The Tap: Wednesday, October 12, 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 #38 of The Tap, which was published on October 15, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • The editors of The Salt Lake Tribune endorsed Hillary Clinton, writing, "Utah Republicans were perceptive enough to reject Trump in their March presidential caucus voting. Were they to support Clinton now, even by the narrowest of pluralities, it would send a strong message to the Republican Party to turn their backs on Trumpism and to work with Clinton where they can, rather than devote themselves to blocking her every move." Recent polling from Utah has shown that the typically red state could become a battleground for Clinton due to the surge in popularity of independent conservative Evan McMullin.
  • In response to a New York Times story in which two women alleged that Donald Trump had touched them inappropriately, Trump’s lawyers sent a letter to The Times demanding a retraction. Calling the story “reckless” and “defamatory,” Trump’s lawyers said, “We hereby demand that you immediately cease any further publication of this article, remove it from your website and issue a full and immediate retraction and apology. Lawyers for The Times responded in a letter on Thursday, saying, “We decline to do so.” The letter went on to state, “We did what the law allows: We published newsworthy information about a subject of deep public concern. If Mr. Trump disagrees, if he believes that American citizens had no right to hear what these women had to say and that the law of this country forces us and those who would dare to criticize him to stand silent or be punished, we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.”
    • Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson denied that Trump was involved in the incidents. Citing one woman’s claim of misconduct on an airplane, Pierson told CNN, “Guess what? First-class seats have fixed armrests! So what I can tell you about her story, if she was groped on a plane, it wasn’t by Donald Trump and it certainly wasn’t in first class.”
  • At a campaign event in Florida, Donald Trump said that Hillary Clinton “has to go to jail” over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. “After getting the subpoena to give over her emails, and lots of other things, she deleted the emails, she has to go to jail.” At a different event in Florida, Trump stated, “This is the most heinous, the most serious thing that I've ever seen involving justice in the United States — in the history of the United States. We have a person that has committed crimes that is now running for the presidency.”
  • A new poll shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton tied at 26 points each in Utah. Independent candidate Evan McMullin, who is a graduate of Brigham Young University in Utah, registered at 22 percent, followed by Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson at 14 percent. Utah is one of the most reliably red states in the country, having voted Republican over Democratic 72 percent of the time in elections between 1900 and 2012. The last time it backed a Democratic candidate for president was in 1964. In 2012, Republican Mitt Romney won the state by almost 50 points.
  • The U.S. Department of Education released final regulations for teacher preparation programs that train and license teachers. The new regulations require states to report each year on various teacher preparation program metrics, such as the rate of teachers who stick with teaching during their first three years on the job and feedback from program graduates on the effectiveness of the programs. States must then use this information to rate programs as effective, at-risk, or low-performing. Programs rated as less than effective for any two out of three years lose eligibility for federal grants that are awarded to program students who agree to teach in high-need schools after graduation. The first reports are required for the 2017-2018 school year.
  • Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, whose emails had reportedly been hacked by WikiLeaks earlier in the week, had his Twitter account hacked. The hacked tweet said, “I’ve switched teams. Vote Trump 2016.”

State

  • The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to hear an appeal filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to dismiss the felony securities fraud charges against him. Paxton was indicted in 2015 on two counts of first-degree securities fraud and a lesser charge of failing to register with state securities regulators. The charges stem from allegations that Paxton failed to disclose a personal stake in a company for which he facilitated the sale of $100,000 worth of stock. The appeal argued that the charges should be dismissed because the grand jury that indicted him was not properly impaneled and because they were filed after previous appeals to a district appeals court and to a Tarrant County court filed by Paxton's legal team were denied. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had also filed a civil claim of securities fraud against Paxton in April 2016; the civil charges were dismissed in a federal court last week. The trial is expected to take place in the spring of 2017.
  • Wisconsin state Sen. Rick Gudex (R-18) died early Wednesday from an apparent suicide. Fond du Lac County Sheriff Mylan C. Fink Jr. said that Gudex died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Gudex was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 2012. He was not seeking re-election in 2016 and was expected to take a new job in January 2016 with a former employer. Gudex had served as president pro tempore since 2015. He is survived by his wife and two children.
  • Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin certified that opponents of a newly-enacted transgender discrimination law collected enough signatures to put the law before voters in November 2018 in Massachusetts. The law, which took effect at the beginning of October, prohibits anti-transgender discrimination in any place with public accommodations. The ballot title for the measure will ask voters whether they approve of the law, meaning a “yes” vote would uphold the law and a “no” vote would overturn it. Thus, a majority of voters must vote “no” for the group behind the referendum to succeed in overturning the law. Galvin verified that 34,231 of the submitted signatures were valid, giving petitioners a cushion of just under 2,000 signatures above the 32,375 required by law. The petition was nearly 10,000 signatures short of the number required to suspend the targeted bill until the election. A lawsuit, however, seeking to suspend and overturn the new discrimination policy was filed by a group of pastors claiming it infringed on freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
    • A separate law prohibiting discrimination against transgender people regarding housing, employment, credit, and college education was passed in 2011 and would be unaffected by this referendum.
    • This veto referendum is the first citizen-initiated measure to qualify for the 2018 ballot in Massachusetts.
  • Federal judge Mark E. Walker ordered Florida election officials to extend the state's voter registration deadline by six days, moving the deadline from October 12 to October 18, in response to Hurricane Matthew; on October 10, Walker had issued an emergency order extending the original deadline by one day, from October 11 to October 12. On October 9, the Democratic Party of Florida filed suit against Gov. Rick Scott (R). In their complaint, Florida Democrats argued that a failure to extend the deadline would constitute a violation of the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution and the Voting Rights Act because those citizens who were required to evacuate had fewer days to register than those who were not displaced by the storm. On October 6, Scott maintained that he would not extend the voter registration deadline. "Everybody has had a lot of time to register. On top of that, we have lots of opportunities to vote: early voting, absentee voting, Election Day. So I don't intend to make any changes."
  • The U.S. Department of Justice will not prosecute an unnamed employee at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for his involvement in the toxic spill at the Gold King Mine in Colorado in August 2015. The spill occurred when EPA personnel and a company under EPA contract triggered the release of more than 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater into the Animas River in Colorado. Over the last year, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General investigated the employee, who may have broken federal water pollution laws and made false statements to law enforcement officials about the spill. The EPA forwarded its findings to the U.S. Attorney for Colorado, who declined to pursue charges against the EPA official. As a result, no one will be criminally prosecuted as a result of the inspector general's investigation, though the office will continue to investigate the incident.
  • During a conference addressing Minnesota’s individual health insurance market, Governor Mark Dayton (D) commented that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is "no longer affordable" for residents. Dayton was a strong proponent of the law during implementation, and according to the Associated Press, he is the “only Democratic governor to publicly suggest the law isn't working as intended.” Insurance premiums in the state’s individual market will rise by between 50 and 67 percent in 2017, and state regulators have characterized the market as being in "a state of emergency." Dayton called on Congress to correct the law’s “deficiencies” and said, "The reality is the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable for increasing numbers of people.” Rising premiums and fewer health plan choices nationwide have led some to question the sustainability of the ACA’s model of health insurance, while others have argued that they are part of an adjustment period as insurers learn the new individual market.
  • Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens (R) announced that he would resign from his seat in order to assume the position of president at Kennesaw State University. Speculation surrounding Olens' possible appointment to the post had been ongoing for several weeks prior to the announcement. Olens was first elected in 2010; his current term expires in 2019. Governor Nathan Deal (R) announced that he would appoint Director of Economic Development Chris Carr to serve the remainder of Olens’ term; he will assume the seat effective November 1, 2016. "He has a lot of common sense and that’s what any public servant needs," said Deal of the appointment. Georgia is one of 23 Republican trifectas.
  • Ballotpedia held our webinar on ballot measures in the 2016 elections. Missed it? Click here to view on YouTube. For additional information, see our Jolt webinar series.

Local

  • Two Klamath County Irrigation District board members faced a recall election. Brent Cheyne was recalled, while Ken Smith was retained. An effort to recall Cheyne, Smith, and Grant Knoll from their positions was launched earlier in 2016. Petitions were filed against the three officials on July 25, 2016, by Ed Bair, Jason Chapman, and Ross Fleming, all of whom previously served on the board. Supporters cited high fees paid to out-of-town attorneys, the departure of several district employees, and the board’s failure to conduct business in a public forum in accordance with public meeting laws as reasons for the recall. In September 2016, the recall petitions for Cheyne and Smith were certified for the ballot. On September 27, 2016, the recall petition for Knoll was certified. His recall election is tentatively scheduled for November 7, 2016.
  • A recall petition against San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (D) was approved by city election officials. The recall effort includes 11 arguments for Lee's removal, including the city's handling of the homeless population and police shootings of civilians. Lee was first appointed in January 2011 and won re-election in 2015 with a 40-percent margin of victory. In order to schedule a recall election, recall organizers will need to submit 47,000 valid signatures from city voters by March 18, 2017. San Francisco is the 14th-largest city by population in the United States, and the fourth-largest in California.
  • The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction published a letter stating that no schools in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) qualified for takeover by a county-appointed commissioner in 2016-2017. A 2015 state law requires the county to appoint a commissioner to turn up to five failing MPS schools per year over to charter or voucher school operators for improvement. This law uses the state's annual report card for schools to determine if a school is failing. The school district served 78,516 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which is nine percent of all public school students in the state.
  • Seattle Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw offered an amendment to the city’s homeless encampment legislation to make public parks and sidewalks “unsuitable” for homeless camps. Bagshaw said, however, that individuals would not be removed from “unsuitable” spaces without offering them an improved place to go, like a shelter. Councilman Tim Burgess said that the unamended version of the homeless legislation “would essentially create a right to camp in the city, and as long as you keep moving you can camp in the city forever.” Seattle is the 21st-largest city by population in the United States, and the largest in Washington.
    • In May 2016, Murray announced that he was working with Gov. Jay Inslee (D) to eliminate homeless encampments known as “The Jungle” from the city. The plan involves outreach workers visiting the encampments for multiple weeks to help relocate homeless citizens into shelters, followed by construction efforts by city and state departments to clean the area of debris and vegetation. The American Civil Liberties Union has threatened a lawsuit against the city in response to these plans.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #37 of The Tap, which was published on October 8, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.


Local

  • Two Klamath County Irrigation District board members will face a recall election. An effort to recall Brent Cheyne, Grant Knoll, and Ken Smith from their positions was launched earlier in 2016. Petitions were filed against the three officials on July 25, 2016, by Ed Bair, Jason Chapman, and Ross Fleming, all of whom previously served on the board. Supporters cited high fees paid to out-of-town attorneys, the departure of several district employees, and the board’s failure to conduct business in a public forum in accordance with public meeting laws as reasons for the recall. In September 2016, the recall petitions for Cheyne and Smith were certified for the ballot. On September 27, 2016, the recall petition for Knoll was certified. His recall election is tentatively scheduled for November 7, 2016.
  • Join Ballotpedia's ballot measures webinar at 11 a.m. CT as our experts discuss the 165 ballot measures across 35 states that will affect over 205 million Americans in this year's elections.



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
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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
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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
February: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17
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