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The Tap: The Court is Back In Town

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October 1, 2016Issue No. 36

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The week in review: September 24 - September 30
What's on Tap next week: October 1 - October 7

Navigate The Tap by clicking the tabs below:

Federal

What's on tap?

On Monday, October 3, the U.S. Supreme Court gavels its October 2016 term into session with a non-argument session. Under federal law, the court is mandated to begin its term on the first Monday in October. As of October 1, the court has agreed to hear argument in 40 cases so far this term. Orders granting certiorari for additional cases are expected on Monday. The court begins its term with eight justices as the political battle continues over Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on February 13, 2016. Find out what’s on the docket in our preview section below.

 

Highlights

Key issues and exchanges from the debate

  • International trade:
    • Trump: “Our jobs are fleeing the country. They're going to Mexico. They're going to many other countries. … we have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us. We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States and, with it, firing all of their people. … Let me give you the example of Mexico. They have a VAT tax. We're on a different system. When we sell into Mexico, there's a tax. When they sell in -- automatic, 16 percent, approximately. When they sell into us, there's no tax. It's a defective agreement. It's been defective for a long time, many years, but the politicians haven't done anything about it.”
    • Clinton: “When I was in the Senate, I had a number of trade deals that came before me, and I held them all to the same test. Will they create jobs in America? Will they raise incomes in America? And are they good for our national security? Some of them I voted for. The biggest one, a multinational one known as CAFTA, I voted against. And because I hold the same standards as I look at all of these trade deals. But let's not assume that trade is the only challenge we have in the economy. I think it is a part of it, and I've said what I'm going to do. I'm going to have a special prosecutor. We're going to enforce the trade deals we have, and we're going to hold people accountable.” On the Trans-Pacific Partnership, she said, “I was against it once it was finally negotiated and the terms were laid out. … The facts are -- I did say I hoped it would be a good deal, but when it was negotiated … which I was not responsible for, I concluded it wasn't.”
    • See also: 2016 candidates on international trade and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
  • Trump’s tax returns:
    • Trump: When asked by Holt about releasing his tax returns, Trump said, “I don't mind releasing -- I'm under a routine audit. And it'll be released. And -- as soon as the audit's finished, it will be released. … Look, I've been under audit almost for 15 years. I know a lot of wealthy people that have never been audited. I said, do you get audited? I get audited almost every year. And in a way, I should be complaining. I'm not even complaining. I don't mind it. It's almost become a way of life. I get audited by the IRS. But other people don't. … I will say this. We have a situation in this country that has to be taken care of. I will release my tax returns -- against my lawyer's wishes -- when she releases her 33,000 e-mails that have been deleted. As soon as she releases them, I will release.”
    • Clinton: “For 40 years, everyone running for president has released their tax returns. We know the IRS has made clear there is no prohibition on releasing it when you're under audit. So you've got to ask yourself, why won't he release his tax returns? And I think there may be a couple of reasons. First, maybe he's not as rich as he says he is. Second, maybe he's not as charitable as he claims to be. Third, we don't know all of his business dealings, but we have been told through investigative reporting that he owes about $650 million to Wall Street and foreign banks. Or maybe he doesn't want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he's paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. … So if he's paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health.” In response to Clinton’s accusation that he has not paid any federal income tax in certain years, Trump said, “That makes me smart.”
    • 2016 candidates on Wall Street and banking policy
  • Race and inner-city crime:
    • Clinton: “Unfortunately, race still determines too much, often determines where people live, determines what kind of education in their public schools they can get, and, yes, it determines how they're treated in the criminal justice system. … We have to restore trust between communities and the police. We have to work to make sure that our police are using the best training, the best techniques, that they're well prepared to use force only when necessary. Everyone should be respected by the law, and everyone should respect the law.”
    • Trump: “Well, first of all, Secretary Clinton doesn't want to use a couple of words, and that's law and order. And we need law and order. If we don't have it, we're not going to have a country. … Now, whether or not in a place like Chicago you do stop and frisk, which worked very well, Mayor Giuliani is here, worked very well in New York. It brought the crime rate way down. But you take the gun away from criminals that shouldn't be having it.”
    • 2016 candidates on crime and justice, Black Lives Matter, and gun control
  • Cybersecurity:
    • Clinton: “We are seeing cyber attacks coming from states, organs of states. The most recent and troubling of these has been Russia. There's no doubt now that Russia has used cyber attacks against all kinds of organizations in our country, and I am deeply concerned about this. … We need to make it very clear -- whether it's Russia, China, Iran or anybody else -- the United States has much greater capacity. And we are not going to sit idly by and permit state actors to go after our information, our private-sector information or our public-sector information. … And the Russians need to understand that. I think they've been treating it as almost a probing, how far would we go, how much would we do. And that's why I was so -- I was so shocked when Donald publicly invited Putin to hack into Americans. That is just unacceptable.”
    • Trump: “As far as the cyber, I agree to parts of what Secretary Clinton said. We should be better than anybody else, and perhaps we're not. I don't think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She's saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don't -- maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK? … we have to get very, very tough on cyber and cyber warfare. It is -- it is a huge problem. I have a son. He's 10 years old. He has computers. He is so good with these computers, it's unbelievable. The security aspect of cyber is very, very tough. And maybe it's hardly doable.”
    • 2016 candidates on technology, privacy, and cybersecurity and national security
  • Stamina:
    • Trump: Asked by Holt what he meant when he previously said that Clinton doesn’t have “a presidential look,” Trump said, “She doesn't have the look. She doesn't have the stamina. I said she doesn't have the stamina. And I don't believe she does have the stamina. To be president of this country, you need tremendous stamina. … You have so many different things you have to be able to do, and I don't believe that Hillary has the stamina.”
    • Clinton: “Well, as soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease-fire, a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina.”
    • The health of presidential candidates
  • How Trump thought the debate went:
    • After the debate, Trump sent out several tweets calling attention to online polls saying that he won the debate. In one, he said, “Wow, did great in the debate polls (except for @CNN - which I don't watch). Thank you!” At a campaign rally in Florida, he added, “I was also holding back. I didn’t want to do anything to embarrass her.” In an interview on Fox and Friends, he discussed moderator Lester Holt, saying, “I had some hostile questions. He didn't ask her about the emails at all. He didn't ask her about her scandals. He didn't ask her about the Benghazi deal that she destroyed. He didn't ask her about a lot of things she should have been asked about. There's no question about it.” Directly after the debate, Trump had said that Holt did a “great job” and was “very fair.” In the Fox and Friends interview, he also raised the possibility of a faulty microphone. Trump said, “My microphone was terrible. I wonder: was it set up that way on purpose?”
  • How Clinton thought the debate went:
    • Clinton told reporters aboard her campaign plane on Tuesday morning that she was “thrilled” to have been able to share her economic policies with voters. She continued, “I felt so positive about it, and one of the thoughts that popped into my head was one of my favorite baseball players growing up, Ernie Banks, used to get so excited about going to play that he’d say, ‘Let’s play two.’” Commenting on Trump’s performance, Clinton said, “I think his demeanor, his temperament, his behavior on the stage could be seen by everybody and people can draw their own conclusions. I thought, on several occasions, he was making charges and claims that were demonstrably untrue, offering opinions that I think a lot of people would find offensive and off-putting. He can run his campaign and present himself however he chooses, but the real point is about temperament and fitness and qualification to hold the most important, hardest job in the world, and I think people saw last night some very clear differences between us.”
  • Where were Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein during the debate? The Commission on Presidential Debates announced on September 16 that Johnson and Stein did not meet the 15 percent polling threshold to be invited to the debates.
    • Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld took to social media during the debate. A spokesperson for the campaign said, “Govs. Johnson and Weld … will be respectful and not interested in any grandstanding for the cameras or inappropriate 'protests.'” In back-to-back tweets, Johnson said, “I agree with @realdonaldtrump - don't vote for @HillaryClinton,” and “I agree with @HillaryClinton - don't vote for @realDonaldTrump.”
    • Stein was scheduled for an interview with MSNBC at Hofstra University but was escorted off the campus by security. She joined supporters at a nearby protest before livestreaming her response to the debate on Facebook. The following day, Stein participated in Democracy Now’s “Expanding the Debate” series, responding to the same questions asked of Clinton and Trump.
 

Federal

The Week in Review

Saturday, September 24

  • Donald Trump called school choice the “new civil rights issue of our time” at a campaign event in Virginia. He said, “Too many African Americans have been left behind and trapped in poverty. I will fight to make sure every single African American child in this country is fully included in the American dream. That includes the new civil rights issue of our time: School choice.” Earlier in September, Trump outlined his stance on school choice, saying, “As your President, I will be the nation’s biggest cheerleader for school choice. I want every single inner city child in America who is today trapped in a failing school to have the freedom – the civil right – to attend the school of their choice. I understand many stale old politicians will resist. But it’s time for our country to start thinking big once again. We spend too much time quibbling over the smallest words, when we should spend our time dreaming about the great adventures that lie ahead.”
  • The editorial board of The New York Times endorsed Hillary Clinton, writing, "In any normal election year, we’d compare the two presidential candidates side by side on the issues. But this is not a normal election year. A comparison like that would be an empty exercise in a race where one candidate — our choice, Hillary Clinton — has a record of service and a raft of pragmatic ideas, and the other, Donald Trump, discloses nothing concrete about himself or his plans while promising the moon and offering the stars on layaway." The New York Times published a follow-up editorial titled “Why Donald Trump Should Not Be President.” The editorial board stated, “Voters attracted by the force of the Trump personality should pause and take note of the precise qualities he exudes as an audaciously different politician: bluster, savage mockery of those who challenge him, degrading comments about women, mendacity, crude generalizations about nations and religions. Our presidents are role models for generations of our children. Is this the example we want for them?”
  • President Barack Obama attended the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. In a speech, he said, "This national museum helps to tell a richer and fuller story of who we are. … By knowing this other story we better understand ourselves and each other. It binds us together. It reaffirms that all of us are America, that African-American history is not somehow separate from our larger American story. It is central to the American story. … We're not a burden on America or a stain on America or an object of shame and pity for America. We are America. And that's what this museum explains. Hopefully, this museum makes us talk to each other and listen to each other and see each other."

Sunday, September 25

  • Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton met with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, in separate meetings in New York. Netanyahu was in the country for the United Nations General Assembly meeting. A statement from the Trump campaign said, “Mr. Trump recognized that Israel and its citizens have suffered far too long on the front lines of Islamic terrorism. He agreed with Prime Minister Netanyahu that the Israeli people want a just and lasting peace with their neighbors, but that peace will only come when the Palestinians renounce hatred and violence and accept Israel as a Jewish State.” An aide to Clinton said, “The secretary reaffirmed her commitment to work toward a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiated directly by the parties that guarantees Israel's future as a secure and democratic Jewish state with recognized borders and provides the Palestinians with independence, sovereignty, and dignity.” After the meetings, Netanyahu tweeted images of himself meeting with the candidates along with a statement that said, “After meeting with 2 leading candidates for POTUS, I'm more convinced than ever that Israel-US bond will remain strong after the elections.”

Monday, September 26

  • Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump met for their first debate of the 2016 general election season. The event took place at Hofstra University in New York. Lester Holt of NBC News was the moderator. The widely anticipated debate turned out to be the most-watched debate in presidential debate history. With 84 million viewers on average—not including online viewers—the debate surpassed the previous record of 80 million set by Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980. In 2012, an average of 67.2 million watched the first debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
  • Ballotpedia’s coverage of the first presidential debate of the 2016 general election season included our Insiders Poll, guest commentary written by Karlyn Bowman of the American Enterprise Institute and David Kusnet of the Podesta Group, and a statistical analysis of the debate. We also have articles on the Commission on Presidential Debates and the candidates’ debate prep teams.
    • Insiders Poll: Our survey of more than 150 Democratic and Republican strategists, pollsters, media consultants, activists, lobbyists, and allied interest group operatives found Clinton to have been the winner of the debate. A total of 66 percent of respondents said Clinton won, while 17 percent gave the victory to Trump. 18 percent said it was a draw. Among the 75 Democratic Insiders who responded, an overwhelming 93 percent declared Clinton the “biggest winner” of the night. Another 5 percent called the debate a draw, and 1 percent (one Democratic Insider) said that Trump had prevailed. The 76 Republican Insiders who responded to the survey were much more divided, but a plurality of 38 percent still gave the edge to Clinton. Another 30 percent thought the debate was a draw, and 32 percent thought Trump had bested Clinton. The Insiders also approved of Lester Holt’s handling of the debate, with 66 percent saying he was “fair,” while 32 percent said he was harder on Trump than he was on Clinton.
    • Guest commentary: Ballotpedia guest writers, Karlyn Bowman of the American Enterprise Institute and David Kusnet of the Podesta Group, offered their expert opinions on the debate. Bowman, a widely respected analyst of public opinion, noted that Clinton's performance could have a positive short-term impact on her position in the polls but added that the overall impression of pollsters "is that the totality of the debates doesn’t really change things much." Kusnet, who served as chief speechwriter for former President Bill Clinton, emphasized the importance of preparation in debates. "Last night, we saw a well-prepared candidate out-perform a poorly trained Trump by every traditional standard of successful debating. ... [P]reparation helps even the best-informed speaker explain complexities and make her case."
    • Stats: Who spoke the most? Trump spoke for three more minutes than Clinton. He also spoke at a faster rate, saying approximately 2,200 more words than Clinton. Total word counts were 6,314 for Clinton and 8,515 for Trump. Clinton’s most commonly used words were “think,” “well,” “people,” “work,” and “Donald.” Trump’s most commonly used words were “very,” “country,” “look,” “think,” and “thing.” The candidates spent a lot of time talking about other countries, mentioning Iran 19 times, Russia 13 times, China 12 times, and Iraq 11 times.
  • The Washington Post reported that Trump’s charity, Donald J. Trump Foundation, received $2.3 million “from companies that owed money to Trump or one of his businesses but were instructed to pay Trump’s tax-exempt foundation instead.” $400,000 came from Comedy Central for Trump’s appearance on the network for a “roast.” The other $1.9 million came from a man named Richard Elbers, who, according to the Post, “sells sought-after tickets and one-of-a-kind experiences to wealthy clients.” Elbers bought “goods and services” from Trump or his business. These two payments account for half of the money given to the Trump Foundation since 2008. When asked if Trump had paid income taxes on these payments, a senior aide said, “To my knowledge, Mr. Trump has followed all applicable rules and regulations. The rest is pure speculation and worthless conjecture on your part.” Last week, The Washington Post reported that the Trump Foundation had spent $258,000 to settle lawsuits related to Trump’s for-profit business. “Those cases, which together used $258,000 from Trump’s charity, were among four newly documented expenditures in which Trump may have violated laws against ‘self-dealing’ — which prohibit nonprofit leaders from using charity money to benefit themselves or their businesses,” wrote reporter David Fahrenthold. The Trump campaign denied the accusations in an official statement. In mid-September, The New York attorney general’s office opened up an investigation into the Trump Foundation to ensure that it is “complying with the laws governing charities in New York.”
  • The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council endorsed Trump. The council is a union that represents 5,000 federal immigration officers throughout the country. Trump is the council’s first political endorsement in its history, according to a statement on Trump’s website. Chris Crane, the council’s president, said of Trump, “In his immigration policy, he has outlined core policies needed to restore immigration security -- including support for increased interior enforcement and border security, an end to Sanctuary Cities, an end to catch-and-release, mandatory detainers, and the canceling of executive amnesty and non-enforcement directives. … Donald Trump is the only candidate who is willing to put politics aside so that we can achieve that goal.”
    • In Monday night’s debate, Trump said that he had been endorsed by ICE, an acronym commonly used to describe the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A spokesperson for ICE told The Daily Beast, “Per the Hatch Act, federal agencies are prohibited from engaging in partisan political activity including the endorsement of any candidate for office. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not and will not endorse any candidate for office.”
    • See also: Trump on immigration
  • The Internal Revenue Service announced that it will begin collecting overdue federal tax debts using private companies beginning next spring. According to a press release from the agency, “The new program, authorized under a federal law enacted by Congress last December, enables these designated contractors to collect, on the government’s behalf, outstanding inactive tax receivables. As a condition of receiving a contract, these agencies must respect taxpayer rights including, among other things, abiding by the consumer protection provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. These private collection agencies will work on accounts where taxpayers owe money, but the IRS is no longer actively working their accounts.”
  • In a show of force against North Korea, the United States Navy and the South Korean Navy held exercises in the Sea of Japan. According to CNN, “It was the first time U.S. and South Korean vessels have operated together in waters so close to the east coast of North Korea, a US Navy official said. The ships were armed with long-range, precision, land-attack cruise missiles, the official said.” The show of force was in response to North Korea's recent testing of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles. Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea and Task Force 78, said in a statement, "We work side-by-side with our ROK partners every day; we are by their side today at sea, and we will remain by their side to defend against North Korea's unprovoked acts of aggression.”
  • During his eighth and final Tribal Nations Conference, President Barack Obama thanked members of the tribal communities who shared their experiences with him and discussed the progress he and tribal leaders have made for Indian Country. He said, “So today, the most important thing I want to say is thank you. After almost eight years as your President, I have been so privileged to learn from you and spend time with many of you while visiting more tribal communities than any other President. … And in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect, we’ve made a lot of progress for Indian Country over the past eight years. And this moment highlights why it’s so important that we redouble our efforts to make sure that every federal agency truly consults and listens and works with you, sovereign to sovereign.”
  • U.S. Labor Department Secretary Thomas Perez sent a letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) explaining that the department would review all complaints and alleged violations concerning the practices of Wells Fargo. Last week, Warren asked the department to investigate “possible wage and working-hour law violations involving Wells Fargo tellers and sales representatives who may have stayed late to meet sales quotas,” according to Forbes. In response, Perez wrote, “Given the serious nature of the allegations, the recent actions of our federal partners, and recent media reports, I have directed enforcement agencies within the Department to conduct a top-to-bottom review.” The department also created the website www.dol.gov/wellsfargo “to help ensure current and former Wells Fargo employees are aware of worker protection laws.” According to Forbes, “Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $190 million earlier this month to settle civil charges alleging its employees had set up about 2 million accounts and credit cards in customers’ names that may not have been authorized.”
  • Carter Page stepped down as a foreign policy advisor to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign amid speculation that he had engaged in discussions with top officials in the Russian government while in Moscow for a July speech. According to Yahoo News, U.S. intelligence officials were investigating allegations that Page had "talks about the possible lifting of economic sanctions if the Republican nominee becomes president." Upon leaving the campaign, Page denied the allegations to The Washington Post, saying, "All the ones that are mentioned in the various articles, I didn’t meet with any of those guys. It’s completely false and inconceivable that someone would even accuse me of that." Page then said he would leave the campaign to avoid further distractions: "This is another distraction that’s been created here. There’s so little time between now and the election, this is in the best interests of the candidate."
  • The Government Accountability Office released a report examining cybersecurity in health information technology and actions taken by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The report found that when HHS identifies cybersecurity weaknesses, its proposed solutions are often overly technical and unrelated to the problems. The GAO also said that HHS has not provided doctors and hospitals with adequate guidance about cybersecurity and that although the department conducts cybersecurity audits, there were never any benchmarks established to measure the effectiveness of the audits. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (R-Wash.) had requested the report. Since September 2009, nearly 170 million Americans have had their medical records breached.

Tuesday, September 27

  • Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said that Trump believes “global warming is naturally occurring” and humans are not the cause. In Monday night’s debate, Hillary Clinton said, “Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.” Trump responded, “I did not, I do not say that.” In November 2012, Trump tweeted, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” In December 2013, he tweeted, “Global warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!”
  • Trump announced that his campaign had raised $18 million from online donations in the 24 hours following the debate on Monday. “As a result of Donald Trump’s huge debate win last night, we had a massive fundraising day bringing in more than $18 million,” his campaign announced. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s campaign ended August with $50 million on hand. His joint party accounts totalled $47 million while his super PACs had approximately $6 million, giving Trump and his allies a total of $103 million at the end of the month. Twelve million of the $41.7 million that Trump raised in August came from donations of $200 or less. The Clinton campaign ended August with $64.8 million in cash on hand. Combined with the $84 million held by a joint fundraising committee with the Democratic Party and $41.5 million recorded by super PACs backing her campaign, Clinton and her allies closed out August with $194 million. $8.4 million of the $60 million that Clinton raised in August came from donations of $200 or less.
  • The editorial board of The Arizona Republic endorsed Hillary Clinton, marking the first time the newspaper has endorsed a Democrat for president in its 126-year history. "The challenges the United States faces domestically and internationally demand a steady hand, a cool head and the ability to think carefully before acting. Hillary Clinton understands this. Donald Trump does not. Clinton has the temperament and experience to be president. Donald Trump does not," the editors wrote.
  • President Barack Obama nominated Jeffrey DeLaurentis, a career Foreign Service officer, as the first United States ambassador to Cuba in more than a half-century. In a statement, Obama said, “Jeff’s leadership has been vital throughout the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba, and the appointment of an ambassador is a common sense step forward toward a more normal and productive relationship between our two countries.”
    • The Senate will have to confirm DeLaurentis before he can begin serving, but Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) argued that the Senate should not move on the nomination. Rubio said, “Just like releasing all terrorists from Guantánamo and sending U.S. taxpayer dollars to the Iranian regime, rewarding the Castro government with a U.S. ambassador is another last-ditch legacy project for the president that needs to be stopped. This nomination should go nowhere until the Castro regime makes significant and irreversible progress in the areas of human rights and political freedom for the Cuban people, and until longstanding concerns about the Cuban regime’s theft of property and crimes against American citizens are addressed.”
  • The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard arguments about the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The case was handed down to the D.C. court after the U.S. Supreme Court delayed the implementation of the plan in February 2016. The plan is being challenged by a group of 27 states and over 60 utility and energy companies. A total of 18 states and other groups filed "friend of the court" briefings supporting the plan. In an unusual move, the full court reviewed the plan en banc, as opposed to by a panel of three judges. Ten of the 11 judges heard the case; Judge Merrick Garland, a current Supreme Court nominee, recused himself. David Doniger from the Natural Resources Defense Council said after arguments that the "Clean Power Plan had a very good day." On the other side, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who argued against the plan, said, according to Utility Drive, that he thought the court had agreed with him that the EPA did not have the authority to regulate power plants under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, which is the basis for the Clean Power Plan. The D.C. court is expected to release its decision before the end of the year.
    • The Clean Power Plan, also known as the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 111(d) rule, is a regulation that would expand the scope of the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by limiting emissions from power plants. The plan was first proposed by the EPA in June 2014, and the final version was announced by President Obama on August 3, 2015.. The plan is considered controversial because of the high cost of compliance for purported benefits, and because the plan did not originate in legislation from Congress, but rather came from the agency's interpretation of the Clean Air Act.
  • The Washington Free Beacon obtained audio of Hillary Clinton discussing the country’s nuclear weapons program during a private fundraiser in February, in which she said she would be “inclined” to cancel an upgrade of the Long Range Stand-Off missile program. “The last thing we need are sophisticated cruise missiles that are nuclear armed,” she said.

Wednesday, September 28

  • Former U.S. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) endorsed Hillary Clinton, joining Clinton and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine onstage at a campaign event in Alexandria, Virginia. "There comes a time when I have to stand up and assert my own views,” he said. “If there’s one thing about candidate Clinton that you’ve got to understand, she throughout her whole life has been prepared, done her homework and studied.” Warner added that the first presidential debate “reinforced” his decision.
  • At a congressional oversight hearing, FBI Director James Comey said that the agency did not plan to reopen an investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state. He also said that there were no political motivations behind the decision. "You can call us wrong, but don't call us weasels. We are not weasels," he said.
  • “I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment in the former president of Mexico,” said Gary Johnson when asked by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to “name one foreign leader that you respect and look up to.” Matthews followed up by asking “Well, which one?” Johnson then said, “I’m having a brain freeze.” Johnson’s campaign manager, Ron Nielson, defended the candidate in a Facebook post, saying, “The Clinton and Trump supporters are at it again. This is gotcha-ism at its finest. … Yes, asked to name a favorite foreign leader, Gov. Johnson didn’t quickly name a specific favorite. That really doesn’t mean much. Most Americans and certainly most political candidates would have to stop and think before responding, with the possible exception of a Donald Trump who is enthralled by Putin.” The “Aleppo moment” that Johnson mentioned comes from another interview with MSNBC earlier in September. Asked how he would deal with the refugee crisis in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Johnson responded, “What is Aleppo?”
  • Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that more than 600 American troops will be deployed in preparation for the effort to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIL/ISIS. Americans will serve in an advisory role assisting the Iraqis with logistics, maintenance, and training. Carter said, “The coalition to defeat ISIL continues to achieve results on the battlefield, and I congratulate Iraqi security forces on their recent progress, including the operation to free Sharqat. The coalition will continue to increase the pressure on ISIL in Mosul and wherever it seeks refuge in Iraq.” According to the Department of Defense, “The addition of more than 600 additional troops in the coming weeks will bring the force management level to 5,262 U.S. troops as of today.”
  • In response to a lawsuit brought by VICE News, the State Department announced that it would release 1,850 pages of emails recovered by the FBI during its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server before the general election. Some of the emails, which must be published by November 3, are expected to either be duplicative of previously released emails or heavily redacted.
  • Politico reported that the Clinton campaign is worried there is an enthusiasm gap among black voters in Florida. “Obama enjoyed support from 95 percent of Florida’s black voters in both 2012 and 2008, according to exit polls. Clinton isn’t polling quite that well in a state that has nearly 1.7 million black voters. An average of the last three Florida polls that provided racial breakdowns shows she’s polling less than 85 percent among African-American voters in Florida, while Trump polls around 5 percent. It’s not just Clinton’s margins with black voters that concerns Democrats. It’s whether African-American voters turn out in force for her in a pivotal state whose 29 electoral votes” could determine the election, Politico noted.

Thursday, September 29

  • Newsweek reports that Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, a company owned by Donald Trump, “secretly” conducted business in Cuba during the presidency of Fidel Castro at a time when “American trade bans that made such undertakings illegal.” Trump Hotels allegedly spent “a minimum of $68,000” on a trip to Cuba in 1998 “to give Trump’s company a foothold should Washington loosen or lift the trade restrictions.” Federal law in 1998 prohibited corporate expenditures by U.S. companies in Cuba without government approval. The Newsweek report states, “The company did not spend the money directly. Instead, with Trump’s knowledge, executives funneled the cash for the Cuba trip through an American consulting firm called Seven Arrows Investment and Development Corp. Once the business consultants traveled to the island and incurred the expenses for the venture, Seven Arrows instructed senior officers with Trump’s company—then called Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts—how to make it appear legal by linking it after the fact to a charitable effort.” Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, when asked about the allegations on The View, said, “They paid money, as I understand, in 1998,” but added that Trump did not invest money in Cuba. “Did his hotel invest money in 1998 in Cuba? No,” said Conway.
    • Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R), whose parents immigrated from Cuba and has been a vocal critic of President Obama’s efforts to open up relations with Cuba, commented on the allegations in an interview with ESPN/ABC’s Capital Games. He said, “I hope the Trump campaign is going to come forward and answer some questions about this, because if what the article says is true — and I’m not saying it is, we don’t know with a hundred percent certainty — I’d be deeply concerned about it, I would. … I mean, it was a violation of American law, if that’s how it happened.” Rubio often clashed with Trump throughout the 2016 Republican primaries but later endorsed him.
    • Hillary Clinton said that the allegations reported by Newsweek appear “to violate U.S. law, certainly flout American foreign policy and he has consistently misled people in responding to questions about whether he was attempting to do business in Cuba. This adds to the long list of actions and statements that raise doubts about his temperament and qualification to be president.”
  • For the first time in its 34-year history, USA Today’s editorial board declared its stance in a presidential election by condemning Donald Trump’s candidacy for president. “From the day he declared his candidacy 15 months ago through this week’s first presidential debate, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents,” wrote the editorial board. The board added that its criticism of Trump does not equate to an endorsement of Hillary Clinton: “The Editorial Board does not have a consensus for a Clinton endorsement.” The board concluded, “Stay true to your convictions. That might mean a vote for Clinton, the most plausible alternative to keep Trump out of the White House. Or it might mean a third-party candidate. Or a write-in. … Whatever you do, however, resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue. By all means vote, just not for Donald Trump.”
    • Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump’s running mate, wrote an opposing op-ed in USA Today in which he said, “By electing Donald Trump, the American people have the opportunity to choose a bold leader. In a political world often reserved for talkers, Donald Trump is a doer. I’ve come to know the man who invited me to join him on the Republican ticket as thoughtful, compassionate and steady. Above all, I know he is ready to lead the United States as our next president and commander in chief.”
  • The Detroit News broke an almost-century-and-a-half tradition by endorsing Gary Johnson for president. Since its founding in 1873, the Michigan newspaper has backed a Republican candidate in every presidential election with the exceptions of 2004 and two elections during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, when the paper chose to remain neutral. In its endorsement of Johnson, the paper said, “We abandon that long and estimable tradition this year for one reason: Donald J. Trump. … The 2016 nominee offered by the Republican Party rubs hard against the editorial board’s values as conservatives and Americans. Donald Trump is unprincipled, unstable and quite possibly dangerous. He can not be president.” The paper commended Hillary Clinton for her resume and temperament but criticized her on policy and character issues. On Johnson, the paper stated, “this is an endorsement of conscience, reflecting our confidence that Johnson would be a competent and capable president and an honorable one.” Johnson picked up several major newspaper endorsements in September, including the New Hampshire Union Leader and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
  • The Trump campaign paid the remainder of former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski’s salary in a lump sum. Lewandowski, who was fired from the campaign in July and became a commentator for CNN shortly after, had been receiving $20,000 a month from the Trump campaign in a severance arrangement. The arrangement between the campaign, Lewandowski, and CNN prompted concerns by some that the network verged on “paying sources for content.” The final amount paid to Lewandowski will not be publicly available until mid-October, when the next financial disclosure statements are released.
  • Hillary Clinton wrote an op-ed in Fortune discussing what she perceives as the challenges facing working women and mothers. "I’ll never forget what it was like to be a mom at work. It wasn’t easy. And I was lucky: I had financial security, a supportive employer, and affordable childcare. Too many families don’t. I’ve met so many parents stuck in impossible situations, at their wits’ ends trying to make it all work. It just shouldn’t be this hard to work and have a family," Clinton wrote. She then highlighted her plan to limit childcare expenses to 10 percent of a household’s income, establish 12 weeks of paid family leave, raise the minimum wage, encourage Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, and promote pay transparency.
  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a statement confirming that pharmaceutical company Mylan incorrectly classified its product EpiPen with the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. The program requires companies to provide rebates to Medicaid in exchange for coverage of their drugs. Mylan classified EpiPen as a generic rather than brand-name drug; rebates under the program are lower for generics than branded products. The incorrect classification had “financial consequences for the amount that federal and state governments spend,” CMS said, with states possibly spending millions more than they would have otherwise because they did not receive rebates from the company. A Mylan spokeswoman wrote that EpiPen was classified as a generic under guidance from the federal government and “has been classified as a non-innovator [generic] since long before Mylan acquired the product.”
  • Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that next week’s joint exercises of Filipino and American troops will be the last because he does not want to hurt future trade relations with China. Duterte said, “I would serve notice to you now that this will be the last military exercise. Jointly, Philippines-US, the last one. I will maintain the military alliance because there is an RP-US pact which our countries signed in the early ‘50s. I will establish new alliances for trade and commerce and you are scheduled to hold war games again, which China does not want.” The announcement comes after Duterte said that U.S. special forces troops had to leave Mindanao and after Duterte called President Barack Obama a “son of a whore,” a comment for which he later apologized.
  • In a press release, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule that requires “federal contractors to provide paid sick leave to employees who work on or in connection with certain federal contracts. The rule will allow these workers to use paid leave if they are sick, need to take care of a sick family member or must see a doctor or take a family member to a medical appointment. Workers may also use paid sick leave for reasons related to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.” Secretary of Labor Tom Perez said, "Part of the basic bargain of America is that if you work hard, you should be able to take care of your family. Paid sick leave helps workers recover from illness, or be there for their families, whether it’s to take an elderly parent to the doctor or to stay home with a young child with a fever. It allows working families to focus on what really matters most without having to worry about the next paycheck.” The final rule implements an executive order signed by President Barack Obama on September 7, 2015.
  • The Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration agreed to lift sanctions placed on Iran’s Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International—banks that were previously sanctioned for financing Iran’s ballistic-missile program—on the same day that the administration used a $400 million cash payment as leverage to ensure that Iran released four Americans who were being held there as prisoners. The sanctions on the banks were not initially to be lifted until 2023 under the nuclear agreement with Iran. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Administration critics and some congressional officials said they believed the move broke the commitments the administration made to Congress about the deal. The Obama administration had told Congress that under the deal the U.S. would lift sanctions only on companies and individuals tied to Iran’s nuclear development. Sanctions on those involved in missile development were to remain in place, these critics said.”

Friday, September 30

  • The Chicago Tribune endorsed Gary Johnson for president. The paper endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, though it has traditionally prefered Republican candidates for president, according to Politico. It endorsed Marco Rubio in the 2016 Republican primaries but did not endorse a candidate in the 2016 Democratic primaries. The Tribune wrote that Johnson and his running mate, Bill Weld, are “agile, practical and, unlike the major-party candidates, experienced at managing governments. They offer an agenda that appeals not only to the Tribune's principles but to those of the many Americans who say they are socially tolerant but fiscally responsible.” The paper was critical of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump is “not fit to be president,” and his rise is a “mystery” and a “shame,” the paper wrote. Clinton was described as “undeniably capable of leading the United States,” but the paper rejected what it called her “vision of ever-expanding government” and “calls for a vast expansion of federal spending, supported by the kinds of tax hikes that were comically impossible even in the years when President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats dominated both houses of Congress.”
  • Hillary Clinton announced a plan to create a new National Service Reserve to connect Americans interested in volunteering with communities in need. The initiative would allow local and state leaders to call on reservists to provide emergency relief, natural disaster assistance, and support for programs tackling community issues like homelessness and drug addiction. Participation in the program could lead to college credits and special credentials.

Congressional legislation

This week on Capitol Hill, members of Congress voted to override President Barack Obama's veto of S 2040—the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA)—and avoided a government shutdown by passing a continuing resolution to fund the government until December 9, 2016.

On Wednesday, members of the Senate, who stayed in Washington, D.C., instead of returning home to campaign, voted 97-1 to override Obama's veto of JASTA. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) cast the only vote to uphold the veto. On the same day, the House voted 342-85 to override the veto, effectively making JASTA law. It was the first veto override of Obama's presidency. See also: Barack Obama: Vetoed legislation

After congressional leadership reached an agreement on funding for residents of Flint, Michigan, to address their lead-contaminated water crisis, Congress was able to move forward with a continuing resolution (CR) that was initially blocked by Senate Democrats. The CR includes funding for federal agencies until December 9, 2016. It also includes funding to fight the Zika virus; to help residents in Louisiana, West Virginia, and Maryland recover from recent floods; and to address opioid addiction.

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats voted against the CR because it included funding for flood victims but not for residents of Flint. Democrats did not oppose including flood relief in the CR, but they argued that if flood victims received funding, residents of Flint should also receive funding for safe drinking water, whether that was in the CR or another measure. Congressional leaders agreed to provide $170 million in funding for Flint in an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which passed on Wednesday. Passage of the WRDA paved the way for the CR to pass. Residents of Flint will have to wait until after the elections for the Senate and House to work out the differences between each chamber’s bill before it heads to Obama’s desk.

Negotiations to avoid a government shutdown on December 10, 2016, will resume when members of Congress return to Capitol Hill on November 14, 2016.

Full coverage of this week’s legislation can be viewed here.

Tuesday, September 27

  • Key vote: The Senate rejected a continuing resolution (CR), which is a 10-week stopgap bill to fund the government until December 9, 2016, by a vote of 45-55. Sixty votes were needed to move forward with the bill.
  • Key vote: The Senate held a second procedural vote on the CR, but it failed by a vote of 40-59. Sixty votes were needed to move forward with the bill.
  • The House passed HR 954—the CO-OP Consumer Protection Act of 2016—by a vote of 258-165. The legislation proposed temporarily exempting individuals whose coverage was terminated or discontinued by the closure of a qualified nonprofit health insurance issuer that was established through the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan program (known as co-ops) from having to pay a penalty for not having insurance as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.
    • Veto threat: In a statement, the White House threatened to veto the bill. The statement said that the bill “would be a step in the wrong direction, because it would create a precedent that undermines a key part of the [Obamacare] law and would do nothing to help middle-class families obtain affordable health care. The individual-responsibility provision is a necessary part of a system that prohibits discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions and requires guaranteed issuance. The provision helps prevent people from waiting until they get sick to buy health insurance or dropping health insurance when they believe they do not need it. Weakening the individual responsibility provision would increase health insurance premiums and decrease the number of Americans with coverage.”

Wednesday, September 28

  • Continuing resolution to fund the government: The Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government until December 9, 2016, by a vote of 72-26. The House then passed the CR by a vote of 342-85. The CR funds federal agencies until December 9. It also includes funding to fight the Zika virus; to help residents in Louisiana, West Virginia, and Maryland recover from recent floods; and to address opioid addiction.
    • Key vote: The House approved an amendment to the WRDA that allocates $170 million in funding to Flint, Michigan, and other cities with contaminated drinking water by a vote of 284-141. Although the Senate version of the WRDA included funding for Flint, the original House version did not.

 

Congress is IN session SCOTUS is IN session
The U.S. Senate will be in session Tuesday-Friday next week. The U.S. House is not in session next week. The Supreme Court begins its October term 2016 on Monday, October 3. The court will hold a non-argument session on Monday and will hear its first arguments of the term on Tuesday, October 4, and Wednesday, October 5. You can preview the upcoming term by reviewing Ballotpedia’s Supreme Court 2016-2017 overview. To read about last year’s term, read Ballotpedia’s Supreme Court end of term review, 2015-2016.

What’s On Tap Next Week

Tuesday, October 4

  • The one and only vice presidential debate of the 2016 general election season will take place Tuesday night. Ballotpedia’s coverage will include an Insiders Poll and statistical analysis. Here is everything you need to know before the action starts:
    • Start time is 9 pm Eastern Time. Like the first presidential debate on September 26, it will run 90 minutes, commercial-free.
    • The participants will be Tim Kaine (D) and Mike Pence (R). The Commission on Presidential Debates, which oversees the general election debates, announced on September 16, 2016, that Bill Weld, the 2016 Libertarian Party nominee for vice president, and Ajamu Baraka, the 2016 Green Party nominee for vice president, were not invited to attend the debate because they did not satisfy the CPD's criteria for inclusion.
    • The debate will take place at Longwood University in Virginia, Tim Kaine’s home state and a crucial battleground state in the 2016 presidential election.
    • Elaine Quijano of CBS News will be moderating. She is the first Asian American to moderate a general election debate.
    • According to the CPD website, "The debate will be divided into nine time segments of approximately 10 minutes each. The moderator will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic."
    • Vice presidential debates have been a part of the general election cycle since 1976, but it was not until 1984 that they became regular features. They have tended to garner fewer viewers than the presidential debates. One significant exception is the 2008 vice presidential debate between Joe Biden (D) and Sarah Palin (R), which brought in 69.9 million viewers. The first presidential debate that year had 52.4 million viewers. Learn more here.
    • To help Kaine prepare for the debate, D.C. attorney Robert Barnett is playing the role of Pence in mock debate sessions. Barnett also assisted Hillary Clinton with debate prep in the Democratic primaries by playing the role of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. In past debates, Barnett has also played George H.W. Bush and Dick Cheney. On the Republican side, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is helping Pence prepare for the vice presidential debate by playing the role of Kaine. Walker himself sought the 2016 Republican nomination, but he suspended his campaign in September 2015 and later endorsed Donald Trump. Prior to Trump’s selection of Pence as his running mate, Walker was rumored to have been a potential candidate.
    • See also: Vice presidential debate at Longwood University (October 4, 2016) and Presidential debates (2015-2016)
  • The U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in two cases.
    • In Bravo-Fernandez v. United States, the court examines the limits of double jeopardy protection. Juan Bravo-Fernandez and an accomplice were convicted of bribery in a trial, but those charges were vacated on appeal. They were also acquitted in the same trial of Travel Act and conspiracy violations. Bravo-Fernandez says that he cannot be retried on bribery charges because a jury acquitted him on related offenses in an earlier trial and, in acquitting him on those charges, the jury "necessarily found that the government failed to prove issues that the government would have to relitigate in ... new prosecutions,” which he believes violates the Fifth Amendment.
    • In Shaw v. United States, the court will review whether a defendant can be guilty of committing bank fraud under U.S. law if financial institutions affected by the fraud are not the defendant’s intended victims. Federal law provides that bank fraud is committed when a party “knowingly executes, or attempts to execute, a scheme or artifice to defraud a financial institution." Shaw argues that because the financial institution was not his primary target for the fraud, he could not have knowingly executed a scheme to defraud the bank.

Wednesday, October 5

  • The U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in three cases.
    • In Salman v. United States, the court will review what the appropriate standard for federal courts should be in order to prove someone obtained a “personal benefit” as part of an insider trading scheme. The federal appeals courts are split on the appropriate standard.
    • In Buck v. Davis, the court will determine if the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ requirements for obtaining a certificate of appealability—a procedural requirement certifying that an appellant has made a substantial showing of a constitutional right—are “unduly burdensome.” Buck alleges that he had ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) at his sentencing for capital murder and that his death penalty conviction must be vacated.
    • In Manuel v. City of Joliet, the court will consider whether the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ rationale for prohibiting malicious prosecution claims under the Fourth Amendment can stand. Ten other federal circuit courts permit malicious prosecution under the Fourth Amendment, but the Seventh Circuit does not unless all existing remedies under state law are first exhausted.

 

Where was the president last week? Federal judiciary
President Barack Obama participated in a CNN town hall at Fort Lee in Virginia on Wednesday night. On Thursday, Obama traveled to the funeral of Shimon Peres.  
  • 104 total federal judicial vacancies
  • 65 pending nominations
  • 14 future vacancies

Back to top for State, Local, and fact checks updates

State and Local

Highlights

Local

On Monday, September 26, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the bond status of Chicago Public Schools, pushing its rating into a lower level of junk bond status. The firm decided on the downgrade due to the following three factors: a reliance on short-term borrowing, the district’s budget being "built on unrealistic expectations" of aid from the state government, and a “deepening structural deficit.” Additionally, the school district announced a loss of $45 million in funding after enrollment fell below projected levels for the current school year. The district served 396,683 students during the 2014-2015 school year, making it the largest school district in the state and the third-largest school district in the country.

State

The winner of the August 16 Democratic primary for Alaska House District 40 is not expected to be determined by the courts until October 7. Incumbent Benjamin Nageak (D) has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn the results of the primary in which he lost. A recount confirmed that challenger Dean Westlake (D) defeated the incumbent Nageak by eight votes in the Democratic primary. Multiple voting irregularities during the primary election led to the lawsuit. The most contentious voting irregularity was in the village of Shungnak where 50 voters received both the Republican ballot and Democratic ballot. According to state law, voters may only receive one ballot. Since the Democratic primary in Alaska is an open system, any voter regardless of party affiliation can vote in the Democratic primary. Republicans have a closed primary system. Since no Republicans were on the ballot in District 40, the state’s attorney Margaret Paton-Walsh said that Shungnak voters voted properly and that it “did not produce a single vote in the Democratic primary that was cast by a voter who was not eligible to vote in the Democratic primary." Nageak’s attorney wants certain ballots thrown out and a new election called.

 

State

The Week in Review

Ballot measures update

Monday, September 26

  • Indiana University Health Plans, part of the IU Health system, announced it would be withdrawing from the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange in 2017. The company will continue to sell individual plans on the exchange, but the 27,000 people who purchased an IU Health plan through the exchange will need to find new coverage during open enrollment this fall. In a press release, IU Health Plans President James Parker said the decision was “necessary to adapt to new market dynamics and potential federal responses to withdrawals by many companies nationally from the federally facilitated marketplace.” Indiana has a federally facilitated exchange, meaning the federal government manages it through Healthcare.gov.

Tuesday, September 27

  • Opponents of education-related Georgia Amendment 1 filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the measure’s ballot title and summary wording. Amendment 1 would authorize the state to form an Opportunity School District (OSD) that would oversee certain schools determined to be “chronically failing.” The lawsuit was filed against Governor Nathan Deal (R), Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle (R), and Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) and claims that the ballot language provided by the state is biased and false. Specifically, plaintiffs objected that Amendment 1 would not “increase community involvement,” as the ballot title states, and that there is no evidence that state involvement would "fix failing schools." Moreover, plaintiffs objected to the amendment's definition of “failing” schools and argued that the biased nature of the ballot language deprives Georgia voters of their right to an effective vote. Georgia PTA president Lisa-Marie Haygood said, “the preamble, and indeed, the entire amendment question, is intentionally misleading and disguises the true intentions of the OSD legislation.” Tom Willis, director of the Amendment 1 support group, Opportunity for All Georgia Students, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “This is a last-minute media stunt engineered by outside special interest groups in order to generate publicity. This frivolous lawsuit demonstrates the depths to which some outside groups will go to defend the status quo.”
  • Federal judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan temporarily blocked an Illinois state law allowing for same-day voter registration at polling places. In 2014, the Illinois General Assembly adopted the law, which requires counties with populations of 100,000 or more that use electronic books for voter registration records to provide for same-day registration at all polling places. For all other counties, election officials were not required to provide for same-day registration at all polling sites, only at centralized locations, such as county clerks' offices. Opponents, including state Republicans, alleged that these provisions unduly favored voters residing in populous areas, such as Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, providing them with registration opportunities unavailable to voters in more rural areas. In his preliminary injunction order, Der-Yeghiayan said, "The application of this legislation favors the urban citizen and dilutes the vote of the rural citizen. Illinois is made up of more than the Chicago metropolitan area and other high population areas. Equality under the law does not end at the city limits." Meanwhile, proponents of the law, including state Democrats, criticized the order, arguing that it would disenfranchise some voters and cause confusion at the polls on Election Day. Trevor Gervais, an organizer for Common Cause Illinois (a self-described "nonpartisan watchdog group"), said, "To suspend election day registration and suppress the vote less than two weeks before the voter registration deadline will hurt communities across Illinois who were counting on being able to register and vote on November 8."
  • Joe Miller, a 2016 Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate representing Alaska, held a signature collection event for his campaign to recall Governor Bill Walker (I). Walker made a series of line-item vetoes to the state budget in June 2016 that included halving the annual disbursement of Permanent Fund dividends to Alaska residents in 2016. In addition to the recall effort, the vetoes are the subject of a lawsuit filed against the state on September 16, 2016, which alleges that Walker did not have the authority to alter Permanent Fund disbursements. The lawsuit was filed in the Third District Court by state Sen. Bill Wielechowski (D) and two former Republican state senate presidents: Clem Tillion and Rick Halford. The case will be heard by Judge Herman Walker Jr. "The Governor cannot veto existing law," said Wielechowski. Walker responded that Wielechowski had "failed to work towards a solution to our fiscal crisis" and implied that the senator was using the lawsuit to aid his 2016 re-election bid.
    • Recall efforts in Alaska rarely succeed due to stringent requirements. Miller must gather 28,585 physical signatures in order to submit an application for recall to the Division of Elections, along with a statement of grounds. If approved, a petition is issued and petitioners would need to gather over 71,000 signatures in order to trigger a recall election. Miller also ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2010 and 2014. Alaska currently has a divided government: Both chambers of the legislature are controlled by Republicans; Walker won election in 2014 as an independent, though he had previously been affiliated with the Republican Party.
  • North Carolina State Senator Fletcher Hartsell (R) was indicted on 14 federal charges for fraud and money laundering. Hartsell was accused of using campaign funds on personal expenses such as personal entertainment and gifts for family members. Allegedly, after spending campaign funds on these personal expenses, Hartsell filed false campaign finance reports. The senator pleaded not guilty on all charges. He had previously been charged at the state level with three counts of filing false reports.

Wednesday, September 28

  • Vermont received preliminary approval from the federal government on its waiver request to implement an all-payer rate-setting program for healthcare providers in the state. All-payer rate programs require all third-party payers, such as private insurers, Medicaid, and Medicare, to reimburse providers at similar rates determined by the state. If finalized, Vermont’s program would begin on January 1, 2017, and would scrap fee-for-service reimbursement, replacing it with global payments, which are lump sums intended to cover all of the services provided to patients. Vermont says this system would reduce healthcare costs while improving the quality of care. Only one other state, Maryland, has an all-payer reimbursement system, but the program only applies to hospitals.

Friday, September 30

  • New Jersey Commissioner of Education David Hespe stepped down after having announced his resignation from the nonpartisan position on September 2. Hespe said in his statement that the "time is right" for a personal transition. Gov. Chris Christie (R) selected Assistant Commissioner Kimberley Harrington to serve as interim commissioner until Christie selects a permanent replacement. Christie's selection will be subject to confirmation by the state Senate. New Jersey currently has a divided government: Republicans hold the governorship while Democrats have majority control in both chambers of the state legislature.
  • Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) was suspended from the bench for the remainder of his term by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. He will be unable to run for another term due to Alabama’s age limit of 70 for judicial candidates. Under the Alabama Constitution, Moore has the right to appeal the judiciary court’s decision to the Alabama Supreme Court, and his attorney stated that Moore is filing an appeal.
    • Chief Justice Moore stood trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, Alabama’s judicial discipline court, on September 28, 2016. The verdict was announced on September 30, 2016. Moore faced ethics charges brought by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission. The charges were based on Moore’s January administrative order stating that the Alabama Supreme Court’s prior orders to probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses “remain in full force and effect” in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that the U.S. Constitution requires states both to license same-sex marriage and to recognize such marriages performed in other states.
    • Moore first served as chief justice from 2001 to 2003. During that term, he was first suspended and then removed from the bench for his refusal to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state courthouse. He was voted back onto the state supreme court in 2012 and had served as chief justice since 2013. Justice Moore was suspended in May 2016 to await trial before the court of the judiciary. That court decided to suspend him from the bench for the remainder of his term, which ends in 2019, rather than remove him from the court a second time. The decision for suspension was unanimous among the court of the judiciary’s nine judges. A decision for Moore’s removal from the bench would have had to be unanimous by law, and the court’s decision stated outright that while a majority of the judges were in favor of removal, some were opposed. The press secretary to Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said that no interim justice will be appointed; the Alabama Supreme Court will continue through the end of Moore’s term with only eight justices.

 


State government in session

All states whose initials appear in red or blue in the list below have unified Republican or Democratic Party control across the state house, the state senate, and the office of the governor. Ballotpedia identifies these as “trifectas.” There are seven Democratic and 23 Republican trifectas. One state—New Jersey—is in regular session; Ohio is in a skeleton (non-voting) session. Massachusetts is in an informal session.

  • Skeleton session: In a typical skeleton session, a clerk, a presiding officer, and another legislative member are the only people present. The presiding officer will convene the session day and adjourn it minutes later. Lawmakers who live more than 50 miles from the statehouse can deduct lodging and meal expenses on their federal income tax forms for each day the legislature is in skeleton or regular session.
  • Informal session: In an informal session, no attendance is taken and only a few members attend the session. These sessions address day-to-day business and non-controversial bills. The bills do not require debate or a roll-call vote, and they must be passed unanimously. If one member objects, the measure is blocked.

Three states are in recess:

  • PA until 10/17
  • MI until 10/18
  • CA until 11/30

The following states have adjourned their regular sessions:

  • AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MO, MN, MS, NC, NE, NM, NH, NY, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY

Four states have no regular sessions in 2016:

  • MT, ND, NV, TX

State government special elections

As of this week, 47 seats have been filled through legislative special elections in 2016. Nine involved party changes: four from Republican to Democratic (Oklahoma, SD 34; Massachusetts, HD Twelfth Essex; Kentucky, HD 62; and New Hampshire, HD Rockingham 21), three from Democratic to Republican (Texas, HD 118; Minnesota, HD 50B; and New York, SD 9), one from Democratic to independent (Texas, HD 120), and one from Republican to independent (Louisiana, HD 85). Another 11 (not including runoff elections) have been scheduled in eight states. An average of 37 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past three even years (2010: 26, 2012: 45, and 2014: 40). Last week:

  • Three members were appointed to the Nevada Legislature on September 27, 2016. The seats were expected to remain vacant until the November 8 general election, but the Washoe County Commission filled the vacancies because of the upcoming special session for the proposed Oakland Raiders football stadium. The special session is expected to take place sometime between October 7 and October 13.

Local

The Week in Review

2016 elections

  • In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering municipal elections across 12 of America’s largest counties by population, 46 of America's 100 largest cities by population, local judicial elections across all 39 states holding elections, school board elections across 643 of America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment, all local ballot measures in California, and notable measures across the United States.
    • So far this year, Ballotpedia has covered 27 city elections, 28 states with local judicial elections, 304 school board elections, and 162 local ballot measures in California. Ballotpedia will be covering all of the approximately 450 local California measures on the ballot in November.
  • Most elections, including local elections, are held during spring and fall months. Summer and winter months contain relatively few elections and filing deadlines.

Sunday, September 25

  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) hired fundraising consultant Revolution Messaging in order to aid his 2017 re-election bid. The firm served as the online fundraising arm of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and drew praise for its efficacy from a number of media outlets. De Blasio’s re-election campaign has stated its plan to do more grassroots fundraising than his previous campaign, which saw the mayor receive a number of substantial donations from Manhattan residents. New York City is the largest city in the country by population.

Monday, September 26

  • U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper ruled that a transgender discrimination lawsuit against the Kenosha Unified School District in Wisconsin could move forward. The lawsuit against the district’s school board argued that not allowing a student who identifies as male to use the men’s restroom qualifies as discrimination under the Title IX law. The school district served 22,818 K-12 students during the 2013-2014 school year. It was the third-largest school district in Wisconsin during the 2012-2013 school year.
  • Police in Kansas City, Missouri, began a test of a police body camera system. The three-month test will outfit 25 officers with cameras that must be turned on manually. The test is designed to see how footage would be stored and whether the current body camera equipment could be implemented more widely. Police Chief Darryl Forté said in a statement that the test would be important because a number of agencies nationwide had promised to roll out body camera programs but had been forced to recall them after seeing the costs associated with video storage. Kansas City is the 37th-largest city in the country by population and the largest in Missouri.

Tuesday, September 27

  • The superintendents of two of Texas’ largest school districts called on the Texas Commissioner of Education to abolish special education enrollment targets. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa of the Dallas ISD and Superintendent Pedro Martinez of the San Antonio ISD said that state-imposed penalties were keeping thousands of students out of special education programs once those programs had reached their planned enrollment figures. This statement came after an investigation by the Houston Chronicle found that the state had a special education enrollment rate of 8.5 percent, nearly half of the national average. In 2013, Texas had 5,077,659 students enrolled in a total of 8,731 schools in 1,254 school districts.
  • In California, Sacramento City Councilman Larry Carr (D) introduced a 12-point proposal to put restrictions on the police use of deadly force. The proposal comes in response to a mentally ill black man being shot fatally by police officers in the city last week. The council will not debate the proposal until October 13, 2016, and Carr plans to incorporate public feedback and council input prior to the debate.
    • Sacramento held primary elections for mayor and four city council seats in June 2016. Because a candidate won a majority of the votes in each race, the general elections scheduled for November 8, 2016, were canceled. Sacramento is the 35th-largest city in the country by population and the sixth-largest in California.
  • The city council in Washington, D.C., held the first of two hearings on a proposed constitution for the district. The proposal is part of a plan by Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) to gain statehood for the district. Any potential constitution would have to be approved by voters in the district and then sent to Congress for approval. At that point, Bowser hopes, lawmakers would approve the constitution and vote on making the district the nation’s 51st state. Most believe statehood for the nation’s capital to be a long shot. Given its overwhelmingly Democratic population, statehood would essentially guarantee two more Democratic senators, something a Republican Congress is unlikely to approve. Washington, D.C., is the 23rd-largest city in the country by population.

Wednesday, September 28

  • Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) issued an opinion that Detroit schools with poor academic performance can be shut down by the state as early as this school year. This ruling contrasted with an earlier opinion supported by Gov. Rick Snyder (R) that state law requires a notice of three years to close schools. Schuette concluded that the creation of the new Detroit Public Schools Community District does not protect low-performing schools. The new district was created in July 2016 to oversee schools while the old district, Detroit Public Schools, became a revenue-collection entity to pay down the system's debt.
    • The Detroit Public Schools Community District will hold elections this year to trim the old board from 11 to seven members. A total of 63 candidates filed to run for those seats on November 8, 2016. Detroit Public Schools was the largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 49,043 students.
  • In North Carolina, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts (D) requested that state lawmakers hold a special session to repeal House Bill 972. The bill, signed in July 2016, made police cam footage off limits to the public by removing it from the public record. The mayor’s request comes after days of protest following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott by police. Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger has called on the mayor to release the videos of the shooting while the ACLU has requested both the release of the videos and the repeal of HB 972. Charlotte is the 16th-largest city in the country by population, and the largest in North Carolina.
  • In Oregon, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales (D) announced that he would delay a city council vote to ratify a new four-year contract with the Portland Police Association for at least one week. Many protestors and those speaking at a meeting at city hall asked the mayor to move more slowly with the process to make sure the city got the best deal possible. The current proposal would give officers a 3 percent raise annually for the next three years. As part of the deal, the association would give up a 48-hour waiting period before officers could be questioned by internal affairs over police-involved shootings and drop 11 grievances against the city while settling one.
    • Portland will hold a general election for one position on the city commission on November 8, 2016. The mayoral election and another city commission race were decided in the May primary election. Portland is the 29th-largest city in the country by population and the largest in Oregon.

 

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