The Gov Hub Newsletter: May 6, 2024

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Gov Hub
May 06, 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 – EDUCATION

The Ask: Tell your [federal] reps to cosponsor the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act.

The Action: Hit send on this note.

The Background: The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act would put a needed spotlight on the over a century long practice of removing Native American children from their families to attend either government-run or religious boarding schools with the goal of extinguishing Native cultures, religions, languages, traditions, practices, and so on. Specifically, the bill would create a commission to investigate what happened, the impacts of forced assimilation and related egregious practices, and methods for remediation. 

ACTION 2 – MENOPAUSE RESEARCH

The Ask: Tell your [federal] rep to pass the Menopause Research & Equity Act.

The Action: Hit send on this note.

The Background: Menopause and mid-life women’s health has been getting much needed eyes in recent months, including with the introduction of a bi-partisan bill in the House, the Menopause Research & Equity Act of 2023. The bill would have NIH invest long-term in the research of symptoms and treatments for menopause.

ACTION 3 – SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AGING

The Ask: Call on Congress and the Biden-Harris Admin to fix outdated Medicare Part D policies that STILL exclude coverage and access to FDA-approved anti-obesity medicines. 

The Action: Hit send on this note.

The Background: Obesity care should be affordable for everyone. Yet, only 10% of people with obesity get help from medical professionals, and as few as 2% are treated with new anti-obesity medications. The resulting economic and physical toll is staggering: $173 billion in annual medical costs and 400,000 premature deaths each year. Treatment can help – but only if it’s accessible and affordable, which for seniors often isn’t because it’s not covered by Medicare Part D. In other words, beneficiaries under 65 years of age who are covered under private insurance for AOMs lose coverage for AOMs [treatment] once they reach 65 under Medicare. This includes Federal Employee Health Benefits and Tricare [for veterans]. About 4.1 million Americans are poised to turn 65 starting in 2024 and every year through 2027. Tell Congress to act now and prevent thousands from losing their coverage for anti-obesity medications.

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

  • You know that friend that’s in a constant back and forth with their ex-partner? The one that you want to yell ‘enough already!!’ at? Yea, that’s how we feel about the MTG versus Mike Johnson feud. 

  • The former president aka Trump was found in contempt for violating a gag order and the judge has noted that the orange man will find himself in an orange suit serving jail time for any further infractions.

  • How many women were in the room when abortion was banned in West Virginia? Find out here.

HGW LISTENS

Hit play on these pods [and get on the list for this newsletter]

  • ICYMI Trump was interviewed by Time Magazine and shared his two cents on his White House plans [big hint: not good]. This episode of Pod Save America plays translator for what he means and the consequences of Trump 2.0.

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, they do exist]

MISSOURI ABORTION BALLOT MEASURE MOVES AHEAD: The ballot measure process is often more complicated than one’s relationship status – not to mention it’s different per state, AND not available in every state. In Missouri, the idiosyncratic process to get a ballot measure on the ballot that, if passed, would enshrine abortion access in the state’s constitution, got the green flag to move ahead. The signature collection process, led by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, collected a whopping 380,000 signatures – which given that they were required to get 172,000 valid signatures by May 5, 2024 [yesterday], that number is stunnnnnnning, gorgeous, beautiful. Those signatures were submitted on Friday. While legal challenges from opponents including the state’s very own secretary of state, may try and get in the way, the real question will be whether the ballot measure is placed on the primary ballot in August or the general election ballot in November. In Missouri, the governor, who in this case is GOP Gov. Mike Parson, is charged with deciding which of the ballots the measure will land on.

ARIZONA GOVERNOR SIGNS REPEAL OF TOTAL ABORTION BAN: It’s no longer 1864 in Arizona [sorta] with Governor Katie Hobbs signing a bill into law that repeals an almost total abortion ban circa the Civil War era. Getting to the repeal took more than a few tries in the state House before it made it to the state Senate, but it finally, and thankfully did get across the finish line. The repeal will go into effect 90 days from the end of the state’s legislative session. At the moment, that could be some time in June or July, so big TBD and obvi anxiety for many in the meantime. Once that repeal is fully out and about, Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban will be the law of the land and the focus for abortion rights advocates working on a relevant 2024 ballot measure.

MINNESOTA’S AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM IS CERTIFIED: Cut the ribbon and cue the confetti because Minnesota’s automatic voter registration system has officially been certified by the Secretary of State Steve Simon. In other words, the system is a go! Via the system, all eligible Minnesotans who’re applying for or renewing a state-issued ID will be registered to vote without needing to opt-in. The process mandates an extensive review and verification mechanism, as detailed here, of all documents, records, etc, which is estimated to take 4-6 weeks. For those already registered to vote, the system will update the voter’s record. And for those that decide to opt-out i.e. don’t want to be registered to vote, once the review process is complete, they’ll be sent an opt-out form via snail mail that they’ll need to return within 20 days. 

BILL BANNING CHILD MARRIAGE IN NH HEADS TO GOVERNOR’S DESK: In New Hampshire, a bill that would outlaw child marriage in total, raising the age of allowable marriage to 18, has passed both legislative chambers. Next up for the bill that advocates have worked tirelessly to gain support for, it’ll go to Governor Sununu’s desk for consideration and possible signature into law. Importantly, the bill would repeal currently available work-arounds to the age limit or, bluntly put, loopholes.

BILL THAT’LL ADD AGE RESTRICTIONS TO AMO SALES HEADS TO HAWAI’I GOVERNOR’S DESK: A bill that if signed into law would ban the sale of ammunition to those under the age of 21 in Hawai’i is headed to the governor’s desk. The bill also puts forth an age limit on the possession of amo, prohibiting it under the age of 21. Should it become law, the regulation would join a number of other states that have similar age restrictions.

WAIT, WAIT UPDATE ME

ICYMI, political ongoings of note

SOUTH DAKOTA ABORTION BALLOT MEASURE COLLECTS ENOUGH SIGNATURES: In more ballot measure news, a signature collection campaign in South Dakota to get abortion on the ballot has submitted 55,000+ signatures to the state’s Secretary of State for validation. Pending that process, which the Secretary of State’s office has until August 13, 2024 to complete, the ballot measure will either make it in front of voters or not. This particular ballot measure is more in the controversial camp, lacking support at the moment from key abortion rights advocates and groups in the state that argue that the BM isn’t up to the necessary legal standards that would protect abortion access versus not. While we can’t be sure whether it’ll be on the ballot until August, we can be sure it'll continue to be the ire and legal target in the state for abortion rights opponents. 

REP. CUELLAR + WIFE INDICTED ON BRIBERY, MONEY LAUNDERING, ACTING AS FOREIGN AGENTS, & MORE, CHARGES: We’re dying to know if Congressman Cuellar [D-TX] and his wife one day will share a cell or do a jail-side double date with Senator Bob Menendez [D-NJ] and his wife. But since the jury is still out, here are the basic details. The last pro-life voting Democrat in the House has been indicted, alongside his wife, for allegedly accepting a whopping $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijan, as well as a Mexican bank. The dollars were allegedly laundered via fake consulting contracts via shell companies in exchange for “adding language to defense spending legislation to prioritize ties to countries in the region, including with Azerbaijan, and working to kill legislation prioritized by members who supported Armenian interests,” according to the Texas Tribune. The tea gets hotter, the further you dig with this one, and we’ll hand you the shovel [link] here to do so. In the meantime, this man still has the audacity to run for reelection in November, and will face whoever the winner of the Republican primary is. He will, however, be taking leave from his position as a Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

  • Politico: ‘They May Be Republicans, But They Still Come in for Services’

  • AP: With a vest and a voice, helpers escort kids through San Francisco’s broken Tenderloin streets

  • The Hill: Hope Hicks divulges being at center of Trump’s 2016 damage control

ATLAS

Stories from around the globe

  • AP: Togo’s ruling party wins a majority in parliament, likely keeping a dynasty in power

  • The Guardian: Meet the Vatican Swiss Guards ready to sacrifice their lives for the pope

  • CNN: Australia’s problem with male violence is getting worse. So, what’s the solution?

BACK ON OUR BILLSHIT

Bills, bills, bills

FEDERAL: This bill got the Halle Berry stamp of approval – the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act that is. The bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators, with Halle at the mic, sharing that the deats on how it would change the game on an ultra-understudied segment of medicine - menopause. The bill, which is a variation on its House sister shared in the action items section of this newsletter [scroll up], would…

  • Put more oomph behind federal research on menopause.

  • Put it in drive on education and public awareness on menopause.

  • Put a microscope on what’s needed to address menopause and mid-life women’s health issues.

FEDERAL: This bill was constructed – pun intended – for the construction industry by California Rep. Zoe Lofgren. If passed, the National Construction Safety Team Enhancement Act of 2023 would be ~edited~ to allow for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to put their inspector gadget hats on and investigate structures other than buildings. The purpose of these investigations would be to help create critical engineering standards, building codes, and practices to improve safety. 

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