The Tap: Monday, December 5, 2016

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
   ← Dec 4
Dec 6 →   

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 #45 of The Tap, which was published on December 10, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

Ben Carson Nominated as HUD Secretary

  • President-elect Trump announced that he had chosen former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson as his nominee for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Carson’s professional experience includes working as the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and running his own philanthropic organization. Carson endorsed Trump after suspending his own bid for the Republican nomination in March 2016.

HUD has a $48 billion budget and more than 8,000 employees. Here are some of the programs and initiatives that the agency oversees:

    • Federal Housing Administration, which insures home loans for first-time and low-income buyers who may not meet the down payment requirements of traditional lenders.
    • The Community Development Block Grant program, which provides funds to states for small business and community development that aims to eliminate blight and create jobs in low- to moderate-income areas.
    • The Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8 housing), which provides a subsidy to cover the gap between what tenants can pay and the listed rental price of housing for low-income families.
    • Enforcement of federal anti-discrimination laws in relation to housing.
    • Administration of funds to state and local governments to provide for those who are homeless.

Carson has spoken critically of HUD policies under the Obama administration. In July 2015, he criticized a HUD rule that provided guidelines for communities to use to ensure their compliance with the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Carson, in an op-ed for The Washington Times, referred to this rule as an example of “government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality,” which he said, “create consequences that often make matters worse.” Carson added, “There are reasonable ways to use housing policy to enhance the opportunities available to lower-income citizens, but ... entrusting the government to get it right can prove downright dangerous.”

Al Gore Meets with President-elect Trump to Discuss Climate Change Policy

  • Former Vice President Al Gore (D) met with President-elect Donald Trump (R) and Ivanka Trump to discuss climate change issues. Gore wrote and starred in the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which argued that human activity plays a significant role in global warming and climate change. Gore has argued that climate change issues require immediate governmental action. Regarding his conversation with the president-elect, Gore said, “I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I'm just going to leave it at that.” As a candidate, Trump criticized the theory of human-caused climate change, previously calling it a hoax in 2012. Additionally, Trump has promised to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and rescind the Clean Power Plan, policies designed to address climate change that were initiated by President Barack Obama (D) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Trump told interviewers at The New York Times on November 23, 2016, that he would look at the Paris agreement with an open mind. He also said that he believed there is likely some connection between human-generated carbon dioxide emissions and climate change, but did not specify what kind of connection. To read more about how Trump can begin the process of rescinding and modifying federal agency rules related to climate change when he assumes office, see this article.

SCOTUS On Tap: Illegal Racial Gerrymanders

  • The U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in two voting rights cases. Both cases came to the Supreme Court after the court noted probable jurisdiction, which is the most common avenue by which the court hears decisions of a panel of judges on a U.S. district court.
    • In Bethune-Hill v. Virginia Board of Elections, the court reviewed a three-judge panel decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In March 2015, the Supreme Court held in Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama that "the prioritiz[ation] [of] mechanical racial targets above all other districting criteria" was "untethered to any 'strong basis in evidence' for sorting voters on the basis of race." In so doing, the court struck a proposed scheme of state legislative districts as having created racially gerrymandered districts in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Bethune-Hill and a class of Virginia residents challenged 12 legislative districts drawn by the Virginia House of Delegates, arguing that these districts constitute illegal racial gerrymanders in violation of the same provisions of the Constitution as in the Alabama case because the Virginia Legislature's decision that those districts be drawn with a minimum of 55 percent minority voting age population unconstitutionally relied on race as a "predominant factor" for district design.
    • In McCrory v. Harris, the court reviewed a three-judge panel decision of the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of North Carolina. In February 2016, the panel ruled that two of the state's 13 congressional districts, District 1 and District 12, constituted illegal racial gerrymanders in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The court determined that state lawmakers had placed disproportionately large numbers of black voters in these two districts, thereby diluting the impact of their votes. Governor Pat McCrory (R-N.C.) and the North Carolina State Board of Elections appealed the district panel’s decision. It is unclear what impact Governor McCrory’s concession to his opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper (D), will have on whether the court will issue an opinion if McCrory is out of office before the court’s opinion comes down. McCrory would lack standing, and the case could be considered moot, if McCrory is out of office by the time a decision is reached.

'Congressional Legislation

  • Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.) said that they would block the Senate from passing any bills by unanimous consent until a vote was held on S 3470—the Miners Protection Act of 2016. The legislation would fund coal miners’ pensions and healthcare plans, which are set to expire in April 2017. In a joint statement, the senators said, “These miners cannot wait another day and it’s up to us to protect what they’ve earned for a lifetime of dangerous, backbreaking work. We are confident this bill would pass on the floor and we demand action to provide long-term certainty for these miners."
    • On Friday, when their effort to amend a short-term funding to include an extension of benefits for miners failed, the senators decided to stop blocking a vote on the funding bill in order to avoid a government shutdown.

State

High Stakes for Maine’s Recount

  • The recount process for Question 1, the Maine Marijuana Legalization measure, began, with teams consisting of volunteers recruited by both sides of the ballot measure campaign and secretary of state office staff hand counting “yes” and “no” votes. Volunteers started by assessing ballots from the city of Portland, and they will move on to other larger communities before ballots from smaller areas are counted. The recount could take more than a month and cost taxpayers more than $500,000 to complete. Initial election results showed Question 1 passing by less than half of a percent of the vote. If the election results are not reversed, recreational marijuana will become legal 30 days following the proclamation of the official results by the governor.
    • Voters in eight other states were also presented with marijuana-related ballot measures. Recreational marijuana was approved in California, Massachusetts, and Nevada. Medical marijuana was approved in Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota, with a measure lifting restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries also passing in Montana. Arizona was the only state in which a marijuana-related measure was not approved, with voters narrowly defeating a measure to legalize recreational marijuana.

More Voters Means More Signatures Needed in Nebraska

    • Nebraska voters were presented with one veto referendum that addressed the death penalty. The measure, Referendum 426, gave voters the choice to either retain legislation that would have upheld Nebraska’s ban on the death penalty or repeal the legislation. The majority of voters chose the repeal option, thereby reinstating the death penalty in the state of Nebraska.
    • In Nebraska, the total number of signatures required for initiatives is based on the number of total registered voters in the state. Therefore, 2016 election results do not affect the signature requirements for initiatives and veto referendums. Proposed initiated state statutes require a signature number equal to 7 percent of registered voters, proposed initiated constitutional amendments require a number equal to 10 percent of registered voters, veto referendums that do not suspend a law require a number equal to 5 percent of registered voters, and veto referendums that do suspend a targeted law require a number equal to 10 percent of registered voters. The number of registered voters increased by a little over 50,000 since the 2014 election, leading to increases of between 3,000 and 6,000 in the number of signatures likely to be required for 2018 petitions. Likely signature requirements range from a little over 60,000 for veto referendums to a little over 121,000 for initiated constitutional amendments.

Californians Get Sworn In

Local

Houston Sued: Civil Rights in City Jail

  • Houston, Texas, was the target of a pair of lawsuits alleging that the city jail violated civil rights by detaining individuals for days illegally without allowing a hearing over whether there was probable cause during the initial arrest. The suits claim that the city violated the Fourth and 14th amendments, which deal with probable cause and due process. An attorney with Civil Rights Corps said, “It has become routine practice in this country to lock up poor people for days or weeks after arrest.” A city spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuits. The Texas Fair Defense Project joined Civil Rights Corps in filing the lawsuits. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States by population and the largest in Texas.

Ohio Keeps An Eye Out With Body Cameras

  • The city council in Columbus, Ohio, voted to approve a $9.1 million contract to provide police officers with body cameras. The cost will be paid over five years, with $4.1 million going toward storage, $3.6 million toward the equipment, and the rest earmarked for training, licensing fees, and other accessories. The cameras will first be distributed to the city police department’s traffic bureau by the end of January 2017 before being rolled out to all other bureaus after that. Columbus is the 15th-largest city in the United States by population and the largest in Ohio.
    • As of 2013, a survey of 500 police departments nationwide found that less than 25 percent of those departments utilized body-worn cameras. Other large cities have also initiated body camera programs this year. In June 2016, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve a $57 million deal to equip the city's police force with body cameras by the end of 2017. To read more about the use of police body cameras across the United States, click here.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #44 of The Tap, which was published on December 3, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

State

  • The recount for the Maine Marijuana Legalization ballot measure, Question 1, will begin. Counting teams of volunteers from both sides of the campaign and one secretary of state staff member will review bundles of 50 ballots at a time from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day until all ballots are counted or until the requesting group drops the recount after a partial review. The recount will be conducted in phases and is likely to begin with the larger cities of Bangor, Portland, South Portland, Lewiston, and Scarborough. Initial election results show the measure passing by less than half of a percent of the vote. If the election results are not reversed, recreational marijuana will become legal 30 days following the proclamation of the official results by the governor.
    • Voters in eight other states also saw marijuana-related measures on the ballot. Recreational marijuana was approved in California, Massachusetts, and Nevada, while medical marijuana was approved in Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota. Arizona was the only state where a marijuana measure did not pass; voters there narrowly defeated a measure to legalize recreational marijuana.
  • The newly elected members of the California State Legislature will be sworn into office on the first day of the new legislative session. Only 100 of the legislature’s 120 seats were up for election in 2016. California is a Democratic trifecta. Prior to the November 2016 election, there were seven Democratic trifectas. Following the election, there are six Democratic trifectas.




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
v • e
Ballotpedia-Logo-UPDATED-white background.jpg
Ballotpedia coverage by project
Federal
State
Local
Policy
News
Indexes



Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Tap:_Monday,_December_5,_2016&oldid=8437649"