This post was guest written by Courtney Resnicky, a senior at Wright State University.
Millennials—those born between 1981 and 1998—have now surpassed Baby Boomers by half a million, according to PEW research. While this may not seem like a huge number, the historic election taking place in November means that Millennials have more of an opportunity than any other generation to make their voices heard and bring about historic change in our nation. But how is this generation being portrayed in the media during this controversial election season? Well, it seems many articles are portraying them quite negatively. Why such negative coverage? Simple: Low voter turn-out. Although college students comprise of 31% of Americans eligible to vote, only around 46% of registered college voters actually make it to the polls according to The Christian Science Monitor. The confusion this causes about the desires of Millennials is clear from media monitoring—numerous articles and surveys attempt to parse out what Millennials are thinking without being able to see coinciding results in the way that they vote.
Millennials have the numbers to heavily influence the election and news stories abound about the assorted ways Millennials are making their voices heard. However, if Millennials truly want to have their say in the structure of this nation and finally earn a more positive repertoire in the media, then they need to vote. Instead of encouraging news stories about protests, college students can strive to show that these protests are leading cohorts to the polls in order to vote for change. Rather than ignoring news stories about low voter turn-out, Millennials can show up in overwhelming numbers and change the representation of our generation to a positive one where everyone is excited to be involved.
Simply raising the voter turn-out may not be enough to influence the representation of college students in the media, but there is a possible solution. Millennials have access to a diverse amount of information about the presidential candidates. Media monitoring with LexisNexis Newsdesk shows that usage of social media to publish and read political articles has skyrocketed, with 31.56% of political articles being published by Facebook in the first week of September and only 6.08% of political articles being published by NPR within that time span. With Pew Research’s findings that 70% of internet users saying that they use Facebook daily, the information that people receive from the social media platform can have a serious influence. With access to research tools from various universities and a constant barrage of information every time they log on to their social media page, Millennials not only have the opportunity to become educated voters before the November election, they have the opportunity to make themselves be heard by the media. Millennials can use the proliferation of social media to write their own articles, blog posts, and research papers then publish them on a media platform that requires no more than a click of a button to share the story with people around the world.
In essence, it all goes back to being involved. With Millennials having the biggest share of voice in this election, it is important that we become involved on all fronts. Higher voter turnout will stem the tide of negative articles bemoaning the “young and restless Millennials” who refuse to vote. Along with voting, writing our own narratives about the election will allow Millennials to craft our own image and push out the negative portrayals the media seems to obsess over. There may be room for improvement, but with 69.2 million Millennials poised to vote in this election, the possibilities are endless.
When the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation announced that it would cut off funding for breast cancer screens to Planned Parenthood, the backlash was swift—and came from all sides. The organization’s top public health official, Mollie Williams, resigned in protest. More than two dozen Democratic senators signed a letter to Komen that said, “It would be tragic if any woman—let alone thousands of women—lost access to these potentially life-saving screenings because of a politically motivated attack. We earnestly hope that you will put women’s health before partisan politics and reconsider this decision for the sake of women who depend on both your organizations for access to the health care they need.” While the Foundation quickly reversed its decision, the damage was done. A year later, the Foundation had experienced a decline of 22 percent—totaling $77 million—in contributions as former supporters funneled donations to Planned Parenthood or local, independent breast cancer nonprofits instead. And it may have been the start of a movement among fundraising organizations. See what trends are currently in play for nonprofits in our upcoming webinar.
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation experienced a PR nightmare, but it’s not the only nonprofit to find itself in a battle for donors. Earlier this year, following a decision by the National Alzheimer’s Association to consolidate all independent chapters into a single 501(c), the board of the Alzheimer’s Association, California Southland Chapter announced that it was disaffiliating from the national organization, along with large chapters elsewhere in California as well as in New York and New Jersey.
According to a Nonprofit Pro blog, “They may be called chapters, affiliates or federated organizations, but, more and more, these small groups are growing up and demanding more respect, independence and control over the dollars they are raising.” The reason? Many of the parent organizations demand that chapters turn over up to 40 percent of their revenue, leaving little to cover local initiatives after overhead costs are paid. What’s more, local chapters are taking a hard look at how the national organization spends its funds. In the case of the newly independent Alzheimer’s Greater Los Angeles, the board cited payroll increases over seven years that climbed 143 percent and travel expenses that skyrocketed 347 percent, even as research grants declined 38 percent. Board member Susan Disney Lord said, “We do not agree with the national organization’s plan to provide local support through a centralized 800 phone number and online resources. We believe that supporting families affected by this disease requires person-to-person contact and connections.”
What does all this mean to national nonprofits? You need to provide value to your chapters. It’s easier than ever for small organizations to find the help they need to manage the chapter on a local level. Instead of offering bookkeeping or marketing services—which you can likely find from local experts willing to volunteer their time—consider how you can provide valuable insights into possible high-value corporate or individual donors within your chapters regions with advanced research tools. By offering practical advice and greater autonomy, you may be able to prevent the type of exodus that other organizations have experienced lately.
Far below the radar of the fiercely fought presidential race, Republicans and Democrats are competing for control of legislative chambers in 13 battleground states. Democrats suffered severe losses in the statehouses during the last two midterm elections, but surveys and analysts give them an advantage in 2016.
“This is shaping up as an opportunity year for Democrats,” says Tim Storey, who analyzes politics for the National Conference of State Legislatures. The opportunity exists in part because in the last two midterm elections Republicans won a slew of marginal congressional and legislative seats. These seats are at risk in a presidential year when the electorate contains a higher proportion of young and minority voters who tend to favor Democrats.
Republican legislative candidates have done spectacularly during the Obama years, winning a net of 816 seats. The GOP controls 67 of 98 partisan legislative chambers. Republicans have a majority in both chambers in 30 states; Democrats in only 12 with control split in seven states. (Nebraska has a unicameral, non-partisan chamber.) Republicans have 31 governors, the Democrats 18. Alaska’s governor is an independent.
Democratic legislative candidates could benefit from a Hillary Clinton victory. In the half-century since the Supreme Court mandated legislative redistricting on the basis of “one man, one vote,” the party winning the White House has gained an average of 129 state legislative seats.
Democratic chances appear bright in states with large numbers of Latinos, many of whom have been alienated by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s proposals to deport unauthorized immigrants and build a wall between the United States and Mexico. An August poll by Fox News Latino showed Clinton leading Trump 66 to 20 percent among Latinos. Republicans have received a steadily declining percentage of the Latino vote in recent presidential elections. George W. Bush received 40 percent in 2004, John McCain 31 percent in 2008 and Mitt Romney 27 per cent in 2012.
Latinos may hold the key to the presidential outcome in the swing states of Colorado, Florida and Nevada, in which they comprise from 14 to 18 percent of the eligible voters. In Colorado and Nevada, they could also decide control of the state senates, which Republicans control by a single seat in both states. Republicans also have a one-seat edge in the Washington Senate, where Latinos are 6.7 percent of the electorate. Republicans control the Senate in West Virginia by two seats, while Democrats have a two-seat edge in the Iowa Senate. The percentage of eligible Latino voters in these two states is negligible.
Latino turnout is a question mark. In recent elections 40 percent of eligible Latinos cast ballots compared to 60 percent of whites and African Americans. Many analysts expect a greater Latino turnout in 2016 because of negative reaction to Trump.
Another question is whether Latino resentment of Trump will cause long-term harm to the GOP. In 1994, running for re-election, California Gov. Pete Wilson (R) backed an initiative (Proposition 187) that would have denied health and education benefits to unauthorized immigrants. The initiative won, although most of it was voided by the courts. Wilson won, too, but the percentage of Latinos voting Democratic in the Golden State increased and has remained high ever since.
Latino eligible voters in California now number nearly 7 million, the most of any state, with 62 percent registered Democratic and only 17 percent Republican. California has been dependably Democratic in presidential elections since 1992, but Latinos could make a difference in state elections as Democrats seek to regain the legislative super-majority they lost in the 2014 midterm election.
Beyond the five states listed above — Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Washington and West Virginia — where the margin of senate control is one or two votes, Storey lists 13 other chambers that could change hands. Democrats believe they have a chance to win the state senates in Wisconsin, where Republicans hold a 19-14 margin; Arizona, where the GOP margin is 18-12; Maine, where the margin is 20-15; and New Hampshire, where the margin is 13-9. Republicans are targeting the New Mexico Senate, which Democrats control by a 24-17 margin.
The New York Senate, which has bounced back and forth the last few years, is a target for both parties. Democrats hold a 32-31 majority but the chamber is run by a coalition of maverick Democrats aligned with the Republicans.
In the houses and assemblies Democrats hope to win Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Mexico. Democrats are defending slender majorities in Colorado, Kentucky and Washington. The Kentucky House is of particular interest because it’s a lake in a Republican sea, the lone chamber in the South still controlled by Democrats.
Incumbent governors have won 34 of 37 contested elections in presidential years since 1992. The only incumbent governor in obvious danger this year is North Carolina Republican Pat McCrory, who trails Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper, according to an average of polls by RealClearPolitics. In Montana, Republican challenger Greg Gianforte is given an outside chance against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, who is leading in the polls.
Six of the dozen elections for governor this year are competitive. The Cook Political Report rates as toss-ups Missouri, New Hampshire, Washington, and Vermont, all states with Democratic governors not seeking re-election. Two states with Republican governors are rated as tossups by Cook: North Carolina and Indiana, where the governorship is open because Gov. Mike Pence is the GOP vice presidential nominee.
In the presidential race, the RealClearPolitics poll average gives Clinton a narrow lead over Trump in the popular vote and a larger lead in the all-important Electoral College, in which 270 electoral votes are required for victory. The RCP tally gives Clinton 209 electoral votes, Trump 154 and puts 175 in the toss-up category.
Republicans control Congress and are expected to hold the House by a reduced margin, according to RCP poll averages. The Cook Political Report predicts Democrats will gain 10 to 15 seats, short of the 30 they need to control the House.
It’s a different story in the Senate, where only 10 Democrats are up for re-election compared to 24 Republicans. Republicans would be running uphill even if Trump were not the nominee; President Obama in 2012 carried seven of the 24 Republican states and all the Democratic states. In states with a Republican senator the RCP polling average puts the Democratic candidate well ahead in Illinois and Wisconsin and competitive in seven other states: Arizona, Florida, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Nevada, where Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is retiring, is the only Democratic-held seat where the RCP average gives the Republican candidate an even chance.
The Democrats need four seats to control the Senate if Clinton wins, five if she doesn’t. The latest RCP average shows Democrats gaining four Senate seats, which would produce a 50-50 tie and give the vice president the tie-breaking vote.
Statistician Nate Silver gives Clinton a 60 percent chance of winning but warns there is a high degree of uncertainty because 20 percent of voters say they are undecided or will vote for a third-party candidate. “High numbers of undecided and third-party voters are associated with higher volatility and larger polling errors,” Silver wrote on his FiveThirtyEight blog.
With both Trump and Clinton distrusted by a majority of voters, ticket splitting, once commonplace but rare in the present partisan era, could make a comeback. “This election is ready-made for ticket splitting,” says Stuart K. Spencer, a California political consultant who advised Ronald Reagan. In Storey’s view, however, this election is less about classic ticket-splitting than anxiety about Trump. Some Republicans may reject Trump but vote for every other GOP candidate on the ballot, he said.
Voter turnout is a mystery. Negative campaigns often depress turnout but Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report thinks turnout could be high because of “hatred” on both sides of the other party’s presidential candidate. Trump’s base — white, working-class voters with less than a college education — is usually a low-turnout segment of the electorate, but a recent CNN poll found slightly more enthusiasm among Trump supporters than their Clinton counterparts. Voter enthusiasm can be a barometer of turnout.
Get-out-the-vote efforts often make a difference in close elections, and Democrats have an organizational advantage. Clinton has 291 offices in 15 battleground states and Trump only 88, according to a tabulation by PBS NewsHour.
All in all, according to the polls and pundits, opportunities abound for the Democrats from the White House to the statehouses. It remains to be seen if these opportunities can be converted into victories on Election Day.
Eighteen legislative chambers in 13 states are vulnerable to a shift of party control in the November elections, according to Tim Storey of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Twelve of those chambers are currently held by Republicans, while the other six are controlled by Democrats. In six of the chambers the majority party’s margin of control is just one or two seats. In seven chambers the margin is 3-6 seats. And in five chambers the margin is 7 seats or more.
Source: Tim Storey of National Conference of State Legislatures
Included in the budget bill passed by Ohio lawmakers last year was a proposal, dubbed the “Healthy Ohio Program,” requiring all non-disabled Medicaid participants in the state earning any amount of income - about 1.6 million individuals - to deposit up to $99 per year into a health savings account beginning in 2018. The state would pay $1,000 per year into those accounts and allow participants to earn up to $320 per year more through various health incentives. But participants who failed to make their required deposit within 60 days of the due date would be dropped from the program until they made good on all delinquent payments and interest.
Supporters of the program said it would give Medicaid participants an ownership stake in their health plans, as well as ease their potential transition to individual or employer‑provided health insurance. Opponents said the monthly premiums weren’t affordable for the state’s poorest residents and would force many - over 125,000 a year, according to the administration of Gov. John Kasich (R) - to lose coverage.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ended the debate this month when it rejected the plan, basically siding with the critics.
“CMS is concerned that these premiums would undermine access to coverage and the affordability of care, and do not support the objectives of the Medicaid program,” Andrew M. Slavitt, the acting administrator of the agency, stated in a letter to the state’s Medicaid director, John McCarthy. (CLEVELAND.COM)
The White House said last week that Louisiana has qualified for 90-percent federal funding of its recovery efforts related to the severe flooding in the state last month. Officials said the state was bumped up from the 75-percent funding level as soon as its disaster costs, including outlays for debris removal and the deployment of the National Guard, exceeded $621 million. The state’s costs are expected to be far higher than that, with the flooding damage currently estimated at nearly $9 billion.
The news came as Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) was lobbying members of Congress and the Obama administration for a $2 billion relief package for his state.
“This much needed help creates a clearer path forward, but we still have a long way to go and will continue to ask the federal government for additional assistance,” he said. “While it will take time to complete the rebuilding process, this amended cost share will enable us to help our people come back stronger than ever.” (ADVOCATE [BATON ROUGE], LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
A win by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Election Day could result in a U.S. economy that is $1 trillion smaller in 2021 than it would be if Democrat Hillary Clinton were elected, according to analysis by Oxford Economics, an economic research firm affiliated with England’s Oxford University.
Under the firm’s baseline scenario - with Clinton claiming the White House and Democrats taking over control of the U.S. Senate but Republicans retaining control of the U.S. House, resulting in little change to current policies - U.S. GDP grows at a rate of about 2 percent, reaching $18.5 trillion in 2021. The firm said the likely scenario if Trump were elected - which presumes that his stated policy proposals, including tax cuts, protectionist trade measures and mass deportations of illegal immigrants, would be significantly watered down in negotiations with Congress - would be a short-term slowdown in the U.S. economy. But if Trump were elected and succeeded in implementing his policies more fully, the firm predicts GDP growth would slow nearly to zero in 2019, reaching $17.5 trillion in 2021.
“Should Mr. Trump prove more successful in achieving adoption of his policies, the consequences could be far-reaching – knocking 5 percent off the level of U.S. GDP relative to baseline and undermining the anticipated recovery in global growth,” the firm said.
Some economists contend that Trump’s looser tax policy could actually boost the economy. And at a campaign stop in Clive, Iowa last week, Trump reasserted his commitment to growing the U.S. economy, by preventing American companies from manufacturing products overseas, renegotiating international trade agreements and lowering federal taxes and regulatory burdens.
“We’re going to provide opportunity, prosperity and security for all Americans,” he said. (REUTERS, OXFORD ECONOMICS)
An independent audit of renewable-energy projects that received Business Energy Tax Credits in OREGON uncovered enough circumstantial evidence to refer 79 of the projects - one in four, representing $340 million of the $1 billion total issued between 2006 and 2014 - to the state’s Department of Justice for review. Investigators’ concerns included conflicts of interest, missing cost documents and projects that never went into operation. (BULLETIN [BEND])
For the third time this year and the fourth time in the last 24 months PENNSYLVANIA is borrowing money - this time $1.2 billion against a $2.5 billion line of credit - to cover its expenses. (PENNLIVE.COM)
The KANSAS Public Employees Retirement System earned 0.2 percent during the 2015 calendar year, well below its 8-percent benchmark. But the fund’s overall health still improved due to a $1-billion cash infusion from the state to bolster the fund. (LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD)
-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-minute request by the state of Michigan to allow its new ban on straight-party voting to be in effect for the November election. The state’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed that ban (SB 13) in December and Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed it into law in January, spurred by the fact that straight-ticket voting, which allows voters to choose a party’s entire slate of candidates with a single mark on their ballots, has been banned in 40 other states ostensibly to encourage more engagement with the voting process.
“The reason I signed it is I think it’s a good part of the process that people look at each individual office and they look at each candidate,” Snyder told The Detroit News.
But in July U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law on the grounds that it imposed “a disproportionate burden on African-Americans’ right to vote.” Drain said the plaintiffs in the case had presented evidence showing “there are ‘extremely high’ correlations between the size of the African-American voting population within a district and the use of straight-party voting in that district.” The judge also noted that the law didn’t really forbid straight-party voting but just made the process more cumbersome.
“It seems the only purpose behind” the law “is to require voters to spend more time filling more bubbles” on their ballots, he wrote in his opinion.
Last month a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit denied the state’s request for a stay of Judge Drain’s preliminary injunction, ruling that the state’s ban on straight-party voting would increase already long lines at the polls.
“Because African-American majority districts in Michigan such as Detroit have also historically faced some of the longest wait times in the state,” Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote for the court, “the increase in long lines occasioned by the elimination of straight-party voting will impact these voters to an even more significant degree.”
She added that the state had presented only “vague speculation” that voters would “make a more informed choice in filling in each individual bubble rather than choosing to fill in one bubble for a straight party vote.”
After the full 6th Circuit refused to hear the case, the state filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court seeking a stay of Judge Drain’s injunction in time to finalize ballots for Nov. 8. But in a 6-2 ruling, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito in the minority, the high court denied that request, leaving straight-ticket voting in place in the state.
“Michigan voters will have their historic option to vote straight party in November,” said Mark Brewer, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs. The state’s voters have had that option since 1891.
The issue isn’t completely resolved yet, however. The 6th Circuit still has to consider the state’s appeal of Judge Drain’s decision on the merits. And Drain is also expected to schedule a trial to determine whether he should permanently block the law himself.
Consequently, Brandon Dillon, chairman of the state’s Democratic Party, cautioned that while the battle over straight-party voting in November has ended, “there's no doubt in my mind that this fight is not over.” (NEW YORK TIMES, DETROIT FREE PRESS, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR)
After Ohio’s Republican-controlled General Assembly passed HB 234 in 2005, establishing 35 days of absentee voting in the state, there was a week-long interval, when the absentee-voting period overlapped the state’s voter registration period, during which qualified Ohio residents could both register to vote and absentee vote in-person on the same day. But in 2014 another GOP-led General Assembly passed SB 238, reducing the number of early voting days to 28 and eliminating the so-called “Golden Week.”
Democrats filed a legal challenge to the law, and a federal judge in Cincinnati struck it down in May, ruling that it violated the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment as well as Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit overturned that decision along with a request by the Democrats to stay its ruling pending an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. And this month the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Democrats’ request that it stay the 6th Circuit’s ruling, exhausting their options for restoring Golden Week this year.
In a statement Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said “Ohioans want an efficient and secure election and it is time for these wasteful lawsuits to end.”
But Democrats don’t appear to see it that way.
“Ohio Republicans can keep trying to make it harder for people to vote, but we will continue to fight them at every turn.” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. (CLEVELAND.COM)
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ordered Alabama, Georgia and Kansas to stop requiring residents to provide proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate or naturalization papers, when they register to vote using a federal form. Voting rights groups said a U.S. election official - Election Assistance Commission Executive Director Brian Newby, a former Kansas election official who publicly supported making proof of citizenship a requirement with the federal form in that state - changed the proof-of-citizenship requirement on the forms of the three states at their request, shortly after he took the new job in November. Only Kansas had been actively enforcing the requirement, however.
Still, the appeals court’s 2-1 ruling requires the EAC to remove the citizenship requirement from all three of the states’ federal registration forms immediately and requires the states to treat all voter registration applications filed with the federal form since January 29 as if the citizenship requirement never existed.
Ironically the EAC was created in 2002 in an effort to avoid a repeat of the infamous 2000 presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The commission is supposed to have two Democratic and two Republican commissioners, but one of the Democratic posts is vacant, and the other commissioners never approved Newby’s action.
The case will now go back to the trial court for consideration on the merits, which the appeals court said is also likely to be decided in favor of the voting rights groups. (LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD)
MISSOURI’s Republican-controlled General Assembly voted last week to override Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of HB 1631, a bill requiring voters to show a government-issued photo ID before casting a ballot instead of a utility bill or other less official form of identification. But the bill won’t take effect until 2017 and only if voters pass a constitutional amendment in November supporting the new law. (REUTERS, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
A majority (58 percent) of CALIFORNIA voters support a measure on the November ballot (Proposition 64) that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state, according to a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. (LOS ANGELES TIMES)
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) proposed new cybersecurity regulations last week that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called the first of their kind in the nation. Cuomo said the rules would apply only to institutions overseen by NYDFS and not national institutions. The rules would require companies to, among many things, establish and maintain cyber security programs appropriate for their specific level of risk, to appoint a chief information officer to manage the program and to ensure employees are properly trained in cybersecurity protections. In a statement, Cuomo said the new regulations were critical to protect consumers.
“New York, the financial capital of the world, is leading the nation in taking decisive action to protect consumers and our financial system from serious economic harm that is often perpetrated by state-sponsored organizations, global terrorist networks, and other criminal enterprises,” Cuomo said. “This regulation helps guarantee the financial services industry upholds its obligation to protect consumers and ensure that its systems are sufficiently constructed to prevent cyber-attacks to the fullest extent possible.”
The proposed rules have been in development for almost two years. Other tenets include requiring banks to appoint overseers for outside vendors and limiting access by bank employees to customers’ critical non-public information, such as social security numbers. Financial institutions would have to file documentation annually with the state to certify they are in compliance with the new standards.
In addition to protecting consumers, officials say the rules were drafted to give financial institutions maximum flexibility to adapt to changing technologies. The proposal is now in a 45-day public comment period. (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS, INSURANCE JOURNAL, WALL STREET JOURNAL)
The GOP-dominated Missouri Legislature last week overrode 13 of the 20 vetoes issued this session by Gov. Jay Nixon (D) The measures lawmakers overrode include SB 656, which allows most adults to obtain a lifetime concealed carry weapons permit while also expanding the state’s so-called “stand your ground” law that allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves both in public and private places. The overrides bring his total to 96 vetoes blocked by lawmakers during his two terms in office, by far the most of any Show Me State governor. (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT)
WEST VIRGINIA Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) unveiled a plan designed to reduce the number of suicides by military veterans. Dubbed the Mountain State 22 Program – a reference to the number of veterans believed to take their own lives every day – the plan is expected to include education and public awareness efforts. (METRO NEWS [CHARLESTON], HUNTINGTON NEWS)
The fallout over NORTH CAROLINA’S transgender bathroom bill (HB 2) continued last week as the NCAA announced it was pulling numerous athletic events from the Tar Heel State. Those events include first and second round games of the 2017 Division I men’s basketball tournament, one of the biggest sporting events in the country. The move follows the NBA’s decision to move the 2017 NBA All Star game from Charlotte. Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who signed the measure last March and who is locked in a tight re-election campaign with Democrat Roy Cooper, had no comment. (NEW YORK TIMES)
The VIRGINIA Supreme Court rejected without comment last week a plea by Republicans to block Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) from restoring voting rights to convicted felons. Earlier this year the court had tossed out the governor’s blanket restoration of voting rights for over 200,000 felons, saying he lacked the authority to do so. McAuliffe has since restored rights to over 13,000 individuals, with plans to continue reviewing and assessing the remaining 187,000. (WASHINGTON POST, RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH)
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
The OKLAHOMA Supreme Court rules that a 2013 law giving Sooner State employers the power to “opt out” of the state workers’ compensation system and write their own plans is unconstitutional. The law, which supporters tried to implement in several other states, further allowed employers to set terms for what injuries were covered by the plan, which physicians an injured worker could see, how workers were compensated and how disputes were handled.The ruling leaves TEXAS as the only state currently with such a law on the books (PROPUBLICA).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 1066, which will guarantee agricultural workers overtime wages for working more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. Current state law pays them time-and-a-half only for working over 10 hours in a day or 60 hours in a week. The law will be phased in over the next four years (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Also in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Brown vetoes six measures aimed at granting or extending sales tax exemptions, including over-the-counter items diapers (AB 717) and tampons (AB 1561) (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Staying in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Brown signs AB 2337, which requires employers to inform each employee in writing of his or her employment leave rights as a possible victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Finally, Gov. Brown signs AB 1978, which implements protections for janitors against sexual assault and harassment in the workplace, including requiring CALIFORNIA janitorial employers to participate in sexual harassment and assault prevention training (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs SB 839, a portion of which makes it a crime for an individual or corporation to breed killer whales, or orcas, in captivity, punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
The CALIFORNIA Board of Education officially adopts a school evaluation policy that rates schools by multiple factors, including academics, graduation rates, college preparedness and the rates at which non-native speakers are learning English. The change ends a policy in which schools were rated solely by student test scores (LOS ANGELES TIMES).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 2016, which makes the Golden State the first to mandate the creation of a statewide model high school curriculum for ethnic studies. The model is not expected to be ready until the fall of 2019 (NBC NEWS)
The U.S. Department of the Interior releases a final blueprint for opening up large sections of the CALIFORNIA desert to wind and solar farms. Under the plan, 606 miles of land deemed not to be ecologically sensitive would be made available for such development. Another 10,200 miles would be designated for conservation, with 5,617 set aside for recreation (KQED [SAN FRANCISCO]). President Barack Obama declares 4,913 square miles off the New England coastline as a new marine national monument. It is the first-ever federally designated marine monument off the East Coast of the United States (WASHINGTON POST).
The MICHIGAN House and Senate approve a package of bills to regulate the medical marijuana industry: HB 4209, which would impose a 3 percent tax on dispensaries as well as creating a licensing system for growers, dispensaries, patients, caregivers and transporters; HB 4210, which would legalize the use of marijuana oils and so-called “medibles,” brownies and other edible marijuana products; and HB 4827, which would create a monitoring system to track the marijuana from seed to sale to determine how the marijuana is grown, processed and transferred to a dispensary. The bills move to Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who is expected to sign them all into law (DETROIT FREE PRESS).
NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs AB 457, which adds post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of medical conditions that can be legally treated with marijuana in the Garden State (PHILLY VOICE).
ARIZONA officials announce a settlement in a lawsuit challenging tenets of the Grand Canyon State’s 2010 SB 1070 immigration law. Under terms of the deal, officials have agreed to end to its practice of requiring police officers to demand the papers of people suspected of being in the country illegally, though officers may still do so at their own discretion. The agreement strikes down the last of the law’s four major elements; the other three were previously struck down by the courts (LOS ANGELES TIMES).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 2819, which extends the time in which the names of people involved in eviction lawsuits must be kept private. Under current law, records in eviction lawsuits are kept sealed for only 60 days after they are filed. If the tenant has not prevailed or if the case is not resolved, the names are made public. The bill’s supporters say this often makes it impossible for a renter to obtain new housing, exacerbating the Golden State’s already significant issue with homelessness. The law takes effect in January (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS).
Also in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Brown signs a package of bills – AB 1550, AB 1613, AB 2722 and SB 859 – that together ensure that $900 million in cap-and-trade revenues are allocated to programs that benefit economically disadvantaged communities (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs AB 1570, which expands a Golden State law requiring sports memorabilia dealers to provide certificates of authenticity for any autographed collectibles they sell to include sellers of all forms of memorabilia (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Also in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Brown signs SB 945, which creates a statewide standard for pet boarding facilities (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Staying in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Brown vetoes AB 2085, which would have created a state office to coordinate free legal assistance for military members. Brown said it was something that should be considered in overall state budget negotiations (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Vermont Gov. Pete Shumlin’s time in office is winding down, which can only mean it’s time to immortalize him forever. No, he’s not being stuffed. We’re talking his official portrait, which will eventually hang alongside those of other former govs in the Montpelier statehouse. But as the Burlington Free Press reports, the portrait’s exact setting and style is yet to be determined. Previous portraits have tried to capture something of the person’s personality or accomplishment, such as the one of the state’s first female governor, Madeleine Kunin, sitting in the governor’s chair, an acknowledgement of her reaching the state’s ultimate seat of power. Howard Dean’s, meanwhile, shows the former gov sitting in a canoe adorned in the casual garb of someone about to head out into the great outdoors. And no, he is not emitting a tremendous scream.
We all get them. We all hate them - the dreaded mass response to an email. Instead of replying only to the sender, some goof always hits “reply all,” sharing their thoughts with every person on the email and thus beginning a chain of messages – most of them begging to stop hitting reply all - guaranteed to fill your inbox to the max. Which was the case recently at the California Department of Transportation, where workers thought they were immune because agencies like theirs have a safeguard built in to prevent such things. Alas, as the Sacramento Bee reports, that function was temporarily shut down last week. Which is of course when the agency chief sent out an all-staff email regarding the death of a road worker. A day of tributes ensued, as did an equal number of pleas to stop hitting “reply all,” which in fact only made the problem worse. As experts note, the only way to end the “allpocalypse” is to just not respond. Quick – tell everyone!