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The Tap: Tuesday, April 19, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #13 of The Tap, which was published on April 23, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • According to the Center for Public Integrity, Hillary Clinton spent $3.62 per vote in New York. Bernie Sanders won votes at the higher cost of $9.03 per vote. In contrast, Donald Trump spent only 13 cents per vote.
  • On Tuesday, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) told the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe," “I hate Ted Cruz, and I think I’ll take cyanide if he ever got the nomination. Now, having said that, I think you’re going to see Donald Trump scoring a big victory tonight. I have not endorsed Donald Trump. In fact, I actually voted by absentee ballot for John Kasich.” He added, “I think he’s [Kasich] a real possibility, but I also — the likelihood is Donald Trump is going to get the nomination. I want Donald Trump to know that if he wants the support of Republicans, he’s gotta get more substance. He’s gotta really learn what he’s talking about and can’t just be talking off the top of his head and making reckless charges.”
  • On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases: United States v. Bryant and Universal Health Services v. Escobar. It is a federal crime to commit a domestic assault in the U.S. or on Indian land if a person has two separate prior convictions for domestic violence. In Bryant, the court considered whether uncounseled misdemeanor convictions in a tribal court count toward this predicate-offense element. In Escobar, the court addressed a circuit split between the First Circuit and Seventh Circuit courts over the interpretation and application of the “implied certification theory of legal falsity” under the False Claims Act.
  • Chief Justice John Roberts swore in a dozen members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association as new members of the Supreme Court bar, which permits lawyers to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court. In what is believed to be a first from the bench, Chief Justice Roberts communicated “Your motion is granted” using American Sign Language to authorize the new members’ admission.
  • The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a reconsideration in district court of a transgender student’s Title IX claim and petition for injunctive relief against a school district policy prohibiting the student from using the school’s restroom that correlates with the student’s gender identity. Writing for the 4th Circuit in G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, Judge Henry Floyd found that the district court both failed to defer to the appropriate U.S. Department of Education regulations in dismissing the student’s Title IX claim and used the incorrect standard in denying the student’s petition for injunctive relief. The case was remanded to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
  • Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that the U.S. will send 217 new troops, “more high-mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, to support the Iraqi ground offensive to retake Mosul,” and “a $415 million package of financial assistance to the Peshmerga in response to a request from the Kurdistan regional government for economic assistance,” as part of the next phase in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In a speech delivered from Baghdad, Carter said, “First we’re going to place additional advisers with the Iraqi security forces, now down to brigade and battalion headquarters levels. Second, we're going to make available attack helicopters in support of the [Iraqi forces] and ongoing efforts to envelop and then retake Mosul. It's an important capability.”
  • UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced that it “will drop out of government-organized health insurance markets in at least 16 states,” according to Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hemsley said that the decision is due to the company’s losses from participating in Obamacare. Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, commented on the current instability in the healthcare markets, saying, “It’s going to take a while for these markets to settle out and stabilize. Some carriers are going to see this as an opportunity and potentially go after business in these areas.” The company is expected to pull out of most of the 34 state-based health insurance exchanges where it is currently operating. The company said it lost $450 million in 2015 and expects to lose $650 million in 2016 in its exchange business. Other insurers on the exchanges have also been losing money because, according to a study by Blue Cross Blue Shield, those who have signed up are higher-risk patients with existing conditions who consume more expensive healthcare. Experts and pundits have mixed opinions about the effect of the company pulling out of the healthcare exchanges.
  • In a speech celebrating the 100th birthday of the National Park Service, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell “called for a ‘course correction’ for conservation that includes inspiring all Americans from all backgrounds to connect with public lands; implementing smart, landscape-level planning to support healthy ecosystems and sustainable development; and greater investments in national parks and public lands to prepare for the next century of conservation.” Her full remarks can be seen here.
  • In a 95-3 vote, the Senate passed HR 636, which authorizes “appropriations for the Federal Aviation Administration for fiscal years 2016 through 2017.”
  • The House passed the following bills aimed at preventing the Internal Revenue Service from targeting citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights, and requiring the IRS to provide printed copies of the tax code to those who request it.
    • H.R.4903 - To prohibit the use of funds by the Internal Revenue Service to target citizens of the United States for exercising any right guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It was agreed to by a voice vote on the House floor.
    • H.Res.673 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Internal Revenue Service should provide printed copies of Internal Revenue Service Publication 17 to taxpayers in the United States free of charge. It was agreed to by a voice vote on the House floor.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Michigan congressional filing deadline
    • There is no U.S. Senate election in Michigan in 2016.
    • There are 14 U.S. House seats in Michigan. Currently, nine are held by Republicans and five are held by Democrats.
    • Two incumbents are not seeking re-election in Michigan: Republicans Dan Benishek (MI-1) and Candice Miller (MI-10). Of the 12 incumbents seeking re-election, only three will face a primary challenger.
    • Michigan has one district currently rated as a battleground (MI-1) and one district rated as a race to watch (MI-7). We rate all other seats as safe for the party that currently holds the seat.

State

  • Filing Deadline: Michigan
    • Michigan is one of 23 states with a Republican trifecta.
    • State legislatures: Ballotpedia has identified the Michigan House as one of 20 battleground chambers in the 2016 legislative elections. Republicans hold a 16-seat majority in the House. Both the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and Republican State Leadership Committee have stated that there will be a focus on the chamber. All 110 state House seats are up for election in 2016.
    • State judiciary: Michigan’s filing deadline for non-incumbent state court of appeals candidates. Michigan selects state court judges through nonpartisan elections. Unlike state supreme court justices, state appeals court judges must run in a primary election. Six seats across four districts are up for election in 2016. All but one seat is uncontested.
  • Illinois lawmakers won’t get paid for several months, according to state Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger. Those paychecks, amounting to about $1.6 million a month, will get processed but not distributed because of the ongoing budget crisis in the state. Munder said it is not fair to pay lawmakers while many nonprofits and small businesses who provide services to the state are not getting paid. According to the Chicago Tribune, there is “a delay of at least two months on most invoices at the comptroller's office as the state is racking up bills without enough money to cover the costs.” The state is running a $6 billion deficit, and Governor Bruce Rauner has been locked in a battle over the budget with the Illinois General Assembly for over 10 months. The 177 legislators in the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate earn $67,836 a year for serving in a part-time job. The delay in getting paid will apply to other statewide officials as well, including the comptroller herself.
  • The Mississippi State Legislature passed a bill that would create a statewide school district for the takeover of failing schools and districts. Schools that receive an F on the state evaluation for two consecutive years would be taken over by the state, as would entire districts that receive an F for two out of three years. The district would be overseen by a new superintendent, which the state Board of Education would be tasked with hiring. To return to local control, schools and districts would need to receive at least a C rating for five consecutive years. It is unclear whether Governor Phil Bryant (R) is expected to sign the bill. If he does, Mississippi would join five other states with statewide takeover districts: Louisiana, Tennessee, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin.
  • The Alaska Voter Registration Amendment was moved from the original August 16 election day to November 8, 2016. There must be a 120-day period in between the end of a legislative session and the election in which a measure will appear. Because the Alaska Legislature extended its session beyond April 19, 2016, the 120-day rule took effect, moving the date to November.

Special elections

Local

  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced his support for an audit of the city’s board of elections after voting irregularities plagued the city’s primary elections on Tuesday. In a statement, de Blasio said, “The perception that numerous voters may have been disenfranchised undermines the integrity of the entire electoral process and must be fixed.” Board of Elections Executive Director Michael Ryan claimed that the issues were “relatively routine for any election.” A spokesperson for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign referred to New York’s election management as a “shameful demonstration.”
  • Three of the largest school districts by enrollment in New Jersey held general elections for three seats each. Edison Township, Newark, and Passaic are among the few remaining school districts in the state to still hold spring elections. This was the first election following the return of local control to Newark Public Schools, which had a state-appointed administrator from 1995 to 2016. Twelve candidates ran for the three open seats in the state’s largest district. The seats were won by newcomers Leah Owens, Tave Padilla, and Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy. Another 14 of New Jersey’s largest school districts will hold their general elections on November 8, 2016.
  • One local measure was approved in California’s Monterey County. The measure rezoned the site of the American Tin Cannery in order to allow it to be used for a hotel development project with the working title "Project Bella." The initiative was circulated by the potential site developers, Domaine Hospitality Partners, who also supplied the $40,000 necessary to hold the election.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #12 of The Tap, which was published on April 18, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • The New York presidential primary will take place on April 19 for both parties. On the Democratic side, 247 pledged delegates are up for grabs—the second-largest state delegate haul of the year for the Democrats. By April 20, 65 percent of the Democrats’ pledged delegates will have been allocated. Polling from late March and early-to-mid April showed Hillary Clinton with a roughly 10-point lead over Bernie Sanders. Sanders has won the past seven primary events against Clinton. Both candidates have unique ties to the state. Clinton served as a U.S. senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, while Sanders was born there in 1941. On the Republican side, 95 pledged delegates are at stake, and by April 20 nearly a quarter of the Republicans’ pledged delegates will have been assigned. Polling from throughout March 2016 showed Donald Trump with a commanding lead over rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich, ranging from 20 to 40 points, and he appears poised to capture a majority. New York's Republican delegates will be allocated on a proportional basis unless a single candidate receives a majority of the vote, in which case the delegates will be allocated to that candidate on a winner-take-all basis.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Bryant on Tuesday. It is a federal crime to commit a domestic assault in the U.S. or on Indian land if a person has two separate prior convictions for domestic violence. The case addresses whether uncounseled misdemeanor convictions in a tribal court count toward this predicate-offense element. The court will also hear oral arguments in Universal Health Services v. Escobar on Tuesday. The case addresses a circuit split between the First Circuit and Seventh Circuit courts over the interpretation and application of the “implied certification theory of legal falsity” under the False Claims Act.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Michigan congressional filing deadline
    • There are 14 U.S. House seats in Michigan. Currently, nine are held by Republicans and five are held by Democrats.
    • There is no U.S. Senate election in Michigan in 2016
    • There is one U.S. House battleground district in Michigan in 2016. Ballotpedia has identified MI-1, currently held by Dan Benishek (R), as a battleground. Benishek is not seeking re-election in 2016, leaving the seat open.

State

  • The Iowa General Assembly is projected to adjourn its regular session. Lawmakers are not required by law to adjourn by a certain day, but the per diem in even-numbered years only lasts for the first 100 days of a regular session. Sessions usually adjourn around the 100th day or the 110th day in odd-numbered years, when per diem expenses run out. Iowa is one of 20 states under divided government. Republicans currently control the governor’s office and the House by 14 seats. Democrats control the Senate by two seats. Both chambers have been included in Ballotpedia’s 20 battleground chambers to watch in 2016.

Special elections

Local

  • Three of the largest school districts by enrollment in New Jersey will hold general elections for three seats each. Edison Township, Newark, and Passaic are among the few remaining school districts in the state to still hold spring elections. This is the first election following the return of local control to Newark Public Schools, which had a state-appointed administrator from 1995 to 2016. Twelve candidates are running for the three open seats in the state’s largest district. Another 14 of New Jersey’s largest school districts will hold their general elections on November 8, 2016.
  • One local measure will be on the ballot in California’s Monterey County. The rezoning measure would rezone the site of the American Tin Cannery in order to allow it to be used for a hotel development project with the working title "Project Bella." The initiative was circulated by the potential site developers, Domaine Hospitality Partners, who are also supplying the $40,000 necessary to hold the 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
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