The Gov Hub: November 13, 2023

Author

Gov Hub
November 13, 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. Typos are included free of charge. 

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

THE ACTION ITEMS

Jump right in

ACTION 1: 

The Ask: Demand that Justices Alito, Gorsuch, Roberts, and Thomas recuse themselves from Moore v. U.S.

The Action: Add your name to the petition here.

The Background: On December 5, 2023, SCOTUS will hear arguments for a case known as Moore v. U.S. The case focuses on taxation, specifically whether laws used to tax corporations and the Harlan Crow’s of the world are legal. The case will take into account a handful of laws, many of which are responsible for significant amounts of US tax revenue. Naturally, corporations and their BFFs stand to benefit from these laws being struck down either totally or in a piecemeal fashion – and the BFFs of the BFFs just so happen to be on the court… a few examples of such. As a result, the justices listed above should recuse themselves from this case.

ACTION 2: 

The Ask: Tell Congress to pass the Transgender Bill of Rights.

The Action: Send this digital note to your reps.

The Background: The Transgender community is under attack, with this year alone, over 450 anti-LGBTQA+ bills being introduced across federal, state, and local bodies of gov. The need to protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary people is more important than ever, and the Transgender Bill of Rights aims to do just that. The resolution creates a framework to ensure protections from discrimination based on gender identity or expression – a framework that gets explored on this week’s episode of Girl and the Gov, The Podcast with one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Pramila Jayapal. Tune in Wednesday to learn more about the bill of rights, how it would work, and why it’s needed.

ACTION 3: Michigan

The Ask: Tell your state senator to pass the The Reproductive Health Act (RHA).

The Action: Send a digital note to your state senator here.

The Background: In big adjacent moves Michigan’s The Reproductive Health Act (RHA) recently passed through the state house, albeit in a slimmer fashion than originally designed. The latest variation on a theme is in the hands of the state senate and needs to pass there before it can be signed into law of Big Gretch. 

…AND ONE MORE BEFORE YOU SCROLL → Tell Congress to protect access to healthcare in rural communities and prevent hospital closures, by signing this petition from the Coalition to Protect 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

  • Pink has announced that she will give away banned books during her tour with stops in Florida in a rebuke of the state’s book ban legislation. Talk about a concert merch upgrade. 

  • On GATG last week, the co-hosts talked about their nightmare blunt rotations. They clearly did not think of this one. Nightmare = realized.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

FEDERAL: As Kyle Cooke would say “election day should be fun a federal holiday.” Okay, who knows what he’d say on the matter, because we/no one has asked him on record. However, two people, two elected officials with different letters next to their names, have not just said that election day should be a federal holiday, but have introduced bipartisan legislation to make that the case. The bill, introduced with tact on November 7, 2023, by Rep. Debbie Dingell [MI-D] and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick [PA-R], and if passed, would increase voter access.

FEDERAL: Nebraska and Iowa’s Senators have teamed up to introduce the Winnebago Land Transfer Act, which would return 1,600 acres of land back to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. The land was originally seized using eminent domain for a proposed recreation project that would be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 70’s. The project never went ahead and the land is being held by the federal government instead of its rightful owners as dictated by a treaty signed in 1865 – the  Winnebago Tribe. The legislation would make that return of land possible.

FWD, SUBSCRIBE

Inbox musts and mentions

SHADES OF THE DAY: This newsletter looks at what people are talking about, and provides different POVs on those topics – or as its name suggests, different shades of the same thing. Whether it’s pop culture or politics, the newsletter offers quick summaries of points made and a jumping off point to learn the full 411 of a perspective. Subscribe here.

AFTER SCHOOL BY CASEY LEWIS: A newsletter that’s a must-open every time is After School by Casey Lewis. The newsletter looks at youth in the news and in culture, and gives a 411 roundup of deats and opinions on all-things young people, from political leanings to new phrases taking the internet by storm. It makes the pop in pop culture, well, pop. Subscribe here.

#VIRAL, THE NEWSLETTER: Creating thoughtful and strategic social media content for political accounts can be tough. This newsletter makes it easier, by dropping content ideas, tips n’ tricks, and platform tutorials geared toward political applications, to subscribers every Tuesday. Subscribe here.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Odds and sometimes scary ends from the race to ‘24

  • Presidential candidate and conspiracy theorist RFK decided to do some ‘grounding work’ on a recent flight, putting his bare feet to the floor on a stroll down the aisles. Cringes in every form of germ-a-phobe possible

  • Tim Scott suspended his presidential campaign this weekend and this meme really captures it all. Although, we will miss the speculation on the GF or not GF…

  • The ‘QAnon Shaman’ ya know the guy that stormed the capitol shirtless with a fur hat complete with horns has announced that he’s running for elected office in Arizona… 

CANDIDATE WATCH ‘24

The following Dems said put me in coach for….

  • WEST VIRGINIA: Zach Shrewsbury is running for Senate in West Virginia. Learn more about his campaign here.

  • MINNESOTA: Former Minneapolis City Councilmember Don Samuels has announced that he’s running for Congress. Learn more about his campaign here.

  • WASHINGTON: WA Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz who was originally running for Governor has decided to run for Congress instead. Learn more about her campaign here.

  • ARKANSAS: Caitlin Draper has announced that she’s running for Congress in Arkansas. Learn more about her campaign here.

Inclusion does not indicate an endorsement

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political reads and achievements [yes, those do exist]

FIRST-EVER WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON WOMEN’S HEALTH RESEARCH TO LAUNCH: Research on women’s health is way behind the times and it has enormous consequences for women’s health outcomes across the country. This new initiative, which will be led by First Lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council, will invest in women’s health research looking at conditions that predominantly and/or exclusively impact women [ex: PCOs]. The goal overall is to close the research gap and procure health solutions that will improve women’s health. Four distinct directives fall within the initiative, including a requirement that recommended actions that the Admin can take to “improve how research on women’s health is conducted and maximize the Administration’s investments in women’s health research, including to address health disparities and inequities” must be reported within 45 days.

SCOTUS ANNOUNCES ADOPTION OF ETHICS CODE: TBH, did not see this one coming, but SCOTUS has announced that it has adopted a code of ethics for the first time. Yes, you read that right, the highest court in all the land is in the year 2023 finally adopting a formal code of ethics. Grievances aside, progress is progress, and the justices issued the policy today after debate over what to include versus not. What they landed on was this 15-page code. Guess we’ll see who sticks to it!

HOLLYWOOD ACTOR STRIKE REACHES A DEAL: After an almost four month long strike, board members from Hollywood’s actors union voted to approve a new deal with studios. The three-year long contract will go next for a vote from the union’s members starting on Tuesday [November 14]. Included in the deal are these highlights, and these:

  • Informed consent will be needed from actors, main and background, for studios to use digital replicas of them in productions. 

  • When AI is used in a production an actor is a part of, they’ll be paid the same as if they actually performed what their digital likeness does in the show/movie.

  • For times when licensed images are used showing an actor [living or dead] but isn’t performing in the production otherwise, license holders can negotiate a rate of pay.

  • When AI is used to create a ‘synthetic character’ using images of different performers, consent must be obtained and a pay rate can be negotiated by the union.

  • Increases in wages for actors and background actors.

  • The mandatory hire of intimacy coordinators for scenes with nudity or simulated sex.

  • Dancers and singers will have to be compensated for both skills, not one a 2-in-1 shampoo way.

WAIT, WAIT UPDATE ME

ICYMI, political ongoings in no particular order

TRUMP TO REMAIN ON MINNESOTA BALLOT: The Minnesota Supreme Court said ‘eh, not right now, try again later’ on a lawsuit aimed at barring Trump from Minnesota’s primary ballot. The court dismissed the case in relation to keeping Trump off the primary ballot, but didn’t close the door on the possibility of barring him from the general election ballot, which leaves us with a big ol’ bunch of ‘we’ll see.’ As a refresher, the case, which is one of a few happening in different states, aims to knock Trump off the ballot based on a provision of the 14th Amendment that stops people from holding public office if they’ve engaged in an insurrection, ya know like that little thing that happened on January 6. The general consensus is that these cases may find themselves in front of SCOTUS.

FOUR DAYS AWAY FROM A GOV SHUTDOWN: Here we go again…yet again, Congress is nearing a government shutdown potential with Friday’s funding deadline on the very near horizon. How will the new Speaker navigate it? As of this weekend, he intro’d a deal that would extend current funding levels for a handful of agencies until mid-Jan, and the rest through early Feb. The strategy has been dubbed a laddered approach, but we just call it groundhog day. This week will be filled with debate as to whether to pass his deal, make revisions, or forgo it altogether into shutdown chaos.

KEY STORIES TO HAVE ON YOUR RADAR

Additional stories to tune into from around the USA

  • AP: Secret Service agents protecting Biden’s granddaughter open fire when 3 people try to break into SUV

  • The City: Who Will Challenge Eric Adams for Mayor? An Early Guide

  • The Hill: Justice Department announces investigation of Mississippi police department

  • Erin In The Morning: City Ordinance Banning Public Homosexuality Reaches Rutherford County Libraries

ATLAS

Stories from around the globe - section background avail. Here

  • The Guardian: Dominica creates world’s first marine protected area for sperm whales

  • PBS: U.S. asks Congo and Rwanda to de-escalate tensions as fight near their border displaces millions

  • Financial Times: Argentina’s presidential candidates clash ahead of pivotal poll

  • NPR: Long-jailed former Philippines senator who fought drug crackdown is granted bail

  • AP: European Union calls for an investigation into the massacre of nearly 100 civilians in Burkina Faso

THE POD

The latest and greatest

If anyone could please get this message and this episode to Jack Harlow, it would be greatly appreciated. There’s some matchmaking to be done and some blunts to be rolled. The latest episode walks through 200+ episodes of memories and plans for 100+ more episodes. Loads of fun available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. And for more from the hosts, catch Hot Mic’d every Thursday.

MORE GIRL AND THE GOV®, MORE FUN

What else is on our roster this feral girl fall? These offerings, of course

→ FOR DIGITAL TEAMS AND MANAGERS → 

#VIRAL, THE NEWSLETTER: Sign up #VIRAL, the newsletter and get social media content ideas that work for the political space, platform tutorials, best practices, and more to your inbox every Tuesday. 

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDITS & CONSULTING: Giving accounts makeovers better than those seen on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” back in the day, audits and GATG’s full range of consulting offerings level up accounts across platform types. Book a Discovery Call to learn more.

PODCAST AUDITS & CONSULTING: From getting a pod off the ground to audits, brainstorms, and more, GATG’s podcast expertise is available wherever you need it most. Book a Discovery Call to learn more.

→ FOR CREATORS AND THEIR TEAMS → 

KEEPING IT CURRANT, THE NEWSLETTER: Built for creators and their teams, this newsletter from Social Currant and Girl and the Gov® is designed to share the latest info about the creator economy and its intersection with the political and social impact space. Keep currant and subscribe here.

→ FOR FANS OF THE POD → 

HOT MIC’D, THE NEWSLETTER: The POVs, the tea, the behind the scenes, the recs, and more from the co-hosts of Girl and the Gov, The Podcast, Sammy and Maddie. Add it to your Thursday rotation here.

THE GROUP CHAT → THE GOV CLUB: The Gov Club is part LinkedIn but make it accessible for the girlies, and part group chat about anything and everything political under the sun - from action items to job opps to memes and mayhem. Come say hi – join The Gov Club

SHOP THE GAL’S FAVES: Picks for working in politics to hiking trails with the pups, this ever growing assortment of faves may just have you adding to cart. Shop ‘em all here.