The Tap: Monday, January 23, 2017

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
   ← Jan 22
Jan 24 →   

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 #50 of The Tap, which was published on January 28, 2017. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

Executive Actions

  • Trans-Pacific Partnership: Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from negotiations involving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This effectively ended U.S. involvement in the multilateral trade deal, which had not been ratified by Congress. As he signed the order, Trump called it a “great thing for the American worker.” The promise to remove the United States from TPP negotiations was part of a short YouTube video that Trump released on November 21, 2016, when he said that he would issue a “notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership” on his first day in office.
  • Hiring freeze: In another executive order, Trump authorized a hiring freeze for the federal government. The freeze excludes the military, national security staff, and staff responsible for public safety and public health. The hiring freeze was one portion of the Trump campaign’s “Contract for the American Voter,” which he announced in October 2016. That proposal said the freeze aimed “to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, DC.”
  • Mexico City Policy: Trump also signed an executive order to reinstate the Mexico City Policy, a policy regarding non-governmental organization (NGO) funding and abortion named after the city in which it was announced. The Mexico City Policy—called the “Global Gag Rule” by political opponents— was introduced by President Ronald Reagan (R) in 1984 and makes “neither perform[ing] nor actively promot[ing] abortion as a method of family planning in other nations” conditions of receiving federal funding for any NGO. Rescinding or reinstating this policy has become a tradition when party control of the White House changes. After being instituted in 1984 by Reagan, President Bill Clinton (D) rescinded the policy on January 22, 1993. Exactly nine years later, President George W. Bush (R) reinstated the policy, only to have in rescinded by President Barack Obama (D) on January 23, 2009.

Pompeo Confirmation

  • Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo (R) was confirmed to be the next head of the CIA. The vote had originally been slated for Inauguration Day but was rescheduled to Monday after Republicans and Democrats agreed to begin debate on Pompeo’s nomination. Pompeo’s initial hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee was on January 12. We covered the highlights of his testimony here.

Tillerson Moves Out of Committee

The First Press Conference

  • White House press secretary Sean Spicer held his first press conference, where he discussed several foreign policy positions of the Trump administration, including the location of the U.S. embassy in Israel, the South China Sea, and potential alliances to defeat ISIS.
    • Spicer said that no decisions had been made regarding whether to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He said that the Trump administration was "at the very early stages of that decision-making process" and would "continue to consult with stakeholders as we get there.” Trump and his nominee for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, both expressed support for moving the embassy last year.
    • Spicer also said that the U.S. would protect its interests in the South China Sea, where several islands are under disputed sovereignty. "If those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then, yes, we’re gonna make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country," he said.
    • According to Spicer, the Trump administration would be open to working directly with Russia to combat ISIS. "The president has been very clear that he’s going to work with any country that shares our interest in defeating ISIS. I think that if there’s a way that we can combat ISIS with any country, whether it’s Russia or anyone else, and we have a shared national interest in that, sure, we’ll take it," he said. Spicer declined to say the U.S. would do the same with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “We are going to smartly do this. We're not going to get together with people under guise of defeating ISIS if that's not truly their guise,” he said.

State

Casino or Slot Machines in York County, Maine

  • The Maine secretary of state certified enough signatures for the Maine Casino or Slot Machines in York County Initiative to qualify for a spot on the ballot on November 7, 2017. Because of the state’s indirect initiative process, the legislature will 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 Its Session

  • The state legislative session began 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.

Resignation in the South Dakota House

  • South Dakota State Rep. Mathew Wollmann (R) resigned from his position. Wollmann had admitted to KSFY the week before that he had sex with two interns while he was a freshman legislator. A disciplinary committee to investigate the matter was created shortly after, and chamber leadership said they would look at improvements to employee training. A replacement will be appointed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R). Wollmann’s resignation leaves the Republicans with a 59-10 majority in the chamber. South Dakota is currently one of 25 Republican trifectas.

Local

Filing Deadline for Colorado Springs

  • FILING DEADLINE: The filing deadline passed to run for six seats on the city council in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The general election will be held on April 4, 2017. The incumbents in District 2 and District 3 did not file for re-election. All six races are contested by two or more candidates. Colorado Springs is the second-largest city in Colorado and the 41st-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #49 of The Tap, which was published on January 21, 2017. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

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.

State

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

Local

Colorado Springs General Election



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,_January_23,_2017&oldid=8438193"