Ban Everything edition

So much to talk about, so little time. To me, my Statehouse Action!

One Shining Moment... is about how long last night's pro-labor ruling in Wisconsin will stand, unfortunately. A circuit court judge ruled the state's new "right to work" law violates the Wisconsin constitution. This ruling is a big win for workers and for unions, but it's destined to be overturned by the state's solidly-Republican Supreme Court (which became a little more solidly Republican this past Tuesday, incidentally). 

Speaking of Wisconsin...

LOL the Vote: Wisconsin is one of the most effectively-gerrymandered states in the nation (e.g. in 2012, Democrats running for state Assembly won more votes than their GOP counterparts statewide [52%!], but they only won 39 of 99 seats). 

• State Democrats challenged the GOP legislative maps in state court, and this week their suit survived a key procedural hurdle and will go to trial in May.

• Also, some Republicans admitted publicly that Wisconsin's voter ID law was passed by GOP lawmakers in 2011 with the actual, literal intent to suppress minority and college student turnout and help Republicans get elected. But we knew that, yes?

If you can't beat them, kick them the hell out: In the continuation of a troubling trend I noted early this year, yet another GOP-controlled legislative chamber is booting reporters.

• On Thursday, the Arizona state House banned reporters from the chamber floor -- access the media has enjoyed for at least 34 years (probably longer). 
• To return to the House floor, reporters will have to submit to extensive background checks, which will include not just reporters' criminal and civil histories, but also their prior addresses and driving records. (Seriously, driving records??)
• Arizona House Republicans' sudden crackdown on media access is anything but random. In fact, this new restriction appears to be targeting one reporter in particular -- a reporter who's written multiple stories critical of the GOP Speaker. 

• In fact, earlier this year, he wrote about the Speaker's extensive travel on the state's dime for purposes apparently unrelated to his duties as an elected official (the Speaker later reimbursed the state more than $12,000). 
• That reporter, Hank Stephenson, happens to have a conviction of second degree trespass lurking in his history (from a "bar fight").
• Along with the invasive background check requirement, GOP House leadership also unveiled a list of specific prior offenses which would disqualify a reporter from House floor privileges. The list includes any felony within the past ten years or any misdemeanor within the past five. 

• This list includes some exceptions, but trespass is not one of them.  
• House Republicans claim this new ban is a result of security concerns, rather than petty retribution. Okay!

• You'll be shocked, SHOCKED to know that those other GOP media bans smacked of petty retribution, too.

• In Missouri, the Republican-controlled Senate voted in early January to banish reporters from their table near the front of the chamber. (A section of the upper gallery is being renovated to accommodate the media, so nice!) 
• After initially trying to claim the change was needed to accommodate more staffers, the GOP Senate President Pro Tem admitted that he's still sore about reporters tweeting about conversations between lawmakers on the chamber floor last year.
• Just a couple of weeks later, reporters in Virginia attempted to take their customary place at tables near the Senate dais as session kicked off, only to be shunted to the Senate gallery at the behest of GOP Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment. But why?
• Last year, Norment accused the press of forcing consideration of ethics legislation in the wake of former Gov. McDonnell's felony corruption convictions. 
• He got super pissed when reporters had the temerity to report on an affair he'd had with a General Assembly lobbyist. 
• And he was fit to be tied when reporters broke the news of his (ultimately successful) power play for Senate leadership posts at the expense of other members of his own party.
• After weeks of negotiating, Virginia Senate reporters were again granted access to the floor, but in diminished fashion. 
• Instead of two tables that seated eight reporters total, the press returned to the Senate floor with six little leaf desks (like the ones you used to have to put up with in school) that no longer have access to electrical outlets for laptops and such. 

It's time for Chaps-free bathrooms: No, I'm not talking about the leg protectors. 

• My favorite GOP-lawmaker-by-day-internet-televangelist-by-night enjoyed a little attention from the Daily Show on Wednesday. Hooray!
• Colorado state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt is a recurring figure in my column (seriously, I don't even have to check the spelling of his last name any more), earning ire and derision on topics ranging from abortion to Islam. 
• On TDS, Rep. Klingenschmitt, who (un)enlightens the masses via his "Pray in Jesus Name" YouTube channel on weekends, slipped into his Dr. Chaps persona on camera to discuss his deeply bigoted transphobia. The segment is worth a watch if you haven't seen it. 

• Also, KlingenChaps believes transgender people are possessed by demons. Seems legit.

Okay, so NOW you're mad? The hubbub in North Carolina over the GOP-controlled legislature's bathroom freakout has garnered quite a bit of attention, as has the backlash from businesses objecting to HB2, the state's newly-passed law that permits anti-LGBT discrimination and guts local government control. 

• Over 120 companies have publicly expressed opposition to the new law, and a slew of corporate executives signed onto a letter calling on Gov. McCrory and the legislature to repeal the measure during the upcoming session. 
• Fun fact! At least 36 of those companies have given money to groups that helped elect the GOP lawmakers responsible for HB2. The RSLC and the RGA have raked in $10.8 million from these businesses in recent election cycles. Reportedly,

Companies that have criticized HB2 have donated over $4.3 million to the RSLC since the 2010 election cycle. They include Citigroup (nearly $893,000), Pfizer (over $654,000), Google (nearly $312,000), Bank of America (over $239,000), Dow Chemical (nearly $221,000), Facebook (nearly $165,000), and SAS Institute (nearly $152,000). PayPal, which contributed $399 to the RSLC in that period, has announced that it is canceling plans to open a global operations center in Charlotte in protest of the law.

• A sizable chunk of RSLC money flowing into the state's elections was shunted through Real Jobs N.C., a North Carolina-based super PAC. 

In the 2012 cycle, RSLC contributed $300,000 to Real Jobs...Real Jobs helped 11 Republicans win open seats, retain seats, or take out a Democratic incumbent. All remain in the General Assembly, and nine voted for HB2.

For example, Real Jobs spent over $17,000 in 2012 to help elect Bob Steinburg, a Republican representing Eastern North Carolina's House District 1 and a primary sponsor of HB2. The super PAC also spent over $49,000 benefiting Republican Rep. Michael Speciale of New Bern and more than $16,000 helping Republican Rep. Michele Presnell of Burnsville, both of whom co-sponsored HB2.

While scaling back its election spending in 2014, Real Jobs still spent close to $35,000 helping re-elect GOP Sen. Chad Barefoot of Wake County, who voted for HB2. The RSLC contributed $25,000 to Real Jobs that year.

Maybe let's just ban bathrooms: A Michigan Republican wants in on this hot potty action. 

• When the legislature reconvenes in April, GOP Sen. Tom Casperson plans to introduce a bill requiring students to "only use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their birth" sex.
• The bill is intended as a preemptive strike against the state Department of Education, which is drafting totally optional suggestions for supporting LGBT youth in schools. 

Ban racially-charged language! ....hey, wait, that's a good thing. 

• The Democratic-majority Colorado House of Representatives has passed a bill that would strike the term "illegal alien" in state laws and replace it with with "undocumented worker" or "foreign national."
• Will the bill make it through the GOP-controlled state Senate? We'll see...

BTW, #PeriodsforPence is one of the best things happening on the internet right now. (It's a creative backlash to the heinous anti-choice law signed by Indiana Gov. Pence last month, which, among other things, requires miscarried or aborted fetuses be cremated or interred.)

Watch The Committee Chair edition

Forty legislatures are in session this week, and lawmakers are going H.A.M. with all sorts of antics. Here's the hits collection.

• Run This Town: Did you know that there's another terrible thing happening in Michigan that's not the Flint water crisis? 
• This other horror with a disproportionate impact on children of color is the deplorable condition of Detroit's public schools -- schools that (until two days ago) were being "emergency managed" by none other than Darnell Earley, who you may remember from his last job, which involved switching the Flint water supply to lead-poisoned garbage as the city's appointed Emergency Manager. 
• How bad are Detroit's public schools, you ask? Well, how do you feel about rodent and roach infestations, moldy walls, leaky ceilings, buckled flooring, broken windows, and exposed wires, just for starters? 
• Detroit's school teachers have filed a lawsuit arguing that school conditions are so unsafe and unhealthy that students' rights to a "minimally adequate education" are being violated.

The situation is so egregious that People magazine did a story on it. I mean, seriously.

• Detroit's teachers have resorted to staging sick-outs to draw attention to and protest the conditions. 
• Even Gov. Snyder is proposing a legit-sounding plan to rescue the school system, because maybe he figures he's ruined enough kids' lives already. 
• Republican lawmakers, however, would rather exploit the situation to attack teachers and teachers unions than actually address the problems facing the schools. (Fun fact: The teachers unions had nothing to do with organizing the sick-out protests.) 
• Republicans have proposed legislation that would fine teachers and union leaders for each day of a sick-out or strike, mandate a two-year suspension of teaching certificates of those found to have participated, and decertify local teachers unions. 

Your Michigan GOP: We'd rather punish teachers than get the rats and black mold out of your school.

• Gotta Have It: Last summer, Arizona Republicans failed -- yet again -- to to usurp the nonpartisan redistricting process established by the state's voters in 2000. Since the U.S. Supreme Court shut down the GOP's efforts to return redistricting to the hands of the GOP-controlled legislature, lawmakers have concocted yet another scheme designed to eliminate the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC).
• The measure that's just passed the House Elections Committee seeks to amend the state constitution to replace the IRC with a commission whose members would run for the office, just like any other politician.
• Whatever your feelings are about partisan elections for the sole purpose of drawing new state and congressional district lines, the most troubling part of this proposal is that it would permit elected officials, candidates, and even lobbyists to serve on this new redistricting commission. 
• Currently, Republican and Democratic party leaders each choose two members of the commission; those four commissioners must agree on a fifth, independent commissioner to head the group. None of the members can be elected officials, candidates for office, or registered lobbyists. 
• Republicans are also still wrangling their lawsuit claiming that the IRC illegally drew district lines favoring Democrats. It will be heard by SCOTUS this year; a three-judge federal panel has already rejected the claim. 

So weird how lines that allegedly favor Democrats still resulted in GOP majorities in the legislature and congressional delegation.

• Get This Money: Crazy New Hampshire Republicans may be a dime a dozen, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be called out when they do or say terrible, bigoted things.
• Rep. Ken Weyler is co-sponsoring a bill that would prohibit "any member of a foreign terrorist organization from receiving public assistance, medical assistance, or food stamps."

If you've identified members of a terrorist organization in your state, is the issue really whether or not they're getting food stamps? Just asking...

• The bill itself is weird and paranoid, but what really takes the hate cake is Rep. Weyler's submitted testimony supporting the the legislation.
• According to Weyler, 
• "Giving public benefits to any person or family that practices Islam is aiding and abetting the enemy. That is treason."
• "[Islam] is an ideology posing as a religion."
• "Islam is intolerant and deceitful, and its adherents are ordered to overthrow our way of life and replace it with 'sharia' law."

These are seriously direct quotes from Weyler's testimony. Check it out in full if you don't mind your brain trying to escape through your ears a little.

• Weyler sort of had something kind of nice to say about some Muslims, except...not.
• "We have Muslims in our community who are working hard to be economically successful. I do not believe that they represent a threat, but if one does not have to be responsible for what all the rest of us do to support ourselves, then 'The Devil has work for idle hands.'
• So who's going to be "responsible" for what this Weyler chap does to "support" himself (which is use his position as an elected official to air paranoid bigoted theories about Muslims, apparently)? 

Maybe his hands could stand to spend a little more time idling instead of writing nonsense like this.

• Who You Wit: On Wednesday, all the Republicans on a Florida House subcommittee approved the "Prevention of Acts of War" bill, which prohibits government employees (and anyone receiving state assistance, like Medicare) from helping resettle immigrants or refugees from countries where "invaders" live or train. 
• If you're an immigrant who's not from a country on the "invaders" list but you've been near such a country, sorry, you're still a "restricted person," and the governor would be authorized to use military force to stop you from, um, invading Florida in your nefarious quest for refuge. 
• But wait! Were you born in the Western Hemisphere? You're in luck! The bill makes an exception for you!

• Show Me What You Got: Republican lawmakers in Indiana really don't want you to see their emails. 
• The House Republican Caucus and GOP Rep. Eric Koch (no relation... I think?) are battling the Energy and Policy Institute, Citizens Action Coalition, and Common Cause Indiana over whether or not official legislator emails (not campaign, not private) with industry lobbyists are subject to the Access to Public Records Act. 
• A recent SCOTUS decision seems to indicate that they are. 
• What's extra great about this is that taxpayer dollars are paying for outside counsel to represent the Indiana Republicans in their noble quest to conceal their communications with energy lobbyists pertaining to energy legislation.
• This attorney is racking up billable hours by arguing that the Indiana House of Representatives is not a "public agency."

• Run This Town: Republicans in the Mississippi legislature demonstrated their general contempt for democracy and government last month when they overturned a Democratic representative's victory in a state House race to seat a fellow GOPer -- just because they could. 
• Now they seem to think less governance is better -- literally. As a cost-saving measure, the Mississippi legislature is cutting two weeks from its session (from four months to three and a half). 
• But this could actually be a good thing! Now the GOP-controlled chamber has less time to waste on attacking public schools, undermining LGBT rights, and establishing firing squads as a method of execution. Maybe. 

• Guess Who's Back: Remember when the "menacing short guy" who runs the Virginia state Senate evicted the press from the Senate floor last month? Well, after weeks of public shaming in the media and by members of both parties, GOP Majority Leader Tommy Norment relented... more or less. 
• Instead of two tables that seated eight reporters total, the press returns to the Senate floor with six little leaf desks (like the ones you used to have to put up with in school) that no longer have access to electrical outlets for laptops and such.
• But Sen. Norment wasted little time in embarrassing himself again. He tried to sneak a $700,000 taxpayer-funded increase in his office allowance and staff (and a tiny pay raise for his Senate colleagues) into five little-noticed amendments in the commonwealth's $109 billion budget proposal.
• Reporters are smarter than Sen. Norment seems to give them credit for, though, and three of them tried to ask Norment about the proposals this week. The Republican Senate leader simply walked away.

• Girls, Girls, Girls: Last Friday marked the seventh anniversary of President Obama signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. To mark the occasion, an effort coordinated by SiX saw the introduction of bills aimed at remedying gender pay inequality in 24 states. 
• The push for pay equity is a key fight for progressives, and these measures are moving forward in states like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, Vermont and Hawaii -- all of which have Democratic majorities in their state legislatures. 
• But states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Virginia, and Colorado? GOP majorities in one or both chambers of these statehouses are almost certain to kill these excellent bills. 
• It's worth pointing out that, while having a Democratic governor certainly helps good progressive measures like these, equal pay has to survive two legislative chambers before any state's governor even gets a good look at the bill (with the exception of Nebraska, of course).

The path to gender pay equity? More Democratic majorities in state legislatures. Period.

For the Week of February 4, 2016 

The following 40 state legislatures are meeting actively this week: ALABAMA, ALASKA, ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, HAWAII, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, KANSAS, KENTUCKY, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW MEXICO, NEW YORK, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, OREGON, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTH DAKOTA, TENNESSEE, UTAH, VERMONT, VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA and WISCONSIN.

Also meeting: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, GUAM, PUERTO RICO andUNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS.      

Groups

The Conference of Western Attorneys General will hold its Digital Currency Symposium February 4-5 in Park City, Utah. 

ALABAMA

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session February 2. 

Governor Robert Bentley (R) delivered the State of the State address February 2. 

ARIZONA

The deadline to introduce bills in the House was February 1. 

CALIFORNIA

The State Water Resources Board held a board meeting February 2 to consider the extension of the emergency Water Conservation Regulation.

COLORADO

The Joint Budget Committee meets February 1-5 to discuss Governor John Hickenlooper’s (D) FY 2016-2017 budget proposals.  

The House Committee on Health, Insurance and Environment met February 2 to discuss S.B. 2, which directs the Secretary of State to submit to voters, at the November 2016 statewide election, the question of whether the state health benefit exchange can impose a tax to support its ongoing operations. 

The deadline to introduce bills in the House was February 3. 

CONNECTICUT

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session February 3.

Governor Dan Malloy (D) delivered the State of the State address February 3.

The deadline to introduce bills in the House and Senate is February 5. 

INDIANA

The deadline for each chamber to pass bills originating in its chamber was February 3. 

MARYLAND

The deadline to introduce bills in the Senate is February 5. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

The House Public Works and Highway Committee met February 2 to consider H.B. 1568, which requires each person registering a vehicle powered by alternate energy sources to prepay road toll fees at the time of registration of the vehicle. 

Governor Maggie Hassan (D) will deliver the State of the State address February 4. 

NEW MEXICO

The deadline to introduce bills in the House and Senate was February 3. 

OKLAHOMA

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session February 1.

Governor Mary Fallin (R) delivered the State of the State address February 1.

OREGON

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session February 1. 

SOUTH DAKOTA

The deadline to introduce individual bills in the House and Senate is February 4. 

The deadline to introduce committee bills in the House and Senate is February 5. 

TENNESSEE

Governor Bill Haslam (R) delivered the State of the State address February 1.

UTAH

The deadline to introduce bills in the House and Senate is February 4. 

WASHINGTON

The deadline to pass bills out of committee in the chamber of origin, excluding the House fiscal committees and the Senate Ways & Means and Transportation Committees, is February 5. 

via Stateside Associates, Project Vote, BillTrack 50

Ground Control To Speaker Tom edition

It's time to turn and face the strange. This week, 32 legislatures are back in session. By the end of the month, we'll be up to about 40.

But even though we're just a few days in to making laws, it seems we're already dealing with scary monsters (and super creeps). 

• Under Pressure: On Thursday, the Democratic-majority Maine House declined to impeach Gov. Paul LePage, whose latest notorious act included making nakedly racist remarks about the source of the state's heroin problem.  
• wtf? This non-impeachment isn't nearly as lame as it sounds. Running against LePage's antics will help deliver a Democratic majority in the state Senate this fall and shore up Democratic numbers in the House. Democrats are better off letting LePage be LePage than wasting taxpayer money on an impeachment attempt that would likely fail in the GOP-controlled Senate, anyway. 

• This is not America: As soon as their respective legislative sessions began, GOP senators in Missouri and Virginia evicted the press from their chamber floors.
• Last Thursday, the Republican-controlled Missouri Senate voted to banish reporters from their table near the front of the chamber. (A section of the upper gallery will be renovated to accommodate the media, how nice.) 
• After initially trying to claim the change was needed to accommodate more staffers, the GOP Senate President Pro Tem admitted that he's still sore about reporters tweeting about conversations between lawmakers on the chamber floor last year --- which he proclaimed "our space. That's not your space," even though the space in which the state's laws are made should really belong to everyone, yes?

• On Wednesday, reporters in Virginia attempted to take their customary place at tables near the Senate dais as session kicked off, only to be shunted to the Senate gallery at the behest of GOP Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment. But why?
• Last year, Norment accused the press of forcing consideration of ethics legislation in the wake of former Gov. McDonnell's felony corruption convictions. 
• He got super pissed when reporters had the temerity to report on an affair he'd had with a General Assembly lobbyist. 
• And he was fit to be tied when reporters broke the news of his (ultimately successful) power play for Senate leadership posts at the expense of other members of his own party. 
• Norment can't help but be aware that the cramped quarters, obstructed view of the floor, lack of timely access to copies of votes and floor amendments, dearth of writing space, and minimal access to electrical outlets would hinder reporters' ability to do their job.
• One Virginia statehouse reporter waxed nostalgic about a similar episode in Georgia in 2007, when Republicans suddenly restricted press to the media gallery while the House was in session. 
• Democrats objected to Norment's maneuver, and the Society of Professional Journalists is calling for lawmakers in Missouri and Virginia to demonstrate their commitment to transparency and reverse these attempts to "silence the press" by returning reporters to their normal working conditions. 

Speaking of disturbing trends...

• Low: The hot new trend among Republican lawmakers this year seems to be pushing bills that discriminate against and/or criminalize transgender folks, especially kids. 
• An Indiana bill would send someone to jail for up to a year and impose a fine of up to $5,000 for entering a bathroom that does not match up with their birth gender. 
• A Virginia bill would also require all public buildings (including schools) implement policies that restrict bathroom use to those "whose anatomical sex matches" the gender designation of that bathroom. (Just a $50 civil fine, though, how gracious!)
• Missouri SB 720 specifically restricts school restroom and locker room use to "students of the same biological sex."

• Heathen: Those so-called "religious freedom" bills that are actually designed to legalize LGBT discrimination are making a comeback, too. 
• Late last year, Indiana's SB 100 was possibly the most anti-LGBT LGBT rights bill ever and drew fire from both pro- and anti-discrimination groups. 
• A new "anti-discrimination" bill would protect everyone included in LGB, but transgender Hoosiers would be denied civil rights protections.  
• Session has barely started in Georgia, and already three freedom-to-discriminate bills are in the mix. 
• One is a broad measure that died in the House last year, and the two new ones would allow businesses to discriminate against LGBT customers and protect clergy who refused to perform same-sex marriages. 

Pro tip! Watch for this piecemeal approach in other statehouses this year. Broad RFRA measures are SO 2015.

• Rebel rebel: Another theme to keep an eye on in sessions around the country is preemption. Right-wing GOP majorities in state capitols are trying to override local control to thwart progressive city and county measures on LGBT rights, gun safety, worker pay and leave, and other items. 
• A great example on immigration is making its way through the Arizona legislature right now. The same folks who gave us the notorious SB 1070 want to preempt a grassroots effort in Phoenix to create a city ID that would be available to undocumented workers or people who entered the country illegally. (Such an ID would help residents access city programs, banks, and other services. Heaven forfend!)

• Changes: On Tuesday, Democrats pulled off a stunning upset in a special election in Oklahoma to flip a seat that had been Republican since 1990. And we were outspent. And this in a seat that gave Romney 70 percent of the vote.
• But wait, it gets better! This was the second Democratic special election pickup in Oklahoma this cycle. And it comes in the wake of two other special election pickups in suburban districts in the run-up to November's general election, where Democrats performed well in similar regions in Virginia and New Jersey.
• Something in the air: What does this all mean? Good things for downballot Democrats, especially ones running in a presidential election year.

• Thursday's child: Yesterday, Virginia GOP Del. Rick Morris delivered a historical salute on the House floor to abolitionists who worked to end slavery 150 years ago. 
• Which is nice, right? Except no. Turns out Rep. Morris was exploiting the horror of slavery to pivot to a diatribe against abortion rights, equating slavery with abortion as a "national sin."

★

For the Week of January 15, 2016 

The following 32 state legislatures are meeting actively this week: ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, DELAWARE, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, KANSAS, KENTUCKY, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTH DAKOTA, TENNESSEE, VERMONT, VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA and WISCONSIN.

Also meeting: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, GUAM, PUERTO RICO andUNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS.   

ARIZONA

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 11.

Governor Doug Ducey (R) delivered the State of the State address January 11. 

COLORADO

The General Assembly convened for the 2016 legislative session January 13. 

Governor John Hickenlooper (D) delivered the State of the State addressJanuary 14.

DELAWARE

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 12.

FLORIDA

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 12.

Governor Rick Scott (R) delivered the State of the State address January 12.

The deadline for legislators to introduce bills in the House and Senate was January 12. 

GEORGIA

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 11.

Governor Nathan Deal (R) delivered the State of the State address January 13. 

IDAHO

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 11. 

Governor Butch Otter (R) delivered the State of the State address January 11.

INDIANA

Governor Mike Pence (R) delivered the State of the State address January 12. 

The deadline to introduce bills in the House was January 12.

IOWA

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 11. 

Governor Terry Branstad (R) delivered the State of the State address January 12. 

KANSAS

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 11. 

Governor Sam Brownback (R) delivered the State of the State address January 12. 

LOUISIANA

The Legislature convened January 11 for an organizational session to judge the qualifications and elections of the members, take the oath of office, organize the two houses and select officers. 

MARYLAND

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 13.

MICHIGAN

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 13. 

NEBRASKA

Governor Pete Ricketts (R) will deliver the State of the State address January 14. 

NEW JERSEY

The Legislature adjourned the 2015 legislative session January 11.

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 12.

Governor Chris Christie (R) delivered the State of the State address January 12. 

NEW YORK

Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) delivered the State of the State address January 13. 

SOUTH CAROLINA

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 12. 

SOUTH DAKOTA

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 12. 

Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) delivered the State of the State address January 12.

TENNESSEE

 

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 12. 

VIRGINIA

The General Assembly convened for the 2016 legislative session January 13. 

Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) delivered the State of the Commonwealth address January 13. 

WASHINGTON

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 12. 

Governor Jay Inslee delivered the State of the State address January 12.

 

WEST VIRGINIA

 

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 13. 

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D) delivered the State of the State address January 13.

WISCONSIN

The Legislature convened for the 2016 legislative session January 12.

via Stateside Associates, Project Vote, BillTrack 50

Have Yourself A Merry Little Session edition

It's the holiday season, which means bill file & chill for most lawmakers. But others have spent the seaon rockin' around the Speaker's dais, because it's never too late to get on the naughty list.

• I Heard the Bells on Election Day: Michigan has a special history of year-end session shenanigans ("right to work" passed in December 2012, and the last big push to gerrymander the Electoral College by allocating votes based on which candidate won a congressional district was in November 2014).
• Welp, they've done it again. Last week, at 5 p.m. on the last day of joint session for the year, Republican leaders in the state House and Senate began scheming to pass SB13, a measure that eradicates straight-ticket voting in the state. 
• Republicans want to take this option away from voters because straight-ticket voters tend to favor Democrats. 
• Legislative maneuvers had been going on for weeks, and for a while, it looked like the bill would get tabled at least until the new year.

Yeah, not so much. 

• The bill ending straight-ticket voting just barely scraped by in each chamber. At 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, Michigan Republicans successfully executed their latest manipulation of democracy in the state (among other things, I'm specifically referring to the fact that Democrats received more votes than Republicans for state House in 2012 and in 2014, but Republicans retained a majority in the chamber both years).
• Michigan Republicans last tried to deny voters the option to vote straight-ticket in 2001, but Democrats launched a petition drive, and voters overturned the measure at the ballot box.

• Republicans in the state Senate wouldn't give Michigan's citizens the chance to thwart GOP machinations again. They added a $5 million appropriation to the measure -- a ploy that immunizes it from a citizen referendum. 

• Voter Wonderland: Mark your calendars: As of January 1, eligible residents in Oregon will be automatically added to the state's voter rolls when they renew, replace, or obtain a driver's license. 

Because Democrats make voting easier, and Republicans make it harder.

• It's Beginning to Look a lot like Darkness: Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker surprised no one last week by signing into law legislation eradicating the state's nonpartisan election watchdog board and overhauling campaign finance laws. 
• As a refresher, in addition to dismantling the Government Accountability Board, the new laws 

• No longer require donors to disclose their employers.
• Double contribution limits.
• Allow unlimited corporate donations to political parties and legislative campaign committees.
• Expressly permit coordination between candidates and issue advocacy groups (which don't have to disclose their donors) as long as communications don't include those magic "express advocacy" words of "vote for," defeat," "support," and the like. 
• Gov. Walker was so proud of signing the legislation that he didn't even tell anyone he was doing it. The Republican lawmaker who sponsored the bill spilled the beans on Twitter. Gov. Walker publicly owned up to signing the measure three hours later. 

I mean, why wouldn't he be proud of turning his state into a dark money haven with ineffective oversight?

• Frosty the Gunman: Also in Wisconsin, Republican state Rep. Bob Gannon exploited the weekend shooting of a 19-year-old at a mall to promote his own anti-gun safety agenda. Also, he kinda-sorta advocated murder in lieu of the death penalty. 
• Per Rep. Gannon's press release, 

Wisconsin does not have a death penalty law, but with significant practice and careful aim, law abiding citizens can help clean our society of these scum bags. 

• Rep. Gannon proceeded to offer, um, tips on technique:

A gang banger in the mall with a gun is going to think twice if there could be a law abiding CCW holder standing behind them fully prepared to shoot center mass.

Remember, kids: Head shots are for zombies.

• Here we come a-bankrolling: Montana's elections watchdog is alleging that the National Right to Work Committee has been illegally bankrolling and managing campaign activities for Republican legislative candidates since 2008. 
• Services provided by the National Right to Work Committee to candidates who accepted the "package" included assistance with fundraising, website production, voter research, direct mailings, voter ID lists and general campaign advice, according to the state's Commissioner of Political Practices. 

More like National Right to Buy Elections Committee, amirite?

• The trial in which these allegations were levied is scheduled for March 28. 

• This One's for the Children: An Arizona state Senator who believes church attendance should be mandatory, is worried about chemtrails, and claims the Earth is 6,000 years old has just been appointed to lead the upper chamber's education committee. 
• When the legislature convenes in January, Republican Sen. Sylvia Allen will be head of the committee that functions as gatekeeper for all education-related legislation. So that's just great!

 

• Booze Christmas: New Mexico (and new Chair of the RGA!) Gov. Susana Martinez might have gotten a little too caught up in the spirit of the season last week at her staff holiday after-party. 
• After "troublesome" guests in her group's hotel room wouldn't chill out or leave, an Eldorado Hotel employee called the police. 
• After learning of the call, Gov. Martinez tried to throw her gubernatorial weight around to find out who ratted her out and to convince the police dispatcher to chill out. 
• She ended up apologizing, sort of, because she insists the party just wasn't the rager described by hotel employees. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

• God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlewomen: Courtesy of NCSL, here are some year-end fun facts on diversity and partisanship in state legislatures!

• While minorities and women remain underrepresented in state legislatures, these groups are best represented in Democratic caucuses.
• Women comprise 35 percent of Democratic state lawmakers but only 17 percent of Republicans.
• Women make up the majority of the Democratic caucuses in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Utah.

• Also, minority groups are better represented among Democrats (33 percent) than Republicans (five percent).
• Minorities fill the majority of Democratic seats in the Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada statehouses.
• In nine Southern states, a majority of Democrats are black.
• In New Mexico, the majority of Democrats are Hispanic.

• Go Tell It On The (Rocky) Mountain(s): The GOP lawmaker in Colorado who blamed Planned Parenthood for the horrific shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic is still running for reelection and still has the support of local Republican officials. 
• Some local folks are trying to recall Re. JoAnn Windholtz, but there's also an actual election in less than a year, so...

• Speaking of Colorado... Keep an eye on the redistricting "reform" proposal out there. 
• While Initiative 55 drafters claim the effort is "bipartisan," no actual Democratic leaders or elected officials seem to have been involved in the process. 
• The crafting of the measure's redistricting "priorities" was notoriously opaque, and groups like Common Cause, the NAACP, and civil rights leaders are justifiably skeptical of the whole affair.

It's just so weird that Republicans only seem to want to change the existing partisan redistricting process in states where it's likely to be controlled by Democrats post-2020: Colorado, Maryland, Illinois. 

For the Week of December 22, 2015 

The following 2 state legislatures are meeting actively this week: PENNSYLVANIA and WISCONSIN.

IDAHO

The Twin Falls City Council met December 21 to consider approving a request to add the words "or vaping" to the signs in parks that currently read "thank you for not smoking." 

MASSACHUSETTS

The Springfield City Council met December 21 to discuss a prohibition on the sale of loose cigars. 

NEW JERSEY

The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee met December 21 to discuss A.B. 4275, which establishes the New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program to create a retirement program for private sector workers.

via Stateside Associates, Project Vote, BillTrack 50