NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs SB 3554, legislation that requires all workers hired to supervise people with developmental disabilities to undergo state and federal criminal background checks (NJ.COM).
Last week President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders outlined their plan for a sweeping overhaul of the federal tax code. While many details of the plan still have to be worked out, it currently calls for a 4.6 percent reduction in the top tax rate for individuals, from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, and a 15 percent cut in the tax rate for corporations, from 35 percent to 20 percent. It also proposes eliminating taxes on the profits multinational businesses earn outside the United States and allowing such businesses to repatriate past profits at a reduced rate; allowing businesses to write off investment costs immediately rather than deducting them over time; simplifying the tax code by ending many deductions; doing away with the estate tax; and nearly doubling the standard deduction for individuals.
“We want tax reform that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-family, and yes, tax reform that is pro-American,” Trump said at a rally in Indiana last Wednesday.
“This is a revolutionary change, and the biggest winners will be the everyday American workers as jobs start pouring into our country, as companies start competing for American labor and as wages start going up at levels that you haven’t seen in many years,” he said.
But Democrats say the wealthy would benefit most under the GOP plan, given that only individuals earning over $418,000 a year would qualify for the lower top income tax rate and that the estate tax only applies to those with over $5.49 million in assets. Some working families, meanwhile, could end up paying more in taxes because the plan would raise the lowest income tax rate from 10 percent to 12 percent and eliminate personal exemptions, they say.
“Under this plan, the wealthiest Americans and wealthiest corporations make out like bandits, while middle-class Americans are left holding the bag,” said U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York).
The National Conference of State Legislatures was also “dismayed” by the plan’s proposed elimination of the federal income tax deduction for state and local tax payments, which has been part of the federal tax code since its inception. The organization said that change would increase the tax burden on “tens of millions of middle-class taxpayers of every political affiliation” and hinder states’ efforts to invest in education and other government services.
And a preliminary estimate from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, indicates that the GOP plan includes about $5.8 trillion in tax cuts but only $3.6 trillion in offsetting revenue increases.
“This is a massive tax cut with an insufficient plan to pay for it,” said Maya MacGuineas, the group’s president. (NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, WASHINGTON POST, NEW YORK TIMES)
State and local lawmakers used to dealing with homelessness issues know that one of the major aspects of that dilemma is public urination. And as city leaders in Paris can attest, it certainly is not a problem relegated to the U.S. As such, the City of Light has turned to something called the “Uritrottoir,” a combination of the words for urinal and pavement. As NPR reports, the devices are exactly what they sound like: outdoor urinals located on sidewalks in heavily trafficked urban areas. Many have noted the very exposed potty stations look a lot like a mailbox, necessitating them being painted bright red. If that doesn’t do it, the cartoon painted on the side depicting a man relieving himself into the device probably will. Feminists say the whole thing is sexist, arguing that since “men cannot control themselves...all of society has to adapt.” Which is not an unfair point.
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) joined with all four legislative leaders last week to announce updates to a proposal (SB 901) that would limit the liability of public utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for future wildfires. The measure would not impact liability for last year’s devastating wildfires, the worst in Golden State history.
The fires in Northern California last October alone killed 44 people and destroyed almost 9,000 homes and other structures, resulting in over $10 billion in insurance claims. PG&E faces potentially billions of dollars in fines for its role in those fires, spurring the utility to urge lawmakers to change the law, which makes utilities responsible for fires caused by their equipment even if there is no evidence there was nothing negligent in how the equipment was used or maintained.
The proposal includes provisions requiring utilities to remove vegetation around power lines, temporarily shut off power during extreme weather and submit “more expansive and detailed wildfire and emergency preparedness plans” each year.
The legislation is now in a joint Assembly-Senate conference committee. (LOS ANGELES TIMES, ASSOCIATED PRESS, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE)
There’s an oh-so-very chic urban salvage yard in Oakland that the wife and I are fond of browsing through on occasion. One recent trip turned up something I had never seen before: a cabinet with hundreds of slots labeled with the name of every imaginable newspaper, most long defunct. I was puzzled but intrigued enough to do some research. After asking about and posting a photo on social media, I learned it was from Allen’s Clipping Service, a company started in the late 1800’s by a nephew of Mark Twain. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported way back in 2001, Allen’s forte was scanning every kind of newspaper to find stories that mentioned their clients, many of them trade associations that spent a lot of time and energy lobbying the Capitol in Sacramento, and then clipping those articles out and placing them into the properly-labeled slot so their clients could easily find them. Although that was less than 20 years ago, it feels prehistoric. Like me.
-- By RICH EHISEN
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and his fellow Democrats who control the state’s General Assembly have come up with a plan to reduce the state’s public school teacher pension costs: get local governments to cover some of them. Under the proposal they unveiled last week, cities and towns would pay between 5 percent and 25 percent of teacher pension costs, depending on their fiscal health.
Unsurprisingly, there was some pushback to that plan from local governments, which said it would cost them a total of $73 million per year and drive up property taxes.
“Shifting $73 million in pension costs onto the backs of already overburdened homeowners and other property taxpayers will diminish housing values, undermining our state and local economies,” said Betsy Gara, executive director of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, which represents more than 100 towns in the state with fewer than 30,000 residents.
Kevin Maloney, chief spokesman for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents all of the state’s cities and towns, likewise, said shifting the pension costs “would be the largest unfunded state mandate in recent memory.” (HARTFORD COURANT)
Last week Nebraska Sens. Steve Erdman (R) and Joni Albrecht (R) proposed amendments to an $8.9 billion budget package under consideration in their chamber and then withdrew them before they could be voted on. Erdman’s amendment would have kept all state spending at current levels except allocations for schools, prisons and negotiated state worker pay raises and health insurance benefits, while Albrecht’s would have cut all budget items by 1 percent.
The proposals were evidently intended only as a protest of the escalation of state spending. But they nearly did much more when one of the budget bills came up a vote short of the 33 needed for it to immediately take effect, potentially forcing a nearly two-month government shutdown.
The bill ultimately passed 36-12 after Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman John Stinner (R) called for reconsideration of the first vote on the measure, and four senators who had abstained from or arrived after that initial vote joined the ranks of supporters, sending the budget package on to Gov. Pete Rickets (R).
“It was a fistfight, wasn’t it?” said Stinner. “I’m glad this part’s over.” (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
Amidst widespread speculation that a GOP plan in the U.S. Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act depends on his support, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) reiterated last week his staunch opposition to the proposal. U.S. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) has announced his opposition to the plan, and GOP leadership believes that Heller will not change his vote without Sandoval’s clear okay. But Sandoval told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week he remains committed to ensuring that Nevadans who have gained insurance through the ACA keep that coverage under any new plan Congress endorses.
“My position is the same in terms of protecting the 200,000-plus lives of the newly eligibles associated with the Medicaid expansion,” Sandoval said. “They are living healthier and happier lives. We have cut our uninsured rate by more than half. As I sit here today, there hasn’t been anything presented to me that would alleviate that concern.”
Sandoval is one of several governors from both parties who have voiced strong opposition to the repeal measures passed in the U.S. House and Senate.
As a native of South Lake Tahoe, California I know firsthand that it is one of the loveliest places in the world. But as the Sacramento Bee reports, the community is feeling under siege these days from an influx of two entirely different kinds of visitors. The first is an increasingly bold population of hungry black bears, which are making a habit of busting into homes to look for food. Then, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, there is the massive wave of tourists taking advantage of the growth in short-term rentals located in residential neighborhoods, sparking complaints of beer-soaked frat parties and other shenanigans destroying the tranquility of otherwise peaceful communities. It’s becoming an increasingly bitter battle, with the bears and the bros each having supporters and detractors. And being California, it appears both issues are headed to the ballot box. Of course.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) said he needs to study a bill lawmakers sent him last week that would make the Green Mountain State the first to import prescription drugs from Canada. That measure, SB 175, would create an importation program for buying widely used high-cost drugs like Lipitor through authorized wholesalers, who purchase those drugs in Canada. They would then make them available in Vermont through existing supply chains, including local pharmacies.
Vermont is one of nine states to introduce drug import legislation this session, though SB 175 is the only one to make it to a governor’s desk. Those bills have been based on model legislation created by the National Association of State Health Plans. Each has garnered strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry, which said they encourage the importation of counterfeit prescription drugs that could prove harmful to U.S. citizens.
A Scott spokesperson said the governor supports efforts to rein in drug prices, but has concerns over how the bill would be implemented. A veto, however, could be fruitless. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and 141-2 in the House. (VERMONT PUBLIC RADIO, HEALTH LEADERS MEDIA)
Geez, don’t make California Assemblymember Melissa Melendez angry. Or at least make sure the sharp objects are out of her reach. As CalMatters reports, fellow Republican Chad Mayes once gave Melendez a basketball signed by members of her favorite NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers. But after Mayes failed to support a bill she was championing – and in fact spoke out against it – she took a pair of scissors to the ball and had the shredded remains delivered to Mayes’s office. You know, as you do.
In a statement issued last week, NEVADA Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) said he would sign legislation (AB 456) on his desk that will incrementally raise the Silver State minimum wage to $12 per hour by July, 2024. The governor said he would also sign SB 312, a measure that will require employers with at least 50 employees to offer workers up to five days of paid leave a year. The law would not apply to part-time, seasonal or on-call workers. (NEVADA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL)
The NEW HAMPSHIRE Legislature overrode Gov. Chris Sununu’s (R) veto of a bill (HB 455) abolishing capital punishment. The Granite State becomes the 21st to abolish the death penalty. (NPR, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
In the wake of another mass shooting – this one ending with 12 people plus the shooter dead and three more critically injured in a May attack in Virginia Beach – VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph Northam (D) called a special session to focus on new gun control measures in the Old Dominion. His proposals to lawmakers will include imposing universal background checks; requiring people to report lost or stolen firearms; limiting handgun purchases to one a month; and a ban on assault weapons and related devices, including sound suppressors like the one used by the Virginia Beach gunman. (NEW YORK TIMES, CBS NEWS)
ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has yet to take a stance on HB 3343, a bill that would allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to obtain discounted meals from participating restaurants. Similar programs have recently been enacted in ARIZONA, MARYLAND and RHODE ISLAND, and in some CALIFORNIA counties. The measure passed with large margins in both legislative chambers, but Pritzker has not indicated if he will sign it into law. (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, GOVERNING)
A NEW JERSEY legislative panel released a report last week excoriating Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and his administration for its handling of a rape accusation against one of the governor’s top staffers. The panel, commissioned to examine how Murphy’s office handled the 2017 accusation, determined that senior officials in his administration were “more concerned with avoiding negative publicity than following proper protocols and getting to the truth of the matter.” (NJ.COM, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER)
The NORTH CAROLINA House upheld Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) veto of SB 359, a bill that would have required medical professionals to provide life-saving care to infants who survive an abortion and to report instances of such births. It was the first veto issued by Cooper to be upheld by Tar Heel State lawmakers. (NEWS & OBSERVER [RALEIGH])
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
NEW JERSEY Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver (D) signs AB 1414, a bill that mandates the state Board of Education include financial literacy instruction in the curriculum for sixth- through eighth-grade students in public schools across the Garden State. Oliver signed the bill while Gov. Phil Murphy (D) was out of state (NJ.COM).
MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signs SB 2374, which allows Bay State schools to incorporate personal financial literacy standards into existing mathematics, social science, technology, business, or other curricula (STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE [BOSTON]).
The MASSACHUSETTS House approves SB 2021, a bill that would repeal a Bay State law that automatically suspends the driver’s licenses of drug offenders whose crimes had nothing to do with operating a motor vehicle. The measure returns to the Senate (STATE HOUSE NEWS [BOSTON]).
OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) signs HB 101, which authorizes Buckeye State pharmacists to substitute cheaper but equivalent alternatives to the brand-name product EpiPen, which is used to counter severe allergic reactions to bee stings, peanuts, medication, and other allergens (TOLEDO BLADE).
The SAN FRANCISCO Board of Supervisors unanimously approves an ordinance that requires brick and mortar retail establishments to accept cash as payment, becoming the second major city in America (after PHILADELPHIA) to bar retail operations from going cashless (ASSOCIATED PRESS).
OKLAHOMA Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signs SB 365, a bill that bans local governments from adopting their own rules regulating autonomous vehicles (OKLAHOMAN [OKLAHOMA CITY]).
Voters in DENVER narrowly approve a ballot measure making the city the first in the nation to decriminalize the possession and use of “magic mushrooms,” which contain the hallucinogen psilocybin. Although the margin of victory was narrow (50.56 percent in favor to 49.44 percent opposed), it falls outside of the margin to spark a mandatory recount. Opponents are nonetheless weighing a possible recount, which they would have to pay for (USA TODAY).
State and local tax collections increased by 9.4 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively, in the final quarter of 2017, roughly three times the average quarterly growth rate for the last year, according to a report by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. State and local governments took in over $439 billion in tax revenue in the last three months of 2017, compared to $401 billion in the final three months of 2016, the report said.
The Institute attributed the tax revenue bump to a surge of high-income taxpayers prepaying their state and local income and property taxes to take advantage of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which was capped at $10,000, beginning on January 1, 2018, by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in December 2017. (HILL, ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE OF GOVERNMENT)
MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signs HB 4670, so-called “red flag” legislation that allows family or household members to petition the courts for a one-year renewable order suspending gun ownership rights of someone they believe to be a danger. The measure also imposes a fine and possible jail time for someone who seeks such an order with information they know is “materially false or with an intent to harass the respondent” (STATE HOUSE NEWS [BOSTON], MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR’S OFFICE).
TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Haslam (R) signs HB 1831 which limits initial opioid prescriptions to no more than three days. He also signs HB 1832, which creates incentives for drug offenders to go through rehab while incarcerated and adds synthetic versions of the drug fentanyl to the Volunteer State’s drug schedules (MEMPHIS FLYER).
There can be any number of reasons to object to a new high-rise apartment building going up in your community. Berkeley, California residents, for instance, are not thrilled about a developer’s proposal to build a five-story building that would also contain a small café and a suite of studios for low-income folks. But as the hyperlocal news site Berkeleyside reports, some residents think the proposal – which recently underwent a major revision after five years of debate – is still too big and unwieldy for their tastes. Among the specific complaints: the building’s height would invade the privacy of surrounding neighbors, with one neighbor specifically griping that it would block his access to “sunlight, air and solar potential.” City leaders are still far from a decision on the project, but it is not hard to understand why native Californians refer to Berkeley as “Beserkeley.”
In an effort to combat the ongoing opioid abuse epidemic, health insurer BlueCross BlueShield announces it will stop covering OxyContin prescriptions in TENNESSEE. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee reps say the company will instead encourage doctors to prescribe two other painkillers engineered to be more difficult to abuse (TENNESSEAN [NASHVILLE]).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 595, which requires health insurers seeking to merge to first obtain permission from the state Department of Managed Health Care, which will have the power to block the transaction (MODERN HEALTHCARE). CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 2760, legislation that requires high-risk patients be prescribed the overdose reversal drug naloxone when receiving prescriptions for opioids. The measure goes into effect in January (EUREKA TIMES-STANDARD).
COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs SB 9, which allows Centennial State residents to store energy gleaned from renewable sources like solar power without discrimination in rates or excessive barriers in connecting to the grid (DENVER POST).
Last week Standard & Poor’s lowered the bond rating for Hartford, Connecticut from B- to CCC, a four-grade drop. That news was bad enough, particularly coming after another four-grade drop in the city’s rating, from BB to B-, less than two weeks earlier. But the reason S&P gave for its latest downgrade of the city’s rating was even more alarming.
“The downgrade to ‘CC’ reflects our opinion that a default, a distressed exchange, or redemption appears to be a virtual certainty,” the agency said in a statement. “S&P Global Ratings could take additional action to lower the rating to ‘D’ if the city executes a bond restructuring or distressed exchange, or files for bankruptcy.”
The city is facing a cash shortfall of $7 million in November and $39.2 million shortfall in December, along with $30 million in debt payments in the next few weeks. And Mayor Luke Bronin said bankruptcy is a possibility unless the General Assembly approves at least $40 million in additional funding for the city this fall. But that body has problems of its own, with Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) having just vetoed the budget it narrowly approved this month. (HARTFORD COURANT, REUTERS, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
A proposed constitutional amendment that would permanently limit state spending in Iowa was unanimously approved by a Senate subcommittee last week. The bill - SJR 9, which would limit spending to “the lesser of 99 percent of the adjusted revenue estimate for the general fund of the state for the following fiscal year or 104 percent of the net revenue estimate for the general fund for the current fiscal year” - could move quickly through the Senate, with all 29 members of the chamber’s Republican majority having signed on as cosponsors of the bill.
Iowa lawmakers are already subject to a statutory 99-percent spending limit, but they can change that law and exceed the restriction. And Sen. Jeff Danielson, a Democrat who supports SJR 9, said lawmakers of both parties have been guilty of having “eyes bigger than their stomachs” at times and shouldn’t be allowed to spend more than the state can afford.
Tom Chapman, who lobbies for the Iowa Catholic Conference, expressed concern that having a spending restriction “locked into the Constitution” might limit the government’s options in a crisis. But Sen. Charles Schneider (R), who chaired the subcommittee that approved SJR 9, said lawmakers would still be able to tap state reserves in emergencies, and the measure could help even out state spending.
Still even if the Senate and House both pass the measure, it will have to be passed by both chambers again after the 2018 election and then approved by voters, in 2020 at the earliest. (DES MOINES REGISTER, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
Officials in Maryland have agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit over Gov. Larry Hogan (R) blocking hundreds of people from his official Facebook page. The settlement also includes attorney’s fees and an agreement to adhere to a new policy for the governor’s social media accounts.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit in August after numerous people complained the governor had deleted their comments or blocked them altogether from his Facebook page for questioning his positions on President Trump’s travel ban and Old Line State education policy. In addition to the monetary settlement, Hogan agreed to not block or ban commentary unless it violates certain specified rules, such as prohibitions on profanity or threats of violence.
The ruling is thought to be the first of its kind, but it is not likely to be the last. Suits are pending against several other public officials, including President Trump, for similarly blocking constituents from social media access. (WASHINGTON POST, WTOP [BALTIMORE])
This month U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it easier for federal prosecutors to crack down on marijuana businesses in states that have legalized the drug. Marijuana was already illegal under federal law, but James Cole, U.S. attorney general during the Obama administration, issued guidance directing federal prosecutors not to enforce that law. Sessions rescinded that guidance.
Even if that action doesn’t lead to the prosecution of marijuana growers and distributors, it could still hurt the growing industry and the state economies benefiting from it. That’s because the so-called Cole memo also prompted guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department allowing banks to offer accounts to marijuana businesses. Without bank access such businesses would be forced to rely on cash, making them more susceptible to theft and making it harder for states to collect states from them.
But a growing majority of Americans support marijuana legalization, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. And the rapidly expanding marijuana industry, with the drug now having been legalized for medical use in 30 states and recreational use in eight, was valued at $7.9 billion last year. A sign of just how mainstream the drug has become: When the news broke that Sessions was repealing the Cole memo, the stock price of Scotts Miracle-Gro Company dropped over 5 percent.
Consequently, some believe Session’s action could ultimately lead to federal legalization of marijuana. In a conference call with the four other members of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, lawmakers from four of the states that have legalized recreational marijuana, U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) said Session’s action had changed marijuana legalization from a state issue to a national one.
“It’s a big plus for our efforts that the federal government is now aware that our constituents have been alerted,” she said. “We can be confident we can win this fight, because this is a freedom issue.” (WASHINGTON POST, POLITICO, STATELINE, PEW RESEARCH CENTER, GOVERNING, BLOOMBERG)