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The State and Local Tap: February 12, 2022

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Our weekly summary of state & local news highlights seven states announcing ends to school mask mandates and an abortion-related constitutional amendment is set for the VT November 2022 ballot. Read all about it in this week’s edition of the State & Local Tap.

As we announced last week, the final version of the State and Local Tap will be published on Feb. 19. Please check out our Weekly Brew to stay connected with some of Ballotpedia’s most popular stories from each week. Looking for in-depth information about school board elections and recall efforts, including candidate filing deadlines and election results? Our weekly Hall Pass newsletter might be perfect for you. Click here to learn more.

Ballot Measures Update

Sixty-six (66) statewide measures have been certified for the 2022 ballot in 31 states so far. Two new measures were certified for the ballot last week:

Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification for one additional initiative in Alaska:

Enough signatures were verified for four initiatives in Massachusetts and Ohio to certify them to the legislature. If the legislature doesn’t enact them, proponents will need to gather a second round of signatures.

States in session

Thirty-nine state legislatures– Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusettes, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin– are in regular session.

Local Ballot Measures: The Week in Review

In 2022, Ballotpedia is providing comprehensive coverage of elections in America's 100 largest cities by population and all state capitals. This encompasses every office on the ballot in these cities, including their municipal elections, trial court elections, school board elections, and local ballot measures. Ballotpedia also covers all local recall elections, as well as all local ballot measures in California and a selection of notable local ballot measures about elections and police-related policies. Recent and upcoming local ballot measure elections are listed below:

  • Feb. 8: Voters in the Seattle Public School district approved two property tax levy measures.

Special Elections

Thirty-six (36) state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 17 states this year. Nine specials have taken place already. Heading into those races, Democrats had controlled seven of the seats, and Republicans controlled two.

  • In special elections between 2011 and 2021, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of four seats nationally each year.
  • An average of 57 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past six even years (2010: 30, 2012: 46, 2014: 40, 2016: 65, 2018: 99, 2020: 59).
  • An average of 85 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past six odd years (2011: 95, 2013: 84, 2015: 89, 2017:98, 2019: 77, 2021: 66).

Upcoming special elections include:

Feb. 15

Feb. 22

Mar. 1

Mar. 8

Seven states announce ends to school mask mandates

On Feb. 10, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced the state would be lifting the statewide school mask requirement effective immediately, transferring authority for mask decisions to local jurisdictions. He also announced the state would be lifting its statewide mask requirement. Sisolak first instituted a statewide school mask requirement in July 2020.

This week, governors or agencies in six states announced they would end their school mask mandates. 

  • New Jersey: On Feb. 7, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) became the first governor to lift a statewide school mask requirement during the 2021-2022 school year. The requirement is set to end on March 7. New Jersey first required masks in school in August 2020 when the state Department of Education issued its school reopening guidelines.
  • Delaware: On Feb. 7, Gov. John Carney (D) announced the state would extend its school mask requirement, then lift the requirement on March 31. He also announced the statewide mask requirement would end on Feb. 11. Carney first signed an executive order establishing the school mask requirement in August 2020, prior to the reopening of schools in Delaware.
  • Connecticut: On Feb. 7, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced the state would lift its school mask requirement on Feb. 28. Masks were required in Connecticut schools in June 2020, when Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona announced school reopening guidelines.
  • Oregon: On Feb. 7, the Oregon Health Authority announced the state would lift its school mask requirement on March 31. The organization also said it would lift the statewide indoor mask mandate on March 31. Oregon first required masks in school in June 2020, when the Oregon Department of Education released its reopening guidance.
  • Rhode Island: On Feb. 9, Gov. Dan McKee announced that if the legislature votes to extend his emergency powers, he would end the school mask requirement on March 4. He also announced the state would end its statewide mask requirement on Feb. 11. McKee first issued an executive order requiring masks in schools in August 2020.
  • Massachusetts: On Feb. 9, state Department of Elementary and Second Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley announced the state would end its school mask requirement on Feb. 28. Massachusetts first implemented a school mask requirement in June 2020, when it released school reopening guidance.

Ten statewide school mask requirements have ended or are set to end during the current academic year. Seven requirements have ended or will end by executive action. Mask requirements in Pennsylvania and Illinois were ended by court action, and Kentucky’s was ended by legislative action. 

Besides the seven states that ended or have announced end dates for their school mask requirements, six other states have statewide school mask requirements. Five of the states have Democratic governors, and one (Maryland) has a Republican governor. As of Feb. 10, before the announced end dates took effect, 30 states left mask requirements in schools up to local authorities and seven states banned school mask requirements.

Seven Oklahoma school districts hold primaries on Feb. 8

Eight school board seats in seven Oklahoma school districts covered by Ballotpedia were up for nonpartisan primary elections on Feb. 8. Candidates competed to advance to the general election scheduled for April 5.

The districts holding primaries included Broken Arrow, Catoosa, Edmond, Mustang, Piedmont, Tulsa, and Union Public Schools. Three candidates won the election outright on Feb. 8 by earning more than 50% of the vote in the primary. Katie Cornman, Stefan Swaggerty, and Debbie Taylor won a seat on the board for Piedmont, Catoosa, and Broken Arrow Public Schools, respectively.

Primaries in 19 other school districts covered by Ballotpedia were canceled after fewer than three candidates filed to run for each seat up for election. Twenty out of the 28 Oklahoma school board races covered by Ballotpedia this year, which represent 71% of these races, were not competitive enough to include a primary. In 2021, primaries were canceled in 30 out of 35 races (86%). In 2020, 24 out of 30 races (80%) had canceled primaries.

The 26 Oklahoma school boards covered by Ballotpedia served a total of 267,432 students during the 2017-2018 school year.

Ohio Supreme Court strikes down revised legislative maps; Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington enact new legislative district boundaries

Ohio

On Feb. 7, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down revised legislative maps that the Ohio Redistricting Commission had approved and ordered the commission to submit a new set of maps by Feb. 17. In a 4-3 ruling, the court wrote, “We hold that petitioners have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the plan adopted by the commission on January 22 violates Article XI, Sections 6(A) and 6(B) of the Ohio Constitution...As explained in more detail below, we again order the commission to be reconstituted and to adopt a new plan in conformity with the Ohio Constitution.”

The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved new state legislative district maps by a 5-2 vote on Sept. 16, 2021, with all five Republican members of the Commission in favor and the two Democratic members opposed. Three sets of plaintiffs filed lawsuits with the Ohio Supreme Court in September 2021 challenging the legislative redistricting plan as violating the provisions of the state’s 2015 Bipartisan Redistricting Commission Amendment. That amendment requires legislative districts to be compact, contiguous, and "forbids district plans from favoring or disfavoring either political party."

On Jan. 12, the Court ruled against the original enacted legislative maps, and ordered the redistricting commission to redraw them within 10 days. The commission approved a new set of maps in a 5-2 vote on Jan. 22. Dan Trevas wrote in Court News Ohio that the first set of maps "favored Republicans in at least 62 of the 99 House districts and 23 of the 33 Senate districts. The new maps favor Republicans in the House 57-42 and in the Senate 20-13, according to the commission."

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania enacted new state legislative districts on Feb. 4, 2022, when the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted to approve new maps. The commission approved the maps in a single 4-1 vote. House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R) voted no, while Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R), state Rep. Joanna McClinton (D), state Sen. Jay Costa (D), and chairman Mark Nordenberg voted yes. The maps will take effect for Pennsylvania’s 2022 state legislative elections.

The Pennsylvania Reapportionment Commission has existed since 1968. It comprises five members. The majority and minority leaders of the state House and Senate appoint four members. The other four members, or the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, appoint the fifth. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed Nordenberg after the four other members did not vote on a fifth member.

Tennessee

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed new legislative districts into law on Feb. 6. Both chambers of the legislature had approved the state’s new district boundaries along party line votes in January. Both chambers of the legislature had approved the state’s new district boundaries largely along party line votes in January. 

Tennessee Rep. John Ragan (R) said the legislative maps accurately reflect the growing population of the state: "We have worked well together in a bipartisan manner to draw the lines of redistricting in a way that is fair and equitable and have invested much time and effort into ensuring that every district is properly represented." Rep. Gloria Johnson (D), who would not reside in her current district under the new maps, said, “The supermajority in Nashville drew a ridiculous, partisan gerrymander to take my house out of the district I represent.”

Washington

Washington enacted new legislative districts on Feb. 8 when the Washington state Senate approved an amended version of a map proposal drafted by the Washington State Redistricting Commission.

The commission had announced on Nov. 16 that it had not been able to produce new maps by its Nov. 15 deadline and had submitted plans to the Washington Supreme Court for consideration. Under state law, the authority for redistricting passed to the court when the commission failed to agree on maps before the deadline. The court accepted the final map drafts the commission submitted, ruling that it had "substantially complied" with the deadline. The legislature reviewed the maps with the state House of Representatives approving the final proposal on Feb. 2 in an 88-7 vote, and the state Senate approved the plan on 35-14 on Feb. 8.

Nationwide, legislative redistricting has been completed for 1,387 of 1,972 state Senate seats (70.3%) and 3,256 of 5,411 state House seats (60.2%).

Vermont voters to decide whether to add a right to personal reproductive autonomy to the state constitution in November

On Feb. 8, the Vermont House of Representatives took the final vote to send Proposal 5 to the November ballot. Proposal 5 would add language to the Vermont Constitution stating that "an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course." The amendment would prohibit the constitutional right from being denied or infringed unless there is a compelling state interest, which would need to be achieved using the least restrictive means.

The amendment is one of three amendments related to abortion that have been added to 2022 statewide ballots in three states. In August, Kansas voters will decide a constitutional amendment that would say that nothing in the state constitution creates a right to abortion or requires government funding for abortion. In November, Kentucky voters will also decide a constitutional amendment to adopt similar language.

Additionally, in Michigan a citizen initiative targeting the 2022 ballot proposes creating a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom. 

Ballotpedia has identified six previous ballot measures to amend state constitutions to declare that nothing in the state constitution provides a right to abortion. In Tennessee (2014), Alabama (2018), West Virginia (2018), and Louisiana (2020), these constitutional amendments were passed. In Massachusetts (1986) and Florida (2012), these constitutional amendments were defeated.

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