- The Gov Hub
- Posts
- The Gov Hub Newsletter: September 30, 2024
The Gov Hub Newsletter: September 30, 2024
Four good news stories, VP debate prep, the Varsity Voter collection, Congressman Maxwell Frost on the pod, and Sabrina Carpenter x Mayor-gate
Gov Hub
September 30, 2024
Welcome to The Gov Hub Newsletter by Girl and the Gov®. This weekly pop of politics is designed to share action items, resources, & quick links to civic engagement tools & topics. Find a typo? Congrats, today is your lucky day!
Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.
THE ACTION ITEMS
Get ‘em done from your phone
ACTION 1 – VOTER PREP
The Ask: Make a voter plan.
The Background: Some things you can procrastinate – making a voter plan isn’t one of them. Block a 30-minute time slot on your calendar off this week and make your plan, checking your registration, your polling place location, researching the candidates [and ballot measures, if applicable] on your ballot.
ACTION 2 – GUN VIOLENCE
The Ask: Tell your state lawmakers to stop active shooter simulations that traumatize students.
The Background: Being prepared is important. Preparing in a way that doesn’t cause harm is also important – especially when it comes to active shooter drills. With the increase in school systems conducting active shooter drills, there’s been an increase in the drills going beyond necessary need-to-know and into realistic, full-on simulations, traumatizing students. Tell your state reps, it’s time to redirect and prep in trauma-informed ways.
ACTION 3 – CLEAN ENERGY
This action is brought to you by Clean Energy for America Action
The Ask: Take the “I Vote for Clean Energy” pledge.
The Background: Dems have an incredible record of driving clean energy investments that create jobs. Their Clean Energy Plan is already driving the creation of more than 310K jobs - and when fully implemented will support nine million American jobs. VP Harris will build on this progress. Meanwhile, Donald Trump will end clean energy investments. Don’t let Trump roll back the historic progress we’ve seen in the last 4 years.
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
Devastating flooding as a result of Hurricane Helene has wiped away towns and infrastructure in western North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and across the Southeast. Congressman Jeff Jackson provides a detailed update on resources and response mobilization efforts happening currently, here. The mayor of Asheville, North Carolina also provided a status update here.
On the topic of life-altering weather events, this is what Trump’s Project 2025 would put on the chopping block – the National Weather Service, emergency disaster funding for state and local governments, NOAA [forecasts storms], and FEMA to name just a few.
And for one more thing about major storms – there’s the need to think about how they can trigger major chemical spills and how to prepare [and prevent] that. This is the status report of how that’s coming together [or not] in Mass in under a minute and 30 seconds.
On a lighter note, Michigan’ Big Gretch went on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, and these were some of her answers during the rapid fire segment.
Wanda Sykes joined The View and chatted about her support for VP Harris – and the debate, because let’s BFR, we’re all still talking about it.
We stan bringing back the game of ‘Show and Tell,’ especially after the Biden-Harris Admin’s cabinet used it to show what each department has accomplished during the admin.
One of the political scandals to break the internet last week was NYC Mayor Eric Adams being indicted on federal corruption charges to which he’s pleaded not guilty. This week’s addition to the scandal is the rumored possibility that Sabrina Carpenter’s music video was the tipping off point for the investigation – something she made light of at her recent concert. PS a reminder for NY’ers.
GOOD NEWS BEARS
Positive political wins [yes, those do exist]
CA GOV. NEWSOM SIGNS THE PARIS HILTON BILL: In bipartisan bill news, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 1043 or as we refer to it, “the Paris Hilton child safety bill.” The bill, which came to be through advocacy of Paris Hilton [hence our shorthand], will reform the practices used in youth residential treatment facilities, many of which have been under the spotlight for the trauma that they [i.e. the troubled teen industry] have produced. The law aims to protect youth residents from the improper use of restraints and isolation. Additionally, the law mandates transparency and state oversight related to restraint/isolation incidents, with a new requirement that the California Department of Social Services must report all incidents and post the relevant information online.
TWO RENTER-FOCUSED BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW IN CALIFORNIA: Governor Newsom must be going through pens like crazy this month because he’s been signing bills into law, left and right. Two of those bills that have gotten the ol’ John Hancock treatment include AS 2747 and SB 611, both of which are aimed at improving conditions for renters. The first of those two mentioned, AS 2747 will help renters build their credit scores, allowing tenants to have their good rental history reflected in their credit scores [anyone else hear the TikTok audio – “it’s like a reward” reading that?! Just us? Cool.] The second bill of this category, SB 611 bans landlords from charging a fee if they decide to pay their rent with a check, a practice that has made rent more expensive [no one tell the NYC landlords that only take rent via check that this was ever a practice, TYSM].
BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN AWARDS $71 MILLION IN JOB CREATION-FOCUSED GRANTS: In big J O B S news, the Biden-Harris Administration has awarded $71 million in grants focused on creating good paying jobs across the country. The funding will support 27 organizations across 14 states, territories, and should-be-a-state, DC. The funding comes from three programs within the U.S. Department of Labor:
Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grants Program: This program is focused on training workers for infrastructure jobs.
Critical Sectors Job Quality Grants Program: This program is focused on increasing job quality and access to jobs in three sectors – care, climate resilience, and hospitality.
Workforce Pathways for Youth program: This program is forced on workforce development and training via after school and summer workforce readiness programming.
BIPARTISAN SPACE BILL SIGNED INTO LAW BY PRESIDENT BIDEN: Okay, the bill isn’t really called the ‘space bill’ but it really rolls off the tongue better than The Launch Communications Act, in our opinion at any rate. Regardless, the new law, led by Senators Schmitt and Hickenlooper, updates the regulatory process for the FCC in how it issues spectrum licenses for commercial space launches. Overall, the goal is to reduce the bureaucracy, enhance protections for federal users, and to modernize regulation around the growing commercial spaceflight industry.
THE VARSITY VOTER COLLECTION
New launch, who dis?
Join the varsity voting team with our new merch drop [and by checking-in with all of your friends to make sure they have a voter plan]. Perfect for voting from your couch – the Varsity Voter Collection includes cozy crewnecks and joggers, which BTW are also great to do phone banking in.
ELECTION SZN 2024
Guides, chatter, who’s who
In Republicans that back Kamala Harris news, former Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona [yes, the one that may have put spray tans on the map for politicians] has endorsed the VP and her campaign. The endorsement comes in the home stretch of election season and as the campaign looks to shore up support in swing states, like Arizona.
Where do VP Harris and Governor Walz stand on the major issues? Politico not only lays it all out here, but points to what type of voters each stance may attract and what is versus isn’t a GOP target.
On the topic of candidate stances, Trump shared at a rally this weekend his suggestion that we have: “one real rough, nasty” and “violent day” of police retaliation in order to eradicate crime “immediately.” And as Courier Newsroom pointed out with this clip of Trump actually saying this – it’s giving The Purge – like the horror movie that’s supposed to be FICTION.
Zoom-in to the battleground states, then zoom a little bit further to these seven counties that could make or break the race for the presidency.
The U.S. Department of Justice [DOJ] filed a lawsuit against the state of Alabama and its top dawg election official, accusing the state of” illegally purging people from voter rolls too close to the November election,” according to reporting by AP. TBH, who could’ve guessed we would’ve used the term “purge” more than once in the same newsletter? Not us. Anyways, the “purge” is apparently a violation of the National Voter Registration Act’s “quiet period provision.”
In North Carolina, these two military veterans are battling it out for a congressional seat that could determine the majority in the House.
HGW LISTENS
Hit play on these pods
Get pepped, get prepped for election day [and/or early voting] with this episode of Girl and the Gov, The Podcast with special guest, Congressman Maxwell Frost who had this to say about undecided voters.
A VP match-up preview and an interview with the Second Gentleman are all on one mic with this episode of Jen Psaki’s show, Inside with Jen Psaki.
Spooky season has come early in Florida, and the horror stories get their moment [and the solutions do to] in this episode of Are you F’ing Kidding Me? With JoJoFromJerz and her interview with the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Fried.
KEY READS
Important stories from around the USA
BEFORE YOU GO…
..say hello
START HERE | OR HERE |