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The Gov Hub Newsletter: January 13, 2025

Fire fact checking resource, Wildland firefighter pay, the bipartisan selfie getting the hairy eyeball, and Rep. Sarah McBride's first (bipartisan) bill

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Gov Hub
January 13, 2025

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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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CALIFORNIA FIRE FACTS → Fiction should be reserved for a book club, not for the information circulating around a natural disaster response and recovery. To that, Governor Gavin Newsom has launched California Fire Facts, an easily accessible fact checking HQ on all of the claims about the fires making their rounds. Check it out here.

TO REPORT PRICE GOUGING → In California, it’s illegal to price gouge during an emergency declaration, like VERY illegal. If you experience price gouging during one, whether that be for housing, water, gas, and beyond, you can report it with this quick to complete form.

FULL SEND…TO A FRIEND

News that’s just about guaranteed to make it to the group chat

  • Idaho state Republicans rang in the new year by introducing a non-binding resolution that calls on SCOTUS to overturn marriage equality using the ol’ “state rights” argument… ya know, the same argument give or take some legal jargon here and there that was used to overturn Roe v. Wade. There’s varying opinions on what this signals – here’s the roundtable of ‘em.

  • A state Senator [old white dude] in Indiana has introduced a bill that will make your skin crawl. For rape victims in the state that are able to access [in a very limited fashion] abortion care, the bill [if passed] would require them to sign an affidavit assuring that they’re not lying about having been assaulted. The mysterious who/what that would determine if they’re lying is a TBD from hell, but the known is that if someone is found ‘guilty’ of perjury, they could be sentenced to 2 years in prison. 

  • In more white dude news comes the current status of the race to lead the DNC, which is looking like a race between middle-aged dudes and young dudes. Here’s the line-up of possible dudes.

  • ICYMI Trump was ‘sentenced’ in his hush money case, and when we say sentenced, we mean he will receive no punishment. However, as a convicted felon, he will still have to turn over a sample of his DNA and will not be able to own a gun.

  • Then on the Trump tax plan end of things – the tax plan that we’ve been on [hate to break that to some people] if extended via the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, would benefit the country’s highest income earners according to analysis from the U.S. Treasury. Our reaction to that can be summed up in this: “the gasp I absolutely did not gusp.”

  • Home insurance policy non-renewals have been a leading topic per a San Francisco Chronicle investigation that found the Pacific Palisades was dealt the most non-renewals in the state. This interview between the EIC and ABC gives you the 1-2-3 on it.

  • On the same topic as above, the state’s Insurance Commissioner has ordered a moratorium on home insurance non-renewals and cancellations for a year on properties in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fire zones, and has urged [but can’t do anything about] insurance companies to pause any pending non-renewals that were issued up to 90 days before January 7, 2025.

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

GOV. NEWSOM SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER WAIVING RED TAPE TO HELP LA REBUILD FASTER: The Governor of California signed an executive order that will accelerate the rebuilding process for residents impacted by the continuing and devastating fires throughout LA. The EO specifically suspends permitted and review requirements under the California Environment Quality Act [CEQA] and the California Coastal Act for the reconstruction of all properties deeply damaged or destroyed by these fires. It also directs state agencies to take a deep dive into current building code and regulations, and identify those that can be safely modified, streamlined, or suspended. Oh, and there’s more – it extends protections against price gouging on building materials, storage services, construction, and other essential services through January 6, 2026 in LA County.

GOV. SHAPIRO’S ADMIN LAUNCHES TEACHER APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM TO ADDRESS TEACHER SHORTAGE: Equipped with $4.2 million in grant money, PA Governor Shapiro’s Certified Teacher Registered Apprenticeship program has launched and is now open to applications from school districts. Aimed at reducing the state’s teacher shortage, the program utilizes a “learn-while-you-earn” model or simply said, enables teachers in training to be paid while they’ve got their training wheels on [the backstory: student teachers are often unpaid, which creates a financial barrier to the profession]. The grants are funded through the PA Department of Labor & Industry and aim to create 7-10 CRTA programs during its current tenure amongst the awarded school districts [pending who is awarded the grants] and an estimated 40-105 apprenticeships.

CHRONICALLY ONLINE

Politics meets social media

  • A selfie is worth a thousand words – or at least this bipartisan one is featuring Senator Fetterman and new-to-office Senator McCormick out to dinner with their wives. Rumor has it [aka the caption] that they discussed areas of commonality and how they can work together for the people of PA.

  • It’s almost time for the state-of-the-state in NY, and these staffers dropped this banger of a teaser on what Governor Kathy Hochul is going to say circa Tuesday at 1pm [watchable at ny.gov].

  • Also on the cal this week, are some of the first hearings for Trump’s Cabinet picks. This is what the line-up looks like starting Tuesday.

  • San Francisco’s new mayor was inaugurated, and this is what the day looked like from a reporter’s lens.

  • Offices – like physical offices – for state reps look different everywhere. In Colorado they look like this, and in Vermont they take this more creative form.

  • Unless there’s a major plot twist, TikTok will be toast in the U.S. on January 19, 2025, literally right before inauguration [cool, cool, everything’s fine!]. The expected impact on creators, small businesses, culture, free speech, and more are… rough to say the least.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

A bill, bill, bill

FEDERAL: Congresswoman Sarah McBride’s first bill introduced in Congress is a bipartisan one focused on consumer protection. The Ending Scam Credit Repair Act [ESCRA] aims to take on credit repair organizations [CRO’s] that often use deceptive practices and prey on consumers by promising that they can improve a consumer’s credit score via uber-high upfront fees. The bill, if passed, would ban CRO’s from charging consumers for any fees until six months after the CRO has provided proof that they have improved the consumer’s credit score. The bill also addresses the practice of overloading financial institutions with duplicate requests that “jam” the ability for credit report issues to be addressed.

FEDERAL: Another bipartisan one, baby – baby as in this resolution that’s being brought back to the table to amend the House rules. The resolution would allow for members of Congress who are new parents to proxy vote. Specifically, it would allow for proxy voting starting on the member’s child’s day of birth and ending 12 weeks after with a 12-week possible extension if the member were to have medical complications related to the pregnancy/birth process. The overall goal of the resolution which is backed by Reps. Brittany Pettersen [D-CO], Anna Paulina Luna [R-FL], Sara Jacobs [D-CA], and Mike Lawler [R-NY], is to make Congress accessible for young parents.

THE ACTION ITEMS

Get ‘em done from your phone

ACTION 1 – FIREFIGHTER PAY

The Ask: Tell your reps [federal] to co-sponsor and pass the Wildland Firefighter Pay Protection Act.

The Background: Firefighters of all categories should be paid fairly, including wildland firefighters. The bipartisan infrastructure law began the process of making that a reality, but its statutes were not permanent. The Wildland Firefighter Pay Protection Act would create a new pay table, incident response premium pay, and rest and recuperation pay.

ACTION 2 – SECRETARY OF DEFENSE NOMINATION

The Ask: Tell your Senators to oppose Trump’s pick of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. 

The Background: The former Fox News Host who doesn’t believe women should serve in combat, has been at the center of a whistle-blower report on alleged fiscal mismanagement and intoxication on the job of Secretary of Defense. And if you missed it during the holiday break, his mom, whose emails to her son that scolded him for a pattern of mistreating women, went on an apology and lobbying tour for her grown adult son to get the job.

ACTION 3 – BOOK BANS & LIBRARY ACCESS

The Ask: Tell your reps [federal] to co-sponsor and pass the Books Save Lives Act.

The Background: Books open the world of possibilities to their readers, and that magic shouldn’t be stifled [or the free speech piece of it all too] with book bans. The Books Save Lives Act would make sure that primary and secondary schools have a library equipped with a trained librarian, require public and school libraries to hold a diverse collection of books, classify discriminatory book bans as violations of federal rights law, and direct the GAO to report on the impact of book bans on underrepresented communities.

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

TOP OF THE EARBUDS

Listens for now & later

  • If you’ve wondered what it’s like to be a kid of someone that’s running for VP, this interview with Hope Walz via Do I Know You? With Jordierae, will answer a few of those FAQs percolating and more.

  • Addressing key questions and what’s going on at Newsom HQ in response to the horrendous wildfires in LA, is Gov. Gavin Newsom on this episode of Pod Save America.

  • Former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral was literally like a DC housewives reunion, and Karen Pence handed out a snub talked ‘round the world and on this episode of The Bulwark Podcast.

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

  • Politico: Meet the new members: A Kamala Harris protege rises

  • The Hill: Supreme Court to hear ObamaCare no-cost preventive care dispute

  • USA Today: Supreme Court to examine stalled Biden plan cancelling debt for defrauded students

  • AP: Ohio gov signs bill requiring schools to tell parents about health care changes, ‘sexuality content’

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