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State Legislative Tracker: California lawmakers pass controversial vaccine bill

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June 29, 2015

Edited by Jackie Beran

This week’s tracker includes a look at a mandatory vaccination bill in California, a charter school funding controversy involving the governor and house speaker in Maine, and a state senator on trial in New York.

Weekly highlight

California State Legislature

CALIFORNIA: On June 29, 2015, the California State Legislature passed a controversial vaccine bill. The state Assembly passed Senate Bill 277 on June 25 by a vote of 46 to 30, while the state Senate passed the bill in mid-May by a vote of 25 to 11.[1][2] The state Senate concurred with the amendments on June 29 and passed the bill by a vote of 23 to 14.[3] The bill has now been sent to Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for his signature.[4] The governor has taken no official stance on the issue, but Evan Westrup, a spokesman for the governor, said in a statement, "The governor believes that vaccinations are profoundly important and a major public health benefit, and any bill that reaches his desk will be closely considered.".[5] Senate Bill 277, which developed out of the measles outbreak at Disneyland, would require that parents show proof of their children's vaccinations before they are enrolled in California schools.[1] Under the new rules, parents who have children with compromised immune systems can opt out of mandatory vaccinations, but the children would then need to be homeschooled.[5][6] The bill would also eliminate an exemption to vaccinations for personal beliefs, which allows parents to opt their children out of vaccinations for religious reasons.[5][6] Californians for Vaccine Choice, an opponent of the legislation, said on their website that SB 277 would "eliminate a parent's right to exempt their children from one, some, or all vaccines, a risk-laden medical procedure."[7] Sen. Richard Pan (D), the co-author of SB 277, and Sen. Bill Monning (D) have been targeted for recall by SB 277 Recalls over their support of the legislation.[8] The group has vowed to recall all politicians who have voted in favor of SB 277.[8] If the bill is signed into law by Gov. Brown, California would join West Virginia and Mississippi as the only states with requirements for childhood vaccinations.[5]

Speaker Mark Eves (D)

MAINE: Maine charter school Good Will-Hinckley rescinded a job offer to Maine House of Representatives Speaker Mark Eves (D) just days before he was slated to become the school's president, following an alleged threat by Gov. Paul LePage (R) to reduce funds for the school. Eves has charged that the school's decision was based on a threat by LePage to withhold $500,000 in state funding from the school for at-risk youths. The loss of state funding would have resulted in an additional loss of $2 million in private funds, according to the legislator.[9][10]

In an official statement, LePage did not deny Eves' charges of what the Maine Speaker referred to as "blackmail." In the statement, LePage criticized the school for hiring Eves, whom LePage considers a politician with an anti-charter school stance. According to Eves—and confirmed by Cynthia Montgomery, the governor’s chief legal counsel—a second, handwritten letter was sent to Jack Moore, chairman of the school's board of directors, threatening to withhold funding unless the school changed its mind about hiring Eves.[11][10] The chairman of the school's board of directors confirmed on June 26, 2015, that the sole reason for withdrawing Eves' offer was LePage's threat to withhold the $500,000.[12]

Following Eves' allegations, a second allegation of wrongdoing by LePage emerged. An unnamed source from the Maine Department of Education told reporters that Suzan Beaudoin, the state's director of school finance and operations, was told by LePage to stop payment on approximately $100,000 that was due to the school as soon as the state's budget was approved. According to the source, LePage gave Beaudoin the direction to stop payment on the already-approved money on the same day that Good Will-Hinckley announced Eves' appointment as school president.[13]

Sen. John Sampson (D)

NEW YORK: The trial of state Sen. John Sampson (D) got underway last week. Sampson is charged with obstructing a federal investigation, tampering with evidence and lying to FBI agents; charges of embezzlement were dropped.[14] Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Seifan called Sampson "a lawyer and a lawmaker who believed he was above the law" and "committed new crimes to cover up the old ones."[15] Last Wednesday, the court heard testimony from real estate broker Edul Ahmad, who was arrested for mortgage fraud in 2011 and agreed to secretly tape Sampson for the FBI. Ahmad testified that he loaned $188,500 to Sampson, who had yet to repay escrow funds he allegedly embezzled while serving as a referee over the sale of foreclosed properties in Brooklyn in 1998 and 2002; Ahmad is said to have solicited political favors when Sampson did not pay the money back.[16][17] Ahmad testified that in 2011, following his agreement to cooperate with the federal government, he told Sampson that a check register that could possibly expose the loan and the escrow embezzlement was subpoenaed. The two then met in person, with Sampson allegedly telling Ahmad to lie about the document then taking it with him.[18] A month prior to becoming an informant, Ahmad allegedly received a visit from Sampson, who said that "if he ever found out who the cooperators [in the federal probe] were, he would take them out." Sampson shook his head in court when Ahmad expressed fear for his life at that point. Ahmad claimed that during the same visit, Sampson, who had a mole in the office of then-U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, went on a tangent regarding the federal prosecutors who "[were] on a witch hunt to prosecute black politicians." Nathaniel Akerman, Sampson's attorney, contends that his client was a victim of entrapment.[19] The week before the trial, Sampson was admonished by Judge Dora Irizarry for contacting Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer (D), a potential witness.[20] If convicted, Sampson faces up to 20 years in prison.[14]

Sessions

Current sessions capture for the week of June 29, 2015
See also: Dates of 2015 state legislative sessions
Click here to see a chart of each state's 2015 session information.

Regular sessions

Currently nine out of 50 state legislatures are meeting in regular session. Five states are in recess, 33 states have adjourned their 2015 legislative sessions and three states are in special session.

The following states are in regular session:[21]

In recess

As of today, June 29, there are five state legislatures currently in recess.[22]

Adjourned

The following states have adjourned their 2015 regular sessions:[23]

Special sessions

As of today, June 29, there are three state legislatures currently in special session.

2015 Legislative Elections

See also: State legislative elections, 2015

A total of seven of the 99 chambers will hold state legislative elections on November 3, 2015.

There are seven chambers in four states with elections in 2015:

The New Jersey Senate also typically holds elections in odd years, but all members were elected to four-year terms in 2013 and are not up for election again until 2017.

Of the 1,972 state senate seats in the country, 131 are up for up for election in November 2015, and 407 of the country's 5,411 state house seats are up for election. Altogether, 538 of the country's 7,383 state legislative seats are up for election on November 3, 2015.

Primary Information

The state legislative filing deadlines and primary dates are as follows:

Filing Deadlines

Primary Dates

Special Elections

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See also: State legislative special elections, 2015

There are no special elections scheduled this week.

Recent election results

June 23, 2015

RunoffArrow.jpg Wisconsin State Senate District 33

See also: Wisconsin state legislative special elections, 2015

Sherryll Shaddock was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Chris Kapenga defeated Brian Dorow and Mikael Langner in the Republican primary on June 23.[31][32] Kapenga defeated Shaddock in the special election on July 21.[33]

The seat was vacant following Paul Farrow's (R) resignation on July 17.[34]

A special election for the position of Wisconsin State Senate District 33 was called for July 21. A primary election took place on June 23. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was May 26.[35]

Wisconsin State Senate, District 33, Special Election, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngChris Kapenga 71.9% 7,191
     Democratic Sherryll Shaddock 28% 2,798
     Other Scattering 0.2% 18
Total Votes 10,007
Democratic Party June 23 Democratic primary candidates:
Republican Party June 23 Republican primary candidates:
July 21 special election candidates:
Democratic Party Sherryll Shaddock
Republican Party Chris Kapenga

Looking ahead

Upcoming special elections include:

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 huffingtonpost.com, "California Vaccine Bill Passes State Assembly," accessed June 26, 2015
  2. ↑ legiscan.com, "California Senate Bill 277," accessed June 15, 2015
  3. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "California Vaccination Bill Passes, Heads to Governor," accessed June 29, 2015
  4. ↑ latimes.com, "California Legislature passes mandatory vaccination bill," accessed June 29, 2015
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 washingtonpost.com, "The California Assembly just approved one of nation’s strictest mandatory vaccine laws," accessed June 26, 2015
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cnn.com, "California vaccine bill that bans personal, religious exemptions advances," accessed June 26, 2015
  7. ↑ sb277.org, "SB 277 Forced Vaccinations for All Children," accessed June 26, 2015
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 sb277recalls.com, "SB277 Senate Recalls," accessed June 15, 2015
  9. ↑ Kevin Miller, CentralMaine.com, "House Speaker Mark Eves loses new job, accuses LePage of ‘blackmail’," June 24, 2015
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 David Nir, Daily Kos, "LePage doesn't deny threatening school's funding to punish rival, and lawmakers consider impeachment," June 25, 2015
  11. ↑ Steve Mistler, Portland Press Herald, "Eves: Charter school told him LePage threatened to cut funding unless he was fired," June 25, 2015
  12. ↑ Kevin Miller, Portland Press Herald, "Good Will-Hinckley chair: ‘political biases’ had no bearing on Eves’ decision," June 26, 2015
  13. ↑ Pine Tree Watchdog, "LePage ordered an approved $100K payment to charter school stopped when Eves named head of school," June 25, 2015
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 New York Daily News, "State Sen. John Sampson goes on trial, faces evidence tampering charges," June 22, 2015
  15. ↑ Capital New York, "Sampson disputes ‘corruption,’ cooperation as trial begins," June 24, 2015
  16. ↑ Newsday, "Judge dismisses two embezzlement counts against John Sampson," October 31, 2014
  17. ↑ New York Daily News, "State Sen. John Sampson goes on trial, faces evidence tampering charges," June 22, 2015
  18. ↑ Newsday, "Former friend testifies Sampson tried to hide loan," June 24, 2015
  19. ↑ The New York Times, "Ex-Friend of State Senator Tells of a Cover-Up," June 25, 2015
  20. ↑ Capital New York, "Sampson draws rebuke for contacting Assemblywoman," June 18, 2015
  21. ↑ Stateside Associates, "Session Calendar 2015," accessed June 29, 2015
  22. ↑ StateNet, "Daily Session Summary," accessed June 29, 2015
  23. ↑ StateNet, "Daily Session Summary," accessed June 29, 2015
  24. ↑ Regular session adjourned on April 24
  25. ↑ Regular session began on December 1, 2014
  26. ↑ Regular session began on June 3
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 New Jersey Department of Elections, "2015 Primary Election Timeline," accessed February 2, 2015
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
  31. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates Registered by Office," accessed May 27, 2015
  32. ↑ jsonline.com, "Chris Kapenga wins special Senate primary in Waukesha County," accessed June 24, 2015
  33. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Canvass Results for 2015 Special Election State Senate 33 - 7/21/2015," accessed August 6, 2015
  34. ↑ madison.com, "State Sen. Farrow announces July 17 resignation," accessed May 6, 2015
  35. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "2015 Senate District 33 Special Election," accessed May 6, 2015
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