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The Gov Hub Newsletter: December 9, 2024

Four Good News Bears stories, a Mitch McConnell run-in, a possible TikTok ban, Hochul's proposed inflation refund checks

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Gov Hub
December 09, 2024

Welcome to The Gov Hub Newsletter by Girl and the Gov® – a Dem tent weekly that shares action items you can do from your phone, good political news, civic engagement tools and topics, and a little dose of political goss too, right to your inbox.  

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THE ACTION ITEMS

Get ‘em done from your phone

ACTION 1 – DACA RECIPIENTS

The Ask: Tell Congress to pass the American Dream and Promise Act.

The Background: DACA recipients and their futures continue to be thrown around like a political football. Tell Congress to bring it to the end zone and provide a path to permanent residency for DACA recipients by passing the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act.

ACTION 2 – SCOTUS TERM LIMITS

The Ask: Tell your [federal] reps to pass term limits for SCOTUS.

The Background: On the heels of a Senate bill introduced by Senators Welch [VT] and Manchin [WV], that would make term limits for SCOTUS justices, here’s a lil’ action item to tell the rest of the senators to get on board. 

ACTION 3 – TEXAS X RENEWABLE ENERGY

Brought to readers on behalf of AEA

The Ask: Texas Residents – tell your state reps to invest in renewable energy policy that keeps energy bills down and grid reliability up.

The Background: In 2021, brutal winter weather caused Texas’ electricity grid to fail. Millions of people lost power – and more than 240 lost their lives. While improvements were made, Texans today still face high energy bills that put many families at risk. Grid reliability measures and legislative changes added extra charges to consumers’ bills. To ensure every family has access to affordable electricity, Texas leaders must invest in clean, renewable, and reliable energy – wind, solar, and more – to bring prices down.

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

  • A panel of three federal appeals court judges upheld the TikTok ban law that requires the app/platform to be sold to an American owner by Jan 19, 2025 or be banned. It’s a big ol’ TBD on what will happen as the countdown to ban-hood begins, but it’s a good time to follow us on Insta here and here, + YouTube :)

  • Trump went on Meet the Press and confirmed that he’s willing to deport American citizen children of people who are in the U.S. illegally as part of his mass deportation plan. He also shared his goal of ending birthright citizenship [allowed via the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, btw]. In the case of all of the above, does that mean Elon – the largest political donor in the U.S. – and his kids technically could get the boot?! inserts emoji with pondering face

  • Nearly $40 million was spent on this California Congressional race, where the Dem – Derek Tran – won by only 650 votes. And again for the people in the back: every vote – including yours – matters.

  • 91-year old Senator Chuck Grassley told the current director of the FBI, Christopher Wray that “it’s time for him [Wray] to move on” alongside an 11-page list of grievances Grassley has with Wray’s performance. 

  • NY Governor Kathy Hochul shared a proposal for inflation refund checks, potentially putting money back into the pockets of New Yorkers’. Dinero from excess sales tax collections would be used to fund the program that’s estimated to help 8.6 million people across the state. Currently, the design of the program would give a one-time $300 payment to those who earn less than $150K/year and $500 to families making less than $300K/per year.

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR SIGNS TWO GUN REFORM BILLS INTO LAW: At the intersection of common sense gun reform and the fight against voter suppression and intimidation are two bills now laws in Michigan, HB 4127 and HB 4128. Combined, the new laws now prohibit openly carrying guns at voting sites during both election day and early voting. They also ban open carry within 100 feet of an absentee ballot counting board at the time of vote tallying. The aim is to make polling locations intimidation free and safe for all. The bills signed into law by Governor Whitmer, do make an exception for those that have a concealed weapons permit in Michigan or another state – emphasis on concealed and emphasis on permit.

BOSTON MAYOR MICHELLE WU EXPANDS FREE SUNDAY MUSEUM PROGRAM FOR KIDS: Museums provide education, exploration, and third places that create community. With all three of those points top of mind, Boston’s Mayor Michelle Wu has hit the “expand this” button on the city’s free Sunday museum program, adding three more participating institutions and including all Boston-area school-age kids. The program – known as Boston Family Days – allows students living in Boston [pre-school through 12th grade], along with up to two of their family members to visit nine institutions across the city on the first and second Sunday of each month. This iteration will begin in January 2026 and run through December 2026. 

NJ GOV. MURPHY SIGNS BILL PROHIBITING BOOK BANS: The Freedom to Read Act was signed into law in New Jersey by Governor Phil Murphy. The law applies to state libraries and schools, prohibiting the banning of books at either venue. Per reporting from The Hill, “books will not be allowed to be removed based on “the origin, background, or views of the material or of its authors,” nor can books be censored based “on a disagreement with a viewpoint, idea, or concept, or solely because an individual finds certain content offensive, unless they are restricting access to developmentally inappropriate material for certain age groups.” In addition, the law will protect librarians from both civil and criminal lawsuits that are brought about via book ban activity. 

PA GOV. SHAPIRO’S ADMIN AWARDS $1 MILL. IN GRANTS TO COMBAT FOOD INSECURITY ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: $1 million in grants have been awarded for use across 31 higher education institutions in Pennsylvania to combat food insecurity amongst students on those campuses. The goal of the grants issued through the PA Department of Education is to provide the means for schools to expand food access through initiatives, infrastructure, and facilities. The grants are a part of the state’s Hunger-Free Campus Initiative, which began in 2022. This is the program’s third round of grantees and was supported by PA Governor Shapiro’s annual budget. 

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

A bill, bill, bill

MICHIGAN: A bipartisan bill – HB 4944 – that would make hearing aids for kids more affordable, passed the Michigan state House. The bill specifically would require health care insurers to cover hearing aids for kids until they’re 19 years old, bringing down the cost for families and increasing accessibility. 

FEDERAL: Following a now retracted change of policy by health insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield regarding anesthesia coverage, Congressman Ritchie Torres [NY] introduced the Anesthesia for All Act. The bill would ban health care insurers from being the determiners of how long a person undergoing a procedure can stay under anesthesia. Additionally, the bill would ensure that the reimbursement for anesthesia costs are based on the medical necessity of the care determined by the attending anesthesiologist for a procedure [aka a doctor]. In other words, reimbursement denial for a procedure going longer than an insurance company's pre-set limit would be illegal.

MISSOURI: Meanwhile, in Missouri, a state Senator-elect pre-filed a bill that would put a bounty on the heads of “illegal immigrants.” The bill proposes paying Missouri residents to find and detain ‘illegal immigrants’ in the state via the creation of the “Missouri Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program.” The state would pay $1,000 per person found and detained. The bill would also make being in the state of Missouri as an “illegal immigrant,” a felony.

CHRONICALLY ONLINE

Politics meets social media

  • The renovation reveal of Notre Dame wasn’t just an oi vey for its fails in design, but for some of the meet n’ greets around it that occurred – like this one, feat. Trump and Prince William. Wonder if they chatted about Trump’s old tweet about Kate Middleton’s topless pic via the paparazzi. 

  • There was also this pic in Notre Dame, seen ‘round the world of First Lady Dr. Biden and Trump that has every MAGA conspiracy theorist poppin’ off.

  • Governor Tim Walz is giving classic dad vibes by showing off his car fix tricks with from the garage, BTS vids like this.

  • If you thought replying all to that work email was bad, try this former hill staffer that thought they were solo, threw out an ol’ dab dance move, only to realize Mitch McConnell witnessed the whole thing.

  • Making work friends is hard – so hard that Senator Mike Lee tried to make “jello Wednesday” a thing where people could stop by his office for free green jello….

TOP OF THE EARBUDS

Listens for now & later

  • Lookin’ to the South, this episode of CAP’s The Tent Podcast featured a convo with Anderson Clayton, the North Carolina Democratic Party Chair focused on what can be gleaned from down ballot wins in the state.

WHEN IN DOUBT, VOTE THEM OUT

Our classic merch is back with a new look

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

  • Ms. Magazine: Christian Nationalism’s First Item on the Agenda: Repeal Women’s Right to Vote

  • Politico: Eric Adams doesn’t rule out switch to the GOP: ‘Cancel Me’

  • NPR: Biden creates a new national monument marking the legacy of Indian boarding schools

  • AP: Military leaders are rattled by a list of ‘woke’ officers that a group urges Hegseth to fire

BEFORE YOU GO…

…find more Girl and the Gov® here: