Pluribus AM: N.C. House passes Medicaid expansion; rival abortion bans in S.C.; Ya Fav Trashman runs for office
Good morning, it’s Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. In today’s edition, Medicaid expansion passes N.C. House; rival abortion bans clash in S.C.; and Ya Fav Trashman runs for office:
Top Stories
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The North Dakota state House approved bills barring transgender girls and women from both K-12 sports and college sports. (Fargo Forum) Arkansas’s Senate Education Committee approved a bill restricting transgender people from using a bathroom of their choice at public schools. (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
MORE: The Oklahoma Senate passed a bill banning gender-affirming care. (Tulsa World) The Montana House passed a bill that would amend education discrimination laws giving explicit permission for teachers to use a transgender student’s deadname or sex. (Missoulian)
ABORTION: The South Carolina House passed a bill that bans abortion from conception with exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal anomaly and the mother’s health. It is more restrictive than the bill the Senate passed last week that bans abortion after cardiac activity is detected, or about six weeks. (Associated Press)
ENVIRONMENT: Democratic attorneys general in 21 states support the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to regulate methane emissions in oil and gas exploration. (Center Square) New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) says his state will aim to require 100% of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2035, the most aggressive timeline in the nation. (NJ Advance Media)
NORTH CAROLINA: The state House passed a measure expanding Medicaid to those who make less than 133% of the federal poverty level under the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday. The bill now heads to the state Senate, where President Phil Berger (R) has embraced expansion. (ABC11, Raleigh News & Observer)
ARKANSAS: The Department of Human Services is asking federal approval to require Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer or enroll in classes, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said Wednesday. The proposed requirement would apply to 300,000 adults enrolled in a state program that uses Medicaid money to buy private health insurance. (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
IDAHO: The Senate Education Committee has approved school choice legislation allocating $45 million for scholarships for families with K-12 students. (Idaho Capital Sun) The state House has approved a Greater Idaho measure seeking the annexation of several rural Oregon counties. (Boise State Public Radio)
OREGON: The state Senate approved a bill requiring landlords to allow child care services to operate in rental homes in an effort to alleviate a statewide shortage of child care options. (Oregon Capital Chronicle) The Oregon Court of Appeals voided Columbia County’s “Second Amendment Sanctuary” ordinance that nullified statewide gun regulations. (Oregonian)
SLAVERY: Legislators in Nevada and California are moving bills to remove “involuntary servitude” clauses from state constitutions, similar to measures that voters approved in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont last year. Language allowing involuntary servitude still exists in a dozen state constitutions. (Associated Press, Las Vegas Review-Journal)
In Politics & Business
LOUISIANA: State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson has quit his job, effective March 4, ahead of an expected bid to replace term-limited Gov. John Bel Edwards (D). Wilson, 54, would be the first prominent Democrat in a race that already includes Attorney General Jeff Landry (R), Treasurer John Schroder (R) and two state legislators. (Baton Rouge Advocate)
NEW YORK: The state Senate overwhelmingly rejected Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) nominee to lead the state’s highest court. The Senate voted 39-20 against Judge Hector LaSalle, nullifying a Senate Republican’s lawsuit seeking a full Senate vote after the Judiciary Committee rejected LaSalle as well. (New York Times, State of Politics)
OHIO: State House leaders have revived a proposed constitutional amendment to change the threshold for future amendments. House Speaker Jason Stephens (R) ushered a proposal to increase the threshold for approval of constitutional amendments to 60% through a procedural hurdle, setting it up for committee hearings. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
MICHIGAN: State Republican Party finance chair Lena Epstein is dropping her bid for chair and backing Matt DePerno, the failed attorney general candidate now running to head the party. Michigan Republicans choose their new leader tomorrow. (MLive)
ARIZONA: State Sen. Frank Carroll (R) has introduced legislation that would purge every voter from the rolls once a decade and force them to re-register. The bill would violate the National Voter Registration Act, which limits reasons why a voter’s registration can be canceled. (AZ Mirror)
By The Numbers
26%: The share of Americans who have a favorable opinion of the news media, according to a Gallup poll sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. 53% hold an unfavorable view. (Knight Foundation)
Share that has high or moderate levels of trust in national news outlets: 54%. Share that has high or moderate levels of trust in local news organizations: 75%.
$60 billion: The amount U.S. casinos took in last year, according to data from the American Gaming Association, the best year in industry history — and that figure doesn’t count tribal casinos. In-person betting accounted for more than 80% of total revenue. (Associated Press)
Off The Wall
Indiana Secretary of State candidate Diego Morales (R) ran for office with a hint of unique experience — he had been fired by the Secretary of State’s office not once, but twice. Now, as the incumbent, he’s hired his brother-in-law to lead the Auto Dealer Services division, a six-figure job. Grady previously worked as a sales consultant at a car dealership in Southern Indiana. (Indianapolis Star)
Don’t look up: The legislative library at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City is closed because of structural weakness that could pose a danger to visitors. The library’s dome is cracking; it sits directly above Gov. Mike Parson’s (R) office, though the building’s administrator says no one is in danger. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Former Philadelphia sanitation worker Terrill Haigler is seeking permission to run for office under his pseudonym, Ya Fav Trashman. Haigler, 34, is now a local activist. (Philadelphia Inquirer) Check him out on Twitter.
Quote of the Day
“Do I congratulate you? Or what do I do here?”
— Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission Chair Paul Rosenbaum, after the board unanimously approved Craig Prins as its new director, after former director Steve Marks resigned in the face of a bourbon-hoarding scandal. (OPB)