The Gov Hub Newsletter: March 3, 2025

Monica Lewinsky, MEME Coins, and Measles

Author

Gov Hub
March 03, 2025

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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GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

NC GOV. STEIN ANNOUNCES 13 GRANTS THAT WILL CREATE JOBS IN RURAL AREAS: Money talks and it also creates jobs in North Carolina. 13 grants have been awarded through the state’s Rural Infrastructure Authority [RIA] to local governments that will create a total of 785 jobs. Per the Governor’s office, the projects are expected to bring in private and public investment in some of the state’s rural communities, totaling over $165 million. Amongst grant recipients – three filed under the state’s Building Reuse Program, five under NC’s Industrial Development Fund - Utility Account, four under NC’s Rural Downtown Economic Development Program, and one that’s federally funded. 

MA GOV. HEALEY ANNOUNCES $1M IN INNOVATION CAREER PATHWAY GRANTS: In Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey announced $1 million in Innovation Career Pathway Grants to 29 school districts across the state. The grants allow school districts to make programs that provide students with STEM-centric school work and hands-on learning experiences that prepare them for in-demand career paths. High-demand job fields like health care and tech are the focus of the created programs and the grants funding them.

QUICK CLAPS

Dem Electoral Wins

  • Sean Faircloth won a special election for a Maine state House seat, increasing the small majority the Dems have in the state leg.

  • Dan Gaiewski notched a win for Dems in CT, winning a state House seat. 

TOP OF THE EARBUDS

Listen, watch, learn

Considering starting a pod? Have a pod and are not sure how to get it in front of your target audience? Girl and the Gov® can help with that. Explore options here.

CHRONICALLY ONLINE

Politics meets social media

  • Former Congressman Tom Malinowski schooled Shark Tank disappointment Kevin O’Leary on national TV on government audits – things inspectors generals, aka federal employees that were fired illegally and out the gate, have been doing for time immemorial.

  • CT AG William Tong cooked up some eggs all the while asking the state legislature to look into ways that they can protect residents from price gouging on items like eggs.

  • These former federal workers who held jobs doing everything from soil conservation to cancer research to Alzheimer’s research to protecting endangered species, and beyond, shared what their jobs did and the impact that the loss of them will have on everyone.

  • Attorney Martinez who is known for keeping everyone in the 411 on immigrant rights [and iconic pink suits] has teamed up with Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia to introduce the American Dream and Promise Act to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.

CATACLYSMIC CORRUPTION

Mostly stories that involve Elon and his besties

  • On Friday, Trump and Vance hosted a weird Putin love fest where they backstabbed longtime U.S. ally, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine. The spark notes are that Vance, began a tirade of accusing Zelensky of being disrespectful to the U.S. and dropping falsehoods left and right. Then with Trump, he said – and this is a direct quote – “You're not acting at all thankful,” Trump said, before adding, “This is going to be great television.” While some of the takeaway is that men might be too emosh to lead, another piece of the puzzle was Democratic allies across the world stepping up to Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s defense.

  • In DOGE-landia, Social Security is under attack, with a massive reorg that aims to fire 50,000 employees. The "efficiency" cuts follow a classic GOP strategy of gutting an agency, rendering it ineffective or weak, then making big claims that the agency doesn’t work. The results thus far are tragic, as captured by this whistleblower who shared that they are aware of at least three SSA employees who have un-alived themselves.

  • Then for moves that are giving modern day mafia vibes without the cigars, a Chinese national, Justin Sun who has allegedly dumped $50mill into Trump’s dealings by buying crypto tokens from Trump-baked World Liberty Financial, has had his SEC-led investigation halted.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

FEDERAL, MEME COINS: Congressman Sam Liccardo and prior Girl and the Gov, The Podcast guest, intro’d his first bill in Congress that goes after federal officials who are lining their pockets with money via meme coins. The aptly named MEME Act would ban the President, VP, members of Congress, Senior Exec Branch officials, along with their spouses and kiddos, from issuing, sponsoring, or endorsing a security, future, comedy, or digital asset. If the bill were to pass, those that are found to be in violation, would face both civil and criminal penalties.

FEDERAL, DOGE: Congressman Suhas Subramanyam has his eyes on DOGE with his new bill, The Accountability in Government Efficiency Act. The bill, if passed, would require a report to be compiled on the impact of DOGE’s actions on “the long-term financial, public health, and safety concerns of the United States.” We do suspect that the possible report will be longer than the Project 2025 at the rate the DOGE minions are moving.

FEDERAL, HOUSING: Senator Merkley took to IG to share the deats on his newly introduced bill, the HOPE for Homeownership Act or rather the Humans Over Private Equity Act. The bill is meant to deter hedge funds and private equity groups from further involving themselves in the single-family housing market – something that’s been driving up costs and keeping people from being able to purchase or rent affordably. The deterrence would come in the form of these tax penalties.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

In the club, we’re all sick

  • Also on the health end of things, contract terminations were announced last week, ending grants for global programs for HIV treatment and prevention, TB, Polio, Malaria, Ebola, and more. Grants that provide clean water, fund lifesaving nutrition programs that feed women and children, shelters for women that were victims of DV and rape, are also included in this deadly cancellation. 

  • Insulin has also gotten more expensive during the Trump Admin, with this C-SPAN caller from WV sharing that under Biden he paid $6 for a 28-day supply of insulin and now, under Trump, is paying $80 for the same amount of medicine.

  • Not to fret or anything, but the Trump Admin has decided to RSVP no on an upcoming meeting that was set to discuss flu vaccine preparations ahead of next year’s flu season.

  • Medicaid is called something different depending on the state. To see what it’s referred to in your state, pop out this list.

BOOKMARK IT

Save it, send it

NY STATE IS HIRING → NY state is hiring for over 7,000 job openings. Whether you’re looking for a new role or you’ve been impacted by the federal job cuts, there might just be an opportunity for you in the Empire State. Check out what’s on the board here.

CA LAUNCHES NEW PROGRESS TRACKER → From Governor Newsom’s office comes the Accountability Tracker, which lets residents see the progress [or lack thereof] that their local town/city have made in tackling big issues in their areas, like homelessness. Try the tool out here.

MD UNVEILS RESOURCE HUB FOR FEDERAL WORKERS → For Marylanders impacted by federal layoffs, Governor Wes Moore’s team have created a one-stop-shop for transition resources, covering the waterfront from health insurance to job boards. Take it for a spin here.

EXTREMISM

…that’s the tweet [or the x]

  • Said with mic in hand in the middle of a room – not a hot mic – Republican Oklahoma state Senator Shane Jett shared that he’s against a bill that would ban school officials from using corporal punishment on disabled children because he views it as “socialist” and “in violation of scripture.”

  • In Iowa, the governor signed a bill that strips trans people of their civil rights protections. At-large, it removes gender identity protections from the state’s civil rights code and creates legal definitions of female/male based on their reproductive organs at birth. 

THE ACTION ITEMS

Get ‘em done from your phone

ACTION 1 – DOGE

The Ask: Tell your federal reps DOGE needs to keep its dirty lil’ fingers off of our personal info [bank accounts, health records, SSI].

The Background: Congress is failing to stand guard against the personal data heist that’s happening by DOGE, an unelected, unofficial entity led by a bunch of weirdos who think sleeping at the office is normal.

ACTION 2 – BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

The Ask: Call your Dem Gov and demand that every child born in their state is given a birth certificate - respecting the legitimacy of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

The Background: Trump and his bestie pack of hooligans are trying to come for birthright citizenship. So far, they’ve been knocked down on it, but the fight continues, and the protections start with dem Govs and AGs.

ACTION 3 – VOTING

The Ask: Register to vote [or check to make sure you’re all set].

The Background: 2025 has elections. 2026 has elections. Make sure you’re ready to roll to the polls.

PS & BTW, CALL YOUR REPS TOO. XOXO TYSM

2025 SPECIAL ELECTION WATCH

Add to cal, tell a friend

  • IOWA: Nanette Griffin is running for a special election in Iowa state House District 100 to fill a seat recently made vacant. The election is on March 11, 2025.

  • PENNSYLVANIA: Dan Goughnour is running in a special election to fill a vacant state House seat in the Pittsburgh area, HD-35. The race will determine which party has the majority in the state House. The election is on March 25, 2025.

  • PENNSYLVANIA: James Malone is running to flip a state Senate seat in the 36th Senatorial District. The election is on March 25, 2025.

  • FLORIDA: Gay Valimont is running in a special election to fill the vacant Congressional District one seat formerly held by Matt Gaetz. The election is on April 1, 2025.

  • FLORIDA: Josh Weil is running in a special election to fill the now vacant District Six Congressional seat. The election is on April 1, 2025.

  • WISCONSIN: Susan Crawford is running for a seat on the Wisconsin state Supreme Court – a seat that will determine the lean of the court. The election is on April 1, 2025.

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

  • AP: Wyoming’s only full-service clinic stops providing abortions after new regulations signed

  • Politico: Groups frozen out of $20B in EPA cash fear bankruptcy

  • The Hill: Wyden, Sanders: Federal layoffs threaten organ transplant modernization

  • USA Today: Elon Musk calls Social Security a ‘Ponzi scheme,’ sparking Dem concerns over key benefit

BEFORE YOU GO…

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