Good morning, it’s Thursday, November 2, 2023. In today’s edition, mayors pressure Biden on immigration; Texas House kills voucher deal; Kentucky ban on trans health care headed for SCOTUS appeal:
Top Stories
IMMIGRATION: The mayors of Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and New York — all Democrats — are seeking a meeting with President Biden about federal help they need to manage a surge of migrants arriving in their cities. (Associated Press)
MORE: A Massachusetts judge ruled Wednesday that Gov. Maura Healey (D) can advance her plan to cap the number of homeless families housed in emergency shelter systems. Healey’s administration wants to cap the number of families in the program at 7,500; there are 7,388 families in the system as of Wednesday. (Boston Globe) The Texas Senate approved legislation allocating $1.5 billion for construction of a border wall. (Texas Tribune)
EDUCATION: The Texas House effectively killed a deal to create a school voucher program, just hours after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) expressed hope that they had reached a compromise. Abbott is likely to call another special session on vouchers. (Dallas Morning News) Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) rolled out a budget request for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 that will fully fund state schools for the first time in 14 years. Polis’s plan pays for the increase by raising taxes on short-term rental homes. (Colorado Public Radio, Colorado Sun)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The families of seven Kentucky transgender minors will appeal their case against a state ban on gender-affirming care to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an effort to block health care bans in Kentucky and Tennessee in July, consolidating the two cases into the same appeals process. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
ABORTION: The Michigan House approved legislation protecting abortion rights. The bill does not include provisions that would have allowed Medicaid funding for abortion care and rescinded a 24-hour waiting period to get an abortion to win over state Rep. Karen Whitsett (D), who voiced opposition to those elements of the Senate-passed bill. (Detroit News)
HEALTH CARE: Fifteen Republican governors have written to President Biden asking the administration to reconsider staffing requirements at long-term care facilities. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have proposed minimum nurse staffing standards opposed by the long-term care industry. (Omaha World-Herald, KIMT) The Texas Senate gave final approval to a bill that will ban private employers from requiring employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19. (Texas Tribune)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state can execute an inmate using nitrogen gas, a method that has never been used in a death sentence case. Alabama is one of three states, along with Oklahoma and Mississippi, to authorize nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution. (Associated Press)
ELECTIONS: The Minnesota Supreme Court hears arguments today over a case challenging former President Donald Trump’s eligibility for ballot access next year, under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause. Plaintiffs are asking the state court to disqualify Trump and order him off the ballot in the March 5 primary. Trump’s lawyers say he has never been charged with insurrection. (Associated Press)
In Politics & Business
MISSISSIPPI: Gov. Tate Reeves (R) and Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley (D) met for their only debate of the campaign season on Wednesday, trading insults and accusations of bribery and corruption. Reeves called for eliminating the state income tax, while Presley repeated his support for Medicaid expansion. (Associated Press)
Safe to say these two don’t like each other very much.
GEORGIA: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) says he will not seek a ruling blocking lawmakers from returning to special session to redraw U.S. House district lines, after a federal judge ordered the state to draw a fifth majority-Black congressional district in the west metro Atlanta area. The judge gave legislators until Dec. 8 to draw a new map; Gov. Brian Kemp (R) scheduled a special session for Nov. 29. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
INDIANA: Former President Trump has endorsed U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R) in the Republican primary to replace retiring Gov. Eric Holcomb (R). Braun faces Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch (R), former Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) and former state Commerce Secretaries Brad Chambers (R) and Eric Doden (R). (Indianapolis Star)
RHODE ISLAND: Attorney General Peter Neronha (D) is considering a run against Gov. Dan McKee (D) in 2026. Neronha said he is frustrated with state government’s failure to act with urgency on health care, climate change and utility regulation. (Boston Globe)
NORTH CAROLINA: Auditor Beth Wood (D) will not seek re-election in 2024, six months after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of a car crash. Wood first won office in 2008. (Raleigh News & Observer, Associated Press)
DEMOCRATS: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is donating $250,000 to Virginia’s Democratic Party and four state Senate candidates as part of his newly-created nonprofit group combating anti-abortion efforts. The group also contributed $1 million to a Nevada campaign for abortion rights, and $250,000 to the Ohio supporters of a constitutional amendment backing abortion rights. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Feels like a presidential campaign in waiting. Speaking of which…
REPUBLICANS: Billionaire investor Thomas Peterffy says Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) could declare a presidential campaign as early as next week, if Republicans recapture control of the Virginia Senate and hold the House of Delegates. Peterffy, formerly a supporter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), has been pushing Youngkin into the race. (Forbes)
By The Numbers
$7,000: The amount of money you can save in your individual retirement account, after the IRS raised the annual limit on Wednesday. Individuals can contribute up to $23,000 to their 401(k) plans next year. (IRS)
23.7%: The share of new vehicles sold this year in Colorado that are either battery-electric, hybrid-electric or hybrids, according to the state Automobile Dealers Association. The Tesla Model Y is the top-selling alternative engine vehicle, followed by the hybrid Toyota RAV4 and the hybrid Honda CR-V. (Denver Post)
Off The Wall
Are you a photographer looking for a plum new gig? The California Senate may be the place for you: The chamber is advertising for a photographer to document life in the legislature, at a not-too-shabby salary of up to $14,084 a month. (Sacramento Bee)
Oregon legislative staffers have voted to accept a contract, making them the first legislative staffers in the nation to unionize. About 80% of staffers voted to accept the offer to organize under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. (Willamette Week)
Quote of the Day
“It’s not ideal.”
— Marisa Bayless, special counsel to Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert, on the state court system’s online system, which shut down last month after a “security incident.” (Kansas Reflector)