The Tap: A New Administration Begins

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January 21, 2017Issue No. 49

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The week in review: January 14 - January 20
What's on Tap next week: January 21 - January 27

Navigate The Tap by clicking the tabs below:

Federal

What's on tap?

A week of confirmation hearings, capped off with an inauguration.

This week, confirmation hearings were held for eight of President Trump’s nominees: Betsy DeVos, Ryan Zinke, Tom Price, Wilbur Ross, Scott Pruitt, Nikki Haley, Steven Mnuchin, and Rick Perry. Learn more about these hearings, Friday’s inauguration, and President Trump’s first day in office in this week’s Tap.

 

Federal

The Week in Review

Monday, January 16

Sanctions Against Russia

  • In an interview with The Times of London, Donald Trump discussed European sanctions against Russia and U.S.-Russia relations. He said, "Well, I think you know — people have to get together and people have to do what they have to do in terms of being fair. OK? They have sanctions on Russia — let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia. For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it. But you do have sanctions and Russia’s hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are gonna benefit."
    • Trump also described Syria following Russia’s military intervention as, in his words, "a very rough thing." He continued, "Now everything is over — at some point it will come to an end — but Aleppo was nasty. I mean when you see them shooting old ladies walking out of town — they can’t even walk and they’re shooting ’em — it almost looks like they’re shooting ’em for sport — ah no, that’s a terrible — that’s been a terrible situation. Aleppo has been such a terrible humanitarian situation."
    • He described NATO as being "obsolete because it wasn’t taking care of terror.” He added, “With that being said, Nato is very important to me.”
    • The Times of London also reported that Trump ”confirmed that he would appoint Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, to broker a Middle East peace deal.”

Tuesday, January 17

Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing

  • Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for about three-and-a-half hours. She is an advocate of charter schools in Michigan and is the chair of the American Federation for Children, a nonprofit that oversees a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Alliance for School Choice. She also chairs a political action committee, the American Federation for Children Action Fund. Key points of discussion at the hearing included college debt and school vouchers.
  • When questioned by Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) on making public colleges and universities tuition-free, DeVos said, “I think that’s a really interesting idea. It’s really great to consider and think about. But I think we also have to consider the fact that there’s nothing in life that is truly free. Somebody’s going to pay for it. … I think we can work together and we can work hard on making sure that college or higher education in some form is affordable for all young people that want to pursue it.” Read more about DeVos’ hearing here.

Ryan Zinke Confirmation Hearing

  • Ryan Zinke, Trump’s nominee for secretary of the interior, appeared before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for his confirmation hearing. The Department of the Interior is responsible for managing federal lands, the development of energy resources on those lands, the country’s national parks, and federally run dams and reservoirs. In an exchange with Sen. Bernie Sanders, Zinke addressed the topic of climate change, saying, “Climate is changing. Man is an influence. I think where there’s debate on it is what that influence is and what can we do about. As the [head of] the Department of the Interior, I will inherit, if confirmed, the USGS (United States Geological Survey). We have great scientists there. I’m not a climate scientist [sic] expert, but I can tell you I’m going to become a lot more familiar with it. And it will be based on objective science.”

SCOTUS Watch

  • The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases on Tuesday.
    • In Lynch v. Dimaya, the court heard arguments over whether the definition of categorical crimes of violence was unconstitutionally vague. The court held that a similar definition for violent felonies in the Armed Criminal Career Act was unconstitutionally vague in a 2015 decision, Johnson v. United States.
    • In Midland Funding v. Johnson, the court explored whether there was a conflict between the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The conflict stemmed from whether the Bankruptcy Code allows debt collectors to exercise their rights to collect payment during bankruptcy proceedings even if those rights would otherwise be exhausted under state law. Attempting to collect debt payments time-barred by state law is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Wednesday, January 18

Tom Price Confirmation Hearing

  • Rep. Tom Price (R), Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is an orthopedic surgeon and a six-term House member from Georgia. He has been a critic of Obamacare and began offering alternatives to the law as early as 2009, when it was first being debated in Congress. Last June, at an American Enterprise Institute event, Price said, “They believe the government ought to be in control of healthcare. We believe that patients and doctors should be in control of healthcare.” Read more about Price’s policy stances here.

Scott Pruitt Confirmation Hearing

  • Scott Pruitt is Trump’s nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has been the attorney general of Oklahoma since 2011 and has been a critic of environmental policy under the Obama administration, once calling himself a “leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.” Read more about his policy stances here.
  • Pruitt appeared before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is the chair of the committee, and Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.) is the highest-ranking Democrat. Eleven Republicans and 10 Democrats serve on the committee. Pruitt discussed his views on issues such as climate change, the role of the states in environmental policy, and his past involvement with litigation against the EPA. Read more here.

Wilbur Ross Confirmation Hearing

  • Commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross is a billionaire investor and chairman of the private investment firm WL Ross & Co. Throughout the 2016 campaign, he was a supporter of both Trump and his views on the U.S. economy and international trade. In August 2016, for example, he echoed Trump’s criticisms of trade agreements like NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying, “Free trade is like free lunch, there is no free lunch. Somebody wins and somebody loses and unfortunately we’ve been losing with these stupid agreements that we’ve made.” Read more about Ross’ policy stances here.
  • Ross appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is the committee’s chair, and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is the highest-ranking Democrat. Fourteen Republicans and 13 Democrats sit on the committee. He discussed his views on trade, specific trade deals like NAFTA, tariffs, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Commerce’s data gathering programs. Read more here.

Nikki Haley Confirmation Hearing

  • Trump announced his intent to nominate South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on November 23, 2016. Haley’s experience with international relations comes largely from her economic and environmental initiatives as governor. Read more about her policy stances here.
  • Her confirmation hearing took place before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats and is chaired by Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). Ben Cardin (Md.) is the committee’s highest-ranking Democrat. She discussed issues such as the conflict between Israel and Palestine, UN Resolution 2334, Russia, and U.S. funding for the United Nations. Read more here.

Super PAC Expansion

  • Priorities USA Action announced it had hired two high-profile operatives from Bernie Sanders’ and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns. Priorities, the largest Democratic-leaning super PAC, supported Clinton throughout the 2016 election. Fallon, who served as Clinton’s national press secretary, will officially join the organization as a senior advisor. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders’ press secretary, Symone Sanders (no relation), will be a strategist for communications and political outreach.

Secretary of Agriculture Pick

  • Trump chose former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as his pick for secretary of agriculture. Perdue served on Trump's advisory committee on agriculture during the 2016 presidential election. Perdue won a Georgia State Senate election in 1992 as a Democrat. He switched to the Republican Party in April 1998. Upon his inauguration as governor in January 2003, Perdue became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Benjamin Conley at the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s. Perdue is the first cousin of Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.). Perdue's confirmation hearing will be held before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

SCOTUS Watch

  • The Supreme Court concluded its January sitting with arguments in four cases.
    • In Lee v. Tam, the court reviewed a case of patent and trademark law. Simon Shiao Tam attempted to register his band's name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for trademark protection. The PTO refused, citing a provision of the Lanham Act, a federal trademark law that prohibits extending trademark protection to anyone registering what it considers scandalous, immoral, or disparaging marks. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the PTO's claim, holding that the provision of the Lanham Act used to deny Tam's request violated his rights of free expression under the First Amendment.
    • The court also heard arguments in three consolidated appeals from a decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that the respondents in these cases—a class of litigants illegally detained pursuant to investigations of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001—proved there were sufficient grounds to bring their claims to trial. The consolidated cases were Ashcroft v. Abbasi, Hasty v. Abbasi, and Ziglar v. Abbasi. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan recused themselves due to their previous involvement in the cases as an appellate judge (Sotomayor) and as U.S. solicitor general (Kagan).
  • The court issued one opinion on Wednesday, unanimously reversing the judgment of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lightfoot v. Cendant Mortgage Group. The Ninth Circuit had held that a provision of Fannie Mae's charter granted federal courts exclusive jurisdiction over any lawsuit in which either Fannie Mae or its subsidiaries was a party. In a unanimous decision by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, holding that Fannie Mae's charter gives jurisdiction to both state and federal courts with authority to hear cases on issues involving Fannie Mae. The opinion in Lightfoot was Justice Sotomayor's second opinion for the court this term, and it was the third opinion this term in which the court ruled on an appeal from the Ninth Circuit.

Straightening Out the PACs

  • Donald Trump appeared at a fundraising dinner honoring Mike Pence in Washington, D.C., where he briefly discussed immigration reform and the topic of campaign finance. He said that the immigration system should be partially merit-based, and he criticized super PACs. "People get very rich running PACs," Trump added, “I think we ought to straighten out the PACs – right, folks?” He also compared his political rise to the nationalist movement ushered in by Andrew Jackson in the 19th century.

Thursday, January 19

A New Federal Judicial Vacancy

Inauguration Eve

  • Official inauguration festivities kicked off at the Lincoln Memorial with the “Make America Great Again!” concert. Donald Trump delivered remarks, and the celebrity lineup included Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, 3 Doors Down, the Piano Guys, D.J. RaviDrums, and the Frontmen of Country.


Steven Mnuchin Confirmation Hearing

  • Steven Mnuchin was chosen as Trump’s nominee for secretary of the treasury on November 29, 2016. Mnuchin manages his own capital investment firm, Dune Capital Partners, which he started after spending 17 years with Goldman Sachs. He has typically invested in real estate and in Hollywood film production. Mnuchin served as the Trump campaign’s finance director during the 2016 election.

Rick Perry Confirmation Hearing

  • Rick Perry was chosen as Trump’s nominee for secretary of energy on December 13, 2016. Perry has a long history in Texas politics, and energy production has been an important part of his political identity. He served as governor from 2000 to 2015. Before that, he was the lieutenant governor from 1998 to 2000 under Gov. George W. Bush (R). He was the Texas agriculture commissioner from 1990 to 1998 and held a seat in the Texas House of Representatives from 1984 to 1990. As the governor of Texas, Perry was in charge of the top energy-producing state in the country, and during his tenure—the longest in the state’s history— oil and gas production in Texas increased 260 percent and 50 percent, respectively.

Friday, January 20

Inauguration Day

  • President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were sworn in.
    • As the nation turns its eyes toward the new administration, Ballotpedia will be providing readers with an overview of the individuals forming the new administration, the policies they support, and the political environment that will dictate the outcomes of their efforts. The project will report on individuals, ideas, and events from a perspective that is deliberately disconnected from day-to-day media narratives. Beyond the first 100 days of the Trump administration, the project's pages will provide readers with a historical understanding of individuals, ideas, and actions that have shaped a presidency. Additionally, we will continue our You’re Hired briefing that tracks confirmation hearings and major policy initiatives.
    • A total of 70 House Democrats boycotted Trump’s inauguration. Following the lead of Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), some decided not to attend the swearing-in ceremony because they believe that Trump’s failure to win the popular vote makes him an illegitimate president.

Day One of the Trump Administration

  • In our Tuesday edition of You’re Hired, our daily briefing on the Trump White House transition, we looked at some of the biggest issues that Trump has said he intends to address on the first day of his presidency. Throughout the 2016 election and as president-elect, Trump proposed dealing with a range of issues, including trade, ethics reform, immigration, energy, healthcare, and national security. Read more here.

Confirmation Votes: Mattis and Kelly

  • The U.S. Senate voted 98-1 to confirm James Mattis as secretary of defense. Federal law requires defense secretaries to have been retired from active duty military service for seven years. Because Mattis retired in 2013, Congress passed legislation to pave the way for his confirmation. The last time Congress made such an accommodation was in 1950, when President Harry Truman nominated General George Marshall to serve as defense secretary. Mattis is also the first senior military officer to serve as defense secretary since Marshall. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) was the only senator to vote against the nomination. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who is President Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney general, abstained during the vote.
  • The U.S. Senate voted 88-11 to confirm John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, as secretary of homeland security. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who is President Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney general, abstained during the vote.

 

Congress is IN session SCOTUS is NOT in session
The U.S. Senate will be in session Monday-Friday next week. The U.S. House will be in session Monday-Wednesday. The Supreme Court is between argument sessions. The court has a non-argument session scheduled for Monday, January 23. The court will continue to issue orders throughout the session break and will next hear arguments on Monday, February 21, 2017.

What’s On Tap Next Week

As the Trump administration begins, court watchers await Trump’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on February 13, 2016. During a press conference on January 11, 2017, Trump stated that he would announce his nominee for the Supreme Court within the first two weeks of his administration. CNN reported that, during a leadership luncheon on January 19, 2017, Trump modified the timetable for announcing his Supreme Court nomination to within the first two to three weeks of his administration. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump released a list of potential candidates for both the current vacancy and any future Supreme Court vacancies that occur during his tenure as president.

For more: see the complete list of Donald Trump’s potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court

Monday, January 23

Confirmation Votes

  • The Senate is expected to vote on Trump’s nomination of Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) for CIA director. According to Politico, director John Brennan has already stepped down from the post. Pompeo appeared before the Senate Committee on Intelligence for a confirmation hearing on January 12, 2017. Read more about that here. The committee has not yet approved Pompeo. The Senate can bypass committee approval, however, if every member of the Senate agrees to it.

Tuesday, January 24

Confirmation Votes

  • The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting to consider the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be the next U.S. attorney general. Sessions, currently a U.S. senator representing Alabama, was selected by Donald Trump to be attorney general on November 18, 2016. Hearings on Sessions’ nomination were held before the committee on January 10-11, 2017. A committee vote on whether to report the nomination to the full Senate for confirmation is expected during the meeting. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. and will be broadcast here.

Confirmation Hearings

 

Where was the president last week? Federal judiciary
President Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States at the Capitol on Friday.  
  • 121 total federal judicial vacancies
  • 0 pending nominations
  • 14 future vacancies

Back to top for State, Local, and fact checks updates

State and Local

Highlights

State

  • On Wednesday, January 18, the Associated Press reported that the California Department of Finance miscalculated the cost of the state’s Medi-Cal program by $1.9 billion in 2016. According to state officials, this miscalculation, in combination with decreased tax revenues, contributed to the state’s projected $1.6 billion deficit for the 2016-2017 budget year. As a result, Governor Jerry Brown (D) called for $3.2 billion in budget adjustments "to close the budget deficit and rebuild the state's operating reserve." According to the Associated Press, state officials discovered the mistake in fall 2016 but did not notify lawmakers of the error until the governor's budget proposal for 2017-2018 was released on January 10; the Department of Finance said that this is normal procedure for budget mistakes. According to the California Department of Finance, the error resulted from double-counting some expected savings, as well as failure to account for rebates from drugmakers. A spokesperson for the department said, “There’s no way to state it other than straight up, it was an accounting error, and the Administration definitely regrets it.” Some lawmakers were critical of the mistake. Senator John Moorlach, a Republican who serves on the Senate budget committee, said, “It makes you wonder what else is not right. ... When something like this happens, the trust factor gets eroded, and you lose confidence in what's being provided to you.” To learn more about budget and finance matters in California, see this article.

Local

  • On Wednesday, January 18, after one month in office, Corpus Christi Mayor Dan McQueen (R) publicly announced his resignation via Facebook post. In part, the post read, “I resign immediately. The city can no longer deal with such differing views and divisiveness.” Two days before his resignation, McQueen posted, "In the past 35 days, I have been attacked by council as being Sexist, Racist and continue to fight attacks from Media and the public. I just don't see the VALUE in this fight for 600 more [days in office]. I had such HOPE for our city." In another post, he claimed that the city council "is comprised of only High School graduates!" According to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the city councilmembers' educational qualifications range from high school diplomas to bachelor's and master's degrees. McQueen has faced scrutiny over his educational background and his choice of chief of staff. On his campaign website, McQueen listed a bachelor's degree in engineering as one of his qualifications for office. He also listed a B.S. in electrical engineering from Florida State University on a since-deleted LinkedIn profile. On January 16, KRIS 6 News reported that Florida State had no record of his attendance at the university. McQueen confirmed to KIII News on January 18 that, although he has worked as an engineer and earned a bachelor's degree in professional aeronautics and a master's degree in IT, he does not have an engineering degree. City councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn will serve as the interim mayor. Because there was more than one year of McQueen’s term remaining, a special election will be held to fill the now vacant position. The date of the election has not been set, though it could be held in conjunction with other city elections scheduled on May 6, 2017. Corpus Christi is the eighth-largest city in Texas and the 60th-largest city in the U.S. by population.
 

State

The Week in Review

Ballot measures update

2017:

  • So far, four statewide measures are certified to appear on the ballot in 2017 in Maine, New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. Over the previous five odd-year election cycles, an average of about seven citizen-initiated measures and 34 total statewide measures have appeared on ballots.
    • The next signature filing deadline for citizen initiatives in 2017 is in Maine on January 26.
    • Signatures for a 2017 casino-related measure in Maine were submitted.

2018:

  • Four measures are certified to appear on statewide ballots in 2018 so far, and a signature petition for a citizen-initiated measure in Nevada designed to establish an automatic voter registration system was certified as sufficient, sending it to the legislature and then to voters if the legislature does not approve it during the first 40 days of its 2017 session. Over the previous five even-year election cycles, an average of about 61 citizen-initiated measures and 173 total statewide measures have appeared on ballots.

Saturday, January 14

Possible Candidates for Governor of California

  • Multiple Republican sources told media outlets that Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel was considering a run for governor of California in 2018. Thiel has spent the last two months serving on the transition team for President-elect Donald Trump. Thiel, who has a net worth of $2.7 billion, is not the only billionaire interested in running for the seat of the term-limited Jerry Brown (D). Thomas Steyer ($1.6 billion net worth), a major Democratic donor, is also reportedly mulling a campaign. Other notable declared or potential candidates in 2018 include Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Treasurer John Chiang (D), and mayors of the state’s two largest cities: Eric Garcetti (D-Los Angeles) and Kevin Faulconer (R-San Diego). Thiel has donated $8.5 million to Republican federal candidates or campaign committees since 2000. California’s open governor’s seat will be one of 36 up for election in 2018.

Monday, January 16

Signatures Required

  • Ho-Chunk Inc., an organization affiliated with the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, filed a lawsuit claiming that a polling company was responsible for failing to get enough valid signatures to qualify expanded gambling measures on the 2016 ballot. The company, Northstar Campaign Systems, denied any wrongdoing in the signature gathering process. The dispute stems from the failed campaigns of three related measures: the Nebraska Horse Track Initiative Amendment, the Horse Track Gaming Regulations Initiative, and the Horse Track Gaming Taxation Initiative. Ho-Chunk says that it paid Northstar $1.29 million to run its petition drives, but the certified signatures fell 117,000 short of the number required to make the ballot. After 41,000 were thrown out for being either duplicates or from citizens not registered to vote in the county where the petition was signed, Ho-Chunk called the error rate “ridiculously high.”
    • In 2016, 76 citizen-initiated statewide ballot measures were put on the ballot through successful signature petition drives in 17 different states, costing proponents a total of about $76.8 million. Northstar Campaign Systems did not run any of the successful petition drives in 2016. Read Ballotpedia’s 2016 signature petition costs analysis here.

A New Addition to the State of New York Court of Appeals

  • Rowan Wilson was nominated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to succeed retired Judge Eugene Pigott on the State of New York Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. Wilson must be confirmed by the New York State Senate before taking the bench. Wilson earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984 and has worked as a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP since 1992. Pigott, whose term was set to expire in 2020, retired after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. If appointed, Wilson will serve a 14-year term set to expire in 2031. All six judges currently serving on the seven-person court were also appointed by Cuomo.

Tuesday, January 17

Two More State Legislatures Went Back To Work

  • State legislative sessions began in Alaska and New Mexico. Both of those states are currently under divided government. Although Republicans in the Alaska State House hold a numerical majority, two independents and three Republicans chose to caucus with the chamber’s Democrats, giving them the majority. In total, 172 legislators went back to work in those two states. That number represents 2.3 percent of the 7,383 state legislators across the country.

Iowa State Senator Sentenced to Prison

  • Former Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson (R) was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for taking money in exchange for his endorsement during the 2012 Iowa caucuses. An investigation revealed that three political operatives working for Ron Paul paid the senator more than $73,000 through a production company to switch his support from Michele Bachmann to Paul. Sorenson pleaded guilty to two charges: one count of violating federal election law and one count of obstruction of justice for lying under oath during a deposition. Sorenson resigned from the chamber in October 2013, amidst the ethics allegations. At the time, he said that his resignation was not an admission of guilt.

A Candidate for Colorado Governor

  • Former Colorado State Sen. Michael Johnston (D) announced his campaign for governor in 2018. The current governor, John Hickenlooper (D), is term-limited and unable to run for another term. While media sources have speculated on a number of high-profile candidates running for election this cycle, there is only one other declared candidate—Denver businessman Noel Ginsburg (D). Colorado’s open governor’s seat will be one of 36 up for election in 2018.

A Candidate for New Jersey Governor

  • New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R) officially announced her campaign to succeed her current boss, term-limited Gov. Chris Christie (R). The 2017 race for the state’s highest office already has 10 declared candidates—6 Democratic and 4 Republican. A primary election to narrow that field will take place on June 6. In her announcement, Guadagno criticized the governor for his spending, including the use of a helicopter to travel around the state and a $300-million renovation of the governor’s house. Guadagno said that cutting wasteful government spending would be her top priority but that she would also focus on school funding, heroin use, and making the state more affordable. Democrats currently control both chambers of the state legislature, and they could regain a Democratic trifecta in New Jersey if they win the governor’s mansion.

Florida Proposed Medical Marijuana Regulations

  • Florida Department of Health officials released proposed rules to regulate the medical marijuana industry following the passage of Amendment 2 last November. Supporters of the amendment spoke out against the release, saying that the “rule is basically ignoring the text of the constitutional amendment at almost every point of the way.” According to those supporters, the most controversial rule is leaving the unspecified “other debilitating medical conditions” clause of the amendment up to the State Board of Medicine, rather than individual doctors. Additionally, the department’s rules would maintain the current cap on marijuana vendors in the state, though the amendment expanded medical marijuana to an estimated 500,000 additional patients. The health department still intends to hold public hearings about the rule, but it is bound by the amendment to implement rules by July 3.

North Dakota Delays Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

  • The North Dakota State Senate voted 45-0 to approve Senate Bill 2154, which would keep the state health department from approving any medical marijuana dispensaries until July 2017. This would essentially delay the implementation of Measure 5 by six months. Approved by voters last November, Measure 5 legalized the use of medical marijuana for certain defined medical conditions. Currently, 28 states have legalized medical marijuana. That number is evenly split between states that approved it by statewide ballot measures and states that approved it through the state legislature.

Three Bills in Response to Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

  • Lawmakers in North Dakota have introduced a trio of bills in response to protests taking place over the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. One of the bills would make it illegal for adults to wear masks. Another would allow the state to sue the federal government for costs related to policing the protests. The most recent bill, House Bill 1203, would provide protection for drivers who accidentally injure or kill someone who is obstructing traffic on a public road. The sponsor of the third bill, Keith Kempenich (R), said, “there’s a line between protesting and terrorism, and what we’re dealing with was terrorism out there.” He added that drivers would still need to do everything they could to avoid protesters and that he was not trying to legalize vehicular manslaughter. North Dakota is currently one of 25 Republican trifectas.

Four Republicans File for Louisiana Special Election

  • The filing window closed for a special election for the Louisiana House of Representatives. The District 8 seat was vacated by Mike Johnson (R), who won election to Congress in 2016. Johnson himself won his state House seat in a February 2015 special election. All four candidates who filed for the seat registered as Republicans, meaning the partisan balance of the chamber will remain 59-42 in favor of Republicans. Louisiana is one of 19 states currently under divided government.

Wednesday, January 18

South Carolina’s Next Lieutenant Governor

  • The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Amendment 1 (2012) does not take effect until 2018, meaning the state Senate’s current president pro tempore would become the state’s next lieutenant governor. Hugh Leatherman (R) made it clear that he would rather remain a state senator when Henry McMaster (R) is sworn in to replace outgoing Gov. Nikki Haley (R). Haley, President-elect Trump’s pick for United Nations ambassador, could be confirmed and leave her gubernatorial post this month. Fellow State Sen. Tom Davis (R) filed a suit, asking the court to clarify whether or not Leatherman would be required to assume the new position. In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R) said he agreed with the court’s ruling. “This is exactly what we expected the outcome to be because this is the only reasonable interpretation of what the General Assembly passed and what the voters approved,” he said. South Carolina is currently one of 25 states with a Republican trifecta.

New York State Senator Sentenced

  • Former New York State Sen. John Sampson (D) was sentenced to five years in prison as the result of an embezzlement scandal. The former Senate minority leader was arrested and charged with two counts of embezzlement, five counts of obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements in May 2013. The charges stemmed from an investigation over the sale of foreclosed properties in Brooklyn, where Sampson was alleged to have stolen over $400,000 while acting as a court-appointed referee. He was removed from the chamber after his conviction on July 24, 2015, on one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements. Although Democrats currently have a 32-31 numerical majority in the state Senate, a coalition gives Republicans a majority in the chamber.

Texas State Representative Indicted

  • Texas State Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D) was indicted on 13 felony counts of tampering with public records and two misdemeanor counts of abuse of official capacity. The corruption charges stem from an alleged use of legislative staff for personal purposes and accusations that the legislator converted campaign expenditures to personal use. If convicted on all charges, Dukes could serve up to 28 years in prison. On September 26, 2016, Dukes announced her resignation to deal with medical issues related to a 2013 car crash. Her resignation was effective January 10, 2017, but days before her resignation became official, she decided to serve another term, saying she had overcome those medical issues. Republicans currently hold a 99-50 majority in the chamber.

Religious Garb in Nebraska Classrooms

  • Jim Scheer (R), speaker of the Nebraska State Legislature, proposed a bill to repeal the state’s ban on public school teachers wearing religious garb in the classroom. The law, passed in 1919, made wearing religious garb a misdemeanor offense. Under the law, first-time offenders are suspended from teaching for a year, and any subsequent offenses are punished by a lifetime ban from teaching. Thirty-four other states have repealed similar laws, and only Nebraska and Pennsylvania still have such laws. Nebraska is currently one of 25 Republican trifectas.
    • The legislation was a response to the situation of Sister Madeleine Miller of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Norfolk, Nebraska. Her religious order’s rules require that she wear a head covering nearly any time she is in public. When she tried to teach at a public school district, she was told she could not wear the religious garb. As a result, she moved and began teaching at a Catholic school out of state.

Hawaii Starts Their Session

  • The state legislative session began in Hawaii. Hawaii is currently one of six Democratic trifectas. The state’s 76 legislators—a number that represents 1.0 percent of the 7,383 state legislators across the country—are back to work. All told, by this point, 82.3 percent of legislators are in session and working for 2017.

Thursday, January 19

SCOTUS Weighs In On N.C. Special Elections

  • A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was expected on whether the special legislative elections scheduled for 2017 in North Carolina would ahead as planned, but the court issued no order in the case. The court issued a hold on January 10 pending a full conference of the court. The elections, which were ordered by a three-judge panel in November 2016, would be held under new district lines redrawn because of racial gerrymandering. Some believe that the court is very unlikely to uphold the lower court’s ruling ordering 2017 elections. In that case, redistricting would still be conducted, but it would go into effect for the 2018 elections. Twenty-eight of the legislature’s 170 districts were ordered to be redrawn, but other districts impacted by the redistricting of those 28 would also be required to hold special elections this year under the original ruling. North Carolina is one of 19 states currently under divided government. Republicans hold a 20-seat majority in the Senate and a 28-seat majority in the House.

Friday, January 20

Ruling in Alabama Redistricting Case

  • A three-judge panel ruled 12 state legislative districts in Alabama as unconstitutional, arguing that race factored too heavily into how state official drew the districts’ lines in the 2010 redistricting process. The panel upheld 24 other districts that had been challenged. The Legislative Black Caucus and the Alabama Democratic Conference challenged the districts in 2012. After their challenge was rejected by the panel, they appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which, in 2015, issued an order for the panel to conduct another review. Friday’s ruling will require the state to redraw the lines for those 12 districts prior to the 2018 elections in Alabama. The judge who wrote the opinion for the ruling, William Pryor, is on President Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees to fill the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia. In his opinion for the case, Pryor noted, “The Alabama Legislature faced a difficult task in 2012. … the legislature had to draw districts of roughly equal population that were conscious enough of race to comply with the Voting Rights Act, but not so conscious of race that they violated the Fourteenth Amendment.” Legislators in Alabama are elected to four-year terms.

 

What’s On Tap Next Week

Monday, January 23

Casino or Slot Machines in York County, Maine

  • The deadline will pass for the Maine secretary of state to certify signatures for the Maine Casino or Slot Machines in York County Initiative. If enough signatures are certified, it will qualify for a spot on the ballot on November 7, 2017. Because of the state’s indirect initiative process, the legislature would have a chance to approve the initiative during its 2017 session, precluding its appearance on the ballot. The measure would authorize the Maine Gambling Control Board to accept an application for a license to operate slot machines or a casino in York County, Maine. Supporters attempted to get the initiative qualified for the 2016 ballot, but not enough signatures were found to be valid by the secretary of state's office. Supporters collected more signatures and submitted them on December 22, 2016. As of January 18, 2017, the committee registered in support of this initiative had raised $4.2 million, while there was no committee registered in opposition to this initiative.

Utah Starts Their Session

  • The state legislative session is scheduled to begin in Utah. Utah is currently one of 25 Republican trifectas. The state’s 104 legislators—a number that represents 1.4 percent of the 7,383 state legislators across the country—are back to work. All told, by this point, 83.7 percent of legislators will be in session and back at work for 2017.

Connecticut’s Special Elections

Tuesday, January 24

Virginia’s Special Election

  • FILING DEADLINE: The deadline will pass to file to run for one state legislative special election in Virginia. House District 71 will be up for election due to incumbent Jenn McClellan's (D) election to the state Senate in a special election on January 10, 2017. The election to fill her former seat will take place on February 7. Republicans currently control the lower chamber of the state legislature by a 66-33 majority. Virginia is one of 19 states currently under divided government.

Thursday, January 26

Maine’s 2017 elections

  • SIGNATURE DEADLINE: The deadline will pass for submitting signatures to qualify ballot initiatives for the election on November 7, 2017, in Maine. If a measure is certified, it is sent to the state legislature, where officials have the option to approve the measure or take no action. Taking no action would allow the initiative to appear on the ballot for a popular vote. This deadline applies to proponents of six initiatives that were filed and cleared for signature gathering. Signatures were submitted for one of them on December 22, 2016. So far, one measure has been certified in Maine for a 2017 ballot. On June 13, 2017, voters will decide on a bond issue designed to issue $50 million in bonds for business loans and investment. It was referred to the ballot by the legislature.

 

State government in session

States-in-session-1-20-17.png

State government special elections

As of this week, three state legislative seats have been filled through special elections in 2017. Another 14 elections (not including runoffs) have been scheduled in eight states to fill a vacancy.

Due to redistricting, additional state legislative special elections may be held in North Carolina in 2017. The special elections have been called in response to a federal court order that ruled 28 state legislative districts unconstitutional because of racial gerrymandering. The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on January 10, 2017, that would cancel the 2017 special elections in North Carolina. The change would move elections under new maps to the regularly scheduled 2018 elections. The court is expected to decide whether to take up an appeal of this order.

  • An average of 89 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past three odd years (2011: 94, 2013: 84, 2015: 88).
  • An average of 44 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past four even years (2010: 26, 2012: 45, 2014: 40, 2016: 65).

Upcoming special elections include: January 31, 2017:

February 7, 2017:

February 14, 2017:

Local

The Week in Review

2017 elections

Tuesday, January 17

A Proposed Gift Limit for Denver City Council Members

  • In Colorado, the Denver City Council delayed a vote on changes to the city’s code of ethics. In December 2016, Councilman Kevin Flynn proposed changes to the city’s code that would impose stricter limits on the dollar amount of gifts city council members could accept from any person or donor with a city interest during a calendar year. According to the Denver Post, council members were not able to determine the details of the proposed gift limit and delayed a vote on the issue until February 21, 2017. Over the previous decade, Colorado’s Amendment 41 has imposed more stringent rules on gift limits than the rules in place in Denver. However, Denver is a home-rule city, which exempts it from the state’s set of ethics guidelines. City attorneys reported that it is uncertain whether the conflicting interpretation of state and city law will necessitate a change to Denver’s ethics code. Denver is the largest city in Colorado and the 22nd-largest city in the U.S. by population.

NYC Campaign Finance Reports are Here

  • In New York City, candidates for mayor released their latest campaign finance reports. The reports detailed donations to the candidates’ campaigns over the last six months of 2016 for the election set to take place on November 7, 2017. Incumbent Bill de Blasio (D) raised over $1 million, while real estate developer and Republican challenger Paul Massey Jr. reported raising more than $1.6 million. The majority of de Blasio’s campaign contributions were small donations of less than $100 each, and he received a total of 3,261 donations from city residents. Massey received donations from 826 city residents and reported contributing $1.2 million in personal funds to his campaign. Although de Blasio raised less money than his opponent, the number of small, individual contributions could mean more matching funds for his campaign. Massey has said that he will not use the city’s matching system to fund his campaign. Under city law, the first $175 dollars given to a candidate by a city resident can be matched six to one by public funds. Based on eligible contributions reported, de Blasio could receive up to $1.1 million in additional campaign dollars. In previous years, de Blasio’s campaigning relied on large donations from businesses in the city. After an inquiry into his past fundraising strategies, The New York Times reported that some large donors were wary of contributing to de Blasio’s campaign. New York City is the largest city in the U.S. by population.

Uber Files Lawsuit Against Seattle

  • Ridesharing company Uber filed a lawsuit against the city of Seattle, Washington. In December 2015, the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance to allow ridesharing company drivers to unionize. Uber filed a petition with the King County Superior Court asking the court to suspend the city’s new law, which went into effect on Tuesday. The petition argues that the city’s process for designing the law was flawed and incomplete. Drivers for ridesharing companies are considered to be independent contractors and are not protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Seattle is the largest city in Washington and the 21st-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Missouri Elections

  • FILING DEADLINE: The filing deadline passed to run in general elections for 50 seats across 17 of the largest school districts in Missouri, as measured by student enrollment. All of these elections will be held on April 4, 2017. The largest Missouri school district holding an election this year is St. Louis Public Schools, which served 30,831 students during the 2014-2015 school year—approximately 3 percent of all public school students in the state.

Wednesday, January 18

The Expensive Los Angeles Unified School District Elections

  • The race for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education is becoming one of the nation’s most expensive school board elections. The District 4 incumbent and LAUSD board president, Steve Zimmer, faces three challengers in his bid for re-election to a third term. If he wins, this term will be his last due to term limits. As of the most recent reporting deadline for financial activity through December 31, 2016, the total amount of campaign contributions for all four candidates was reported to be $492,440. That amount for the District 4 race accounted for over 60 percent of campaign contributions in a school district with a total of 13 candidates running for three seats, and it continued to rise over the first half of January. Earlier in the month, local teachers union United Teachers Los Angeles formally endorsed Zimmer and contributed $150,000 to an independent campaign on his behalf. On January 17, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan (R), who served from 1993 to 2001, made a $1 million contribution to an independent campaign backing one of Zimmer’s challengers, Nick Melvoin. These two donations brought the estimated campaign contributions in the District 4 race to over $1.6 million. A primary election will be held on March 7, and the general election will be held on May 16.
    • These large donations highlight the role unions have previously played in LAUSD board elections. According to the Los Angeles Times, Riordan has often been at odds with the teachers union, dating back to his time as mayor. Riordan and billionaire-philanthropist Eli Broad donated big money in the 2013 LAUSD election to defeat union-backed candidates. During the elections in 2015, a political action committee controlled by the California Charter Schools Association Advocates served as the pipeline for contributions to candidates without union support. That year, three of the four candidates backed by the pro-charter organization won election to the board. Scott Mark Schmerelson was the only union-backed candidate to win, defeating incumbent Tamara Galatzan by over 3,000 votes. Zimmer was backed by unions during his campaign in 2013, and his supporters successfully framed the large donations made by billionaires to defeat Zimmer as positive points for his re-election. The Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest school district in California and served 646,683 students during the 2014-2015 school year—approximately 10 percent of all public school students in the state.

Ethics Violations in Philadelphia

  • The Philadelphia Board of Ethics fined District Attorney Seth Williams for multiple ethics violations. According to a report released by the board, Williams failed to disclose five separate income sources and 89 gifts on city financial statements between 2010 and 2015. It is not illegal for city officials to accept most gifts, but officials must disclose the receipt of any gift that exceeds $200. Additionally, city officers cannot accept gifts that exceed $99 from a person or entity with a financial interest the officer has the power to affect. Williams received several prohibited gifts, including $690 in sporting event tickets and $750 in gift cards from a criminal defense lawyer handling cases prosecuted by the district attorney’s office. The penalty levied against Williams—the largest ever handed down by the ethics board—totals roughly $65,000. The ethics board filed a stipulated judgment in the Court of Common Pleas to ensure that the full amount of the fine will be repaid to the city by 2022. The judgment automatically placed a lien on Williams’ home. Williams addressed his actions in a statement released on January 17. “These mistakes are my own and I accept full responsibility for my failure to do everything that was required of me as a public official,” he said. “I apologize to the people of Philadelphia, the hardworking and talented staff of the District Attorney’s Office, my supporters, the friends who supported me.” Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the fifth-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Santa Ana City Council Removes City Manager

  • The Santa Ana City Council voted 4-2 to remove city manager David Cavazos from his position. Cavazos’ termination came several weeks after he was placed on paid administrative leave. Concerns about his performance had been raised and Cavazos was publicly censured in June 2016 for having a relationship with a subordinate employee. The termination was described as amicable, and Cavazos will receive a severance package of roughly $315,000. Because Cavazos’ salary was already part of the city’s 2017 budget, city councilman Jose Solorio said the severance will not significantly affect the city’s costs for the year. Santa Ana is the 11th-largest city in California and the 57th-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Friday, January 20

Arcadia Unified School District Elections

  • FILING DEADLINE: The filing deadline passed to run in the general election for two of the five seats on the Arcadia Unified School District school board—one of the largest school districts in California, as measured by student enrollment. The election will be held on April 18, 2017. The Arcadia Unified School District served 9,582 students during the 2014-2015 school year—approximately 0.1 percent of all public school students in the state.

 

What’s On Tap Next Week

Monday, January 23

Colorado Springs General Election

Tuesday, January 24

Greenfield Recall Election

  • An election to recall Mayor John Huerta Jr. will be held in Greenfield, California. Huerta was targeted for recall due to allegations that he interfered with a criminal investigation of Greenfield’s medical marijuana industry. On September 28, 2016, the Greenfield City Council voted 3-2 to censure Huerta for his actions. Recall organizers submitted 1,081 valid signatures to Monterey County election officials. This total exceeded the 1,078-signature threshold necessary for a recall to reach the ballot.
    • This is the second time Huerta faced a recall; he survived a recall election on June 5, 2012. Huerta was accused of putting public safety in jeopardy, being an ineffective leader, and causing damage to the city’s reputation. Recall organizers successfully gathered signatures from 25 percent of Greenfield’s registered voters—the threshold necessary to force an election. While Huerta was retained with 52.3 percent of the vote, two Greenfield City Council members were recalled from their seats.

Butte County Recall Election

  • In Butte County, California, a recall election will be held to remove Larry Duncan and Sep Carola from their seats on the Paradise Irrigation District board. Duncan represents Division 3 and Carola, the board president, represents Division 4. The recall effort was launched in March 2016, and supporters said they sought the recalls due to the board’s poor money management and communication with its constituents. The recall will be held via mail-in ballot. Anne Rice and Wally Schmidt are running to replace Duncan in Division 3. In Division 4, Marc Sulik is running to replace Carola.

Tuscaloosa City Schools Election

  • FILING DEADLINE: The filing deadline will pass to run in the general election for all eight seats on the Tuscaloosa City Schools school board—one of the largest school districts in Alabama, as measured by student enrollment. The election will be held on March 7, 2017. Tuscaloosa City Schools served 10,249 students during the 2014-2015 school year—approximately 1.3 percent of all public school students in the state.

Thursday, January 26

Glendale Unified School District Elections

  • FILING DEADLINE: The filing deadline will pass to run in the general election for three of the five seats on the Glendale Unified School District school board—one of the largest school districts in California, as measured by student enrollment. The election will be held on April 4, 2017. The Glendale School District served 26,168 students during the 2014-2015 school year—approximately 0.4 percent of all public school students in the state.

 

Back to top for Federal and fact checks updates

Fact Check

Fact Check by Ballotpedia

Federal fact checks

  • Fact check: Could 36,000 people die if the ACA is partially repealed? In a recent column in Think Progress, Ian Millhiser cited two studies in claiming that “nearly 36,000 people could die every year, year after year, if the incoming president signs legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act.” But the limitations of the research methodologies in the studies he cites preclude using them as a basis for a reliable estimate. One study of Massachusetts healthcare reform states, "the extent to which our results generalize to the United States as a whole is therefore unclear." Another study estimating the number of Americans who may lose health insurance assumes that repealed provisions of the ACA will not be replaced by alternatives that enable people to regain coverage and that individuals will not find coverage alternatives of their own.
  • Fact check: Have presidents before Donald Trump appointed family members to White House positions? In a Facebook post, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich criticized President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of his son-in-law Jared Kushner to serve as a senior advisor to the president. "Kings and despots install family members around them, to protect their power and money. Presidents do not – at least not until now," he wrote. Ballotpedia found that at least 11 presidents have appointed family members to executive branch positions, including Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, and Franklin Roosevelt.
  • Fact check: Would it be almost unprecedented for Donald Trump to terminate the Iran nuclear deal? Responding to a question about the possibility of the United States withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal after Donald Trump becomes president, CIA Director John Brennan said, "For one administration to tear up an agreement that a previous administration made would be almost unprecedented." Brennan is incorrect. The U.S. Constitution empowers the president to conduct foreign policy and to enter into international agreements. International agreements fall into two categories—treaties and executive agreements. A review of presidential documents determined that at least five presidents have terminated international agreements entered into as executive agreements. A study published by the Texas Law Review found that nine presidents had withdrawn the United States from international treaties without seeking the approval of either the Senate or the full Congress.

 

Read the latest fact checks.


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