The Tap: Tuesday, January 10, 2017

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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 #48 of The Tap, which was published on January 14, 2017. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

Jeff Sessions Confirmation Hearing

  • The Senate held its first confirmation hearing for one of President-elect Trump’s Cabinet nominees: U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee has 20 members, with 11 Republicans and nine Democrats. A majority (11) is needed to move Sessions’ confirmation forward. The committee’s nine Democrats have stopped short of saying they intend to try to block Sessions from making it out of committee, while the 11 Republicans have generally voiced support for his confirmation. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), for example, stated, “I take today as a moment of celebration. The reason I am so enthusiastically supporting your nomination is that I have every confidence you will follow the law faithfully.” The hearing has hit on a range of issues, including immigration, antitrust laws, torture, and civil rights issues. Read more here.

SCOTUS Watch

  • The Supreme Court heard argument in two cases:
    • In Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman, the court reviewed a split between circuit courts over whether laws prohibiting businesses from applying surcharges on purchases made with credit cards violate the First Amendment. Merchants typically pay a fee when receiving payments from customers using a credit card for payment. A New York law prohibits passing on these fees as surcharges for customers who use credit cards for payment. The law does allow merchants to offer discounts for anyone paying in cash. A similar case from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck a Florida law with the same provision as unconstitutionally restricting speech regarding price information, but here the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the New York law as regulating only commerce, not speech.
    • In Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. v. Haeger, the court heard arguments on whether a federal court judge in Arizona exceeded her authority when she awarded $2.7 million in post-settlement compensatory sanctions to a plaintiff’s descendants after the judge discovered that both Goodyear and its counsel had acted in bad faith. Before a trial was set to begin in which Haeger alleged injuries suffered as a result of faulty tires, Goodyear, through its counsel, announced a settlement. However, after the settlement, Haeger’s counsel discovered that Goodyear failed to produce evidence required under rules of discovery. Judge Roslyn Silver, in a 2012 ruling, held that Goodyear and its attorneys engaged in deliberate and repeated attempts to frustrate the resolution of the case and awarded compensatory sanctions under the court’s inherent power. Goodyear argued that issuing these sanctions exceeded Judge Silver’s inherent authority.

State

Redistricting in Court

  • On January 10, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a hold on the special legislative elections scheduled for 2017 in North Carolina. The elections, which were ordered by a three-judge panel in November 2016, would be held under new district lines redrawn because of racial gerrymandering. The court will decide whether to hear an appeal by state legislators when they conference on January 19. The justices may then dismiss the appeal or choose to hear arguments in the appeal later in the year. Some believe that this hold means it is very unlikely that North Carolina will hold the elections in 2017, leaving any redistricting done to affect elections held in 2018. Originally, 28 of the legislature’s 170 districts were ordered to be redrawn, but other districts impacted by the redistricting would also be required to hold special elections. With the swearing in of Gov. Roy Cooper (D) earlier this month, North Carolina became a divided government. Republicans hold a 20-seat majority in the Senate and a 28-seat majority in the House. New maps would be redrawn by the legislature, and North Carolina is one of six states where the governor cannot veto state legislative district maps.

Becerra Recommended for California’s Next AG

  • A nominating panel of the California State Assembly voted 6-3 to recommend U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) as the state’s new attorney general. On December 1, 2016, Becerra was chosen by Gov. Jerry Brown to succeed Kamala Harris as attorney general of California, and Brown formally nominated Becerra on January 3, 2017. Harris left the post following her election to the U.S. Senate in November 2016. Becerra must still be voted on by the full assembly and state Senate. If confirmed, Becerra would become the state’s fourth consecutive Democratic attorney general. That would be the most consecutive attorneys general from one party since Republicans had five consecutive attorneys general from 1887 to 1943.

Special Elections

And Another Seven States Get Started

  • State legislative sessions began in Delaware, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Of those seven states, Delaware is currently a Democratic trifecta, and South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas are Republican trifectas. New Jersey and West Virginia are currently under divided government. In total, 904 legislators went back to work in those seven states. That number represents 12.2 percent of the 7,383 state legislators across the country.

Local

St. Louis Schools’ Accreditation Restored

  • The Missouri State Board of Education voted unanimously to restore full accreditation to St. Louis Public Schools. The state board removed the district’s accreditation in 2007 after it determined that the district met five of the 14 standards for accreditation. At that time, the district’s budget was short more than $20 million and its graduation rate was 56 percent. The state board also appointed a three-person administrative board that replaced the existing elected school board. The restoration of the district’s accreditation follows a rise in the graduation rate to 72 percent and the creation of a $19 million budget surplus. It is not currently known whether this announcement will result in the elimination of the administrative board and the return of an elected school board for the district. St. Louis Public Schools is the largest school district in Missouri and had 27,017 students enrolled during the 2013-2014 school year.

Omaha Opposes a Change in Retirement Plans

  • The Omaha City Council voted 6-1 to oppose a bill in the Nebraska State Senate that would change the city’s retirement plans for new police officers and firefighters. The change would put new hires in both departments in a cash balance retirement plan instead of a traditional pension plan. A cash balance plan sets pension payouts based on the amount of the retiree’s prior contributions in addition to interest and the city’s contribution to the plan. The state bill was sponsored by State Sen. Mark Kolterman (R) in order to address the approximately $600 million in unfunded liabilities of the city pension system. Chris Jerram, who sponsored the Omaha City Council resolution opposing the bill, stated that its passage would show that the state believes the city is not capable of self-governance. Kolterman’s bill would also include the retirement plans for police officers and firefighters in Lincoln, the state’s second-largest city. Omaha is the largest city in Nebraska and the 42nd-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Voters Approve Parcel Tax Measure

  • A parcel tax measure was approved by Peninsula Fire Protection District voters in Plumas County, California. The measure required a two-thirds supermajority in order to pass, which it received with 81 percent of voters approving the measure. This authorized the district to renew its annual parcel tax—a kind of property tax based on units of property rather than assessed value—of $280 per unimproved parcel and $295 per improved parcel for an indefinite time. This prevented the tax from expiring on June 30, 2017.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #47 of The Tap, which was published on January 7, 2017. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

You’re Hired

SCOTUS Watch

  • The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases on Tuesday.
    • In Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman, the court will review a split between circuit courts over whether laws prohibiting businesses from applying surcharges on purchases made with credit cards violates the First Amendment. Merchants typically pay a fee whenever receiving payments from customers using a credit card for payment. A New York law prohibits passing on these fees as surcharges for customers who use credit cards for payment. The law does allow merchants to offer discounts for anyone paying in cash. In a similar case from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, that court struck a Florida law with the same provision as unconstitutionally restricting speech regarding price information, but here the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the New York law as regulating only commerce, not speech.
    • In Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. v. Haegerz, the court will determine if a federal court judge in Arizona exceeded her authority when she awarded $2.7 million dollars in post-settlement compensatory sanctions to a plaintiff’s descendants after the judge discovered both Goodyear and its counsel had acted in bad faith. Before a trial was set to begin in which Haeger alleged injuries suffered as a result of faulty tires, Goodyear, through its counsel, announced a settlement. However, after the settlement, Haeger’s counsel discovered that Goodyear failed to produce evidence required under rules of discovery. Judge Roslyn Silver, in a 2012 ruling, held that Goodyear and its attorneys engaged in deliberate and repeated attempts to frustrate the resolution of the case and awarded compensatory sanctions under the court’s inherent power. Goodyear alleges that issuing these sanctions exceeds a court’s inherent authority.

State

Special Elections

And Another Seven States Get Started

  • State legislative sessions are scheduled to begin in Delaware, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Of those seven states, Delaware is currently a Democratic trifecta, and South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas are Republican trifectas. New Jersey and West Virginia are currently under divided government. In total, 904 legislators will be back to work in those seven states. That number represents 12.2 percent of the 7,383 state legislators across the country.

Local

Plumas County, California Votes

  • A parcel tax measure will be on the ballot for Peninsula Fire Protection District voters in Plumas County, California. A yes vote is a vote in favor of authorizing the district to renew its annual parcel tax—a kind of property tax based on units of property rather than assessed value—of $280 per unimproved parcel and $295 per improved parcel for an indefinite time, thereby preventing the tax from expiring on June 30, 2017. A no vote is a vote against authorizing the district to renew its annual parcel tax, which would allow it to expire.



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
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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
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