have drawn a lot of attention recently. But, in general, the 22 states where Republicans hold both the governor’s office and the legislature are in better fiscal shape than the eight where Democrats enjoy that same degree of control, according to analysis by Bloomberg.
More specifically, Bloomberg’s analysis indicates Republican-led states tend to have bigger reserve balances (an average of 9.13 percent of expenditures versus Democrats’ 4.53 percent), higher credit ratings, and lower long-term liabilities (10.1 percent of state personal income versus Democrats’ 20.8 percent). Democrat-led states only have better credit outlooks, assessments by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s of whether the states’ next rating change is likely to be positive or negative, or unlikely to come soon. Only one Democrat-controlled state, Connecticut, was recently given a negative outlook, while five Republican-controlled states received that same prognosis. (BLOOMBERG BNA)
MISSOURI Gov. Jay Nixon (D) said the state will use the first $8.7 million share it received from Volkswagen as part of a settlement over the German carmaker’s emissions cheating scandal to offset earlier cuts he made to the state’s $27 billion budget. Volkswagen has admitted to programming some of its vehicles between 2008 and 2015 to appear to be emitting less pollution than they actually were. (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
An updated forecast from NEBRASKA’s Economic Forecasting Advisory Board projects that tax revenues will be $910 million short of expenses between now and the end of the next budget period, on June 30, 2019. The gloomy forecast is due to a poorly performing agricultural sector and lower-than-expected tax revenues this year. (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD)
COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) has proposed a $28.5 billion budget that makes deep cuts to education, hospitals and road construction to help close a $500 million projected shortfall. (DENVER POST, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
Officials with the KANSAS Public Employee Retirement System (KPERS) are considering lowering the fund’s expected rate of return from its current 8-percent rate to 7.75 or 7.5 percent. Kansas Rep. Steven Johnson (R), who chairs the House Pensions and Benefits Committee, said other states have lowered their return projections below 8 percent and Kansas should do the same. (ASSOCIATED PRESS, LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD)
-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK
More than $14 million has been spent on state Supreme Court races this election cycle by individuals and groups acting independently of the candidates, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. That total has already surpassed the record $13.5 million in independent spending set in the 2011-12 election cycle, after the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC removed restrictions on such expenditures.
“State Supreme Court elections have become increasingly high-cost and politicized,” said Alicia Bannon, senior counsel at the Brennan Center. “Special interests have been putting a lot of money into those races, trying to shape who sits on the courts and ultimately the decisions the courts are making.”
Those special interests include Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, and former Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who together have contributed over half a million dollars toward an effort to unseat five-term Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles Wiggins in part for his role in striking down a state law allowing public funding of charter schools and an anti-tax ballot measure approved by the state’s voters. A separate trio of wealthy Washington executives, including Seattle Mariners CEO John Stanton, has donated $350,000 to a PAC called Judicial Integrity Washington that recently aired TV ads attacking Wiggins for being soft on crime.
“I expected there might be some independent spending, but I didn't expect it to be of that magnitude,” said Wiggins. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
San Jose, California’s third-largest city by population, and dozens of other cities and counties across the state, have banned sales of marijuana ahead of a Nov. 8 vote on whether to legalize pot for recreational use. If passed - which appears likely - Proposition 64 would not allow local governments to prohibit the cultivation or possession of the drug in limited quantities but it would permit them to ban the sale of the drug.
The board of supervisors in Kings County, about 200 miles south of San Francisco, unanimously approved an ordinance last month that will expand an existing ban on medicinal cultivation and dispensaries there to include recreational marijuana.
ʺItʹs a gateway drug and itʹs still illegal under federal law,ʺ said Craig Pedersen, the county’s supervisor. ʺThis is still a very conservative community.ʺ
Members of San Jose’s city council, meanwhile, say they passed a temporary ban to give city officials enough time to develop regulations for implementing Prop. 64.
But with most of that initiative’s provisions not taking effect until 2018, Tim Cromartie, a lobbyist for the League of California Cities, said cities have plenty of time to prepare for them.
“There is no need for a stampede,” he said. “Some are doing it out of an over-abundance of caution.” (ASSOCIATED PRESS, HANFORD SENTINEL)
Back in September Alexander K. Zakharov, the Russian consul general in Houston, wrote letters to officials in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, requesting permission to monitor polling locations in those states on Nov. 8 “for a short period of time, when convenient” to study “the U.S. experience in organization of voting process.”
Coming as news reports were circulating that Russian hackers were behind attacks on the Democratic National Committee and voter registration systems in Arizona and Illinois, the requests were unanimously -- and more or less politely -- denied.
Texas Secretary of State, Carlos H. Cascos, informed Zakharov in a letter dated Sept. 28: “We are unable to accommodate your request to visit a polling station; however, our office is available to discuss generally the election process or perhaps facilitate a meeting with local election officials in Harris County to go over the general process with your representatives.”
He added that anyone who entered a polling place without permission would be guilty of a misdemeanor crime.
Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge, likewise, wrote Zakharov: “While it would be our honor to offer the opportunity to observe our voting process, it is prohibited under state law to allow anyone except election officials and voters in or around the area where voting takes place.”
Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, meanwhile, told Mr. Zakharov that his state had its hands full as a result of recent flooding.
“Had this flood event not occurred, we certainly would have been open to such a visit, but I cannot meet such a request with the situation I currently have in front of me,” he wrote.
Meg Casper, a spokeswoman for Schedler, however, said Zakharov’s request was a “propaganda ploy,” and the FBI and Department of Homeland Security “told us not to do this.” (NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
During President Obama’s time in office, over 800 Democratic state legislators have lost their seats to Republicans, which is reportedly one of the Democratic Party’s worst records under any president in over a century. But due in part to recent conservative state legislation - such as North Carolina’s new restrictions on bathroom use by transgender people (HB 2) and the tightening of abortion and voter ID restrictions elsewhere - as well as to opportunities created down-ticket for Democrats by the actions of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Obama is undertaking a major effort to support Democratic legislative candidates, with plans to assist over 150 campaigns.
“You are going to see a level of engagement down to the state representative level that I don’t think you’ve seen too many presidents engage in,” said David Simas, who directs the White House’s Office of Political Strategy and Outreach.
Those 150 candidates include Minnesota Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (D), who is seeking re-election to the House but in a different district; Florida Rep. José Javier Rodríguez (D), who is hoping to move to the Senate; and Georgia Rep. Kimberly Alexander, who is aiming to keep the House seat she won in 2012 and for whom Obama recorded an automated telephone message.
“This is Barack Obama, urging you to get to the polls to vote for the candidate who has my back, and yours: Kimberly Alexander,” he said in that message. “Thanks. Go vote!” (NEW YORK TIMES)
The state of NEW JERSEY has rejected Atlantic City’s recovery plan, setting up a possible takeover of that city by the state. New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Charles Richman said the city’s plan, which included cutting costs and raising $110 million through a land sale, didn’t go far enough to achieve financial stability. (REUTERS)
More than 7,000 KANSANS who registered through the state’s website won’t be allowed to vote on Nov. 8 unless they provide proof of citizenship at their local election office by Nov. 7. Recent court rulings allowing people who registered at DMV offices or via a federal registration form to vote in the election without proof of citizenship don’t apply to those who registered through the state website. (WICHITA EAGLE)
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) and legislative leaders laid the groundwork for a post-election special session aimed at helping Gopher State residents deal with dramatic health insurance premium hikes set to go into effect in January. Dayton met privately last week with House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R) to discuss a plan to offer state subsidies to help offset price increases for those not eligible for federal subsidies through the Affordable Care Act.
Minnesota residents are facing some of the steepest rate hikes in the nation, ranging from 50 to 67 percent over this year’s rates for the individual market. While federal subsidies will negate most or all of that for many Minnesotans, those making too much money to qualify will be on their own. Dayton said that makes it critical for lawmakers to act quickly.
“We recognize the reality of an election a week from now,” he said. “It’s imperative ... that we’ve got something ready to go immediately after the election.”
Daudt said Republicans, who control the House, agree in principal with Dayton on the need to help offset those price increases, though with some differences over how to best do it. Dayton has proposed tapping into a state budget surplus to offer impacted residents rebates that would cut those premium hikes to around 16 percent. House Republicans have countered with a proposal to issue impacted residents a tax credit for the amount of the premium hikes.
“I think there is a common realization, that folks in the Legislature understand that we’re going to need to help some folks. This is really a crisis for the Minnesotans that are going through it,” Daudt said.
Pricing is only part of the problem. Many insurers have announced plans to cap the number of health policies they will sell through the state health benefits exchange, leading to concerns that as many as five counties will sell out before all residents are able to obtain coverage. Dayton said he and state Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman are negotiating with insurance providers to keep that from happening. (MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO, ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS)
FLORIDA Gov. Rick Scott (R) urged the Obama administration to expedite federal funds to help the Sunshine State battle the growth of the Zika virus. Congress approved $1.1 billion in emergency funds in September, but Scott says the slow nature of the distribution process is hindering the state’s ability to fight the disease.
CONNECTICUT Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) announced last week the Constitution State’s first-ever drought watch, to advise residents to be mindful of their water consumption and limit unnecessary water usage when possible. State officials are asking residents to cut their water use by approximately 15 percent. (WESTON FORUM)
MISSISSIPPI Gov. Phil Bryant (R) asked a federal appeals court to uphold a Magnolia State law allowing merchants and government employees to cite religious beliefs to deny services to same-sex couples. Opponents say the law codifies discrimination against those groups. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves blocked the law from taking effect in July, saying it unconstitutionally establishes preferred beliefs and creates unequal treatment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. (JACKSON CLARION-LEDGER)
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
The MONTANA Supreme Court rules that citizens have a right to trial by jury before the state can take private property in civil forfeiture cases. The ruling brings the Treasure State in line with the majority of other states that have upheld jury trials in civil forfeiture proceedings (BILLINGS GAZETTE).
The WEST VIRGINIA Supreme Court rules it is illegal for residents to drive under the influence even if they are on private property. Violators can face loss of license and other criminal penalties (CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL).
The GEORGIA Supreme Court rules that a law prohibiting guns on school property supersedes one passed at the same time that allowed firearms inside school safety zones. Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed both bills into law in 2014. The court said the bill barring guns (HB 60) would take precedent over the one allowing guns on campus (HB 826) because it was signed first (ATLANTA JOUNRAL-CONSTITUTION).
NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announces the finalization of more stringent emission limits for diesel generators and natural gas-fired engines commonly used to supply backup power in large buildings like hospitals and offices. The new standards are intended to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulates, which are linked to smog and respiratory problems in people. The rules cover large generators that produce more than 150 kilowatts in the New York City area and more than 300 kilowatts in the rest of the state (WALL STREET JOURNAL).
The WASHINGTON D.C. City Council gives initial approval to so-called ‘death with dignity” legislation that would allow doctors to prescribe a terminally ill patient drugs they could use to end their own life. The Council must approve the measure once more before it could be sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser for consideration. If it becomes law, D.C. could become the sixth jurisdiction to endorse doctor-assisted suicide (WASHINGTON POST).
PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) signs five bills to collectively address the state’s opioid abuse epidemic: SB 1367, which limits opioid prescriptions given to minors to no more than a seven day supply; SB 1368, which establishes safe opioid prescribing training in medical schools; SB 1202, which requires those prescribing or dispensing opioid medications to obtain continuing education in pain management and addiction; HB 1699, which limits emergency room prescriptions for opioids to seven days; and HB 1737, which allows all federal, state and local law enforcement entities, hospitals, assisted living facilities, home health care agencies, long-term care nursing facilities, hospice, and commonwealth licensed pharmacies to serve as drop-off locations for any extra, unwanted, or expired prescription drugs or over-the-counter pharmaceutical products (MORNING CALL [ALLENTOWN]).
The VIRGINIA Board of Health votes to not require hospital building requirements for clinics that provide abortion services in the Old Dominion. The vote comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a TEXAS law imposing similar requirements on Lone Star State clinics (WASHINGTON POST).
A federal judge blocks an ALABAMA law that bars clinics which provide abortions from being located within 2,000 feet of a K-8 school. The law also barred clinics from performing an abortion method commonly performed in the second trimester of a pregnancy known as dilation and evacuation, saying it placed an undue burden on women (REUTERS).
The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a challenge from a VIRGINIA school district that will determine whether the Obama administration may require public school systems to let transgender students use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The case will not be held until next year (WASHINGTON POST).
A NEW JERSEY appellate court upholds the legal use of enclosed foothold animal traps. The court rejected a claim made by animal rights groups that the devices, generally used by some Garden State residents to trap opossums and raccoons, are not cruel and inhumane (NJ.COM).
Texas state House candidate Kyle Biedermann isn’t wasting any time living down to the shady stereotype many folks have of elected officials. As the Texas Tribune reports, Biedermann recently took great pains to invite a host of Lone Star State lawmakers to an event featuring a polo match and some alcohol tasting, all on his dime. Nice! But then...oops! Turns out the four tickets he offered every lawmaker cost $100 each, meaning they’d likely have to report them under state disclosure laws. But that’s not all. In his offer, Biedermann referred to himself as “State Representative Elect,” presumably because he’s running unopposed. The letterhead it was printed on went even further, referencing him as “Texas State Representative.” Which is interesting given the election hasn’t actually happened yet. Alas, that’s a violation of state law, and he quickly rescinded the invitation. And as the San Antonio Express News reports, it’s also not Biedermann’s first questionable action of late. Ugh.
A request to place an early voting site on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus recently met with a pretty interesting reason for rejection: a city clerk feared it would aid a Democratic state representative’s reelection campaign because she’d “heard it said that students lean more toward the Democrats.” Now before anyone goes after Green Bay City Clerk Kris Teske with pitchforks and torches, she at least had a sorta plausible reason for asking. As the New York Daily News reports, city officials say Teske was only trying to follow a law that requires that voting sites be placed at neutral locations. She also noted that Rep. Eric Genrich was being kinda pushy about putting the voting site on campus. The request was eventually rejected, though officials say it was more out of budgetary concerns than partisan machinations. Genrich, however, remains unconvinced.
Singer, actor, producer...felon! Yep, that’s what the headlines screamed recently after entertainer Justin Timberlake posted a selfie from inside a Memphis voting booth to his Instagram account. Seemingly within minutes the Hollywood Reporter posted a story claiming the former Mouseketeer was under investigation for violating a Tennessee law barring such selfies, a miscue that could send him to jail! Okay, slow down there folks. As much as some of us would like to see an annoying selfie-taking celebrity behind bars, it’s not gonna happen. As CNN reports, the Shelby County DA says reports that his office is even looking into the matter are utterly false, saying an earlier claim of that happening from someone in his office “was incorrect and was released without my knowledge.” Which basically means someone is probably still getting chewed out as you read this.