Good morning, it’s Thursday, September 5, 2024. In today’s edition, fixing long-term care’s workforce crisis; South Carolina bans phones in schools; California leaders at odds over special session:
Top Stories
HEALTH CARE: Massachusetts lawmakers have finalized a bill to bolster staff training, quality control and oversight of long-term care and nursing industries ravaged by the pandemic. The measure supports and incentivizes workforce training and facility improvements, provides regulators with more oversight authority and increases penalties for homes that violate standards.
While most industries are going through a workforce crisis, the long-term care field has been particularly hard hit. And the strain on the system will only get worse as Baby Boomers graduate from retirement age to long-term care age. Expect states everywhere to take serious steps in the next few years to attract new workers to a critical industry. Read more at Pluribus News.
EDUCATION: The South Carolina Board of Education has approved a new policy requiring school districts to ban students from using cell phones during the school day. The board will leave details to local districts, but districts must at least require phones and smart watches to be turned off and in backpacks or lockers from the first bell to the last. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)
LGBTQ RIGHTS: The Texas Department of State Health Services has changed policy to block transgender residents from updating the sex listed on their birth certificates. The new policy blocks changes even for those who have obtained a court order. (Texas Tribune)
ABORTION: A Hamilton County judge has blocked enforcement of an Ohio law that would bar women from using telemedicine to obtain medication abortion. The judge also blocked a law that prohibits certified nurse midwives and physician assistants from prescribing abortion pills. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
MORE: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) has vetoed legislation to expand access to birth control. The bill, which would have forced insurance companies to cover up to a year’s supply of birth control, passed by veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate. (Associated Press)
ENVIRONMENT: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has signed legislation that will bar hotels from providing complimentary personal care items for guests. The law bans small single-use plastic bottles like those used for shampoo, hair conditioner or bath soap. (Chicago Sun-Times)
TAXES: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has formally signed legislation cutting $254 million in property taxes, most of it focused on commercial property. The typical homeowner can expect to see $60 to $80 cut off their taxes next year. (Denver Post) As part of a deal to get new tax cuts, supporters of two proposals imposing steeper cuts have agreed to yank those measures off this year’s ballot.
In Politics & Business
CALIFORNIA: The state Senate is refusing to return to work during a special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to address legislation meant to keep gas prices down. Legislators are frustrated with what they see as Newsom’s habit of jamming them with 11th-hour bills, followed by threats of special sessions. Newsom and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D) met for more than an hour on Tuesday to try to resolve their differences. (Pluribus News)
TEXAS: State Rep. David Cook (R) will become the third Republican to challenge Speaker Dade Phelan (R) for the gavel next year. Cook said he would name only Republicans to lead committees, in contrast to Phelan’s habit of giving Democrats control over some panels. State Reps. Tom Oliverson (R) and Shelby Slawson (R) have already entered the race. (Texas Tribune)
INDIANA: All three of the state’s gubernatorial candidates are up with their first post-Labor Day ad buys. U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R) is dropping $500,000 on a ten-day campaign beginning today. Former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick (D) launches her own week-long buy today. Libertarian Donald Rainwater has spent a few hundred dollars on radio ads. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
IOWA: Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) says she will take her time replacing former Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg (R), who resigned Tuesday. Reynolds is heading on a trade mission to India next week; she said she won’t choose a new number two before she leaves. (Des Moines Register) Senate President Amy Sinclair (R) is next in the line of succession.
Correction: In yesterday’s edition, we incorrectly identified former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s (R) party. She is a Republican. We’re sorry for the typo.
By The Numbers
$76 billion: The amount Florida’s digital economy has contributed to the state gross domestic product, according to a Computer and Communications Industry Association report. That’s about 5% of the state’s overall GDP. More than 30,000 digital firms employ 425,000 people in Florida, the report found. (Floridian Press)
More than 4,000: The number of Californians who die every year in traffic collisions, according to Sen. Josh Lowenthal (D). California lawmakers gave final approval over the weekend to legislation that will require vehicles to include a warning system that alerts drivers when they go more than ten miles over the speed limit. (Los Angeles Times)
19: The number of California counties no longer under emergency drought declarations, after Gov. Newsom rolled back those designations. Among the counties no longer in drought: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties. (Los Angeles Times)
Off The Wall
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) and several top state officials are petitioning Louisiana State University to bring Mike VII, the school’s live tiger mascot, back to home football games. Previous tigers have attended games, but not Mike VII, the 8-year old who became the school’s official mascot in 2017. (Louisiana Illuminator)
Are you trying to get into California’s notoriously expensive housing market? Have we got a deal for you: A new one-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow in Monrovia, Calif., is on the market for just $499,999. The only problem is that it’s half a house — the home was crushed by a tree in May, and most of the roof is messed up. The realtor who listed the property joked that it’s an “open-concept” floor plan. (Associated Press)
Quote of the Day
“It’s Schrödinger’s special session.”
— University of the Pacific political scientist Keith Smith, on the California Senate’s refusal to return to work. (Pluribus News)