The Gov Hub: November 6, 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. 

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THE ACTION ITEMS

Jump right in

ACTION 1: 

The Ask: Tell Congress to protect access to healthcare in rural communities and prevent hospital closures.

The Action: Sign this petition from the Coalition to Protect America’s Healthcare.

The Background: The federal government pays hospitals just 84% of the cost of caring for our seniors under Medicare. And yet, some in Congress are calling for further reductions to Medicare hospital funding. When reductions happen, hospitals that are already navigating tough financial times, workforce shortages, and soaring inflation are likely to close. And to that point, between 2010 and 2022, 143 rural hospitals closed — 19 of which occurred in 2020 alone. The closures result in people, including seniors who require chronic care, having to drive over an hour to reach the closest healthcare system/hospital. Being able to access healthcare is key, and taking away funding that makes that possible for seniors and those living in rural areas is not the answer.

ACTION 2: 

The Ask: Tell the EPA to finalize rules that will decrease dangerous air pollution.

The Action: Hit send on a pre-written message from the Sierra Club, here.

The Background: The 411 is that medium and heavy-duty vehicles [like the infamous truck Taylor Swift’s ex wouldn’t let her drive] produce more than a third of the climate pollution associated with transportation, even though they make up less than 10% of the vehicles on US roads. Earlier this year, the EPA proposed revised greenhouse gas standards to for heavy-duty trucks and buses to address this issue. Together, with other “Clean Truck” rules issued by the Biden Administration, the standards would remove hundreds of thousands of tons of pollution from the air and prevent nearly 3,000 annual deaths and hospitalizations resulting from respiratory illnesses. So, these rules need to be finalized, ya know get the show on the road as they say, to have an impact.

ACTION 3: 

The Ask: Vote. 

The Action: Make a voter plan with tools from Vote 411.

The Background: Tomorrow, November 7, 2023 is election day all around this country. From statewide to local races, they are all set to impact our communities.  Make sure to show up and show out, and remind your friends to do so as well.

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

2023 ELECTION WATCH

A few of the many races & BM’s being voted on tomorrow, November 7

A race to watch → The Uvalde, Texas Mayoral Election and this candidate

Some big investments → School board races are happening all over the place, including in PA

Pensions for teachers and public school employees on the ballot → Nov 7 will determine if retired TX teachers and public school teachers’ pensions will see a raise

Abortion rights are on the ballot → Ohioans will decide on Issue 1

A Governor race that has pollsters on watch for ‘24 → So much chatter on KY

Another Governor race that got a new rating → from Likely Republican to lean Republican in Mississippi

The future of abortion rights in the south → VA state leg races set to have a huge impact

REMINDER: Friends don’t let friends miss elections. Text your friends, the group chat, the group DM – even go full boomer and leave them a voicemail, asking them to double check their voter plan for tomorrow. Voter info per state can be found here.

FULL SEND…TO A FRIEND

Just about guaranteed to make it to the group chat

• Need a ride to the polls or know someone that does? If you live in Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Tennessee, or Florida, you can schedule a free ride to the polls via ride2vote, here.

• A clip from a while back [2022] of House Speaker Johnson discussing how he and his son use an accountability app to monitor their porn viewership is making its rounds because it’s top tier weird.

• These signs, seen on slide nine here and here, from yesterday’s NYC Marathon are chuckle-worthy. And this webbed footed participant won over our hearts yet again.

• Rep. Jamie Raskin provided edits to a dear colleague letter/thank you note from the ever-elusive and strange, Rep. George Santos, and it’s an English teacher’s dream come true [and ours].

• This trend is going viral on the clock app, and we’re chomping at the bit for a political campaign to adopt it and do this. More ideas like these can be found here.

• Why are elections held on Tuesday’s? Apparently because of this profession.

• BTS: GW at his dollar bill shoot. Who was his glam team?! We’d love to know.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

FEDERAL: The Sierra Club gave golf claps to this GOP-led bill. Yes, you read that correctly, they’re fans of The Foreign Pollution Fee Act, which was intro’d by GOP Senators Cassidy, Graham, and Wicker. The act, if passed, would put a fee into place on energy and industrial imports. According to The Hill, the fee rate would be based on the exporting country’s pollution levels relative to the US. American companies would be exempt from the fee, putting the incentive on other nations to decrease their pollution output.

FEDERAL: Naturally, the ZOMBIE Act made its rounds on social media during Halloween, because with a name like that?! As for its contents, the act, if passed, would “require all politicians to close their campaign accounts if they are no longer an active candidate for federal office. This would apply to a candidate’s personal campaign committee and their leadership PACs.” If they don’t file paperwork for a candidacy within six months after closing their campaign, they would have to close the account before becoming a registered lobbyist or foreign agent. Any leftover money after paying those pesky little things called bills would have to be returned to the OG donors – a charitable exception would be allowed if the org doesn’t have any of their relatives on the roster. As for why this is needed…. This paints the picture perfectly

GOOD NEWS BEARS

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

AMTRAK GIRLIES REJOICE; NE CORRIDOR GETS $16 BILLION INVESTMENT: For anyone who has ever been a NJ Transit or Amtrak rider and gotten stuck in the tunnel [us x an unlimited amount of times], breakout into your best victory dance. The Biden admin has announced $16 billion in funding for Amtrak projects across the Northeast corridor, which includes the Gateway Hudson River Project. It also includes funding for the v v v old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, and 23 other projects that are in need of a serious safety spruce up and a release of bottlenecks that make LA traffic look enviable. When will these projects be donzo? Not sure, but it appears things are ~on the right track~ pun very much intended.

NEBRASKA ABORTION RIGHTS ADVOCATES TAKE STEPS IN BALLOT MEASURE BATTLE: Step by step, bit by bit, moves continue to be made in Nebraska, where abortion rights advocates have submitted petition language to the Secretary of State for review. The petition language has not been revealed but has been drawn up with the goal of collecting signatures in support of a ballot measure that would put abortion rights on the 2024 ballot. As seen with the current race to the finish line in Ohio regarding a ballot measure, the language used matters. That factor, along with timing and turnout are amongst those being discussed by political voices of all stripes across Nebraska.

WAIT, WAIT UPDATE ME

ICYMI, political ongoings in no particular order

SCOTUS TO HEAR BUMP STOCK CASE: SCOTUS will hear arguments early in ‘24 related to a Trump-era ban on bump stocks. These attachments alter the capabilities of semi-automatic weapons and allow them to fire in the same fashion as a machine gun – they have been used in mass shootings, including in the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting that spurred this specific bump stock ban. Whether this ban – or rather the way the ban was put into place – violates federal law or not will be what SCOTUS evaluates and decides on. 

SCOTUS TO HEAR CASE ON PROTECTING DV VICTIMS FROM GUNS: Tomorrow, November 7, SCOTUS will hear arguments on U.S. v Rahimi. The outcome of the case will determine the future of a lifesaving gun violence prevention law that has been on the books for years.  The case comes as a challenge to the current law of the land which bars an individual who is the subject of a qualifying domestic violence restraining order from possessing a gun. What SCOTUS will be ruling on is whether this stands – whether a person who is the subject of a qualifying domestic violence restraining order can be prohibited from possessing a gun or not. The potential and dangerous ramifications are huge. 

TRUMP’S CIVIL FRAUD TRIAL CONTINUES: In what feels like a dark episode of Parks & Rec, Trump’s civil fraud trial in NY continues, with many a dramatic point happening thus far, including the Judge [Judge Arthur Engoron] calling Trump out for wasting his time with campaign rally-esque behavior. What he was supposed to be doing was answering questions respectfully as part of his testimony under oath as to why his company [the Trump Org] inflated the value of its assets – a move that allowed his org to get better loan terms, etc. Respectful is not a word in his vocab, so is any of this a surprise? No. Will we see this throughout other trials of his? We’d bet on it. What’s next? Ivanka aka Kim K’s new BFF is expected to testify on Wednesday. Will she have a similar style to her brothers? Another, we’ll have to see. 

KEY STORIES TO HAVE ON YOUR RADAR

Additional stories to tune into from around the USA

• AP: Virginia school board elections face a pivotal moment as a cozy corner of democracy turns toxic

• The Guardian: Held in bondage: US patients losing equity in homes to hospital lawsuits

• Politico: For sale: Data on US service members – and lots of it

• The Hill: Farm bill faces battle as GOP pushes to strip climate, SNAP funding for subsidies

• The 19th: Missouri becomes the 14th state with a majority-women supreme court

ATLAS

Stories from around the globe

• AP: Afghans fleeing Pakistan lack water, food and shelter once they cross the border, aid groups say

• The Hill: Ethiopia says disputed western Tigray will be settled in a referendum and displaced people returned 

• Reuters: Pro-Europe party of Moldova’s president wins local elections, sees setbacks in big cities

• CNN: Deadly quake strikes Nepal, toppling homes and killing at least 157 people

Editor’s Note: This new section will share reporting on stories happening around the world. We are not international reporters (although that would be a v cool career path) nor are we experts on every region, country, etc. Thus we’re going to refrain from comment or analysis on any stories featured and make it truly a jumping off point for learning about different ongoings around this planet. In addition, if you’re looking for Israel-Hamas coverage, these reporters are doing a great job and are where to find constant updates, insights. etc.

THE POD

The latest and greatest

ICYMI, Girl and the Gov, The Podcast hit 200 episodes last week with the release of the show’s interview with Melissa Byrne, the Founder of We, the 45 Million. The interview was all about the fight for student debt cancellation, covering everything from the current and continued negotiations happening around this issue to what more accessible higher education could look like. Action items like this one, where also discussed. Get the full scoop by tuning in on  Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, and YouTube. 

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