The Tap: Wednesday, April 13, 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 #12 of The Tap, which was published on April 18, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), endorsed Bernie Sanders. Merkley said, "This really is all about the person who has the boldest, most fierce vision on the biggest issues facing America and the world.” Merkley is the first senator to endorse Sanders. Sanders also picked up the endorsement of the “Transport Workers Union Local 100, representing 42,000 workers in the New York region,” according to the New York Daily News.

• Donald Trump privately met with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly on Wednesday after months of attacking her professional competence. Kelly discussed their meeting on her news program in the evening: “We met for about an hour, just the two of us, and had a chance to clear the air. Mr. Trump and I discussed the possibility of an interview. And I hope we will have news to announce on that soon."

• The U.S. Department of Defense reported that Russian Su-24 jets conducted “multiple, aggressive flight maneuvers” near the USS Donald Cook on April 11 and April 12. On April 11, the Russian jets made “numerous close-range and low-altitude passes” while an allied military helicopter was conducting deck landing drills in international waters in the Baltic Sea. On April 12, “a Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter flew seven circles at low altitude around the ship,” and “two Russian SU-24 jets made 11 close-range and low-altitude passes.” The jets continued to engage in the dangerous maneuvers despite safety warnings from U.S. officials. U.S. European Command officials said in a statement, “We have deep concerns about the unsafe and unprofessional Russian flight maneuvers. These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident that could cause serious injury or death.” A video of the incidents can be seen here.
  • On Thursday, Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov responded to complaints from U.S. officials, saying, "[U]pon visual contact, the Russian pilots have executed a turnaway from the ship, compliant to all safety regulations. … To be honest, we don't understand such a painful reaction from our American colleagues. … The freedom of the seas of the U.S. destroyer does not cancel the freedom of the air for the Russian aircraft.”

• The House Natural Resources Committee canceled a markup of legislation to help Puerto Rico restructure its $72 billion in debt amid pushback from Democrats and Republicans, according to The Washington Post. On Tuesday, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) introduced the H.R. 4900 - the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act.

• Rick Wiley joined Donald Trump's campaign as the national political director. Wiley has previous experience working with the Republican National Committee, where he was a regional political director and then national political director from 2009 to 2013. Wiley previously managed Scott Walker's presidential campaign, which was suspended in September 2015. Near the end of Walker's campaign, Wiley took much of the criticism for Walker's inability to gain traction in early states. The Washington Post reported that "some Walker supporters believe [Wiley] expanded the staff too quickly and has failed to calibrate spending."
• Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R) announced that he would not be seeking re-election to Florida’s 4th Congressional District in 2016. Crenshaw is the 39th U.S. House incumbent to announce that he is not seeking re-election. Florida’s 4th Congressional District race is rated as Safely Republican in 2016. In 2014, 41 House incumbents did not seek re-election. The incumbent retirement rate over the past four election cycles is 8.8 percent.

State

• The North Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of retention elections for state supreme court justices. Justice Robert Edmunds was to have stood in the state’s first retention election this fall, but a panel of three Wake County judges ruled in March that the retention law violates the state constitution. Three challengers have since filed to run in a contested election against Justice Edmunds, including attorney Sabra Faires, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Justice Edmunds is recused from hearing the case. The remaining justices will now consider the case and make a ruling sometime before the fall elections.

• Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced that he would not appeal the decision made by Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy to allow the Maine Legalize Marijuana Initiative on the ballot in November. Dunlap disqualified the measure on March 2, 2016, for not having enough valid signatures, prompting the support campaign to file a lawsuit with the Kennebec County Superior Court on March 10. The secretary of state’s office disqualified thousands of signatures that were notarized by Stavros Mendros, whose company, Olympic Consulting, was hired to collect signatures. Dunlap stated that many of Mendros’ signatures did not match the signatures the state had on file, but the lawsuit claims that many petitions were thrown out without individual review. On April 8, 2016, Justice Murphy overturned Dunlap’s disqualification, requiring the secretary of state’s office to re-review the invalidated signatures to determine if the petition will appear on the ballot. Marijuana-related measures are certified for the ballot in Nevada and Florida and were proposed in over a dozen other states.

• In a similar case, the petition to allow a casino to be built in York County was disqualified for the ballot, also due to invalid signatures notarized by Mendros. The support campaign for this measure filed a lawsuit to overturn Dunlap’s decision, but Justice Murphy upheld the decision to disqualify the petition. An appeal has been filed with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, citing the contradiction between Murphy’s decision to overturn the disqualification of the marijuana petition, but uphold the disqualification of the casino petition. The supreme court has 30 days to rule on the case.

• Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant (R) signed a bill to amend the state’s right-to-try law. The law will now protect hospitals from liability for treating patients who are taking experimental medication. It also removes responsibility from third-party payers for “outstanding debt related to such treatment.” The state Senate voted 49-2 in favor of the bill, and the House passed an amended version of the bill 94-25. Mississippi enacted its right-to-try law in 2015; as of April 2016, a total of 27 states have right-to-try laws. The laws allow terminally ill patients to access experimental medication without receiving permission from the FDA, as is required under federal law.

• A lawsuit was filed in Minnesota against the state’s laws regarding teacher tenure and layoffs. The plaintiffs, a group of parents with children enrolled in public schools, say the state’s practice of granting teachers job protections after three years is unconstitutional for denying students “their fundamental right to a thorough and efficient education.” The lawsuit also challenges the practice of laying off the newest teachers first when cutbacks are made, saying it sacrifices better teachers for the sake of seniority. Additionally, the suit claims these practices harm disadvantaged and minority students to a greater extent as ineffective teachers are shuffled to schools with greater proportions of such students. The lawsuit was filed in a St. Paul district court and names the state, Gov. Mark Dayton (D), the state Education Department, and its commissioner as defendants.

Local

• FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to run for the mayor’s office and all nine city council seats in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The primary election for the city will be on June 26, 2016, with a potential primary runoff election on August 23, 2016, and the general election on November 8, 2016. In the mayoral race, incumbent Dewey Bartlett Jr. is facing four challengers. The city council incumbents in District 5, District 7, and District 8 are running unopposed for re-election. The only city council race without an incumbent is in District 9. Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma and the 46th-largest city in the United States.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #11 of The Tap, which was published on April 11, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

State

• The Arkansas General Assembly will convene its 2016 regular session. It is projected to adjourn its regular session on May 12. Arkansas is one of 23 Republican state government trifectas. Republicans currently control the governor’s office, the Senate by 13 seats, and the House by 29 seats.