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The Tap: Wednesday, June 15, 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 #21 of The Tap, which was published on June 18, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • According to an ABC News/Washington Post survey, Donald Trump’s unfavorability rating is at a record high of 70 percent. Hillary Clinton also hit a record high unfavorability rating of 55 percent. “The results illustrate the striking challenges facing both candidates, cementing their position as the two most unpopular presumptive major party nominees for president in ABC News/Washington Post polling dating to 1984,” the pollsters found.
  • Trump tweeted that he planned to meet with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to discuss “not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns.” The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action responded in a statement that it would be “happy to meet with Donald Trump” and that it “believes that terrorists should not be allowed to purchase or possess firearms, period.”
  • Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said that he did not plan to vote for Trump in November. “I guess when I get behind the curtain I’ll have to figure it out. Maybe write someone in. I’m not sure,” Hogan said.
  • The Clinton campaign has begun to vet vice presidential candidates using publicly available information. Among the list of potentials are Labor Secretary Tom Perez; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro; Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Cory Booker of New Jersey; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; and Reps. Xavier Becerra of California and Tim Ryan of Ohio, according to The Wall Street Journal. Campaign chair John Podesta is leading the vice presidential search.
  • Gordon Johnson, a former deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration, pleaded guilty to illegally tipping off hedge fund employees to drug developments that allowed them to make $25 million in profits from insider trading. Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the plea yesterday and stated that charges would be filed against Sanjay Valvani and Stefan Lumiere, two portfolio managers with the healthcare-focused hedge fund, which was identified as “Investment Adviser-A” in the filings.
  • Donald Trump’s presidential campaign announced two state-level hires.
  • Rick Wiley, who has spent time as Scott Walker’s campaign manager and Donald Trump’s national political director this election cycle, was hired by the Republican National Committee as a consultant overseeing the national field program. RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer told The Washington Post, “Rick has been hired as a consultant by the RNC in consultation and agreement with the Trump campaign.”
  • The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 23-15 to censure IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for engaging “in a pattern of conduct inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in him,” according to USA Today. Republicans allege that Koskinen obstructed an investigation “into whether the IRS improperly scrutinized Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status.” On June 22, 2016, the House Judiciary Committee will consider whether it will proceed with the process to impeach Koskinen.
  • Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) held a 14 hour and 50 minute filibuster in an effort to get the Senate to vote on gun control measures. In a statement, Murphy said, "It is our understanding ... that we have been given a commitment on a path forward to get votes on the floor of the Senate -- on a measure to assure that those on the terrorist watch list do not get guns and an amendment ... to expand background checks to gun shows and to internet sales.” The Senate will vote on gun control legislation on Monday.

State

  • The Alabama House Judiciary Committee began its impeachment investigation into Governor Robert Bentley (R). The committee will be investigating allegations that Bentley misused state funds in order to conduct an affair with one of his senior advisors, who has since resigned. The articles of impeachment were introduced by state Rep. Ed Henry (R) in April 2016; 23 lawmakers signed. The governor has admitted to having improper conversations with his aide, but he maintains that nothing illegal took place. If impeached by the House and found guilty by the Senate, Bentley would be Alabama's first state official to be removed from office by impeachment. The investigation begins amid several political corruption scandals among Alabama state officials: Former Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard (R) was removed from office last week following his conviction on 12 felony ethics violations; Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is also awaiting a judicial ethics trial and faces removal from the bench if convicted. He is currently suspended without pay. Alabama is one of 23 Republican trifectas.
  • The California State Legislature approved a $122.5 billion spending plan. Approval for the budget was split along party lines, with all Democrats and one Senate Republican in favor. The budget includes expansion for safety net programs. About half of the budget is allocated for K-12 education and community colleges. The budget must now be approved by Governor Jerry Brown before being put into place. Brown has previously fought against increased spending on social services in fear of another recession, but he allowed several measures that have long been a priority for the Democratic Party in California.
  • The Kansas Republican House Campaign Committee released an ad calling on residents of the state to lobby the Kansas Supreme Court and urge it not to close the state’s public schools. Earlier this year, the court ruled the state’s school funding formula unconstitutional and gave lawmakers until June 30 to submit a new plan that satisfies the court; if it fails to do so, the court has threatened to close the state’s public schools on July 1. The legislature will begin a special session on June 23 to devise a new funding plan. A spokeswoman for the court said that public comments regarding open cases are not passed along to the justices. The court has become contentious over the past year; Kansas lawmakers recently defunded (and then refunded) the judicial branch in protest of the court’s rulings.

Local

  • Two members of the Cleveland City Council, Jeffrey Johnson and Brian Cummins, proposed separate plans to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour. Johnson's plan would set the wage at $15 by 2021, while Cummins' plan would reach that level at 2022. The proposals came in response to the plan put forward by Raise Up Cleveland, backed by the Service Employees International Union, to increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2020. On June 4, 2016, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson (D) and City Council president Kevin Kelley publicly opposed the Raise Up Cleveland proposal to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020. Proponents argue that the increase is needed to keep Cleveland’s business sector regionally competitive and to propel workers into the middle class. Opponents claim that the wage hike would ultimately lead to lost jobs and would be implemented too quickly for businesses to adjust. Cleveland is the second-largest city in Ohio and the 48th-largest city in the U.S. by population.
    • Raise Up Cleveland gathered enough petition signatures to require the city council to take action on its minimum wage proposal. If the council votes to rejects the proposal, the organization can ask to put it on the ballot for city votes to decide. It is unclear whether it would appear on the ballot on November 8, 2016, or if it would require a special election or need to wait until the next regularly scheduled general election.
    • Debates over the minimum wage have become commonplace in cities across the United States.
      • Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., have all begun implementation of $15 per hour minimum wages in recent years. In 2014, the Seattle City Council unanimously supported a minimum wage increase for full implementation in 2021, and San Francisco voters approved a ballot measure to phase in the full wage hike by 2018. The Los Angeles City Council soon followed in 2015 when it voted 14-1 to enact the increase by 2020. A third California city, San Mateo, is expected to enact a $15 per hour minimum wage ordinance in July. It would phase into effect in 2018 with some exemptions ending in 2020. On June 7, 2016, the Washington, D.C., City Council unanimously approved a proposal to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 by 2020.
      • Two more cities—Miami Beach, Florida, and San Diego, California—recently approved smaller minimum wage hikes. The Miami Beach City Commission voted in favor of increasing the minimum wage to $10.31 in 2018 with an increase over time until it reaches $13.31 in 2021. San Diego voters approved Proposition I by more than 63 percent of the vote, which will increase the city’s minimum wage to $11.50 in January 2017.

Preview of the day

There were no items for this day in issue #20 of The Tap, which was published on June 11, 2016. See the "Review of the day" tab for more information.





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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