The Gov Hub Newsletter: November 11, 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 – LIFETIME JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS

The Ask: Tell your Senators to fill every judicial vacancy now.

The Background: The Dem majority is toast come the new year, but at the moment, ya know what? They still have that majority and they can make big moves on vital judicial appointments. For ref, these appointments are lifetime appointments, meaning who sits in those seats will be there for a very long time i.e. have impact for a very long time. Ensuring as many of these positions are Trump-proofed, and filled with judges that actually <3 the constitution is key AF. Tell them to put the pedal to the medal. 

ACTION 2 – LOCAL ELECTED OFFICE

The Ask: Run for a local elected office – seriously.

The Background: While this isn’t an action item you can just one-and-done from your phone, signing up to learn about what running for office would look like with Run For Something, is one you certainly can do from it. Sign up and get the 411 on how you can step up for your community. P.S. we’d almost guarantee that you also have a friend that would SLAY the house down boots as an elected. Ask them to run too. 

ACTION 3 – CURE BALLOTS X PA

The Ask: Help cure ballots in PA.

The Background: There are a number of races with margins so small, you might need a microscope to see ‘em. How those races land is in some part determined by curing ballots – a process that allows voters to fix their mail-in ballots if there’s a mistake with them. In PA, a state that has this process, the window is limited, but it’s still open, and it requires volunteers to help make that process run.

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

• On the topic of appointments x Senate approval, the process is at the core of the conversations around who will be elected by the GOP to be the next Senate Majority Leader. ATM, the three old dudes in the race for the slot are Senators Rick Scott, John Thune, and John Cornyn. 

• Some Dems are Trump-proofing what’s possible to do so, including President Biden who made this move as it relates to protecting the Arctic refuge and oil drilling. Meanwhile, in California, Governor Newsom has called a special sesh of the state leg to “bolster California legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families.”

• Seven out of the ten ballot measures aimed at protecting abortion access or expanding it, were passed by voters. This is the rundown of each and how they fared. We’ll note that we would’ve put this under the Good News Bears header, but if the Republicans get the House, they will pass a national abortion ban – and a national ban overrides the state protections, making these wins null. We’re holding out for good news, but we’re not in a position to be jinxing it.

• Trump has offered his bestie, Rep. Elise Stefanik the role of UN ambassador. If she accepts, a special election will be held for her upstate NY seat. Before you get amped, it’s a ruby red district, like RUBY.

• Keeping it topical to NYS, Congressman Pat Ryan who just won a tight race shared his thoughts on how the affordability crisis impacted how voters chose at the ballot box.

• We hate to bring the antisemitic, racist, incel [self-proclaimed BTW] that is Nick Fuentes back to the forefront of convo, but he did it himself post election with his rant that included “it’s your body, my choice” that went viral well beyond his follower count. This type of behavior from men online toward women has shot up since election day. Oh, and what happened to Nick Fuentes? He got doxed because “your house, our choice.” 

• The FBI is also looking into who or what entity is responsible for sending racist texts at a mass scale to Black people across the country. The texts alerted recipients that they were going to be “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation” and addressed each recipient by their name.

• A current Congressman/Senator-elect [Andy Kim] and a sitting Senator [Chris Murphy] both shared their initial thoughts on what went wrong with this election for Dems and how to start fixing it.

MUST-SUBSCRIBES

Upgrade your inbox

• Abortion, Every Day: A newsletter from journalist Jessica Valenti, Abortion, Every Day reports on the status of abortion access across the country, as well as the impact(s) of abortion bans, laws, restrictions, and everything else in between. Subscribe here.

• Win The Middle: Welcome Party has been working to broaden the Dem tent – something that clearly [in our opinion] the party needs to do more of following this election. One of the tools in their toolbox? This newsletter – it’s giving insights, it’s giving let’s have conversations that bring more Independents, Republicans, and moderates into the fold. Subscribe here.

GOOD NEWS BEARS

Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]

MISSOURI VOTERS SAY YES TO STATE MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE + PAID SICK LEAVE REQUIREMENT: A ballot measure known as Proposition A was passed by Missouri voters with 58% of the vote, according to the Missouri Independent. The BM will increase Missouri’s statewide minimum wage [differs from federal] to $15/ hour. The increase will be staggered, with the state’s minimum wage increasing to $13.75 next year and to the full $15 in 2026. That rate will be adjusted based on inflation every year following 2026. The same proposition also approved a mandatory paid sick leave policy. Businesses in the state will be required to provide one hour of paid sick time per every 30 hours worked. For small businesses [15 people or less], that can be up to five days per year, and for larger businesses, up for seven days a year. The paid sick leave component will take effect on May 1, 2025.

MAINE VOTERS APPROVE LIMIT ON PAC CONTRIBUTIONS: Getting dark money out of politics is a bipartisan issue, and the proof in that pudding is with the ballot measure overwhelmingly passed by Maine voters. The BM puts a limit on how much money an individual person can donate to a PAC. The limit applies to PACs that are funding candidates – it does not apply to PACs funding ballot measures or referendums. The new limit would cap individual donations to super PACs to $5,000. Those super PACs have free range to drop their dollars where they want and often don’t share who the donors are. As for individuals donating directly to a candidate’s campaign, the state already has limits in place for general elections – $1,950/individual for gubernatorial and $475 for legislative. The referendum is expected to be challenged legally, something the measure’s writers baked into its wording according to reporting from AP.

KENTUCKY VOTERS SAY NO THX TO EDUCATION AMENDMENT: On the ballot this time ‘round, there was a constitutional amendment that went before voters that if passed, would allow public dollars – like taxpayer dollars – to fund students attending nonpublic schools, like private and charters schools. 65% of voters said, “with my money?? In this economy??” NO. The amendment was rejected with voters saying let’s not undermine the public education system, kay? Similar measures were voted down in Nebraska and Colorado.

CONNECTICUT VOTERS APPROVE NO EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING: In a big win for voter accessibility, Connecticut voters approved a [state] constitutional amendment that will allow for universal absentee voting in the state. Specifically, voters will not submit an excuse i.e. a reason for why they would need to absentee vote in order to do so. That means more voting options, which means more people will be able to vote. 

WHEN IN DOUBT, VOTE THEM OUT

Our classic merch is back with a new look

P.S. Our post-election debrief episode of Girl and the Gov, The Podcast will be live this week. Subscribe on Apple or Follow on YouTube and Spotify.

ELECTION BRIGHT SPOTS

A few wins that shouldn’t go uncelebrated

U.S. SENATE:

• Voters elected two Black women to the U.S. Senate – Angela Alsobrooks [Maryland] and Lisa Blunt Rochester [Delaware].

• Voters elected Andy Kim [New Jersey] to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Korean-American Senator [elect].

• Voters elected Elissa Slotkin [Michigan] in a razor thin race to the U.S. Senate.

• Voters re-elected Jacky Rosen [Nevada] and Tammy Baldwin [Wisconsin] to their seats in ultra-competitive races.

U.S. HOUSE:

• Voters elected the first openly trans woman to the U.S. House – Sarah McBride [Delaware].

• Voters in New York have flipped at least three congressional seats, electing Laura Gillen, John Mannion, and Josh Riley.

• Voters in Arizona elected the first Iranian democratic woman to the House – Yassamin Ansari. She’ll also be the youngest woman in the House.

• In Virginia, voters elected Eugene Vindman, which you may recall from this past Trump battle royale.

STATE LEVEL:

• Voters in North Carolina elected Josh Stein to governor, and Jeff Jackson to attorney general, as well as Dems to lt. governor, secretary of state, and secretary of public instruction positions.

• The supermajority in North Carolina’s state leg was broken, bringing veto power back to the governor-elect.

• Voters in PA, elected a Dem majority in the state house. 

• Voters elected a Dem majority in the Minnesota Senate.

• The supermajority in Montana's state legislature was broken.

• Voters flipped a seat on the Kentucky state Supreme Court, giving Dems a 4-3 majority.

• Voters flipped 14 seats across the Wisconsin assembly and state senate.

• Voters chose to continue the Dem-backed majority on the Michigan state supreme court.

BACK ON OUR BILLSH*T

Bills, bills, bills

MICHIGAN: Two bills have been introduced in the Michigan state House with the goal of expanding reproductive healthcare access. The first bill, HB6047 would require insurance coverage for those seeking IVF treatment in the state via private insurers, and the second bill, HB6048 would require coverage of care via Medicaid.

FEDERAL: This bipartisan bill was derailed in the heat of election season, but it’s worth circling back to for a number of reasons, including that 212+ members of Congress signed a discharge petition to get it to the floor. The bill, called the Social Security Fairness Act, would nix two Social Security provisions – the Windfall Elimination Provision [WEP] and the Government Pension Offset [GPO]. These provisions reduce an individual's earned Social Security benefits when they receive other benefits like a pension from a state or local gov. The bill would also nix the GPO which can reduce Social Security benefits for spouses and widows who may receive their own benefits. And lastly, the WEP – it would for some instances eliminate the provision that “reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes.” Ironically, the Freedom Caucus Republicans killed the bill [for now].

BOOKMARK IT

Save it, send it

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR BIRTH CONTROL [MICHIGAN TOOL]: A resource made possible by the current Michigan state legislature and the budget passed, the Take Control of Your Birth Control program is making birth control and STI prevention supplies available for FREE across Michigan [while supplies last] this month [November 2024]. Use this map to find a distribution location near you.

KEY READS

Important stories from around the USA

• The Hill: Jockeying kicks off to fill Vance vacancy in Senate

• RollCall: Here’s a look at who’s in – and possibly in – Trump’s second administration

• USA Today: What happened to election fraud? Trump, GOP go quiet on claims after win

• Gothamist: Gov. Hochul has ‘very productive’ call with President-elect Trump, pitches policies

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