The Tap: Tuesday, January 17, 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 #49 of The Tap, which was published on January 21, 2017. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing

  • Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for about three-and-a-half hours. She is an advocate of charter schools in Michigan and is the chair of the American Federation for Children, a nonprofit that oversees a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Alliance for School Choice. She also chairs a political action committee, the American Federation for Children Action Fund. Key points of discussion at the hearing included college debt and school vouchers.
  • When questioned by Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) on making public colleges and universities tuition-free, DeVos said, “I think that’s a really interesting idea. It’s really great to consider and think about. But I think we also have to consider the fact that there’s nothing in life that is truly free. Somebody’s going to pay for it. … I think we can work together and we can work hard on making sure that college or higher education in some form is affordable for all young people that want to pursue it.” Read more about DeVos’ hearing here.

Ryan Zinke Confirmation Hearing

  • Ryan Zinke, Trump’s nominee for secretary of the interior, appeared before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for his confirmation hearing. The Department of the Interior is responsible for managing federal lands, the development of energy resources on those lands, the country’s national parks, and federally run dams and reservoirs. In an exchange with Sen. Bernie Sanders, Zinke addressed the topic of climate change, saying, “Climate is changing. Man is an influence. I think where there’s debate on it is what that influence is and what can we do about. As the [head of] the Department of the Interior, I will inherit, if confirmed, the USGS (United States Geological Survey). We have great scientists there. I’m not a climate scientist [sic] expert, but I can tell you I’m going to become a lot more familiar with it. And it will be based on objective science.”

SCOTUS Watch

  • The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases on Tuesday.
    • In Lynch v. Dimaya, the court heard arguments over whether the definition of categorical crimes of violence was unconstitutionally vague. The court held that a similar definition for violent felonies in the Armed Criminal Career Act was unconstitutionally vague in a 2015 decision, Johnson v. United States.
    • In Midland Funding v. Johnson, the court explored whether there was a conflict between the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The conflict stemmed from whether the Bankruptcy Code allows debt collectors to exercise their rights to collect payment during bankruptcy proceedings even if those rights would otherwise be exhausted under state law. Attempting to collect debt payments time-barred by state law is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

State

Two More State Legislatures Went Back To Work

  • State legislative sessions began in Alaska and New Mexico. Both of those states are currently under divided government. Although Republicans in the Alaska State House hold a numerical majority, two independents and three Republicans chose to caucus with the chamber’s Democrats, giving them the majority. In total, 172 legislators went back to work in those two states. That number represents 2.3 percent of the 7,383 state legislators across the country.

Iowa State Senator Sentenced to Prison

  • Former Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson (R) was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for taking money in exchange for his endorsement during the 2012 Iowa caucuses. An investigation revealed that three political operatives working for Ron Paul paid the senator more than $73,000 through a production company to switch his support from Michele Bachmann to Paul. Sorenson pleaded guilty to two charges: one count of violating federal election law and one count of obstruction of justice for lying under oath during a deposition. Sorenson resigned from the chamber in October 2013, amidst the ethics allegations. At the time, he said that his resignation was not an admission of guilt.

A Candidate for Colorado Governor

  • Former Colorado State Sen. Michael Johnston (D) announced his campaign for governor in 2018. The current governor, John Hickenlooper (D), is term-limited and unable to run for another term. While media sources have speculated on a number of high-profile candidates running for election this cycle, there is only one other declared candidate—Denver businessman Noel Ginsburg (D). Colorado’s open governor’s seat will be one of 36 up for election in 2018.

A Candidate for New Jersey Governor

  • New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R) officially announced her campaign to succeed her current boss, term-limited Gov. Chris Christie (R). The 2017 race for the state’s highest office already has 10 declared candidates—6 Democratic and 4 Republican. A primary election to narrow that field will take place on June 6. In her announcement, Guadagno criticized the governor for his spending, including the use of a helicopter to travel around the state and a $300-million renovation of the governor’s house. Guadagno said that cutting wasteful government spending would be her top priority but that she would also focus on school funding, heroin use, and making the state more affordable. Democrats currently control both chambers of the state legislature, and they could regain a Democratic trifecta in New Jersey if they win the governor’s mansion.

Florida Proposed Medical Marijuana Regulations

  • Florida Department of Health officials released proposed rules to regulate the medical marijuana industry following the passage of Amendment 2 last November. Supporters of the amendment spoke out against the release, saying that the “rule is basically ignoring the text of the constitutional amendment at almost every point of the way.” According to those supporters, the most controversial rule is leaving the unspecified “other debilitating medical conditions” clause of the amendment up to the State Board of Medicine, rather than individual doctors. Additionally, the department’s rules would maintain the current cap on marijuana vendors in the state, though the amendment expanded medical marijuana to an estimated 500,000 additional patients. The health department still intends to hold public hearings about the rule, but it is bound by the amendment to implement rules by July 3.

North Dakota Delays Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

  • The North Dakota State Senate voted 45-0 to approve Senate Bill 2154, which would keep the state health department from approving any medical marijuana dispensaries until July 2017. This would essentially delay the implementation of Measure 5 by six months. Approved by voters last November, Measure 5 legalized the use of medical marijuana for certain defined medical conditions. Currently, 28 states have legalized medical marijuana. That number is evenly split between states that approved it by statewide ballot measures and states that approved it through the state legislature.

Three Bills in Response to Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

  • Lawmakers in North Dakota have introduced a trio of bills in response to protests taking place over the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. One of the bills would make it illegal for adults to wear masks. Another would allow the state to sue the federal government for costs related to policing the protests. The most recent bill, House Bill 1203, would provide protection for drivers who accidentally injure or kill someone who is obstructing traffic on a public road. The sponsor of the third bill, Keith Kempenich (R), said, “there’s a line between protesting and terrorism, and what we’re dealing with was terrorism out there.” He added that drivers would still need to do everything they could to avoid protesters and that he was not trying to legalize vehicular manslaughter. North Dakota is currently one of 25 Republican trifectas.

Four Republicans File for Louisiana Special Election

  • The filing window closed for a special election for the Louisiana House of Representatives. The District 8 seat was vacated by Mike Johnson (R), who won election to Congress in 2016. Johnson himself won his state House seat in a February 2015 special election. All four candidates who filed for the seat registered as Republicans, meaning the partisan balance of the chamber will remain 59-42 in favor of Republicans. Louisiana is one of 19 states currently under divided government.

Local

A Proposed Gift Limit for Denver City Council Members

  • In Colorado, the Denver City Council delayed a vote on changes to the city’s code of ethics. In December 2016, Councilman Kevin Flynn proposed changes to the city’s code that would impose stricter limits on the dollar amount of gifts city council members could accept from any person or donor with a city interest during a calendar year. According to the Denver Post, council members were not able to determine the details of the proposed gift limit and delayed a vote on the issue until February 21, 2017. Over the previous decade, Colorado’s Amendment 41 has imposed more stringent rules on gift limits than the rules in place in Denver. However, Denver is a home-rule city, which exempts it from the state’s set of ethics guidelines. City attorneys reported that it is uncertain whether the conflicting interpretation of state and city law will necessitate a change to Denver’s ethics code. Denver is the largest city in Colorado and the 22nd-largest city in the U.S. by population.

NYC Campaign Finance Reports are Here

  • In New York City, candidates for mayor released their latest campaign finance reports. The reports detailed donations to the candidates’ campaigns over the last six months of 2016 for the election set to take place on November 7, 2017. Incumbent Bill de Blasio (D) raised over $1 million, while real estate developer and Republican challenger Paul Massey Jr. reported raising more than $1.6 million. The majority of de Blasio’s campaign contributions were small donations of less than $100 each, and he received a total of 3,261 donations from city residents. Massey received donations from 826 city residents and reported contributing $1.2 million in personal funds to his campaign. Although de Blasio raised less money than his opponent, the number of small, individual contributions could mean more matching funds for his campaign. Massey has said that he will not use the city’s matching system to fund his campaign. Under city law, the first $175 dollars given to a candidate by a city resident can be matched six to one by public funds. Based on eligible contributions reported, de Blasio could receive up to $1.1 million in additional campaign dollars. In previous years, de Blasio’s campaigning relied on large donations from businesses in the city. After an inquiry into his past fundraising strategies, The New York Times reported that some large donors were wary of contributing to de Blasio’s campaign. New York City is the largest city in the U.S. by population.

Uber Files Lawsuit Against Seattle

  • Ridesharing company Uber filed a lawsuit against the city of Seattle, Washington. In December 2015, the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance to allow ridesharing company drivers to unionize. Uber filed a petition with the King County Superior Court asking the court to suspend the city’s new law, which went into effect on Tuesday. The petition argues that the city’s process for designing the law was flawed and incomplete. Drivers for ridesharing companies are considered to be independent contractors and are not protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Seattle is the largest city in Washington and the 21st-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Missouri Elections

  • FILING DEADLINE: The filing deadline passed to run in general elections for 50 seats across 17 of the largest school districts in Missouri, as measured by student enrollment. All of these elections will be held on April 4, 2017. The largest Missouri school district holding an election this year is St. Louis Public Schools, which served 30,831 students during the 2014-2015 school year—approximately 3 percent of all public school students in the state.

Preview 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

Confirmation Hearings

SCOTUS Watch

  • The Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases:
    • In Lynch v. Dimaya, the court will review statutory language about violent crimes. James Garcia Dimaya was convicted for burglary under a California law. At Dimaya’s deportation hearing pursuant to the conviction, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) held that this conviction constituted a categorical crime of violence as defined under federal law. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Johnson v. United States that the Armed Career Criminal Act's (ACCA) residual clause definition of a violent felony was unconstitutionally vague. That language and definition, Dimaya claimed, was of similar construction to the definition of crime of violence under federal law. Accordingly, on appeal, Dimaya argued that the Supreme Court's decision in Johnson was controlling for crimes defined as crimes of violence under U.S. immigration law. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The government is appealing that decision.
    • In Midland Funding v. Johnson, the court will explore if a conflict exists between the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (Code) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Act). Midland Funding, a buyer of personal debt, filed a claim under the Code for funds owed to them by Aleida Johnson when she declared Chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2014. Johnson alleged that Midland violated the Act for knowingly filing a claim made during a Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding known to be time-barred by the Act. Alabama law allows creditors six years to collect unpaid debts, but 11 years had passed between Midland taking ownership of the debt and Johnson filing for bankruptcy. A federal district court dismissed Johnson's suit, holding that Midland had rights under the Bankruptcy Code to file a time-barred claim because their right to payment was not extinguished under Alabama law. This, the court held, created an irreconcilable conflict between the Code and the Act. The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's decision, holding that because of Midland’s classification as a designated debt collector under the Code, Johnson’s lawsuit could proceed for Midland’s violation of the Act and that no conflict existed in the statutory language.

State

Two More State Legislatures Go Back To Work

  • State legislative sessions are scheduled to begin in Alaska and New Mexico. Both of those states are currently under divided government. Although Republicans in the Alaska state House hold a numerical majority, two independents and three Republicans chose to caucus with the chamber’s Democrats, giving them the majority. In total, 172 legislators will be back to work in those two states. That number represents 2.3 percent of the 7,383 state legislators across the country.




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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