The Tap: Monday, December 12, 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 #46 of The Tap, which was published on December 17, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion on Monday in Shaw v. United States. In an opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer, the court vacated and remanded the judgment of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court held that a scheme to deprive a bank of money in a customer’s bank account constituted a scheme to deprive a bank of “something of value” within the statutory meaning of the federal bank fraud statute. The court, however, vacated and remanded Shaw’s conviction to determine if the instructions presented to the jury at Shaw’s trial were lawful and, if not, whether any error was harmless. Shaw was the fifth opinion handed down in an argued case this term and the judgments in each of these cases have been unanimously decided.

State

Increased 2018 Initiative Petitions Flood Missouri Election Office

  • Results of the November 8, 2016, election were certified for Missouri’s six ballot measures. Voters approved measures to renew a 0.1 percent sales tax for parks and conservation, establish limits on campaign contributions for state elections, allow the state legislature to require voter IDs, and ban new sales and use taxes on services not subject to one as of January 1, 2015. Amendment 3 and Proposition A, both designed to increase the tobacco tax, were rejected.
    • Since there was a gubernatorial election on November 8, 2016, the signature requirements to get an initiative on the ballot will change for 2018. Missouri has a unique distribution requirement that mandates that initiative proponents must collect signatures based on the number of votes cast for governor in six of the state’s eight congressional districts. Therefore, the number of signatures required in 2018 will likely increase in some districts but decrease in others. While the state has not released the gubernatorial vote by congressional district, data illustrating the vote by county indicates that voter turnout in the gubernatorial race increased by 75,163 from the 2012 election. However, total votes fell in St. Louis and Kansas City between 2012 and 2016, with all of the counties in the 1st Congressional District showing decreased turnout.
    • Over 100 initiative petitions have been filed since November 10 for the 2018 ballot in Missouri. For the 2016 election cycle, that number of filings was not reached until February 2016—around 15 months after the preceding general election in 2014. Some of the initiative proposals are aimed at legalizing medical marijuana or recreational marijuana, increasing the minimum wage, or voiding right-to-work laws. Mark Richardson, a prosecuting attorney for Cole County, has filed litigation in the 19th Judicial Circuit Court, asking the court to stop the secretary of state from certifying any initiative petitions that would conflict with federal marijuana law if approved.

Certified in Maryland

  • Results for the only ballot measure voted on in Maryland during the 2016 general election, Question 1, were certified. Voters approved Question 1 by a margin of 73 percent to 27 percent. The measure was put on the ballot by the state legislature and required that political party affiliations be kept when the governor fills vacancies in the offices of comptroller and attorney general. Democrats held a state government trifecta in Maryland, with majorities in the state Senate, House of Delegates, and governor’s office, from 2006 through 2013. They lost the trifecta and shifted to divided control in 2014 when Governor Larry Hogan (R) was elected. Currently, the officeholders for comptroller and attorney general are both Democrats. Voters did not vote on any veto referendums—the only form of citizen-initiated measure allowed in the state of Maryland—during the 2016 election.
    • In Maryland, the total number of signatures required for veto referendums is based on the total number of votes cast for governor during the preceding gubernatorial election. Therefore, 2016 election results did not change the signature requirements for veto referendums because the governorship was not up for election. For referendums on statewide laws, supporters need to collect a number of signatures equal to 3 percent of the total number of votes cast for governor during the last gubernatorial election.


Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #45 of The Tap, which was published on December 10, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • The Supreme Court has a non-argument session scheduled for Monday, December 12.




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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