The Gov Hub Newsletter: May 28, 2024

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Gov Hub
May 28, 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 – JUSTICE ALITO

The Ask: Tell the SCOTUS Justice Alito to recuse himself from January 6th [insurrection] related cases.

The Background: Turns out that the man who blamed his wife for flying an American flag upside down – a symbol of support for the ‘stop the steal’ movement - had also flown a flag at his shore house that’s associated with Christian Nationalism. Ah, yes, nothing like the ol’ Appeal to Heaven flag outside of a guy’s house that’s supposed to be serving in a nonpolitical check and balance on the gov. Tell ‘em to hit the road on all January 6 cases headed to SCOTUS.

ACTION 2 – SNAP FOOD OPTIONS

The Ask: Tell Congress to oppose food choice restrictions for SNAP participants.

The Background: SNAP has long been a critical piece in the anti-hunger policy family. It’s also a part of the larger piece of legislation known as the farm bill, and thus is getting the ‘lets change this’ and ‘lets change that’ treatment ATM, all the while there being 44 million food insecure people across the US. Reducing and restricting the options available for SNAP participants makes it harder for the program to function properly.

ACTION 3 – SPONSORED BY NEW DEMOCRACY – BANKING ACCESS & DEBIT CARDS

The Ask: Tell Congress to say no to a proposal from the Federal Reserve that would make debit card transactions more expensive to process.

The Background: A new proposal from the Federal Reserve is set to make your life more expensive – and the same for small businesses. Specifically, the Federal Reserve wants to make debit card transactions MORE expensive for banks to process. Similar policies in the past were a failure with a capital F, leaving Americans without a bank and bank programs and perks slashed.

ICYMI, more action items to do from your phone:

  • Tell Congress to ensure FDA-approved anti-obesity medicines are covered for those over 65 on Medicare Part-D → hit send on this note. *Brought to you by the National Council on Aging

  • Tell Congress not to reduce hospital funding and protect rural healthcare access → sign this petition. *Brought to you by the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare

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

  • Rubber chicken sales potentially hit an all-time high in the prep for MDW. Correction: in prep for the Libertarian Convention, RFK Jr.’s team invested in the purchase of rubber chickens with the goal of trying to get supporters to troll Trump for not debating him [RFK Jr.] with a ‘rubber chicken.’ Get it? Got it. 

  • The new kids on the block – literally – are the 9,300 shade-providing, heat-reducing, air quality-improving trees that are being planted across NYC this spring. Find what trees are taking root near you here.

  • In ‘you learn something new’ everyday news – maternal mortality skeptics are a thing. Literally. And in Texas, the state is having this maternal mortality skeptic investigate maternal mortality.

  • For a little bit more on the Alito’s flag flying controversy, spin your chair to face the Washington Post, which interviewed Alito on Jan 20, 2021 on the flags, and then held onto it for 3+ years until the NYT dropped a story on it. What gives, bro?

GATG MERCH LAUNCH: GOV CLUB SWEATSHIRTS

Summer sweatshirts = perf summer fits

Just in time for summer nights that require a cozy sweatshirt, The Gov Club Collection is built for the chic to chill pipeline of moments. The Collection is inclusive of five color options to match all your faves. Get ‘em all. 

BOOKMARK IT

Don’t lose the link

MAP THE MEAL: Feeding America has all eyes on eliminating food insecurity across the US – and now it has yours on the issue with this interactive map. The map shares what food insecurity is, what it looks like, who is impacted where, and what programs people either qualify for or how others fall through the cracks by making more than the income threshold. Map the meal in your backyard, and bookmark the tool here.

HGW LISTENS

Hit play on these pods

P.S. fan of Girl and the Gov, The Podcast? Get political POVs, tea, recs, and more with the Yapper’s Digest, droppin’ like it’s hot every Thursday to inboxes. 

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

SENATE CONFIRMS 201 FEDERAL JUDGES; BIDEN ADMIN NOMINEES: In a win that defines ‘politics is a long game,’ the Senate confirmed its 201st federal judge [one was confirmed Weds after hitting 200], marking the most diverse set of federal judges appointed in US history. The benchmark puts the tally of judges – those that make major decisions on major issues [hi, abortion we’re talking about you] that have long term consequences – 'placed’ by President Biden at 42 judges on the U.S. court of appeals, 155 judges on the U.S. district courts, two on the Court of International Trade, and one on SCOTUS. ATM, there are more seats to fill, with 40 seats currently open, and an expected 28 to come online – in other words, more opportunity to safeguard democracy with Biden picks. 

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN CANCELS $7.7 BILLION FOR 160K STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS: More student loan cancellation rolled out of the newsroom and into reality late last week, with the Biden-Harris Admin nixing $7.7 billion in student loan debt for 160,000 borrowers. The 160,000 are people that enrolled in the Biden-Harris Admin’s SAVE plan and were approved for relief based on corrections made to the income-driven payment. This latest dashing of the dollars for hard working Americans brings the total number of people that have benefited from student debt cancellation to a whopping 4.75 million. 

PA TO ALLOW CANDIDATES TO USE CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR CHILDCARE: The barriers to running for elected office are many, and often include a lack of childcare or funds to pay for care while on the campaign trail. Vote Mama has been working state by state to remedy this piece of the puzzle, and has notched a win in its 32nd state – PA. Now, in the Keystone State, candidates will be able to use campaign donations to pay for childcare, making running for office as a parent more accessible.

MICHIGAN GOV. WHITMER SIGNS MENTAL HEALTH LEGISLATION INTO LAW: Michigan’s Governor Whitmer signed state Senator Sarah Anthony’s SB 27 into law. The legislation – which might we add was bipartisan in nature – requires that insurers cover treatments for mental health and substance use disorder in the same way they do for physical health services. The goal is equitable coverage, breaking stigmas, closing loopholes, and ensuring access to care.

WAIT, WAIT UPDATE ME

ICYMI, a political ongoing of note

CHASE OLIVER TO BE LIBERTARIAN PREZ NOMINEE: The Libertarian Convention was 100% more dramatic than your average episode of the RHONJ. It had bells, whistles, twists and turns, and most importantly Trump getting booed, RFK Jr.'s campaign handing out rubber chickens [and also getting booed], and an eventual vote on who would rep the party on this year’s prez and vp ticket. The result? Chase Oliver – or as many know him – the spoiler. He gained that reputation for spurring a runoff election in 2022 when he ran for Senate in Georgia against Senator Warnock. This time he’s going presidential, and he'll be joined by Mike ter Maat as his running mate.

OHIO IN SPECIAL SESH TO GET BIDEN ON THE BALLOT: Getting on the ballot is not for the faint of heart, and getting President Biden on the ballot in Ohio is seemingly no different. In the state, the Governor [DeWine, GOP] has called a special session to pass legislation to guarantee that Biden is on the ballot come fall 2024. The crux of the issue is all about dates and deadlines with Ohio’s current August 7, 2024 ballot deadline falling before the Democratic National Convention, where Biden will be officially nominated as the candidate. The convention is scheduled for August 19-22, 2024 in Chicago. This isn’t the first time there’s needed to be a dance of the deadlines to make things work, but this one is ripe with drama over other provisions – namely a foreign nationals donating to Ohio ballot campaigns issue that’s become a political football between state Dems and Republicans. The goal is to pass a ‘clean bill’ solely focused on temporarily changing Ohio’s ballot deadline. As per usual, we’ll see how that goes.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

NEW YORK: Conversation around a NY state bill known as the Fair College Admission Act has been heating up. The bill, if passed, would ban legacy admission in the state for public and private higher education institutions. The legislation is sponsored by NY Assemblywoman Latrice Walker and state Senator Andrew Gounardes.

FEDERAL: According to govtrack.us, this piece of legislation has 0% of being enacted. However, it’s worth noting because it does have 32 GOP co-sponsors who often run on the goal of H.R. 899, which is to terminate the Department of Education. 

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

  • Politico: ‘Just brutal’: Why America’s hottest city is seeing a surge in deaths

  • AP: Armenians, Hmong, and other groups feel US race and ethnicity categories don’t represent them

  • USA Today: Trump fired his boss in 2020. Now this Gen Z candidate is up against a fake elector

  • The Hill: Texas House runoff elections could seal revenge wins for Paxton, Abbott

  • CNN Politics: Supreme Court declines to decide whether 12-person juries should be required for state felony cases

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