For decades, the Land Park Golf Course in Sacramento has been a place where many a politico has been able to escape to on a warm afternoon for a quick nine holes. Count current Sacramento Mayor and former California Senate pro Tem Darrell Steinberg among the course’s biggest fans. But as the Sacramento Bee reports, the company that operates Land Park wants to opt out of its contract with the city, leaving the course’s future in limbo. But Steinberg took to Twitter to assure Sacramento golf enthusiasts all was well, saying, “I would only consider closing the Land Park golf course when I break 40, which means this great course will never close!” Let’s just say this reporter can relate to that sentiment.
Much has been made of French President Emmanuel Macron being married to a woman who at one time was his high school teacher. But in a bit of gamesmanship that could only matter to President Donald Trump, Macron was not the first world leader to marry one of his former teachers. That honor – so to speak - falls to America’s 13th president, Millard Fillmore, whose wife Abigail Powers Fillmore had at one time been his teacher at New Hope Academy in New York City. Alas, Abigail was only a year older than Millard, a significantly narrower gap than the 24 years difference between Macron and French First Lady Brigitte Macron. Ironically, that is the same number of years between Trump and First Lady Melania (or is it Melanie?) Trump, though of course is the much older one in that relationship. But even that is not the record among presidents: President John Tyler was 30 years older than his bride Julia when he became the first and only president to marry during his time in office.
The federal tax overhaul pushed through Congress by the Republican majority in December doubled the exemption threshold for the estate tax levied on property and other assets transferred from deceased individuals to their heirs - earning it the epithet “death tax” among many conservatives - from $5.6 million to $11 million. Now the Democratically-controlled D.C. Council, the district’s legislative body, is considering cutting the exemption back to $5.6 million.
Council member Charles Allen (D), who initially proposed that action, indicated that the revenue it generated could be used for education and housing.
“The Trump tax plan just gave away tax breaks to incredibly wealthy households,” he stated in an interview. “It’s a decision made by Congress, where we don’t have any say in it. I don’t think we should be tied to the federal government on that.” (WASHINGTON POST)
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes AB 1279, which would have required the state Department of Health to develop an outreach program to increase awareness of the disease Valley Fever. Brown said the agency already has numerous materials to educate the public about the disease (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE).
Also in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Brown signs SB 512, which requires doctors to inform patients if they are performing a stem cell therapy that is not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
Staying in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Brown signs AB 156, which extends the open enrollment period for consumers buying coverage through the state’s health benefits exchange to Jan. 15 2018 (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE).
In The Hopper
Number of 2015 Prefiles last week: 307
Number of Intros last week: 5,193
Number of Enacted/Adopted last week: 1,039
Number of 2015 Prefiles to date: 17,544
Number of 2015 Intros to date: 85,362
Number of 2015 Enacted/Adopted overall to date: 6,794
Number of bills currently in State Net Database: 113,257
--Compiled By DENA BLODGETT
(Measures current as of 03/10/2015)
Source: State Net database
(03/13/2015 - 04/03/2015)
03/24/2015
Pennsylvania Special Election
House District 170
03/28/2015
Louisiana Special Runoff
House District 66
03/31/2015
Massachusetts Special Election
House Districts 1st Suffolk and 11th Worcester
New Hampshire Special Primary
House District Rockingham 32
Texas Special Election
House District 124
The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves SB 10, which would allow unauthorized immigrants to buy health insurance through the state’s health benefits exchange. Purchasers would not be eligible for federal subsidies to help them pay for their coverage. The measure moves back to the Senate for concurrence (SACRAMENTO BEE).
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency rejects requests from medical cannabis supporters to end marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I controlled substance on par with drugs like heroin and cocaine. The agency cited the Food and Drug Administration’s opinion that marijuana has no medical value (WASHINGTON POST, DENVER POST).
NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) signs HB 1116, legislation that doubles the cap on so-called net metering, which allows solar power generators to sell excess power back to the electric grid (PORTLAND PRESS HERALD).
Editor: Rich Ehisen Associate Editor: Korey Clark Contributing Editor: Mary Peck, David Giusti Editorial Advisor: Lou Cannon Correspondents: Richard Cox (CA), Lauren Davis (MA), Steve Karas (CA) and Ben Livingood (PA), Cathy Santsche (CA), Dena Blodgett (CA) Graphic Design: Vanessa Perez Design
An ARKANSAS judge rules that Razorback State corrections officials must reveal their source for drugs used to execute condemned prisoners. Officials have appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court (DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE [LITTLE ROCK]).
A county judge in IOWA upholds the Hawkeye State’s new law imposing a 72-hour waiting period on women seeking an abortion. The plaintiffs in the case, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, filed an intention to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court (DES MOINES REGISTER).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes AB 859, which would have lowered the burden of proof when suing a nursing home for elder abuse or neglect if a judge finds evidence of intentional destruction of evidence. Brown said judges already have numerous options for dealing with that issue (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE).
Also in CALIFORNIA, Gov. Brown signs SB 219, which bans senior care facilities from denying admission or otherwise discriminating against a resident based on gender identity, sexual orientation or HIV status. The measure also mandates that staff use names and pronouns that correspond to how residents identify themselves (CAPITAL PUBLIC RADIO).
Well, when it comes to winning the state lottery...everything. Which is why Charlie McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery, thought the marketing slogan “Luck yeah!” was a real winner. Alas, as reported by the New Hampshire Union Leader, not everyone agreed. One politico in particular - Executive Councilor Russell Prescott – called the ad campaign profane. And while McIntyre pointed to the campaign’s effectiveness at increasing lottery sales, the powers that be opted to go with a new slogan: “Win-Time.” Yawwwwwnnnn.
-- By RICH EHISEN
OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) signs SB 1, which increases prison sentences for drug offenses involving fentanyl-related compounds by three to eight years (COLUMBUS DISPATCH).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoes AB 2070, which would have required incoming student orientations at Golden State colleges and universities to include information on intimate partner and dating violence (LOS ANGELES TIMES).
A federal judge in CALIFORNIA rejects an appeal by the Trump administration to indefinitely detain immigrant children caught crossing the border illegally with their parents (LOS ANGELES TIMES).
LOUISIANA lawmakers gave final approval last week for a proposed constitutional amendment that would stipulate there is no right to an abortion in the state. The action, part of a wave of recent anti-abortion legislation, assures that the issue will be on the state’s ballot in next year’s presidential election. (ADVOCATE [BATON ROUGE])
NEVADA Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) vetoed a bill (AB 186) passed by the state’s Democrat-controlled Legislature that would have committed the state to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, pledging its six electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote in presidential elections if enough other states to constitute a majority of the Electoral College do the same. The governor said joining that agreement “could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests” and subvert the will of Nevada voters. (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL)
A U.S. district judge has ruled that a lawsuit alleging problems - including canceled absentee ballots, precinct closures and voting machine tampering - in GEORGIA’s gubernatorial race last year can move forward. Election officials in the state had filed a motion to dismiss the suit filed by allies of Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams after she lost to Republican Brian Kemp last year. (ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)
A pair of bills introduced in the D.C. Council last week would allow residents to cast ballots by mail and allow incarcerated felons to vote. Only felons serving sentences in MAINE and VERMONT are currently permitted to vote. (WAMU [WASHINGTON, D.C.)
-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK
Saying the legislation “creates more problems than it solves,” MICHIGAN Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said she would veto a bill (SB 1) approved in the Senate that would fundamentally change auto insurance in the Wolverine State. (See Hot Issues in this issue for more information on the bill.) In a statement, Whitmer said the bill “preserves a corrupt system where insurance companies are allowed to unfairly discriminate in setting rates, and the only cuts it guarantees are to drivers’ coverage.” She added: “I am only interested in signing a reform bill that is reasonable, fair and protects consumers and this is not it. If this bill comes to my desk, I will veto it.” (MLIVE.COM, DETROIT NEWS)
TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Lee (R) said he would sign a bill speeding toward his desk that would make Tennessee the first state to officially ask the federal government to replace billions in Medicaid money with a new funding mechanism called a “block grant.” Critics say accepting a block grant could lead to the state receiving less federal funding in the future, something Lee said he would not allow. (TENNESSEAN [NASHVILLE]
Citing what officials feel was a drastic undercounting of residents in 2010, NORTH DAKOTA Gov. Doug Burgum (R) issued Executive Order 2019-05, a directive that creates the Complete Count Task Force to ensure a more accurate tally next year. The group will examine ways to better identify workers in the state’s oil patch, residents of the state’s five American Indian reservations, and foreign-born residents, most of whom reside in the state’s biggest city of Fargo. (ASSOCIATED PRESS, NORTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE)
Housing legislation championed by MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) will receive its first hearing this week. The bill, HB 3507, would allow towns to bypass Bay State laws that require zoning changes to be approved by a two-thirds vote. Under Baker’s bill, that would change to a simple majority. Baker says the change is necessary not only to encourage more affordable housing for low-income people, but to also stem the loss of workers of all incomes who can’t afford to live near where they are employed. (CBS BOSTON, BANKER & TRADESMAN [PEABODY])
Responding to legislation she signed that allegedly targets Keystone XL pipeline protesters, the Oglala Sioux tribe published an open letter last week telling SOUTH DAKOTA Gov. Kristi Noem (R) that unless she rescinds her support of those measures she is no longer welcome on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Noem could face fines or even jail time if she is banished and then violates that prohibition. (CNN, LAKOTALAW.ORG)
Citing his belief that the death penalty is a deterrent to serious crime, NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Chris Sununu (R) vetoed a measure last week that would have abolished capital punishment in the Granite State. That measure, HB 455, passed both chambers with veto-proof margins. It returns to lawmakers for veto override consideration. (UNION LEADER [MANCHESTER])
WASHINGTON Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a package of gun control bills last week, including a prohibition on so-called “ghost guns” that lack serial numbers or are made from plastic and might be invisible to airport scanners. Other prohibitions were enacted on people under psychiatric holds and restraining orders. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
PENNSYLVANIA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) issues Executive Order 2019-01, which establishes a Keystone State goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050. The order also creates a state council tasked with helping state agencies reduce energy use and improve the energy efficiency of state buildings and vehicles (JURIST).
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
It’s never a good idea to feed wildlife, if for no other reason they lose their fear of humans even while humans don’t lose their fear of them. Such is the case these days in New Hampshire, where Mink the black bear has returned from exile to a fate as yet to be determined. As NPR reports, in recent years an elderly Hanover resident began feeding Mink doughnuts and birdseed. But after the man died, Mink took to looking at other homes for her treats. This sparked terror among some folks, who demanded she be euthanized. But Gov. Chris Sununu instead ordered her moved to a remote part of the state. She was outfitted with a radio collar and sent packing off to a spot near the Canadian border. Alas, as WBUR reports, Mink has made her way all the way back to Hanover, creating fear she might again be facing a hunter’s bullet. So far, state wildlife officials say there’s been no reason to go there. And all parties are crossing fingers and paws that none develops.
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) were among those who appeared at a hearing on Election Security held by the U.S. Committee on House Administration this month.
Over two years after Russian hackers targeted U.S. voting systems in the 2016 presidential race, Merrill, Benson and everyone else who testified before the committee agreed that more federal funding for election security was needed. There was also general agreement on a number of measures states should be - and some already are - taking, such as replacing paperless voting machines with those that provide a paper record and auditing election results.
“Local officials in 31 states told us that they must replace their equipment before the 2020 election, but two-thirds of these officials said that they do not have the adequate funds to do so,” Larry Norden, deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told the committee. “And officials in 45 states currently use at least some systems that are no longer manufactured, with many reporting that they have difficulty finding replacements when parts fail.”
But the secretaries of state diverged on a bill pending in Congress (HR 1) that would provide $1.2 billion in federal funding for election system improvements. Merrill opposed the funding being tied to automatic voter registration or same-day voting mandates.
“I would prefer to have less strings attached from the federal government, if they choose to make an allocation,” he said. “Every state’s needs are not the same.”
As an alternative, he proposed the publication of a federal evaluation of voting technology - a sort of Consumer Reports for election equipment - to help state and local officials make wise purchases.
Benson, however, said “local variation can lead to potential vulnerabilities” and that it was “low-hanging fruit” for the federal government to see to it that all election equipment meets minimum standards. (GOVERNING, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
Since 2013, 31 states have raised their gas taxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Four states - Alabama, Arkansas, Ohio and Virginia - have done so this year. And Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin could be next.
Gas tax hikes are the natural go-to for transportation funding, particularly in cash-strapped states with urgent infrastructure demands. But they’ll provide only diminishing revenues as gas-powered vehicles continue to become more fuel efficient and electric vehicles become more prevalent.
For the long term, states will likely have to consider other alternatives, like the congestion pricing scheme New York City is planning to launch in 2021 or the mileage-based user fee Oregon is testing. (FORBES, NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, OREGON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION)
Visitors to the Colorado statehouse in Denver will find a wall adorned with portraits of America’s presidents. Washington. Lincoln. Roosevelt. Kennedy. Bush. Putin. Wait, what? Putin you say? The former KGB agent and notorious Russian dictator? Him? Yep. As Governing reports, a clever prankster added a portrait of Vlad right where the portrait of President Trump would normally be. We won’t belabor Trump’s troubles over his bromance with the murderous Russian strongman, but we will note that the presidential portraits are paid for by a group called the Colorado Citizens for Culture. Each costs about $10,000 and is paid for with private donations. Prior to Putin popping up on the wall, the fund for a Trump portrait had garnered exactly zero dollars. At last report that had jumped to a whopping $45. No word if the money came from a Russian address.
For the first time since taking office three years ago, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) approved a full state budget. Joined at a signing ceremony by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, the governor said the $38.5 billion spending plan was the result of “a great team effort, a great bipartisan effort.”
But the budget agreement reportedly also happened because Rauner hadn’t insisted that his broader legislative goals be approved along with it, as he had in previous years, and because lawmakers had $5 billion more in revenue to spend this year, as a result of the income tax increase they enacted last summer over the governor’s budget veto. (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)