North Carolina Department of Transportation Chief Operating Officer Bobby Lewis said last week that the agency will lay off hundreds of transportation department workers in response to the states struggles to pay lawsuit settlements and extraordinary storm recovery costs.
Lewis said officials are also scouring the payroll for temporary and contract work that can be put off, while layoffs will likely hit road-planning contractors, inspectors, and temporary laborers. Lewis said the agency hopes to hire the workers back later.
The money the agency is expected to save is needed to catch up on cleanup and repair work from last year’s Hurricane Florence, and a backlog of work from 2016’s Hurricane Matthew.
But the shortfall is due to more than just epic weather. The state also is scrounging for cash to settle hundreds of lawsuits in a land-takings case.
The state’s Supreme Court recently threw out North Carolina’s “Map Act,” which let the state prevent development on some land set aside for future roadbuilding without actually buying it. In some cases, the state would hold land for decades, leaving owners unable to develop or sell it.
The state is now on the hook for the lost value of the property and damages. It’s already paid about $300 million and may end up paying more than $1 billion. (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER)
Chicago’s play for a casino authorized by a new state law may be a bust because of its onerous tax and fee setup.
Legislation signed into law in June by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) authorized a Chicago casino, which was sought by local officials hoping to shore up the Windy City’s pension funds.
But a feasibility study commissioned and released this week by the Illinois Gaming Board concluded the law’s tax and fee structure was so onerous that the project is “generally not financially feasible,” because private investors and casino operators wouldn’t be able to make enough money. The study was done for the gaming board by Union Gaming Analytics.
The law would require a $250,000 fee just to apply to be the operator and a $15 million fee when issued a license. The city would get one-third of post-payout revenue from the casino for Chicago’s beleaguered police and firefighter pension funds, which the report notes would create an effective tax rate of 78 percent. A casino operator would be looking at returns of “a few pennies on the dollar,” the report said. Chicago police pensions were 23.8 percent funded last year; firefighter pensions were just 18.4 percent funded.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a supporter of the casino, said she wasn’t surprised at all by the findings – and had pushed for the independent study believing it would back up what experts had warned as the law was being crafted.
“These were issues that we flagged during the (legislative) process,” Lightfoot said. “You don’t need to look further than page four to see that it is not financeable.”
Lightfoot has called for the law to be changed to make the project more attractive to private investors.
“We have to get the tax structure right because otherwise we’re talking about something that can’t be done,” Lightfoot said. “We look forward to rolling up our sleeves with the governor and legislative leaders and work on a bill that gets it right.”
Officials in Pritzker’s office also have said they’re interested in trying to tweak the law to make a Chicago casino more attractive to investors. (CURBED CHICAGO, REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, NBC CHICAGO)
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia will abide by a deal reached in July by California and four major global automakers to require new vehicles to average approximately 37 miles per gallon by 2026. The Trump administration, meanwhile, is seeking to freeze mileage standards at 2021 levels of only 30 miles per gallon. The four automakers – Ford, Volkswagen, BMW and Honda – comprise about 30 percent of the U.S. auto market.
Bypassing the Trump administration, California has reached agreement with four of the world’s largest automakers to improve fuel efficiency and reduce automobile emissions that contribute to global warming.
And more are likely to follow.
“This is about leadership, California asserting itself once again, and about automobile manufacturers, to their credit, doing the right thing,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said at a briefing announcing the deal struck with Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen.
The voluntary agreement, announced in July, notably “recognizes California’s authority.” It will allow the Golden State and 14 other states that accept its air pollution rules to continue with most of the regulations on auto emissions agreed to in 2012 by the Barack Obama administration, California and the carmakers.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump rejected California’s request to continue with the Obama-era standards. The agreement between California and the four automakers, who together have about 30 per cent of the U.S. car market, is an end run around this rejection.
The agreement benefits the carmakers by enabling them to avoid a nightmare scenario of having to manufacture cars for multiple markets and gives them an extra year to reach the greenhouse gas emission standards agreed to in 2012.
“These terms will provide our companies much-needed regulatory certainty by allowing us to meet both federal and state requirements with a single national fleet, avoiding a patchwork of regulations while continuing to ensure meaningful greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” the automakers said in a joint statement.
The agreement was denounced by Michael Abboud, a spokesperson for the EPA, as “a PR stunt” that will have no impact on the agency’s plan to issue new relaxed national emissions standards.
But climate experts and Gov. Newsom hailed the agreement as a game changer.
“I cannot recall another instance in which a state or state coalition has negotiated this kind of an arrangement with industry to out-flank the federal government,” said Barry Rabe, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan and an expert on climate issues.
California Air Resources Board chief Mary Nichols said the agreement could set a precedent for other cooperation between states and industry.
“If other states take a strong line on environmental standards where they have a particular resource or sensitive area, they may be able to get industry to go along even when the federal government wants weaker standards,” said Nichols. “I am thinking about Florida and the Everglades where the Interior Department backed off on a proposal to lease oil drilling after the state objected and industry signaled they didn’t really want to bid on these leases.”
The states that accept California emissions standards are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia. Canada has also agreed to abide by the California standards.
Under Trump, the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration want to freeze fuel economy standards at the current 37 mile-per-gallon fleet average target for 2020 through 2026.
The Obama administration in 2012 set a fleet average goal of 51 miles-per-gallon by 2026 although that number could be adjusted based on the mix of vehicles an automaker sold.
Under the agreement with California, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW pledge to improve their fleet averages by 3.7 percent each year, or slightly less than the standards set under the Obama administration.
Rabe observed that the four companies had “already made a strong commitment to electric vehicles” (EV) and might therefore find the new agreement more attractive than firms which are not promoting fuel-saving electric cars. Ford and Volkswagen announced a new EV-based partnership days before the California announcement.
Days after the agreement was reached, a dozen states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Illinois, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and DC – banded together to file suit against the Trump administration for easing penalties on carmakers that don’t meet the higher fuel standards. A second suit was filed by the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The auto industry as a whole is worried that Trump’s standards, which have yet to be spelled out in EPA guidelines, will lead to lawsuits and the likelihood that car manufacturers will have to make one kind of vehicles for states that accept the California emission standards and another for states that do not. This prompted 17 automakers in June to send a letter to Trump warning of “an extended period of litigation and instability” should his plans be implemented.
This conflict over fuel efficiency comes at a time when state climate policy is increasingly diverging along party lines. Democratic-run states are setting forward-looking clean energy goals, while Republican-run states are standing still or even reducing fuel efficiency goals.
A bill passed late in July in Ohio by a Republican-controlled legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) provides more than $1 billion (b) in subsidies for power plant owners and reduces Ohio’s 12.5 percent renewable energy standard to 8.5 percent.
In contrast, New York State, where the legislature and the governorship are in Democratic hands, recently adopted one of the nation’s most ambitious climate targets. The Empire State’s goal is 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040 and economy-wide, net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
In 2018 California and Hawaii established goals of relying entirely on zero-emission energy sources for electricity by 2045.
Other Democratic-controlled states that have since adopted targets of obtaining their electricity from carbon-free sources such as wind, solar or nuclear by midcentury are Colorado, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico and Washington.
Such state actions were encouraged during the Obama presidency by the Clear Power Plan, announced by the EPA in 2014, which sought to reduce emissions from the carbon sources by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, which the Union of Concerned Scientists called “a modest but important first step.”
President Trump, who denies that the planet is warming, has replaced the Clean Power Plan with a rule that allows states to set their own power plant standards.
Historically, climate issues did not divide on party lines. In the 1960s smog had become so pervasive and even deadly in Southern California that Republican Gov. Ronald Reagan and legislators agreed to curb tailpipe emissions. In 1967 they created the California Air Resources Board.
Three years later Congress passed and President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act, which recognized California’s efforts, and authorized the state to set its own separate and stricter-than-federal vehicle emissions regulations to address the unique circumstances of population, climate and topography that generated what was then the worst air in the nation.
Under eight presidents from 1968 to 2017 California has been granted 107 waivers by the EPA to take actions to combat air pollution. Many of these actions became federal standards. Only nine waiver requests were denied, most for minor technical reasons, according to a study by Rabe. The refusal by the Trump administration to allow California to use the fuel efficiency standards of the Obama administration, is the first reversal of a waiver request from the state.
In 2006, California Republican, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed the Global Warming Solutions Act, which made CARB responsible for monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
There are current Republican officeholders who believe it is the government’s duty to address climate issues. These include the Republican governors of Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont, three of the 14 states that adhere to the California standards of fuel efficiency.
“We have many advantages in the fight against global warming, but time is not one of them,” another Republican said. “We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great. The most relevant question now is whether our own government is equal to the challenge.”
This was John McCain, running for president in 2008.
McCain had the federal government in mind, but in 2019 it is state governments that are rising to the challenge he described.
States have long experimented with creative solutions to the public issues of the day, fulfilling their mission as “laboratories of democracy,” to use the famous phrase of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.
The agreement between California and the four carmakers is a different kind of experiment. If Mary Nichols is right, it could set a precedent for the way in which state governments can work with industry to address a global issue.
-- By Lou Cannon
The internet’s seemingly infinite volume of information can be a researcher’s best friend and worst enemy. It all depends, of course, if the info and data you glean from it are valid. Often, you know whether or not to trust a particular source based on your previous experiences and the general reputation of the person, company or organization. Yet, more often you’re likely to be uncertain about the source’s credibility.
The beauty of the internet is that it can lead you to potentially illuminating information from sources you’ve never heard of or encountered before. When that’s the case, what can you do to assess the validity of the information? Use the following questions as a handy guide to help determine if the source deserves your trust.
What’s the Website’s Suffix?
While there are exceptions to this, and the points that follow, you should be wary of information that doesn’t reside on website with a “.com.” “.org,” “.edu,”“.gov” url suffix or sites that use a country-specific suffix, such as “.de” for Germany or “.ca” for Canada. Generally, content on sites with “.biz,” “.info,” “.expert” and similar suffixes should be approached with caution. Often, websites with these more unconventional suffixes are newer sites that couldn’t acquire a conventional suffix because the most obvious or appropriate ones have already been taken. New doesn’t necessarily mean untrustworthy, of course, but longevity does matter. We turn to that point next.
How Old is the Source?
Just because a company or organization has been around for, say, decades, doesn’t mean that its data or information is, therefore, beyond scrutiny. Even the oldest, most reliable sources sometimes get it wrong. However, sources that have been around for a while typically have earned their tenure by being, among other things, generally reliable and accurate. So research the source and see just how long they’ve been sharing content as one more metric by which to gauge how much trust you can confidently place in their data.
Who are Their “Friends”?
When encountering unknown sources of information, examine what companies, organizations and thought-leaders with whom they affiliate. Sources can, and should be, judged in part by the friends they keep. Does the source in question have a relationship with, say, an esteemed university or a discerning thought leader? Does the source have established certifications or other credentials? These are good signs as trustworthy sources almost always painstakingly vet those they choose to partner with in some way.
Does the Source Behave in Trustworthy Manner?
Credible, trustworthy online sources typically operate in a transparent manner. This can manifest itself in many ways, small and large. For instance, reliable sources generally make their addresses and contact information, including email addresses, readily available on their website. They also note any consequential affiliations with other companies or organizations. Perhaps most telling of all, trusted sources typically invite comments—including criticisms or opposing points of view—on the content that they publish. Sources that aren’t transparent are usually so because they have something to hide, which is rarely, if ever, a positive sign.
What are Your Gut and Brain Telling You?
Experienced researchers develop keen instincts that they can tap into when evaluating a source’s validity. But whether one is new to research or a veteran, one must keep their guard up at all times. It’s only human to tend to place more trust in a source that’s telling us what we want or expect to hear. Likewise, we all have tendencies to place less trust in those sources sharing information that challenges or otherwise threatens our preconceived notions or sense of where our research project is headed. Of course, these are exactly the moments when we should be self-aware enough to know that we can’t just rely on our guts, but instead have to use our powers of analysis to examine if the source is trustworthy, regardless of whether we do or do not want them to be.
While the internet offers us so much that is worthwhile to our research efforts, there is, unfortunately, virtually unimaginable amounts of data and information that may seem smart and accurate but is actually neither. When you’re not sure if you should trust a source, ask the questions above to help make your determination with confidence.
Learn more about fact checking and determining source credibility by reading our 10 Tips for Fighting Fake News.
The rebranding of a company is an exciting time. Not only does it allow an organization to introduce a new visual identity (updated logos, a new color scheme and fonts, etc.), it also represents a fresh start. A rebranding creates a unique opportunity for a brand to communicate a renewed focus or a new strategy to employees, investors and customers.
Creating this sort of inflection point has clear business appeal, but a rebrand’s ability to drive media attention should not be taken as a given. While a rebranding can be a strategic pillar to launch a new integrated marketing communications strategy, in many cases, the announcement may not be alluring to members of the press.
We’ve talked before about the importance of expectation-setting in media relations, and this is especially true when heading into a rebrand. Those expectations—and how you approach your strategy—will vary based on the scale of the rebrand and which audiences are most important to you.
When it comes to making the official announcements and introductions, there are some good ideas … and some that aren’t as strategically sound. Here are a few.
Good Idea: Inform Investors
When the announcement of a new brand corresponds with a change in business strategy, media relations offers an effective way to quickly and clearly inform current and potential investors of the changes. Brands carry value and equity, and modifying that formula can have a positive or negative impact on how investors feel about the future of an organization.
Mostly relevant to publicly traded companies or start-ups seeking venture capital investment, a media relations campaign targeting investors will have a much narrower focus than a national one. Rather than highlighting the aesthetic nature of the new brand, focus on the substantive changes that correspond with the visual update. Investors—and, in turn, financial reporters—will care more about expanded product or service offerings, recent mergers and acquisitions, or new geographic targets than a new logo or website design.
Before launching, do your research. Use media monitoring tools to investigate past coverage of similar announcements to identify the right reporters and outlets to pitch. Rather than casting a wide net to general interest outlets, focus on business publications and industry sources that will find the information most relevant (more on that later).
Bad Idea: Bragging about Beauty
Have you ever had a coworker enter the office with a new outfit or hairstyle? It’s likely you didn’t spend more than a few seconds thinking about the change—and you almost certainly didn’t pore over in-depth written or video analysis of his or her trip to the stylist or mall. This is somewhat analogous to the aesthetic side of rebranding.
A new look might garner a second glance, but likely won’t inspire reporters to invest valuable resources into a pronounced feature. While the select few iconic brands like Apple, Amazon, Starbucks or Ikea may earn major coverage for a makeover, the average organization won’t. Plan your messaging accordingly.
Good Idea: Know your Niche
Most industries have multiple publications that analyze the broad trends and daily minutiae of changes within the sector. Each of these outlets is likely to be interested in a rebranding announcement—especially if your organization is a relatively prominent figure within the industry.
When sharing branding news with these outlets, it’s still important to focus on what’s likely of most interest to them. Be prepared to highlight how the announcement may fit into larger industry trends and/or the ways the new brand may correspond with changing business behaviors or consumer habits. Understand that the audience for this type of media coverage will be colleagues, competitors and business partners, and tailor the information you share with those people in mind.
Bad Idea: Chasing Bad-Fit Big Fish
Media—whether print, digital or television—that cater to a mass, general audience aren’t the place for most brand announcements. These outlets are concerned with major news of the day, and their reporters and producers receive hundreds of pitches on a daily basis.
Again, only the largest and most prominent of companies are likely to secure coverage of a rebrand in these outlets. Even then, it might not be the kind of coverage they like. New brand designs, after all, aren’t always so popular and can create as much consumer backlash as brand benefits.
Good Idea: Focus on Your Family
Employees are built-in brand ambassadors, and getting your internal audience excited about a rebrand is a great way to organically influence the external audiences around them. According to brandwatch, the average Facebook user has 155 friends, while Twitter users are connected with an average of 707 followers. Enticing employees to share your company’s news on their social media channels will expand the reach of that story in a real way.
There are a number of ways to hype the news internally and encourage employees to share with their networks. Host internal gatherings to share key messaging around rebrand. Give your employees/ambassadors new branded products to take out into the real world. You might even consider creating a digital resource library with social media optimized images and templated posts that employees can easily personalize and share. Just be sure to avoid making them feel like it’s a requirement.
No matter the size or timing of a rebrand, the keys to making the most of the announcement are sharing your excitement and vision with the right people and avoiding tactical executions that aren’t likely to net positive results. By following these tips, you should be able to count your rebrand announcement as the first major success of a newly redesigned organization.
Our globalized society relies heavily on highspeed communication, made possible by the continuous innovation in the global electronic industry. Everyday electronics like smartphones, tablets and laptops, along with the rapidly growing market for Internet of Things (IoT) technology, require a vast amount of resources, particularly rare earths and other metals such as gold.
Recently, the Guardian—in collaboration with a collective of investigative journalists led by Forbidden Stories—uncovered ongoing human rights abuses as well as environmental failures in the Tanzanian North Mara goldmine, whose extracted deposits are also part of the supply chain of global hi-tech giants like Apple, Canon and Nokia. These recent findings make it necessary to take a closer look at why identifying possible supply chain risks is particularly important for the electronic industry and how corporations could best comply with the ethical expectations for responsible sourcing in line with their own Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments.
Mining, a high-risk factor for the global tech industry
Valued at approximately USD 1.75 trillion, the electronics industry is one of the largest industrial sectors in the global economy, generating more revenue than any other goods-producing sector according to recent estimates published by the World Bank. Through the high consumption and utilization of rare earths and minerals such as gold, which is mainly used for conductors on circuit boards during the production process, global tech-giants are increasingly dependent on resilient and stable mineral sources.
Currently, developing countries especially in South-East Asia, Latin America and Africa are facing an increased growth in the tech-related mining industry and while environmental standards for emission, effluent and groundwater contamination exist, the mining industry often falls short on compliance. According to the United Nations, this can be traced back to a variety of reasons:
But what exactly are the risks for a company’s ethnic liability and how can these supply chain and third-party exposures be best monitored, identified and prevented?
The recent findings, with regard to human rights abuses and environmental wrong doings in a Tanzanian gold mine have brought these issues into the public spotlight again and underline how neglecting an approach to responsible sourcing procedures can lead to increased media attention and scrutinization by the public eye.
Corporate initiatives such as the Responsible Minerals Initiative, a network of more than 380 companies and associations have committed their work to improving the flow of information regarding responsibly-sourced minerals by providing companies with a variety of supportive tools and resources.
The recent report of serious misconducts in Tanzania is only one of numerous examples of how the tech-related mining industry has come under scrutiny. Environmental and worker rights abuses in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malaysia have become a common feature in the media.
The consequences of human rights and environmental malpractice can be severe for the involved companies. A brand’s reputation is highly dependent on consumers and investors, who increasing assess companies’ performance in terms of human rights and environmental protection. By demanding insights into companies’ supply chain and third-party agreements, responsible sourcing can also constitute a commercial incentive for businesses to distinguish themselves from their competitors.
A Nielsen study found that more than 55 percent of global respondents favored products form companies that are committed to a positive social and environmental impact. Amy Fenton, the Global leader of public development and sustainability at Nielsen concluded that,
“Consumers around the world are saying loud and clear that a brand’s social purpose is among the factors that influence purchase decisions. This behavior is on the rise and it provides opportunities for meaningful impact in our communities, in addition to helping to grow share for brands.”
The positive effect of increased consumer awareness has led to several improvements and increased due diligence by leading tech companies such as Apple, which removed 10 smelters and refiners from its supply chain in 2017 because they failed to comply with audits.
Besides the important factors of investor and consumer contentment, countries around the globe are beginning to adopt or amend legislation aimed at expanding transparency in supply chains. In the case of the European Union, for example, Regulation 2017/821 requires companies to publicly share their supply chain policies and report their auditing reports to their member states. As these requirements are strengthened, companies will face increased risk of fines, civil and even criminal liabilities.
Can mining be sustainable?
Tech-related mineral sourcing is often located in ecologically sensitive, less-developed and remote areas that partially also includes indigenous territories and land. A 2016 collaborative work, conducted by the UNDP, the World Economic Forum, the Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network with regard to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, has concluded that mining effects on regional development are ambiguous at best. When managed appropriately, it can help create sustainable jobs, increase innovation and foster investments in regional infrastructure. At the same time, poor management can lead to devastating environmental effects, displaced populations, rising inequality and violent conflicts.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a guide on how due diligence should be carried out for minerals supply chains from high risk and conflict-affected areas.
While experts agree that tech-related mining is not likely to transform into a complete sustainable industry, the re-evaluation of supply chains and third parties after recent reports of environmental and human rights abuses in the Tanzanian North Mara goldmine can not only prevent electronics companies such as Canon, Apple or Nokia from regulatory breaches and possible legal consequences but also from a damaged reputation.
Keep exploring:
Visitors to this year’s Alaska State Fair had more than the usual fried food, cheap carnival games and livestock to peruse. As KTUU in Anchorage reports, fairgoers could also sign a petition to recall Gov. Michael Dunleavy. Or...they could sign one to show support for the governor. Because who doesn’t need a heaping dose of hyperpartisan politics to go with all that greasy fair cuisine and ride on a rickety roller coaster. One thing is for sure – the latter doesn’t make you want to hurl, the former will.
-- By RICH EHISEN
We’ve all seen the tales of “Florida Man,” i.e. news stories of egregiously stupid criminality or other moronic behavior from men who reside in the Sunshine State. But this one really takes the cake. As Reuters reports, Florida man Brendan Dolan-King was recently arrested and charged with selling fentanyl and ecstasy. That is hardly news these days, but the fact that the X tabs were shaped in the likeness of America’s national “Florida Man” – President Donald Trump – absolutely is. The bust mirrors a similar one in Indiana last year. In both cases the pills were orange. Because of course they were.
Speaking of things that defy logic...Rick Perry. Nobody will ever accuse the former Texas governor and current U.S. Secretary of Energy of being, uh, a rocket scientist. As AFP reports, Perry recently fell for an Internet hoax dealing with the sharing of photos on Instagram. Now we are very aware that Perry is far from the only person of a certain age to fall for one of these scams, but he is the only one who is also in charge of the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Let that sink in. And then try to sleep well at night. I dare you.
Some people believe we’re officially in a post-truth world. That’s the only rationale I can come up with for California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent claim that “the vast majority” of the homeless folks in San Francisco migrated to the City by the Bay from Texas. Now anyone who has spent time around the former SF mayor knows he is fond of the sound of his own voice, but this head scratching nonsense is so easily disproven it seems incredulous that a smart guy like him would toss it off like fact. Needless to say, it took no time at all for a lot of folks to point that out. As one homeless advocacy group noted, a whopping 70 percent of the city’s homeless population had in fact lived there for a decade or more before ending up on the street. Post-truth indeed.
NORTH CAROLINA Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoes HB 370, which would have required sheriffs in the state to closely cooperate with federal immigration enforcement or face removal from office (CNN).
BIRMINGHAM Mayor Randall Woofin announces that starting in 2020 any student who graduates from a city high school will be eligible “to attend any in-state two- or four-year school tuition free.” He did not expound on how that would be funded (BIRMINGHAM NEWS).
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
A NEW JERSEY appeals court rules the state can move ahead with a new law allowing terminally ill patients to seek life-ending drugs. The plaintiffs seeking to overturn the law indicated they would appeal to the state Supreme Court (ABC NEWS).
ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs HB 3101, which requires participation in human trafficking training for hotel and motel employees (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
A federal court blocks parts of a MISSOURI law that bans abortions after the eighth week of pregnancy. U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs allowed a tenet of the law that bars abortions based on the sex of a child or the presence of Down Syndrome to remain in place. The ruling mirrors similar recent rulings in OHIO and MISSISSIPI (NEW YORK TIMES).
ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs SB 1290, which bars landlords from intimidating or threatening to disclose immigrants’ citizenship status to any person, agency, or law enforcement officer. If that happens, the tenant is allowed to sue for damages with penalties up to $2,000 for each violation. The law takes effect immediately (CHICAGO CURBED).
WASHINGTON State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy issues a statewide standing order to allow any person or organization in the state to purchase the overdose reversal drug naloxone from a pharmacy. The Evergreen State joins more than two dozen other states that have a similar policy (ASSOCIATED PRESS).
An OKLAHOMA court orders Johnson & Johnson to pay the state $572 million for its role in the state’s epidemic of opioid addiction. The court said the company had intentionally played down the dangers of the drugs while overstating their benefits. The company said it will appeal the ruling (NEW YORK TIMES).
ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs HB 2276, which bars smoking in a motor vehicle with a minor present. Violators face a fine up to $100 for a first offense and up to $250 for a second or subsequent offense (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Also in ILLINOIS, Gov. Pritzker signs SB 111, which raises the age limit from 19 to 26 for health insurance to cover anesthetics provided with dental care to individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder or developmental disability (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Also in ILLINOIS, Gov. Pritzker signs HB 465, a bill that creates a comprehensive regulatory framework for pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, which negotiate drug prices and benefits on behalf of insurance plans. Among several things, the new law requires insurers to apply third-party payments, discounts, vouchers and co-pay cards to the deductible, co-pay or out-of-pocket maximum associated with health insurance, and bars gag clauses that limit pharmacists from advising patients when lower-cost alternatives may be available or when paying cash is cheaper than using insurance. The law takes effect on Jan 1, 2020 (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
DELAWARE Gov. John Carney (D) signs HB 65, which bars covenants or other restrictions that would halt or unreasonably limit the use of roof or ground-mounted residential solar systems. The measure also lowers the voting margin for a homeowners’ group to ease restrictions from a two-thirds vote to a simple majority (DELAWARE BUSINESS NOW).
The ARIZONA Board of Regents unanimously approves a proposal to charge undocumented students who graduate from high school in the Grand Canyon State 150 percent of the in-state tuition rate, a 50 percent reduction from the out-of-state rate previously charged (ARIZONA REPUBLIC [PHOENIX]).
ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs HB 2078, a measure to raise the state’s minimum pay for teachers to $40,000 per year by 2024 (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES).
The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves SB 223, which would allow Golden State public and charter schools to adopt policies that allow parents to administer medical marijuana to their children on K-12 campuses. The measure returns to the Senate for concurrence (ASSOCIATED PRESS).
ILLINOIS Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs HB 3394, a bill that will require companies headquartered in the Prairie State to submit an annual report on their board membership and how they identify and appoint diverse candidates to their boards. The report, which must be submitted to the Illinois Secretary of State by Jan. 1, will be used to develop a system to rate companies based on their diversity (CHICAGO TRIBUNE).
Also in ILLINOIS, Gov. Pritzker signs HB 2156, a bill that bans companies from issuing rebate cards that charge consumers dormancy fees or other post-issuance fees (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Staying in ILLINOIS, Gov. Pritzker signs HB 3405, which clarifies that tips are the property of employees and gives state labor officials the power to enforce wage decisions in court (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
The KENTUCKY Supreme Court rules that Gov. Matt Bevin (R) and legislative leaders were within their legal authority to cancel an employment contract that Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear awarded to private lawyers to help his office sue the pharmaceutical industry over the opioid epidemic. Beshear said he would seek a rehearing before the court. (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER)
NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said a review of DMV files has led the state to suspend the driver’s licenses of almost 4,000 drivers with serious infractions on their records. The review was sparked by a June incident in which a driver killed seven motorcyclists when he ran into them with his truck. An investigation showed the MASSACHUSETTS man should have had his license suspended for a previous drunk driving arrest. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
In a letter Tuesday to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the governors of MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE and VIRGINIA called on the federal government to not hinder or block the advancement of renewable energy projects in the states. The governors specifically noted the recent decision to delay final permitting of a planned 84-turbine Vineyard Wind project south of Martha’s Vineyard, saying further delay would have “negative impacts on this project, offshore wind development along the east coast and the further expansion of American jobs that support this industry.” (REUTERS)
WISCONSIN Gov. Tony Evers (D) directed the state Department of Natural Resources to undertake greater efforts to combat so-called “forever chemicals” in Badger State waterways. Perfluorinated chemicals, or PFAS, have long been used in a wide range of products, including cookware, fast-food containers and some types of firefighting foam. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL)
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) conditionally vetoed a measure that would have overhauled the Garden State’s process for expunging convictions for those who have stayed out of further legal trouble for at least 10 years. In his veto message for AB 3205, Murphy offered lawmakers several suggestions to earn his signature, including removing a proposal to create a separate expedited process for those convicted of low-level marijuana offenses. He also wants lawmakers to make expungement automatic for those who qualify, and to create a state task force to study the fiscal, technological and practical issues involved in developing the system. It was unclear if lawmakers will reconsider the measure with the governor’s inclusions. (NJ.COM, BURLINGTON COUNTY TIMES)
After months of negotiations, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced an agreement last week among charter school advocates, teacher unions and legislative leaders on a bill that will impose new restrictions on the state’s charter schools.
California charters are privately run but publicly funded. New charters must first meet some basic statewide requirements and then apply for approval from local school districts.
The legislation, AB 1505, will now allow districts to weigh the financial impact of a new charter and whether its curriculum duplicates something already offered by a public school within the same district. It also grants districts more power to reject new charter applications, enacts a two-year moratorium on new virtual charter schools and requires charter school teachers to pass stricter credentialing standards. Newsom’s office noted the agreement will also make it easier to shut down charter schools that don’t perform well.
The legislation was sponsored by the California Teachers Association, which has spent over $4 million lobbying lawmakers this year, almost double its total from the entire previous two-year session.
While the deal was seen as a major victory for the CTA, the California Charter School Association noted it also got major concessions it wanted: more protection for high-performing charters and an appeal process for those applications which get rejected.
The deal marked a rare peace between public education and privately-run – but publicly funded - charter schools, which have for years spent millions of dollars on lobbying and statewide ballot measures aimed at accessing millions more in state education funds. In a statement, Newsom cast the agreement as a win for both sides, saying he was “grateful that leaders on both sides of this conversation” worked toward the deal.
“This agreement focuses on the needs of our students. It increases accountability for all charter schools, allows high-quality charter schools to thrive, and ensures that the fiscal and community impacts of charter schools on school districts are carefully considered,” he said. (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE, SACRAMENTO BEE, LOS ANGELES TIMES, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled last month that COLORADO’s presidential electors don’t have to vote for the candidate chosen by the state’s electorate. The case stemmed from the 2016 presidential election, in which three of the state’s nine electors attempted to vote for candidates other than the winner of the state’s popular vote, Democrat Hillary Clinton. (COLORADO SUN [DENVER])
NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed a bill last month, passed by the state’s Democrat-controlled Legislature, that updates the state’s 2018 vote-by-mail law to require that voters who requested mail-in ballots in 2017 and 2018 continue to receive them in future elections unless they opt out. The original law only mandated that mail-in ballots be sent to those who requested them in 2016. (NJ.COM, NBC 4 [NEW YORK])
MAINE’S Democrat-led Legislature approved a bill that would allow the use of ranked-choice voting - which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference and the votes cast for the lowest-ranked candidates to be automatically redistributed among the higher-ranked candidates, if necessary, until a candidate receives 50 percent or more of the vote - in the state’s March presidential primaries. The bill was sent to Gov. Janet Mills (D) who hasn’t said whether she would sign it but who won the Democratic nomination for governor in June 2018 in the first-ever ranked-choice vote to decide a statewide contest. (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD)
The dialysis industry spent about $2.5 million on lobbying and campaign donations in CALIFORNIA in the first six months of 2019 to kill legislation aimed at altering its business model. Last year the industry spent a record $111 million to defeat Proposition 8, which would have capped the profits of dialysis companies. (LOS ANGELES TIMES)
-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK
Dismissal rates in certain types of criminal cases in Massachusetts - including some that involve public officials - vary widely from court to court, according to analysis of court data by the Boston Globe.
In Massachusetts, when someone is accused of a misdemeanor crime but not arrested, they’re typically entitled to a confidential hearing, at which a court clerk determines whether their case should go before a judge. Clerks also hold such so-called show-cause hearings in some felony cases.
The Worcester District Court approved 83 percent of applications for criminal charges after show-cause hearings in 2018, while the Chelsea District Court approved only 26 percent of such requests.
Chris Dearborn, a professor at Suffolk University Law School, called that range of dismissal rates “staggering.”
“We would want an evenhanded administration of justice across the board,” he said.
The variation in dismissal rates is due in part to the different philosophies of the court clerks who handle the cases, many of whom don’t have a law degree. For instance, Brendan T. Keenan, the Worcester District Court’s acting clerk magistrate, said he generally relies on the testimony of law enforcement officers and victims, while Chelsea District Court Clerk Keven G. Murphy said he usually dismisses cases when victims or witnesses don’t testify at the hearings.
A Globe report last year revealed that Massachusetts is the only state in the nation where court clerks decide the disposition of criminal cases behind closed doors. (BOSTON GLOBE)
Democrats are pouring money into next year’s state legislative races.
In Dallas, Shawn Terry, the Democratic challenger in a longtime Republican district, has already raised $235,000. In Virginia, where the GOP holds narrow majorities in both legislative chambers, Democrats, for the first time in years, have raised more money than Republicans. And the Democratic Party is even putting money into the deep red state of Louisiana.
Democrats aren’t just motivated by their opposition to President Trump. They’re also very conscious that the party that controls the states’ legislatures after the 2020 elections will also control the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts after next year’s decennial census, a lesson they learned all too well after Republicans flipped 21 legislative chambers in 2010.
“There is, especially for this cycle, a very strong focus on redistricting,” said Terry.
The stakes have grown even higher since the Supreme Court’s June ruling that policing the partisan gerrymandering of political districts was not the responsibility of the federal courts, freeing state lawmakers to gerrymander even more aggressively.
“Everybody knows everything is at stake,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, a group that helps pro-choice Democratic women get elected to political office. “We just have to go in and win chambers.” (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and executives of other big tech companies have been saying recently that they want a federal data privacy law. But this year the companies and their lobbyists helped kill data privacy bills introduced in at least 13 states, according to analysis of lobbying records and committee hearings by Yahoo Finance.
Data privacy bills in at least 12 other states failed to reach the committee hearing stage, when lobbying efforts start appearing on public records. Only two states, Nevada and Maine, passed data privacy measures, which were initially opposed but ultimately supported by the industry.
“The tech companies have enormous resources,” said Anthony Nownes, a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee.
“They can deploy a lobbyist anytime, anywhere” he added.
Washington was one of the states where the tech companies deployed those resources. A data privacy bill (SB 5376) that was passed by the state’s Senate in March dies in the House the following month after negotiations between the governor’s office, lawmakers and tech lobbyists.
“It was heavily lobbied — the tech folks really did lean in,” said Washington state Rep. Zack Hudgins (D).
The tech companies maintain there’s no contradiction between their advocacy of federal data privacy regulation and their opposition to state regulation. They’re simply seeking uniformity, they say.
“Our work in states around the country demonstrates that as a company we are making a concerted effort to engage policymakers and privacy experts on the right approach to create consistent rules around privacy,” said Will Castleberry, vice president of state and local public policy for Facebook.
But some privacy advocates and state lawmakers say the industry’s efforts are really aimed at avoiding being subject to tough state data privacy laws like the one passed by California last year (AB 375), which is based on the European Union’s strict General Data Protection Regulation and has served as a model for other states. (YAHOO FINANCE, CNBC, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)