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- The Gov Hub: December 17, 2023
The Gov Hub: December 17, 2023
Gov Hub
December 18, 2023
Welcome to The Gov Hub Newsletter by Girl and the Gov®. This weekly drop is designed to share action items, resources, and quick links to civic engagement tools and topics. Find a typo? Congrats it’s your lucky day.
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THE ACTION ITEMS
Jump right in
ACTION 1: Ohio
The Ask: Tell Ohio Governor DeWine to veto HB 68, which would ban gender affirming care for trans youth in the state.
The Action: Tell him a veto is the only way to go by hitting send on this note.
The Background: Ohio’s Senate just pushed through HB 68, which if signed by Governor DeWine [R], would ban doctors from providing gender affirming care to trans youth, as well as block trans athletes from participating on girls sports teams. The bill’s vote forward comes after testimony on testimony from educators to parents to doctors on why HB 68 is harmful. Now, it’s up to the Governor to sign the bill or veto it.
ACTION 2: National
The Ask: Tell your [federal] reps to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.
The Action: Send this digital note to your reps.
The Background: That wage gap just won’t quit, and that’s with the Equal Pay Act of 1963 in place. The ol’ ‘63 version has loopholes and hasn’t been updated for the 21st century challenges we face, so cue The Paycheck Fairness Act, which would reign some of the related issues in with these solutions inclusive of:
Protecting against retaliation for discussing salaries with their coworkers.
Prohibiting employers from screening job applicants based on their salary history or requiring salary history during the interview and hiring process.
Requiring employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons.
ACTION 3: Arizona
The Ask: Get trained to collect petition signatures for Arizona’s abortion access ballot measure and then volunteer to do so.
The Action: Sign up for a training with Healthcare Rising Arizona.
The Background: A coalition of reproductive rights advocates are working to get abortion on the 2024 Arizona ballot. Currently, they’re in the petition signature phase and are in need of volunteers.
ICYMI → THREE 10 SECOND ACTION ITEMS
Get ‘em done faster than watching one TikTok
VETERAN HEALTHCARE → Tell Congress and the VA to make cost-effective treatments available to veterans via Coherus BioSciences by hitting send on this note.
CLIMATE POLICY → Pledge to be a climate voter in ‘24 by taking the EDF Action pledge here.
CLIMATE & HEALTH POLICY → Tell the EPA to finalize strong standards that will set us on a rapid path to zero-emission trucks and buses via the Sierra Club, here.
Looking for more action items? Check our library of past Gov Hub’s.
FULL SEND…TO A FRIEND
Just about guaranteed to make it to the group chat
Trump said at a rally this wknd that “immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.” Send this to the friend that gives the dating advice “when they tell you who they are, believe them” but votes Republican. In this case, who he is, is a xenophobic man with an appetite for revenge.
In bottoming out news, a sex scandal has been rocking the Hill the last 48 hours, with a vid of Dem staffer having sexual relations in the Senate’s Hart 216. That room has been home to a long list of important political moments – and now this scandal. The explicit video made its rounds in a group chat with “gay men in politics” and then somehow made it to right-wing site The Daily Caller… no word on who the second person in the vid is yet, but the commentary has been off to the race.
U.S. Coast Guard Academy Cadet Kyra Grace Holmstrup testified in Congress on behalf of the many issues in the sexual assault reporting process for cadets, and provided solutions that Congress can help implement.
This blooper reel of Big Gretch is all of us trying to make content. And this blooper isn’t a blooper, it’s literally the IRL haircut chosen by Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer.
VP Harris stopped by her alma mater Howard for a football game and to chat about what her HBCU experience means to her. Anddd, Senator Warnock was also at the game, as well as first Dougy.
The Satanic Temple display at the Iowa state capitol controversy is the fuck around and find out of trying to remove barriers between church and state. Ironically the only person acting like satan in this scenario is an ultra-conservative Christian GOP member who vandalized the display beyond repair.
GOOD NEWS BEARS
Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]
WHITMER SIGNS BILL AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERING THOSE LEAVING PRISON TO VOTE: In Michigan, Governor Whitmer signed HB 4983 into law, which will automatically register those leaving prison in the state to vote. Individuals are able to decline registration if they so choose, but just like other automatic voter registration methods, it removes many of the barriers for those that wish to participate. The bill turned law ensures that voting rights are restored to individuals convicted of a felony and that coordination between the state’s Department of Corrections and Secretary of State’s office is a go. The law, while signed, won’t go into effect until June 30, 2025.
NEW FEC RULES ALLOW CANDIDATES TO DRAW SALARY FROM CAMPAIGN FUNDS EARLIER: The barriers to running for office are many, including the fact that candidates often need to quit their full-time or part-time jobs to run, thus forgoing pay and benefits. For so many campaigns, especially those that make it past primaries, they span over a year. That means no income to pay rent, put food on the table, and so much more for a long and unsustainable period of time. Now, the FEC has changed the rules relating to candidates drawing a salary from campaign funds, which cracks open the door to a more financially diverse set of candidates being able to run for office. The new rule will allow non-incumbents to pay themselves up to 50% of a House member's or Senator's salary or the candidate’s average annual income from the last five years. In addition, it would bring relief sooner, allowing candidates to qualify for payments upon filing with the FEC instead of candidates being subject to the vastly varying deadlines per state. The rules related to pay are not dissimilar for the fight to increase state legislator pay to a living wage in all states – a fight that would again, enable more people from more backgrounds to participate.
BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T
Bills, bills, bills
FLORIDA: It’s bad bill o’clock with Florida’s HB 601, which would effectively ban civilian oversight panels and boards of police departments in the state. It would also stymie localities from being able to pass local ordinances looking into misconduct by law enforcement. Instead, it would limit investigations into police misconduct to the police… leaving it entirely up to police to hold themselves and their colleagues accountable for potential missteps or wrongdoings. Translation: only the police could police the police, if the bill were to be signed into law. In addition to that whole little self accountability issue, civilian oversight panels have also served as a method for building trust and communication between communities and law enforcement officers.
FEDERAL: A bipartisan bill, the Military Personnel Confirmation Restoration Act, which would provide back pay for the military officers whose promotions were halted because of Senator Tuberville’s abortion-related hissy fit and blockade, passed in the Senate. Now the bill will have to go to the House for a vote. Since the House is out for the holiday, the bill will become a 2024 issue to contend with.
WAIT, WAIT UPDATE ME
ICYMI, political ongoings in no particular order
GIULIANI ORDERED TO PAY $148 MILL TO TWO GA ELECTION WORKS IN DEFAMATION CASE: A federal jury said Giuliani is going to have to drip more than hair dye, ordering him to pay $148 million in damages to two Georgia election workers that he falsely and dangerously accused of election fraud. The financial penalty’s details come following a ruling from the U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell that determined that Giuliani had defamed Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss via false claims, including that they had stuffed ballot boxes on election night in 2020. Those false claims led to harassment and threats against Freeman and Moss, hence how we landed here with the jury deciding $148 mill fit the bill.
HOUSE GOP VOTES TO APPROVE BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: In a year where only 22 bills have been passed so far, mirroring a low held during the Great Depression, the House GOP has decided to spend their time on a fruitless impeachment inquiry. Late last week, they made it offish, voting along party lines to approve an impeachment inquiry into President Biden with the hopes of finding something to impeach him on. Do they know what they’re even looking for? This sums it up.
KEY STORIES TO HAVE ON YOUR RADAR
Stories from around the USA
ATLAS
Stories from around the globe - section background avail here
HIT PLAY
The Big Hospital Lobby under the microscope on the pod
Who is ‘Big Hospital?’ What do they want? And why on earth is hospital pricing a mystery not even Sherlock Holmes can fix? We asked Sophia Tripoli, the Senior Director of Health Policy at Families USA these Q's and more on the latest episode of the podcast. Tune in via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
CANDIDATE WATCH ‘24
The following Dems have said put me in coach for….
NORTH CAROLINA: Safiyah Jackson is running for North Carolina State House in District 37. Learn more about her campaign here.
TEXAS: TX Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is now running for re-election after an L in the ‘23 Houston mayoral runoff race. Learn more about her campaign here.
MICHIGAN: Dan Moilanen has announced that he’s running for Congress in Michigan’s 8th District. Learn more about his campaign here.
ALSO & BTW → Californians are putting their hat in the ring to replace McCarthy. So far, this is the list of the declared candidates. Come December 28, CA’s Secretary of State will have certified the candidates that are a go.
Inclusion does not indicate an endorsement
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