Daily Brew: August 24, 2018

August 24, 2018

Also in this edition: A West Virginia Supreme Court update and the Virginia governor calls special session on redistricting   Welcome to the Friday, August 24 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: “Fix Our Damn Roads” qualifies for ballot West Virginia Supreme Court update Virginia governor calls special session on redistricting Colorado "Fix Our Damn Roads" Initiative certified for the ballot Yup, you read that right. The colloquial name for this initiative is “Fix Our Damn Roads.” Sorry, mom. Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams announced Wednesday that the measure had qualified for the November ballot. The measure would authorize $3.5 billion in bonds with proceeds to be used exclusively for road and bridge expansion, construction, maintenance, and repair of specific statewide projects, and not to be used for transit, administration, or indirect costs and expenses. Under the initiative, the principal and interest on the borrowed money would be paid out of the state budget without raising taxes, and the borrowed money and interest would be excluded from the state's spending limit. In May 2018, the Colorado State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1, which dictated that, if a citizen initiative to approve a bond issue for transportation is not passed in November 2018, a bond issue would be referred to the November 2019 ballot. Another competing measure (which is still under signature review) would authorize bonds for transportation projects and a tax increase to repay the debt. SB 1 also dictated different funding allocation provisions depending on whether a citizen initiative bond issue is passed in 2018 and whether or not the initiative includes a tax increase. Jon Caldara and Mike Krause of the Independence Institute filed this initiative. The Independence Institute provided all but $100 of the contributions to the Fix Our Damn Roads committee, which reported contribution totals of $411k. Learn more         Twenty candidates file for two open seats on the WV Supreme Court We told you last week about the ongoing West Virginia judicial impeachments, where two special elections have been called for November 6. The filing deadline closed earlier this week. Twenty candidates filed for the two open seats on the West Virginia Supreme Court; 10 candidates filed for each seat. To be elected a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court, one must have practiced law for at least 10 years. The special elections for these seats will take place on November 6, 2018. Each of the five justices on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia serves terms of 12 years. For more on who filed, see here → Virginia governor calls for special session on redistricting Gov. Ralph Northam (D) issued a proclamation calling for a special session to begin next Thursday to redraw state legislative districts that a federal court ruled were unconstitutional. The court gave the legislature until October 30, 2018, to draw new district lines. Virginia is one of 16 states under divided government. Both the governor’s mansion and the state Senate are controlled by Democrats while the state House is under Republican control.  Virginia is one of 37 states in which legislatures are themselves responsible for drawing state legislative district plans. Under Virginia law, redistricting plans are considered regular statutes and are subject to gubernatorial veto. Earlier this summer, on June 28, a federal district court ruled 2-1 in Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections that 11 state legislative districts had been subject to racial gerrymandering and needed to be redrawn. Learn more→