The Gov Hub: January 22, 2024

Welcome to The Gov Hub Newsletter by Girl and the Gov®. This weekly pop of politics is designed to share action items, resources, and quick links to civic engagement tools and topics. Find a typo? Congrats, today is your lucky day.

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THE ACTION ITEMS

Jump right in

ACTION 1: Washington State

The Ask: Tell your state reps to pass HB1455 and ban child marriage in Washington State.

The Action: Send a note to your reps here via Unchained At Last.

The Background: Banning child marriage and raising the marriage age minimum to 18 in Washington State has come back to the table with the passing of HB1455 in the state House. The bill now goes to the state Senate for consideration. Currently, child marriage is legal in the MAJORITY of states and the fight to ban it is ongoing including in Washington state. It’s a fight that you can learn more about with Unchained At Last. For quick deats on issue terminology, check here – and to get a pulse on where legislation stands per state, check the tracker here.

ACTION 2: 

The Ask: Tell Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act [WHPA] on what would’ve been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

The Action: Send a note to your [federal] reps here and tell them to pass the Women's Health Protection Act [WHPA].

The Background: The WHPA – which is quite fun to say may we add – would, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, “establish a statutory right for healthcare professionals to provide abortion care and the right for their patients to receive care, free from bans and medically unnecessary restrictions that single out abortion care.” 

ACTION 3: 

The Ask: Get a friend to register to vote.

The Action: Send your friend this link with an ask to register.

The Background: It’s election szn every szn, but 2024 is like no other with a casual thing on the line yet again - democracy. Help protect democracy and get your friends civically engaged by getting them registered and ready to vote. PS & BTW voting registration varies by state – make sure to check up on the rules and regs of the state your friend lives in before making the ask.

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

• NH voters are gearing up for a Tuesday primary – this is a look at what’s on their minds. And this is a look at what it’s like to cover from a reporter POV.

• Senator Tim Scott and once presidential hopeful who was asked many many times about why he had never married, and then had a gf that seemed possibly not real, only to appear at the end of his campaign, has popped the question to mystery girl no more.

• Dating in DC is giving Hunger Games energy, so to Senator Scott’s credit, it does make quite a bit of sense…………...sorta.

• …meanwhile this defines life in an election year to a T, which at least has inspired a whole new way to communicate with one’s roommate.

• When thinking of the budget these are the WTF absolutely no freakin’ thank yousssss put in by the GOP.

• As shared by this reporter, Spelman College received its largest single donation of $100 million, which will be used for scholarships, dorm improvements, and to develop an academic focus on public policy and democracy.

HGW LISTENS

Hit play on these pods

• Get the 411 on the 200+ anti-trans bills that have been recently introduced with this episode of The Suburban Women Problem podcast featuring an interview with journalist, Erin Reed.

• What’s June Diane Raphael have to say about running for local office? Quite a lot, and the full 411 on her thoughts can be tuned into on this episode of Choice Words with Samantha Bee.

FWD, SUBSCRIBE

Inbox musts and mentions

• The View from Rural Missouri by Jess Piper is a newsletter that sheds light on the rural Dem POV with a particular focus on how that plays out in Missouri. Add it to your inbox here.

• The Semafor Principals is giving DC realness with insights on what’s happening on the ground, while also shedding light on breaking news stories on the daily. Add it to your inbox here.

• The USA Facts newsletter drops facts, fun and unfun in a digestible, chart-driven way that keeps readers engaged and up on the stats that drive decision-makers. Add it to your inbox here.

• The #VIRAL, The Newsletter hands a weekly content plan to political comms and digital teams sans the time-consuming meeting. Add it to your inbox here.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

FEDERAL: Another pair of unlikely bedfellows, Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin and Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, who used to share the dynamic of professor-student, has come together to support the reintroduction of the PRESS Act aka the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act. We can see why they decided to shorten that… anyways, the ACLU-endorsed bill would “block federal law enforcement agencies from subpoenaing journalists’ emails, phone records, recordings and photographs in an attempt to nail down the identity of confidential sources in their reporting. It includes tailored exceptions for terrorism or threats of imminent violence or harm.” Many states have similar shield laws for journalists, but one at the federal level is MIA rn.  

KENTUCKY: Bipartisanship is having a moment FR – even in Kentucky, where House Bill 178 passed out of the House Judiciary Committee unanimously. The bill, if passed, would provide those in the state that have been found to be wrongfully convicted of a crime, $65K for every year of imprisonment. It would provide more for those placed on death row, as well as $25K for every year spent on parole under post incarceration supervision or registered as a sex offender. In addition, the legislation would pay up to $25K in attorney fees and nix tuition fees for up to 120 credit hours at any post-secondary institution in the state. 

BOOKMARK IT

Don’t lose the link, bookmark it

ACLU INDIANA BILL TRACKER → Baby got bills – if you get this obscure musical reference, congrats you’re a Millennial. Regardless, ACLU Indiana has a bill tracker that’s easy to use, easy to understand that’s updated regularly. It also features their positions on the bills. Bookmark it here.

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

BIDEN CANCELS $5 BILLION IN STUDENT DEBT FOR 74K LONGTIME BORROWERS: You read that right - nearly $5 billion with a B is the amount approved for cancellation by the Biden Admin for 74K student loan borrowers. The relief comes by way of fixes made to the broken student loan programs that were standing in the way of borrowers getting the relief they are entitled to by law. Of the 74K borrowers, 44K of them “are teachers, nurses, firefighters and other individuals who earned forgiveness after 10 years of public service, and close to 30K of them are people who have been in repayment for at least 20 years but never got the relief they earned through income-driven repayment plans.” This is a big win for these borrowers, which means this is in order.

PS on a dif but related note, ICYMI, you can apply for the income driven repayment plan [SAVE], here.

MISSOURI REPRO RIGHTS COALITION BEGINS PETITION PROCESS FOR ABORTION BM: It’s been a long and rocky road for a coalition of repro rights advocates in Missouri trying to achieve a path for a ballot measure, that if passed by voters, would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. But after overcoming roadblocks galore (GOP, anti-abortion, Missouri Secretary of State Ashcroft we’re looking mostly at you), the group got the go ahead to begin collecting signatures to get abortion on the ‘24 ballot. As reported by NBC, “The proposed amendment states the government “shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom” — which is defined as all decisions related to reproductive health care (explicitly including “birth control,” “abortion care” and “miscarriage care”) — up until fetal viability.” The full proposed amendment language can be read here. Next up, the coalition led by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, will have to submit ~172,000 valid signatures by May 5, 2024 to qualify for the ballot. If that happens, the governor then gets to decide whether the measure ends up on the primary ballot or the general election day ballot. It’s an evolving sitch (esp since it’s not the only proposed amendment out on the town), but if you live in Missouri or know someone that does, send them here to find out how they can volunteer to collect signatures and sign a petition themselves.

NJ BILL SIGNED TO PROVIDE VETERANS WITH CAREERS IN EDUCATION: ICYMI (we did until we saw this vid from The NewDEAL), a dual-purpose bill, S2764/A4361 was signed into law by NJ Governor Murphy earlier this month that aims to tackle both the teacher shortage and veteran unemployment. The legislation is tasked with establishing the four-year “VETeach Pilot Program” with the state’s Department of Education with the goal of facilitating teacher certification for veterans. The program will select up to four public universities to partner with and enroll participating veterans in a 36-month teacher preparation program. 

WAIT, WAIT UPDATE ME

ICYMI, political ongoings in no particular order

DESANTIS DROPS OUT OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE: The shoe connoisseur, Ron DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race and promptly endorsed the man that’s been slinging insults at him for well over a year, including dropping a campaign ad on how DeSantis apparently eats pudding (we’ll agree, it’s concerning). For extreme clarity, the man DeSantis endorsed is Trump BTW who seems to be taking the news well… As a result, New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday will now be a Trump versus Nikki Haley showdown. Nikki Haley also added her two cents on Ron getting gone.

BIPARTISAN BILL WOULD LET NEW MOMS IN CONGRESS VOTE BY PROXY AFTER GIVING BIRTH: An unexpected duo, Democrat Rep. Sara Jacobs and Republican Anna Paulina Luna have come together to intro a bipartisan bill that would allow new moms in Congress to vote by proxy for six weeks after giving birth. For background part one, to proxy vote, means that the rep doesn’t have to be in attendance to vote on a bill, instead a colleague votes on their behalf. For background part two, proxy voting became a thing during the pandemic for all reps and then got the ax once the GOP regained the majority in the House. However, as one can imagine, attending votes immediately post birth poses incredible challenges – ones that prevent Congress from not only being parent friendly, but from being an accessible line of work for young moms and young people who decide they want to have children. For our math people: More young people in office = more bills that can transform the office = more young people that actively want to pursue public office. While this bill is narrow in its specific application, the conversation on modernizing Congress seems to be of interest to both of these young members.

HIT PLAY → NEW EPISODE OF THE POD

“Nobody is talking about good governance anymore” - said in a Kim K voice

What's highly underrated and totally under the radar? Good governance. And despite headlines of plenty, it's actually happening thanks to orgs like The NewDEAL, which brings leaders together to discuss innovative policy ideas and how to make them a reality. In this eppy, we got the BTS on how these ideas come to fruition and the leaders that make them possible with The NewDEAL's CEO, Debbie Cox Bultan. Tune in on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. And for a super slay bonus check out two GATG eppys with these two leading NewDEALers:

• The Finance Bros of Politics: What does a Treasurer do? With Tobias Read, Oregon State Treasurer → hit play here

• Mental Health & Red Flag Laws with FL State Representative (D-95) & Former Parkland, FL Mayor Hunschofsky → hit play here

KEY STORIES TO HAVE ON YOUR RADAR

Stories from around the USA

• Semafor: The US Supreme Court is about to unleash a major weapon against climate action

• Roll Call: Strong bipartisan showing in first test of tax deal’s support

• Politico: US Capitol Police: Threats to lawmakers increased in 2023

• Axios: DHS raids Chinese car parts maker’s U.S. headquarters

ATLAS

Stories from around the globe - section background avail here

• NPR: Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the rise of the far right

• CNN: Thailand sentences man to record 50 years in prison for insulting the monarchy

• AP: Two opposition leaders in Senegal are excluded from the final list of presidential candidates

• The Guardian: Femicide in Kenya a national crisis, say rights groups

BEFORE YOU GO….