ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signs HB 4843, which makes it a crime to import, sell, buy or trade any ivory or rhino horn within the Prairie State. (ILLINOIS GOVERNOR’S OFFICE)
The CALIFORNIA Air Resources Board unveils a proposal for new rules that would force automakers to meet the Golden State’s existing standards on car and truck pollution even if weaker ones are adopted by the Trump administration. The proposal now becomes open to public comments (LOS ANGELES TIMES).
Be careful what you tell folks they can get for free. Ohhhh boy. When the Australian magazine Vice reported recently that a quirk in the law allowed every Aussie citizen to receive free “nationhood material,” it was on. As NBC News reports, public officials down under have since been inundated with requests for portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. As one politico put it, “I can say before the story was published, I had received zero requests for portraits of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and then in the last 24 hours, I would say I’ve had about four dozen.” Aussies have been debating for years now the pros and cons of leaving the monarchy behind and becoming a republic, but for now it seems safe to say that Her Majesty is more popular than any politician.
-- By RICH EHISEN
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) signed controversial legislation last Monday that makes dramatic changes to the state’s ailing public pension system.
Among SB 151’s many tenets are provisions that move teachers hired after Jan. 1 2019 into a hybrid 401k-style defined contribution pension rather than the current defined benefit plan. Teachers will now be required to contribute 9.1 percent of their salary to the plan, with employers contributing 8 percent. New teachers will also now be required to work to at least age 65 rather than 60 to claim full benefits. Those benefits are portable.
The measure also changes how teachers are able to use sick days in calculating retirement benefits, and ends the inviolable contract language that prohibits lawmakers from reducing, changing or repealing parts of employees' benefits.
The bill has drawn intense criticism from teachers and other public workers, as much for how it was passed as its contents. The bill initially was an 11-page proposal that dealt with regulating the purchase of sewage systems, but was gutted and amended in the House on the 57th day of the legislative session as a 291-page pension overhaul. Because the original version of SB 151 had already passed the Senate and undergone the required readings in the House, lawmakers were able to push it through that chamber in a single day with no public testimony or review.
The new law sparked vocal Capitol protests from teachers and public safety workers. It also drew the attention of State Attorney General Steve Beshear (D), who filed suit last Wednesday seeking to block it from going into effect. The suit, which was brought in conjunction with teacher and police unions, claims the changes are an illegal reduction in benefits that violate the contract workers have with the state.
Bevin defended the changes, though he acknowledged they will not by themselves fully address the state’s more than $40 billion pension shortfall.
“Do not let anyone delude you into thinking that we have now solved the pension problem. We have not,” he said. He was also very critical of the Kentucky Education Association teacher union, questioning why they did not protest former Gov. Steve Beshear (D) for using pension money in previous years to solve budget problems.
“They are absolute frauds, they are not looking out for the best interests of the teachers, they are looking out for the best interest of themselves,” he said. (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL, CNN, US NEWS & WORLD REPORT)
The 2016-17 budget year was a good one for West Virginia’s investment portfolio, about 81 percent of which supports the state’s pension funds. The state’s portfolio grew 15.8 percent.
“As far as I know, we’re the best-performing state in the country,” said Craig Slaughter, executive director of the state’s Investment Management Board, adding that the median return for state investment plans nationwide was 12.5 percent to 13 percent.
West Virginia’s 10-year investment performance is also in the top 20 percent of states, he said. But he said the state is now reducing its portfolio’s exposure to stocks because the market’s “very, very long expansion” won’t last forever.
“The world works in cycles and in the near term, I think you should fully expect a recession of some kind and a downturn in the market. I can’t predict when that will occur,” he said. (CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL)
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) announced he is creating a seven-member advisory council on gambling to try to resolve ongoing disagreements with lawmakers over electronic bingo and other issues. The governor said the Alabama Advisory Council on Gaming will review state and local gambling laws as well as those in other states, with the goal of issuing recommendations to him and lawmakers for consideration during the 2017 legislative session. Bentley said he hopes the council will give legislative leaders “a fresh perspective” after a rancorous summer that saw ongoing disputes in the legislature over Heart of Dixie bingo casinos and the rejection of his proposal to create a state lottery. (TUSCALOOSA NEWS, BIRMINGHAM NEWS)
The INDIANA Senate approves SB 91, legislation that would overturn a Hoosier State law that sealed adoption records that did not contain a disclosure consent form. Under the bill, adoption records for people born between 1941 and 1994 would become available starting in 2018 unless biological parents filed a new nondisclosure form with the State Department of Health. The measure is now awaiting action in the House (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET, INDIANAPOLIS STAR). Also in INDIANA, the Senate approves SB 259, which would allow legislative employees to bring guns into the statehouse as long as they have a handgun license. The bill moves to the House (INDIANAPOLIS STAR). The MASSACHUSETTS Senate approves SB 2093, which prohibits Bay State drivers from holding a phone while talking, inputting an address into a GPS or composing or reading an electronic message. It moves to the Senate (MASSLIVE.COM).
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
Gov. Rick Snyder (R) announces the Wolverine State will recognize over 300 same-sex marriages performed in 2014 during a time period when a court had lifted the state’s ban on those unions. Snyder said the state would not appeal the decision rendered by U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith in January (HUFFINGTON POST).
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals strikes down President Barack Obama’s executive order allowing up to 5 million unauthorized immigrants to live and work in America without threat of deportation. The panel ruled 2-1 that the president has “no statutory authority” to impose a change in government regulations that did not go through full and proper procedures. The U.S. Department of Justice said it will seek to have the U.S. Supreme Court review the ruling (CNN.COM).
As regular readers of this space know, we regularly poke fun at lawmakers who spend copious time working to name "official" state whatevers: rocks, plants, birds or foods. The latest came last week as the New York Senate spent 45 minutes debating a proposal from Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer to make yogurt the official Empire State snack. Upstate New York, which he represents, is one of the nation's largest dairy-producing regions. But that clearly didn't mean much to urban lawmakers, several of whom mocked the proposal with queries as to yogurt's benefit over snacks like potato chips or pretzels. But as the Associated Press reports, Sen. Liz Krueger said there was method to the madness. Krueger and many of her colleagues thought the whole thing was silly, saying that if the Senate leaders "make us talk about yogurt, then that's what we'll talk about until they give us something better to do." Perhaps, but the bill passed anyway.
The PENNSYLVANIA Senate approves SB 1180, a measure that would create a prescription drug monitoring program to prevent drug addicts or dealers from "doctor shopping" to get multiple orders of narcotics. It moves to the House (OBSERVER-REPORTER [WASHINGTON]). • The MICHIGAN Senate approves SB 704 and SB 904, which together establish new licensing and record-keeping standards for compounding pharmacies and require pharmacies, manufacturers and distributors to have a pharmacist in charge. They also designate compounding pharmacy violations as felonies and require certain applicants to undergo criminal history checks. Both bills are now in the House (DETROIT FREE PRESS, STATE NET). • The DELAWARE Senate approves SB 193, a bill that would require doctors to tell their patients if they discover dense *** tissue during mammograms. Dense *** tissue is a risk factor for *** cancer and may hide cancerous growths that can be detected by further testing, such as an MRI. It moves to the House (DELAWARE PUBLIC MEDIA, STATE NET).
According to Census Bureau data, there were about 7.5 million full-time equivalent state and local government employees, not including those who work in education, nationwide last year. That’s 3 percent fewer than there were before the Great Recession began forcing states and localities to implement hiring freezes and leave vacancies unfilled. Factoring in population growth, non-education government employment is down 11 percent at the state level and 8 percent at the local level 10 years after the official start of the recession, raising the question of whether staffing levels will ever return to pre-recession levels.
Several factors have contributed to the weak public-sector workforce growth, including sluggish income, property and sales tax collections, and rising pension and health-care costs, particularly Medicaid.
“There’s a crowding out effect,” said John Hicks, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO). “The rest of the government has been living with flat or declining [spending levels].”
That doesn’t appear likely to change soon. Governors’ proposed budgets for fiscal 2018 call for only a 1 percent increase in general fund spending, the smallest recommended expansion since 2010, according to NASBO’s Fiscal Survey of States. (GOVERNING, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE BUDGET OFFICERS)
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced a 10-step reform plan last week for the scandal-plagued State Police, with changes that will include completely eliminating the troop responsible for patrolling the 138-mile Massachusetts Turnpike from Boston to the New York state border.
“The Massachusetts state police have a long and honorable history,” Baker said at a press conference announcing the reforms. “The men and women who have worked there for generations earned that honor. That history, that reputation has been tarnished.”
Baker was joined by Lt. Gov. Karen Polito (R) and State Police Col. Kerry Gilpin, who he hired last fall after former State Police Col. Richard McKeon and his then-second in command, Francis Hughes, abruptly retired amid an investigation into the alteration of an arrest report involving a judge’s adult daughter. That was followed up by revelations in January that as many as 30 officers from Troop E, including four lieutenants, had claimed hundreds of hours of overtime for hours they never actually worked.
Gilpin said there was strong support from within police circles to address the scandals.
“It is clear that the actions of members within this agency have threatened that public trust,” Gilpin told reporters. “The membership knows that we need change. I’ve heard from several members before this press conference [who said], ‘We really need to take down Troop E. We really need reforms.’ I think they’re ready for change, they’re ready for leadership.”
In addition to completely disbanding Troop E, changes include GPS tracking of all police cruisers and the outfitting of all officers with body cameras.
The announcement drew criticism from State Police Association of Massachusetts president Dana Pullman, who accused Baker of having a “kneejerk reaction” to the situation.
“Right now 99 percent of the guys are doing their jobs day in, day out,” he said.
But Baker didn’t see it that way, saying that what the officers are accused of constitutes theft, and that if they are found to have broken state law they should lose their pensions. (BOSTON GLOBE, BOSTON HERALD, NEW YORK TIMES, LOWELL SUN)
After years of debate, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) signed legislation that could allow 70,000 low income Beehive State residents to become eligible for Medicaid. But when or even if that ever happens remains very much in doubt.
The measure Herbert signed, HB 472, seeks federal funds to expand Medicaid to citizens at 100 percent of the federal poverty line. It must receive approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) before it can be implemented. To date, CMS has not clearly indicated a position on the expansion. A decision is expected to take up to a year.
That possibility didn’t mute Herbert’s optimism as he addressed reporters after signing the measure last Tuesday. He reflected on numerous failed efforts, saying “it’s been a long journey, it’s had its twists and turns, its bumps and bruises, to get us to this point today.” The biggest challenge, he noted, was trying to be responsible about the state’s budget while providing access “to affordable health care for all of our people, but particularly for those who are most vulnerable in society who need a little helping hand.”
The bill Herbert signed was structured to require spending no new state money, and includes an out that allows the state to rescind expansion if the federal fund matching rate falls below 90 percent.
But Stacy Stanford, a policy analyst for the Utah Health Policy Project, says the state’s request is almost certainly bound to be rejected because the federal government has never approved a 90-10 Medicaid expansion to only 100 percent of the federal poverty level. And in spite of assurances from the Trump administration to the contrary, she added there is “not a path for legal approval” of such an expansion.
Senate President Wayne Niederhauser (R) disagrees.
“We’ve gotten some indications from Washington that they will consider a waiver for us, so we’re going to give it a shot,” he said. “Because it’s important for us to get as many [as possible] of those in [the coverage] gap access to health care.” DESERET NEWS {SALT LAKE CITY], SALT LAKE TRIBUNE)
LOCAL FRONT: The LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA County Board of Supervisors announces a plan to install showers and bathrooms for the homeless to use in or near some of the city’s 93 metro train stations. A final plan is expected in about four months (LA CURBED).
The BOULDER, COLORADO City Council votes unanimously to ban the possession and sale of assault weapons. The ordinance requires one more vote before it can become law (DENVER CBS LOCAL).
A federal judge declines to order that the U.S. government halt the federal Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program, which shields young immigrants brought to this country as children from deportation. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen questioned the legality of DACA but argued that TEXAS and six other states that sued to block the program couldn’t prove that allowing it to continue was causing irreparable harm (ASSOCIATED PRESS).
The MICHIGAN Supreme Court rules that Wolverine State schools may legally ban guns from their campuses. The decision upholds a 2016 ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals, which came to the same conclusion (DETROIT FREE PRESS).
In January Kentucky became the first state to receive federal approval to impose a work requirement for Medicaid. But last month a federal judge blocked that plan, called Kentucky HEALTH.
The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services “never adequately considered whether Kentucky HEALTH would in fact help the state furnish medical assistance to its citizens, a central objective of Medicaid,” U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg wrote in his 60-page ruling. “This signal omission renders his determination arbitrary and capricious.”
The Trump administration was reportedly reviewing its legal options. But the administration of Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) promptly announced it was cutting dental and vision coverage for about 460,000 Medicaid beneficiaries.
Bevin’s administration placed the blame for those cuts squarely on Judge Boasberg, saying the state’s Medicaid plan had provided “a sustainable path” to extending the dental and vision benefits, but because of the judge’s ruling there was “no longer a viable method” for providing them.
The administration’s decision could lead to further legal wrangling.
“The real question is: Are they within their legal authority to suspend benefits that are part of this program and are part of the essential health benefits without any due notice and without any hearings?” said Sheila Schuster, a longtime advocate for Kentuckians without health coverage. “I think that’s a question to be resolved in the courts.” (ASSOCIATED PRESS, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, KAISER HEALTH NEWS)
Saying that “Maine people value their privacy, online and off,” Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed one of the toughest data privacy measures in the nation last week.
Under SB 275, which Mills signed last Thursday, Pine Tree State Internet providers will be prohibited from using, selling, or distributing a customer’s personal information without the express consent of the customer. The law will also bar ISPs from refusing to serve a customer, penalizing them or offering a discount in order to pressure them into allowing the ISP to sell their data. The law will take effect on July 1.
“The internet is a powerful tool, and as it becomes increasingly intertwined with our lives, it is appropriate to take steps to protect the personal information and privacy of Maine people,” Mills said in a statement. “With this common-sense law, Maine people can access the internet with the knowledge and comfort that their personal information cannot be bought or sold by their ISPs without their express approval.”
The Maine law comes at a time when all eyes are focused on the battle in California over that state’s sweeping data privacy law (the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA), which is set to go into effect in January and which most observers believe will have significant impact well beyond the Golden State’s borders. Swarms of bills have been introduced this session seeking to amend the law before then, though to date efforts to make it more business-friendly are handily beating out efforts to give consumers more power over their data.
Industry observers note that the measure Mills signed is even tougher than the California law in one key area: It requires ISPs to obtain specific permission from consumers to be able to use or sell their data, while the CCPA allows Internet providers to use that data unless the consumer specifically opts out.
As with the CCPA, definitions are critical in how the law is applied. The Maine law’s definition of “customer personal information” includes web browsing history, application usage history, precise geolocation information, financial information, health information as well as anything pertaining to that person’s children. Other included elements are the customer’s device identifier, communications, and origin and destination IP addresses.
In addition to California, Maine joins Ohio, Nevada and Minnesota in enacting restrictions on Internet providers or tech companies selling or otherwise using personal consumer data. (NATIONAL LAW REVIEW, HILL [DC], MAINE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE)
For more on this topic, please join us on Tuesday, June 25th for the next episode in our 2019 SNCJ Hot Issues Webinar series - Data Privacy: California and Beyond. To register, please click here
Being in politics means learning to roll with the punches, but former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently had to take that lesson a step further. As the Washington Post reports, Schwarzenegger was signing autographs at his annual Arnold Classic Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa when a man ran at him from behind and launched a drop kick into “The Governator’s” back. Arnold was unhurt and the man was quickly apprehended. Schwarzenegger joked about the incident on social media, saying “I’m just glad the idiot didn’t interrupt my Snapchat.”
Whatever the subject these days, whenever it comes to doing what’s best for our kids, we can generally count on the adults in the room to behave worse than the children. Case in point comes this week from Rhode Island, where the Providence Journal reports that schools in the town of Warwick are opting to serve some students a cold sandwich for lunch while their classmates get a full menu of hot choices. The reason? Those kids’ parents have not paid up the tab for their lunches, sticking the district with a $40,000 unpaid tab. Shame on them. But one has to ask, is sticking it to the kids – the only actual blameless party here – the grown-up solution? At least some lawmakers think not. Under legislation pending in the statehouse, all kids would get the same lunch, regardless of the bad behavior of their parents or educators.
The WEST VIRGINIA Board of Pharmacy announces it will ask all Mountain State prescription drug wholesalers to report on pharmacies that order a “suspicious” number of pain pills or other controlled substances. Those reports will then be forwarded to the attorney general’s office for review (CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL).
After passing the House in March, a bill championed by Gov. Laura Kelly (D) to expand Medicaid in the Sunflower State appears to have died in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley forced a procedural vote to move HB 2066 out of the Public Health and Welfare Committee, but it fell one aye vote short of the 24 needed to send the measure onto the Senate floor. The key action – a “pass” vote rather than aye or nay – came from Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning (R), who said it would be imprudent to spend money on expanding Medicaid while the state is still waiting for a ruling on a school funding lawsuit.
It was a tough loss for Kelly, who made expansion the cornerstone of her gubernatorial campaign last fall. She decried the vote, saying “It is very clear that a strong majority in the Kansas Senate support Medicaid expansion and want the opportunity to debate and vote on it this year.”
Kelly noted that polls show strong support for Medicaid expansion in the Sunflower State, and observers expressed confidence that there were sufficient votes on both sides of the aisle to approve the measure had it made it to the floor. But Denning declined to support that, saying the measure needs more study.
“I’m not saying no,” he said. “I’m saying this policy isn’t ready.” (KANSAS CITY STAR, GOVERNING)
Stand back, because the Bruce Lee wannabes are on the way! Yes, as NPR reports, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed a bill that overturns a prohibition on nunchucks, the traditional martial arts weapon that loosely translates to “chain sticks.” The Grand Canyon State is just one of many that barred nunchucks way back in the 70s when martial arts movies became wildly popular, sparking fear that enthusiastic but untrained fans were going to end up cracking a lot of skulls with them. Not to be outdone, Texas lawmakers have sent Gov. Greg Abbott a bill that would again make it legal to openly carry brass knuckles and...wait for it...clubs. If signed, it would join another law that allows Texans to openly carry rifles and handguns. Which begs the question: how did Texas get so insanely dangerous that everyone actually needs to carry a weapon?
MAINE’S Democrat-controlled Senate has passed a bill (LD 816) that would award the state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote if enough states to constitute a majority of the Electoral College also signed onto the National Popular Vote Compact. The measure now goes to the Democrat-led House. (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD)
MICHIGAN state Rep. Larry Inman (R) was indicted by a federal grand jury last week for allegedly trying to sell his vote on a measure repealing the state’s prevailing wage law. House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R) has called for Inman to resign his seat, but Inman has refused to do so. (DETROIT FREE PRESS)
GEORGIA Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing over $2 million from his former employer, the Georgia Underwriting Association. The 38-count indictment says Beck used the stolen money to pay his taxes and even fund his 2018 campaign for insurance commissioner. (ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)
Two election bills that didn’t make it through the WYOMING Legislature during the 2019 general session will be reworked and likely reintroduced during the state’s budget session next year. One of the bills (HB 192), which would have mandated that voters present photo identification at the polls, fell just one vote shy of passing in the House this year, while the other measure (HB 106),which would have barred crossover voting, or switching one’s political party affiliation to vote in another party’s primary election, passed the House but failed in the Senate. (CASPAR STAR TRIBUNE)
-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK