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The Gov Hub Newsletter: February 19, 2024

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Gov Hub
February 19, 2024

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

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THE ACTION ITEMS

Take action from your phone

ACTION 1 – GUN REFORM

The Ask: Use the Shotline to send an AI-generated call from a victim of gun violence to your [federal] reps.

The Action: Send a call via the Shotline here.

The Background: There’s nothing more American than gun violence….or would it be “There’s nothing more American than members of Congress taking action on common sense gun reform that would save lives”.... Yea, that shoe fits too. The Shotline from Change the Ref and March For Our Lives is a new collaborative advocacy tool that puts the names and voices of victims of gun violence into the ears of members of Congress, in a chilling way that literally says you can’t look away. 

ACTION 2 - BOEING & AIRCRAFT SAFETY

The Ask: Tell the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to hold public hearings with Boeing executives.

The Action: Add your name to this petition.

The Background: Boeing is all about that lobbying, when they need to be more about that safety. Despite continuous safety concerns with their aircrafts – um, like literally that door flying off the plane – the Boeing CEO went the route of closed door meetings on The Hill…interesting that THAT space had a door…unlike that plane… anyways, accountability, answers, and solutions are for consumer safety — and they need to be provided to the public.

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

  • Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has started a new series where she commutes with fellow Bostonites to get a pulse on what their commute is like and to gather intel on how the city can improve public transportation for all. It’s giving wholesome, it’s giving good governance, it’s giving elect more women.

  • Speaking of the orange man, keeping up with Trump’s schedule is HARD. This jingle that involves tee time, Santos as  cellmate,  and being deposed does the trick on keeping it all straight – although we would make one edit to include his time planning to ban abortion nationwide.

WAIT, WAIT UPDATE ME

ICYMI, political ongoings of note

ALABAMA SUPREME COURT RULES FERTILIZED, UN-IMPLANTED EMBRYOS ARE HUMAN CHILDREN: In Alabama, the state Supreme Court ruled that under state law, frozen, un-implanted embryos i.e. those created for the purpose of IVF, are considered human children. The ruling comes in reaction to a case brought by three Alabama couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in TBH, a very odd set of events that we’ll let AL.com walk you through. Those couples sued two parties involved with caretaking the embryos – fertility clinic, The Center for Reproductive Medicine and Mobile Infirmary Medical Center under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. The centers argued that they could not be sued using that law because it didn’t cover embryos outside of the womb, which was seemingly the view of a county circuit judge as well who dismissed the case in 2022. Fast forward to 2024, the case made it up to the state supreme court, which ruled that Wrongful Death of a Minor Act covers all children born or unborn. Part of this ruling was also based on the state constitution’s Sanctity of Life Amendment, which was ratified by voters in 2018. This ruling puts the future of IVF clinics and the availability of treatment in Alabama into question. The declaration that embryos are considered children by the state supreme court also directly connects to conversations on abortion legislation and care.

NEO-NAZI’S MARCH IN NASHVILLE: A story that’s scary beyond reason [Emperor’s New Groove fans, you best be catching our drift], masked and swastika flag-holding Neo-Nazis marched throughout Nashville this weekend. What can only be described today as a political climate that has emboldened groups like this who desire a white ethno-state and view Hitler as deity, this demonstration of hate furthers the fact that occurrences like this have become all too common, a sentiment, Jewish Nashville Metro Councilmember Jacob Kupin expanded on when talking with WKRN about the incident [and those prior]. And to that point, only a few states away, Neo-Nazis also flew their flags in Winter Park, Florida.

TRUMP FINED $355 MILL IN CIVIL FRAUD CASE: Penalties for Trump, his sons, and his crew of cronies in a New York civil fraud case that accused Trump of a wide-scale scheme to dupe banks via inflated financial statements, were delivered on Friday by Judge Arthur Engoron. The penalties range from financial to the ability to conduct business or pursue bank loans in the state of New York. These penalties are outlined by New York AG Letitia James:

One of the many question becomes how will Trump pay for this… well, the sneaker[con], and a GoFundMe that was set-up by a supporter…

VOTER PREP x BOOKMARK IT

Resources for a wild & wacky (but v important) 2024

  • BALLOT MEASURES → Is a ballot measure good, bad, or down-right uglaaaaay? The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center gives their two cents via their Ballot Measure-O-Meter, ranking a range of the ballot measures popping up ‘round the country. Bookmark it here.

  • WISCONSIN → Voters to-be, WPR has put together a voter FAQ for Wisconsinites, marking need-to-know dates, absentee ballot request deats, and more. Bookmark it here .

  • ARIZONA → The Arizona Republic is dropping a fresh newsletter dubbed The Recount that's focused on all-things AZ elections, from candidates to conspiracy theories, and more. Subscribe to it here.

Immigration, messaging, and more with Beatriz Lopez

From the border bill to the Trump theatrics to the meltdowns on team GOP, immigration policy is getting thrown around like a Super Bowl football. But what is this messaging really doing? And how will it impact this year’s elections? In a classic look at words matter, this episode brings Beatriz Lopez, the Deputy Director of the Immigration Hub in to talk about the difference in messaging in the different camps on this vital policy vertical. Tune in by listening on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watching on YouTube.

For more of the pod, check out the full lib of over 200 eppys, which includes interviews with Congresswoman Jayapal, Mini Timmaraju [President & CEO of Reproductive For All], Ofirah Yheskel [Director of External Affairs at DGA], Emily Stochl [Director of Education at Remake], and more.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

MARYLAND: A bill, SB 119, is making its rounds in the MD legislature, which if passed, would make Maryland a sanctuary state for trans individuals and gender affirming care providers. The bill basically says ‘no can do’ with regards to aiding out of state prosecutions of investigations into those that have sought out, provided, or received gender affirming care. Should the bill make it across the finish line, it would make Maryland the 12th state to become a sanctuary state, and both extend and codify protections passed in an executive order issued by Ravens fan/Governor Wes Moore.

VIRGINIA: File this one under common sense gun laws – a proposed bill in Virginia would require that any gun sold or transferred within the state would need to come with a locking device and a notice that would outline the critical nature of proper firearm storage [including locking them] and any legal implications there are for not following that guidance. The bill was introduced by Delegate Adele McClure.

KANSAS: And for a bill that’s reminiscent of the pandemic to vax or not to vax war of sorts, this Kansas piece of proposed legislation, “would strip state and local government authority to impose quarantines and other measures meant to slow the spread of contagious diseases.” The bill – SB391 – was introduced by notorious anti-vaxer, state senator, and man who was literally investigated for prescribing ivermectin as a treatment for COVID, state Senator Steffen. Said bill also, if passed, would not allow the state Secretary of Health and Environment to designate infectious or contagious diseases in the states, thus nixing reporting requirements for health care providers. AND to top it all off, it would throw out the secretary’s authority to take action on stopping the spread of disease.

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

OREGONSAVES ADDS MORE CHILD CARE SERVICE PROVIDERS TO STATE RETIREMENT PROGRAM: ARPA or American Rescue Plan funds are continuing to enable states to invest in programs that benefit residents, like OregonSaves. The program - which find yourself in a deep dive with the state’s head finance bro, Treasurer Tobias Read for the full 411 on how it works - is Oregon’s retirement savings program that’s available to all Oregon workers whose employers don’t offer a workplace retirement plan, self-employed individuals, and others that are looking to save dinero for the long run. Where ARPA comes in is with an infusion of $5 million of its dollars being “disbursed by Oregon's Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) to fund the OregonSaves retirement accounts of more than 900 Oregon child care service providers,” according to the press release. The decision comes via The Oregon Retirement Savings Board and State Treasurer Tobias Read, and enables more Oregonians to save for retirement. Long story short, the funds are being used to ensure hardworking child care providers in the state are able to access a retirement savings plan and have funds in those accounts to kick off that process.

WISCONSIN LOOKS TO RAISE THE STATE CHILD TAX CREDIT: Via a bipartisan push and a bipartisan bill that originated from camp GOP, Wisconsin’s child tax credit is en route to getting a boost. The bill, if passed, would increase the allowable income tax credit to $10K for one child and $20K for two more children. The current child tax credit limit is $3K for one child and up to $6K for two or more children, thus the increase could provide substantial relief for families. As of now, the bill has passed the state assembly with wide bipartisan support.

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

  • Axios: Libraries are on the front lines of America’s problems

  • Politico: Antony Blinken’s Family Is the latest Target of Washington’s Ugliest Protest Trend

  • NPR: The hottest trend in U.S. cities? Changing the zoning rules to allow more housing

  • Reuters: Is Russia developing space-based nuclear weapon? We know of US claim

ATLAS

Stories from around the globe

  • AP: Nicaragua shuts down scouting association and several other social and religious groups

  • USA Today: Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex marriage, abortion

  • CNN: Once banned from the US, this fiery ex-army general is poised to lead Indonesia. What to expect

  • The Guardian: Italian town in turmoil after far-right mayor bans Muslim prayers

IN-HOUSE

GATG FYIs to have on your radar

  • COMMUNITY: Network with other political girlies, chat about the latest memes, check out the latest book club read, and more by joining The Gov Club.

  • SOCIAL MEDIA: Get un-lost in the sauce of social media with the help of #VIRAL, The Newsletter, which you can get on the list for here.

  • PODCASTING: Curious what it would be like to get into the podcasting world? We can help with that.

MORE GATG BEFORE YOU GO….

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