SPECIAL OFFER: Through the end of the year, become a member of Pluribus News, support our work and get a huge discount on your membership! Use coupon code NEWYEAR at checkout to get 60% off. Click here to subscribe.
Good morning, it’s Monday, August 14, 2023. In today’s edition, Colorado court blocks Trump from ballot; Virginia Dems to consider gun safety measures; Florida abortion rights measure likely to make 2024 ballot:
Top Stories
TRUMP: The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that former President Donald Trump cannot appear on the 2024 ballot under a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars those who engage in insurrection from seeking federal office. The 4-3 ruling directs Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) to leave Trump off the ballot, though justices placed a stay on their own ruling in anticipation of intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court. (Denver Post, Colorado Sun, Associated Press, Washington Post)
This is the first case of its kind to succeed at any level of the judiciary. And it puts the U.S. Supreme Court in an unenviable position, in which any decision justices reach will alienate half the nation. Read analysis of the decision from National Review’s Dan McLaughlin, election law expert Rick Hasen and The New York Times’s Adam Liptak.
MORE: North Carolina’s state Board of Elections dismissed a voter’s complaint seeking to bar Trump from the ballot there. The three Democrats and two Republicans voted 4-1 to dismiss the complaint. (Associated Press)
Legal challenges to Trump’s candidacy have lost initial tests in Minnesota, Michigan and Oregon, too.
LGBTQ RIGHTS: Montana’s ACLU has challenged a new state law defining the word “sex” through state law as either male or female based on a person’s biology at birth. Plaintiffs say the law denies legal recognition and protections to those who are gender non-conforming. (Associated Press)
MORE: Tennessee state Rep. Gino Bulso (R) has introduced legislation banning political flags — including rainbow pride flags, pride progress flags and transgender rights flags — from publicly funded schools. More than 40 local school districts, most in California, Wisconsin and New England, already ban pride flags. (Tennessean)
GUN POLITICS: Virginia Democrats will consider measures to ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, and to create liability for gun owners when a minor uses their firearm to commit a crime or to bring a weapon to school. Democrats will control majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly next year. (WVTF)
HOUSING: The Missouri Supreme Court has struck down a state law that threatened those experiencing homelessness with up to 15 days in jail and a fine for sleeping on state land without permission. The 2022 law also banned vaccine mandates for state workers and blocked state funding from being used to permanently house homeless people. Justices said the law violated single-subject rules. (Associated Press)
TAXES: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is considering a measure to eliminate a local tax on personal property, also known as the car tax. Youngkin will bring up the proposal in his annual budget address to lawmakers, with lost revenue replaced by changes to the sales tax structure. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
REPARATIONS: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has signed legislation creating a committee to study potential reparations for the descendants of enslaved people. The nine-member panel, with appointees chosen by the governor and legislative leaders, will submit a report and recommendations to the legislature within a year. (State of Politics)
In Politics & Business
LOUISIANA: Gov.-elect Jeff Landry (R) plans to call Louisiana lawmakers back to session on Jan. 15 to consider how to redraw congressional district boundary lines. A federal court has ordered the state to create a second Black-majority district. (Baton Rouge Advocate)
OHIO: The ACLU of Ohio and the League of Women Voters are suing to block a new state law that makes it a felony for someone other than a postal worker or a close relative from handling someone’s absentee ballot. The plaintiffs say the law discriminates against disabled people. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
MORE: Ohio Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters (R) will challenge Justice Melody Stewart (D) in the 2024 elections instead of running for re-election to his own seat. Deters, appointed to the job by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) last year, would help solidify the GOP’s 4-3 majority on the high court. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
FLORIDA: Abortion rights backers say they will submit 1.4 million signatures to qualify a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing access. Florida elections officials have until Feb. 1 to verify signatures toward the 891,523 valid signatures required to qualify for the ballot. Those officials have already verified 753,762 signatures as valid, all but guaranteeing the measure will appear in November. (Orlando Sentinel)
Remember, Florida constitutional amendments must win 60% of the vote to pass.
By The Numbers
417, 148: The number of laws enacted by state legislatures this year that protect abortion rights and restrict abortion rights, respectively. Legislators introduced almost 2,400 bills to protect abortion rights, and nearly 1,100 to restrict those rights, according to tallies from the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that backs abortion rights. (Pluribus News)
24.2%: The increase in the value of the S&P 500 over 2023, as of Tuesday’s close. Just seven stocks were responsible for about two-thirds of that growth: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Nvidia, Tesla and Meta (parent of Facebook and Instagram). (Associated Press)
1.6 million: The growth of the U.S. population over the last year, to 334.9 million total. The 0.5% increase is slightly higher than growth rates in 2021 and 2022, a reflection of both fewer deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic and more immigrants entering the country. (Census Bureau)
We’re working on some cool maps and graphics based on the new data. Check out our site later today for state-by-state breakdowns of where people are moving (hint: the South) and leaving (hint: the Rust Belt and California).
Off The Wall
Minnesota’s State Emblems Redesign Commission has adopted a new state flag, a design that shows off the state outline and an eight-sided North Star. Vexillologists say the new design is one of the coolest in the country. (MPR News)
We will use any excuse to employ the word “vexillologist.” Other top designs: South Carolina, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Alaska and Washington, D.C.
In other vexillogical news: New Hampshire lawmakers have filed a bill to add the state motto, “Live Free or Die,” to their state flag. State Rep. Tim McGough (R), who’s leading the charge, says New Hampshire’s flag looks too much like the 22 others that have a plain blue field behind a central state seal or symbol. (WMUR)
When the Denver Zoo announced the result of a paternity test on Siska, a 4-month old Sumatran orangutan, they turned to the most qualified person available: Maury Povich. The long-time talk show host unveiled test results showing an orangutan named Berani was Siska’s father. Zoo officials said Povich was a good sport. (Denver Post)
See Povich announce the results on the Denver Zoo’s TikTok account here.
Quote of the Day
“We all try to beat his ass in this one.”
— Louisiana Senate President John Alario (R), on poker games Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) hosted at the governor’s mansion through his two terms. Edwards said the stakes were much lower than in games held by his notorious predecessor, the late Gov. Edwin Edwards (D). Other regular players said John Bel Edwards wasn’t any good at bluffing. (Baton Rouge Advocate)