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The Tap: Friday, May 13, 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 #16 of The Tap, which was published on May 14, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice sent a letter to schools across the country explaining civil rights protections for transgender students and best practices for supporting transgender students. The letter explained, “As a condition of receiving Federal funds, a school agrees that it will not exclude, separate, deny benefits to, or otherwise treat differently on the basis of sex any person in its educational programs or activities unless expressly authorized to do so under Title IX or its implementing regulations. The Departments treat a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations. This means that a school must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity.”
  • The House passed S 524 - the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 by a vote of 400-5. The legislation proposes authorizing the U.S. attorney general to give federal grants to states that “expand educational efforts to prevent abuse of opioids, heroin, and other substances of abuse, understand addiction as a chronic disease, and promote treatment and recovery.” States that develop treatment programs for individuals using opioids and other illegal substances as an alternative to incarceration are also eligible to receive funding.
  • The House passed H Res 725 - Providing for consideration of the bill (S. 524) to authorize the Attorney General to award grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and heroin use by a vote of 240-165.

State

  • The Democrat-controlled Connecticut General Assembly passed a contentious budget bill in special session. The budget, which aims to remedy the state’s projected $960 million deficit, will be the first since 1973 to decrease spending levels from the previous year. Though Democrats enjoy trifecta control of state government in Connecticut, Gov. Dan Malloy (D) has been at odds with Democratic leadership in the legislature over elements of the budget; Democratic leaders skipped one budget meeting with the governor last month, leaving Malloy to meet only with Republicans.


Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #15 of The Tap, which was published on May 7, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

State

  • The Missouri General Assembly is projected to adjourn its regular session. The legislature is required to adjourn regular sessions by May 30. Missouri is one of 20 states that are under divided government. Republicans control the Senate by 16 seats (not including two vacancies) and the House by 71 seats (not including one vacancy). Democrats have controlled the governor’s office since 2009.