The Tap: Friday, July 8, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #24 of The Tap, which was published on July 9, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) and her Chief of Staff Elias "Ronnie" Simmons pleaded not guilty to “charges of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction and filing of false tax returns.” According to Assistant U.S. Attorney General Leslie Caldwell, "Congresswoman Brown and her chief of staff are alleged to have used the congresswoman's official position to solicit over $800,000 in donations to a supposed charitable organization, only to use that organization as a personal slush fund.” According to the indictment, donations to Brown’s charity, One Door, went into Brown’s and Simmons’ bank accounts and paid for “repairs to Brown's car and vacations to locations such as the Bahamas, Miami Beach and Los Angeles.” In addition, the indictment alleges that Brown used One Door funds to pay for “a golf tournament, lavish receptions during an annual Washington conference and the use of luxury boxes for a Beyonce concert and an NFL game between the Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars.”
    • After the hearing, Brown said, "My heart is just really heavy. But I'm looking forward to a speedy day in court to vindicate myself. We will present the other side."
  • Five Dallas police officers were killed and seven were wounded by Micah Johnson, a “black U.S. military veteran of the Afghan war who said he wanted to ‘kill white people,’” according to Reuters. The attack occurred during a protest against this week’s fatal police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana. Two civilians were also wounded during the attack. After an hours-long standoff, the gunman was killed by a bomb-carrying robot.
    • In a statement, President Barack Obama commented on the attack, saying, “[T]here is no possible justification for these kinds of attacks. Grave violence against law enforcement. The FBI is already in touch with the Dallas police; anyone involved in these senseless murders will be held fully accountable. Justice will be done. I will have more to say about this when the facts become more clear. For now, let me just say that, even as yesterday I spoke about are need to be concerned as all Americans about racial disparities in our criminal justice system. I also said yesterday that our police have an extraordinarily difficult job and the vast majority of them do their job in outstanding fashion. I also indicated the degree in which we need to be supportive of those officers who do their job each and every day. Protecting us and protecting our communities. Today is a wrenching reminder of the sacrifices that they make for us. We also know that when people are armed with powerful weapons, it unfortunately make attacks like these more deadly and more tragic and in the days ahead consider those realities as well.”

State

  • Filing deadline: Washington initiatives
    • Supporters submitted signatures for five potential initiatives in Washington.
      • The Minimum Wage Initiative would increase the state minimum wage to $13.50 by 2020.
      • The "Extreme Risk Protection" Initiative would authorize courts to issue extreme risk protection orders to remove an individual from access to firearms.
      • The Motion Picture Competitiveness Tax Credit Increase Initiative would increase the amount of tax credit an individual can claim under the motion picture competitiveness program from $1 million to $4 million.
      • The "Vulnerable Individual Protection" Initiative would increase criminal identity-theft penalties and expand civil liability for consumer fraud targeting seniors and vulnerable individuals. It would exempt certain information regarding vulnerable individuals and in-home caregivers from public disclosure.
      • The "Government Accountability Act" would create a campaign finance system allowing residents to direct state funds to qualifying candidates, repeal the non-resident sales-tax exemption, restrict employment of former public employees and lobbying, and revise campaign finance laws.
    • Supporters needed at least 246,372 signatures for their measures to qualify for the ballot. At least 33 Initiatives to the People were vying for spots on the November ballot. These potential measures dealt with issues such as marijuana regulation, tax rate limits, LGBT policy, and single-payer healthcare.
    • Once the signatures have been gathered and filed, the secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method. If the sample indicates that the measure has sufficient signatures, the measure is certified for the ballot. However, if the sample indicates that the measure has insufficient signatures, every signature is checked. Under Washington law, a random sample result may not invalidate a petition. However, the secretary of state is not required to review any petition that "clearly bears insufficient signatures."
  • Former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard (R) was sentenced to four years in prison and another eight years on probation for violating the state’s ethics law. He was also ordered to pay $210,000 in fines. On June 10, 2016, Hubbard was convicted on 12 felony violations and was automatically removed from office according to state law. He was found guilty of using his position as speaker for personal gain. He solicited consulting contracts and investments from a number of lobbyists and companies for his company Craftmaster Printing. Hubbard is appealing the conviction and is out on bond. A special election has been called for November 29, 2016, to fill the seat.

Local

  • In California, the Orange County Registrar of Voters began to review petition signatures for the recall effort against Yorba Linda Water District board members Gary Melton and Robert Kiley. If enough signatures are deemed valid, the recall will be added to the general election ballot on November 8, 2016. The recall effort was initiated in March 2016. The effort was launched because of the board's decision to raise rates by 380 percent over five years. Eddy Jackson of the Yorba Linda Taxpayers Association served the recall papers to Melton and Kiley during the water board’s meeting on March 10, 2016. Jackson said the board used a "deceptive campaign that leveraged California's water crisis as a means to excessively increase water rates.”
    • Two other members of the five-person board, Ric Collett and Mike Beverage, are up for re-election in 2016. If the recall proponents are successful in getting the recalls on the general election ballot in November 2016, voters will be able to elect a new board majority. The board voted 5-0 to increase water rates.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #23 of The Tap, which was published on July 2, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

State

Local

  • In California, petition signatures are due in order for the recall effort against Yorba Linda Water District board members Gary Melton and Robert Kiley to be added to the general election ballot on November 8, 2016. The recall was initiated in March 2016. The effort was launched because of the board's decision to raise rates by 380 percent over five years. Eddy Jackson of the Yorba Linda Taxpayers Association served the recall papers to Melton and Kiley during the water board’s meeting on March 10, 2016. Jackson said the board used a "deceptive campaign that leveraged California's water crisis as a means to excessively increase water rates.”
    • Two other members of the five-person board, Ric Collett and Mike Beverage, are up for re-election in 2016. If the recall proponents are successful in getting the recalls on the general election ballot in November 2016, voters will be able to elect a new board majority. The board voted 5-0 to increase water rates.



The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
March: 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
April: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
May: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
June: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
July: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
August: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
September: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
October: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7• 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
November: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
December: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 31
January: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
February: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17
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