The Gov Hub Newsletter: July 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, & quick links to civic engagement tools & topics. Find a typo? Congrats, today is your lucky day!

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THE ACTION ITEMS

Get ‘em done from your phone

ACTION 1 – HOUSING

The Ask: Tell Congress to pass Biden’s ‘rent caps now’ proposal.

The Background: The rent is high and Biden has a proposal for bringing it down a notch with his rent cap proposal, which would need to be passed through Congress. The concept-ed legislation would do three things – require corporate landlords to cap rent increases on existing units at 5% or lose tax breaks; sustainability repurpose public land in Nevada to build 15K affordable housing units; and rehab distressed housing in Las Vegas to create more affordable units there.

ACTION 2 – CITIZENS UNITED + CAMPAIGN CASH

The Ask: Tell Congress to overturn Citizens United.

The Background: ICYMI, Citizens United was a case ruled on by SCOTUS that changed the way campaign dollars can flow, giving more power and political influence to big corporations and wealthy donors. Simply put: not good.

ACTION 3 – VOTING

The Ask: In case you forgot, register to vote…NOW.

The Background: Make your voice heard up and down the ballot by registering to vote — and of course, making a voter plan ahead of time.

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

WAIT, WAIT UPDATE ME

A MEGA political story of note

BIDEN DROPS OUT OF RACE; VP HARRIS ENDORSED TO LEAD THE TICKET: A weekend without a jaw-dropping story? In this economy? Exactly… President Biden decided to bow out of the 2024 presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the ticket. The news comes after weeks of debate – ironically after a debate – about the ability for Biden to bring in a W come November. The passing of the torch to VP Harris [and author of this must-read book that discusses her many policy accomplishments] is a BFD and an opportunity to elect the first woman president of the United States - oh, and save democracy [again]. As for next steps, these are some of the to-do’s in the pipeline, with fundraising for the campaign already knocking the Trump team out of the water, and decisions to be made about potential VP picks, with these elected officials at the top of the “might get picked for the ticket” list.

FULL SEND…TO A FRIEND

Just about guaranteed to make it to the group chat

• It was a BIG weekend in politics, and there are now BIG questions, like what are the Trumpers going to do with all of their Let’s Go Brandon merch? We’re not sure, but we are sure that our merch [Girl and the Gov’s] will transcend campaign change-ups.

• The RNC would feel more like a far-away fever dream at this point if it weren’t for these reactions to Matt Gaetz interesting arrangements of his face, these four takeaways on what was yapped about via the podium, Trump falling asleep at his own convention, and use of influencers and celebrities to deliver this messaging.

• What members of the Bravo world are team K-Hive? Only the best of the best.

• And for another TBT, here’s a fun little check from Trump back in the day donating to Kamala Harris’s 2011 re-election campaign. Ah, those pesky little receipts… like these of J.D. Vance absolutely trashing his now ticket-mate.

• Most importantly, and who we were all waiting to hear from post Biden deciding to step down – Willow Biden, has put out a statement on the gram. 

BOOKMARK IT

Save it, send it

SAVINGS EXPLORER: Move over, Dora, there’s a new explorer in town, and this one comes from the White House team. It’s an easy to use tool that lets you explore how much you can save per year [on average] via actions taken/made possible by the Biden-Harris Admin to lower costs. It’s interactive, it’s fun, and most of all, it shows you how you can keep more money in your pockets/purse/wallet/clutch/mini bag that’s not really a bag. Bookmark it here.

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

$4.3 BILLION IN EPA FUNDING AWARDED TO CLIMATE POLLUTION REDUCTION PROJECTS: The EPA gave the green light [we’ll assume it’s an energy efficient green light] to projects across 30 different states that are focused on reducing climate pollution. The $4.3 billion in funding that will be doled out comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate funding bill in US history. Amongst the projects to be funded according to AP, will be 25 projects that aim to take a swing at greenhouse emissions across sectors, from transportation to waste management, agriculture, and more.

ILLINOIS GOV. PRITZKER SIGNS TWO HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM BILLS: It’s good news bears out of Illinois with the governor recently signing two consumer protections bills that aim to reform the state’s health insurance marketplace. The first bill – the Health Care Protection Act bans a practice known as “step therapy,” which requires patients to try and fail insurance-approved treatments before patients are able to access doctor-recommended treatments. The same bill turned law also now bans insurers from “requiring prior authorization before a patient can receive emergency inpatient treatment at a psychiatric facility.” The second new law bans what’s known as “junk insurance” or short-term health insurance policies that aren’t required to meet the minimum federal standards under the ACA. The two bills were once one, but were separated in order to get them across the finish line for Illinois residents.

HGW LISTENS

Hit play on these pods

• In the vein of giving [boys are] cheats and liars pink slips, this episode of Girl and the Gov, The Podcast with US Senate candidate and former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell shares the path to making that happen in Florida this fall.

• For the quick skinny [and hands-free, put it on in the car] on Biden dropping out of the race and what comes next, this 11-minute episode of The NPR Politics Podcast will do the trick.

• And an episode that puts the “no I in team” mentality to the forefront, is this one with Congressman Colin Allred who is running for US Senate and to be at Ted Cruz.

ELECTION SZN 2024

Guides, chatter, who’s who

• It’s a whole new world – literally – because this presidential election race is the first since 1976 that doesn’t include a member of the Clinton, Bush, or Biden family on the ticket. If that’s not a trivia question at some point, we swear…

• Who and what groups have endorsed Kamala Harris for president so far? This growing list that we cannot stop hitting refresh one, as well as Pelosi and Fetterman, and this Senator from Hawai’i actually climbing a coconut tree who wins every meme war possible. Sorry and xoxo to our computer keys.

• Now what about those Dem delegates? This tracker from The Hill is keeping an eye on the road to 1,986, the number of delegates necessary to win the democratic presidential nomination.

• On the Kamala campaign HQ side of things, Big Gretch has taken on the role of co-chair of the Harris campaign for pres, pushing aside speculation that she would be a possible VP pick.

• In Tennessee, election szn x primary szn is well under way, with these races catching wind and eyes up and down the ballot.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills 

FEDERAL: Following the passing of this bill, came the introduction of the Environmental Health in Prisons Act. Introduced by Senator Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, both of MA, the bill would take another step in the federal prison reform arena. Specifically, this bill would require that the Federal Bureau of Prisons disclose data on enviro hazards in facilities – this could range from mold to air quality, and so on. These reports would also be required for facilities that are overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, according to The Hill.

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

• AP: The biggest of stories came to the small city of Butler. Here’s how the newspaper met the moment

• Roll Call: Sources: House may scrap votes next week, start recess early

• Politico: House GOP forced to temporarily scrap 2 funding bills with abortion riders

• NPR: Secret Service chief to Congress: ‘We failed’

MERCH ME UP

The Gov Club Merch Collection Drops New Additions

The Collection has been expanded from the classic Gov Club sweatshirt to include a cozy long sleeve t-shirt, a French terry navy crewneck, and a cutie lil’ crop top. Shop all of the options here.

BEFORE YOU GO…

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