The Gov Hub: July 10, 2023

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Gov Hub
July 10, 2023

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 to inboxes far and wide.

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THE ACTION ITEMS

ACTION 1:

The Ask: Tell Congress to raise the federal minimum wage.

The Action: Sign this petition from the Fairness Project.

The Background: The federal minimum wage hasn’t been revised since 2009 – and that raise to $7.25/hour was and is unlivable. Not to mention the federal minimum wage for tipped workers, which is $2.13/hour. Put pressure on your [federal] reps to bring the minimum wage up to date.

ACTION 2: Massachusetts

The Ask: Tell your state reps to pass S1356 & H2197 to ban PFAS from a wide-ranging list of consumer products in Massachusetts.

The Action: Sign this petition in support of the legislation from Clean Water Action.

The Background: According to new U.S. Geological Survey research, 45% of U.S. tap water is estimated to be contaminated by PFAS or forever chemicals. These chemicals are incredibly harmful to the environment and humans – they not only don’t break down in bodies [human or water], but they’ve been linked to an increased risk in cancers. They can also be found in just about everything, which is a huge part of the problem. So, what’s the solution? The crew at We All Live Downstream talk through quite a few. As for the proposed legislation in MA, it includes cutting industrial release of PFAS into water and setting up funds that would be used to test and treat impacted drinking water, soil, and groundwater.

ACTION 3:

The Ask: Tell POTUS and team to ensure abortion access for immigrants and migrants.

The Background: In a post-Roe world, barriers to critical healthcare, including to abortion care have only increased. This includes our immigrant and migrant communities. Reducing some of these barriers is possible if the Biden admin makes moves via an executive action to:

  • Ensure that all people in detention be given access to abortion

  • Ensure that people who live in regions affected by border patrol activity do not have their movement restricted and can travel without fear of detention or deportation

  • Ensure that information on abortion is available in immigrants' preferred language and is culturally competent

Looking for more action items? Check our library of past Gov Hub’s.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

New bills, new BILLsh*t. A few bills of note:

  • PENNSYLVANIA: The CROWN Act is back in play, with the bill banning hair discrimination passing the PA State House. The bill, introduced by Speaker Joanna McClinton 2x before, finally got a vote, and now heads to the GOP-controlled state senate. If passed and then signed by Governor Shapiro, the bill would add hair type, texture, and style as a protected class in the state’s anti-discrimination law. 

  • CALIFORNIA: The College Athlete Protect Act [AB 252] is one that’s garnered loads of opinions, and ones that will likely seep beyond the conversation in CA around paying college athletes, but into discussions around the topic nationally. The bill would require CA colleges to put some of their sports revenue into a fund that would pay student athletes when they complete their degrees. The math would math to as much as $25K for each year they participate in their sport. Given that being a college athlete is literally a job, compensation for said job isn’t necessarily a wild idea. Where it gets sticky apparently from opponents that include the University of California, is that the design of the program would prioritize men’s basketball and football, putting more resources into already ‘successful’ programs and away from those that need resources and/or are less financially lucrative. Other critiques of the bill’s current version include that not all student athletes would be eligible based on grants/scholarships they receive and what sports division they play in. This bill is on the field, but hasn’t scored a goal quite yet. We expect to see lots of scrimmages over its design this year and next.

POST-HOLIDAY WK CATCH UP

Three top stories you might've missed

IOWA GOVERNOR CALLS SPECIAL SESSION ON ABORTION: The wicked witch of the Midwest, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has called a special session that will begin on July 11, 2023. The sesh has been called with the goal of passing a six-week abortion ban in the state. This charade comes after a Iowa Supreme Court order that denied the Governors’ prior request to implement a highly restrictive six week ban. Unfortunately the ‘if you fall, get back up and try again’ mentality is being used for harmful purposes here, with the new bill and ban featuring tweaked language from the 2018 OG. The Iowa GOP is hoping this one holds up in court. The Iowa Democrats and Planned Parenthood of Iowa is encouraging Iowans to submit public comments in opposition to the bill. Iowas, submit one here.

OHIO REPRO FREEDOM AMENDMENT COUNTS 710,000+ SIGNATURES: In positive for now reproductive freedom news, Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom has counted over 710,000 signatures in support of bringing an amendment to protect reproductive rights to the November ballot. The signature will have to be verified i.e. reviewed by state officials. Specifically, Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose now has until July 25, 2023 to give the thumbs up or thumbs down on whether the measure will make the ballot. For background, 413,000 valid signatures across at least 44 of the state’s 88 counties are the minimum for getting an initiative into play. SO, yea, 710K+ is a huge slay. Before anyone goes and orders celebratory balloons, an August 8, 2023 special election that aims to change ballot measure approval rules stands as a challenge. The wild play by the state’s GOP-controlled leg put the August 8 vote into motion, and if their dreams are realized, the change would raise the ballot measure approval threshold to 60% and require signatures from all 88 counties. If you support repro freedom and are an Ohio voter, play chess not checkers and vote NO on the August 8, 2023 ballot measure, then vote YES on the November ballot measure.

ARIZONA GOVERNOR MAKES BIRTH CONTROL AVAIL. OVER THE COUNTER: We saved the 100% positive story for last with this one. Arizona’s Governor Katie Hobbs used her executive powers to put a new rule in place that allows birth control to be made available at pharmacies across the state without a doctor’s prescription. The rule went into effect immediately and is inclusive of self-administered BC, such as hormonal and oral contraceptives. To access the over the counter BC, patients need to be 18 and older and complete a screening + blood pressure test.

OTHER STORIES TO HAVE ON YOUR RADAR THIS WK:

Have you forwarded this newsletter to a friend yet? Make their inbox shine, send it their way :)

FULL SEND….IT TO A FRIEND

  • Two names we never expected to be in the same article: Senator Schumer and Logan Paul, but here we are. The story is that controversial YouTuber, Logan Paul launched an energy drink called PRIME last year. The drink has 200 mg's of caffeine, which for our fellow non-number humans, is a boat load. Despite being for the 18+ crew, the drink is mega popular with the teen crew, prompting Schumer to call for an investigation into its safety by the FDA. Why do we feel like Logan Paul is going to challenge Schumer to a cage fight?

  • Send it to a friend to vent, send it to us to roast – share the WOAT campaign texts that make it to your messages with us for a chance for that disaster text to become less of a mess. We’ll spruce it up and give it a little makeover like we did to this oy vey. Drop us a note and screenshot of the text you’d like to submit at [email protected].

SUMMERTIME SCANDALS

Putting the suss in suspect

  • The star of the hit scandals such as Four Seasons Landscaping and Hair Dye Drip-gate, Rudy Giuliani has been recommended for disbarment by a DC attorney ethics committee. Apparently, bringing a case to the table that pushed a false conspiracy theory around the 2020 election results, i.e. a case with no factual basis, is a breach of PA state rules. Who would’ve thunk it.

  • A white substance in a White House caused quite the commotion over the course of the holiday week – specifically the discovery of coke in the West Wing. Right wing gossip girls and guys have said Hunter Biden let it snow, a rumor which the White House team has vehemently denied. It’s unclear who was behind the banned bag, and we suspect we’ll never know, but we’re happy about the silver lining – getting to know that Willie Nelson smoked a joint on the White House roof.

  • For Clarence Thomas, his friends have really been [giving] the gifts that keep on giving, and a new report has found that he’d accepted even more gifts, spurred by his membership to the Horatio Alger Association. Save to say the guy loves an all-expenses paid luxury trip.

  • In a rather Gwenyth Paltrow-esque fashion, former NY Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife have decided to consciously uncouple. To further explain, they’re separating, not divorcing – and they’re planning to continue sharing their Park Slope townhouse. Best wishes to any of the dates either brings home.

  • Sometimes you’ve got to boot the mascot, or at least that’s the approach the House Freedom Caucus took in voting to oust Marjorie Taylor Greene from the conservative crew. Was it a difference of opinion? The floor fight with Lauren Boebert? MTG’s bff-hood with Kevin McCarthy? The jury is still out, and so is she – of the caucus.

CANDIDATE WATCH ‘24

The following have said put me in coach for….

BOOKMARK IT

Don’t lose the link you love, bookmark it

INVESTING IN AMERICA MAP: The Department of the Interior has made an interactive map available that shows the where, the what, and how much investment is happening across states via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It’s easy to use, easy to follow, and lets users search by state, program name [type], what it’s addressing, and more. Bookmark it here.

Image courtesy of Department of the Interior

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NEW ON THE POD

The pod’s latest release is with Paid Leave For All’s Dawn Huckelbridge and discusses how a national paid leave for all policy would work. It also hits on why the policy is needed, who benefits, and how it would grow the economy. Whether or not this policy has a path to pass in our current Congress, which is laser-focused on protecting the freedoms of stoves, was also dissected. The full chat on bringing paid leave accessibility from 25% of US workers to 100% can be viewed on YouTube…

…and listened to Apple Podcasts and Spotify Podcasts. Pro tip: download the show before you go – a win for road trips and for being stranded via airline delays.

ALL THINGS GIRL AND THE GOV®

THE GOV CLUB: Focused on political networking and community amongst civically engaged besties, The Gov Club provides members access to free virtual networking events, 1v1s, and connections with one another. The Gov Club has also made moves from its old Slack channel home to the Geneva platform to make connecting with one another easy as pie. Sign up for the Gov Club, here.

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Other *things* of note on the comms front:

For pitches, PR, partnerships, and collaborations, and more, send all details to [email protected].