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RandySF's JournalPennsylvania's redesigned mail ballot envelopes trip up many voters who left date incomplete
A design change Pennsylvania officials made to prevent voters from making a disqualifying error on their mail ballots appears to have backfired.
The issue — voters failing to write the final two digits of the year on the return envelope — is leading some counties to reject ballots in the primary, despite the state’s new advice to count them.
Last fall, the Pennsylvania Department of State announced it was redesigning the state’s mail ballot return envelope, in part to reduce the number of ballots rejected for lacking a proper date, which is required by law. This year’s envelope has “20? prefilled in the year line and leaves spaces for the voters to fill in the last two digits.
One election director said a “significant” number of voters who returned flawed ballots had not filled in the last two digits of the year, and other election officials around the state echoed that observation.
https://penncapital-star.com/election-2024/pennsylvanias-redesigned-mail-ballot-envelopes-trip-up-many-voters-who-left-date-incomplete/
Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocks Harris County's guaranteed income pilot program
The Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked Harris County officials from sending financial assistance to needy families under a new program — the day before families were slated to begin receiving the money.
Justices granted Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request Tuesday to halt the payments while a legal fight over the county’s guaranteed income pilot program plays out. About 1,900 households residing in the county’s poorest neighborhoods would receive monthly, no-strings-attached cash payments of $500 — drawn out of $20.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds — for 18 months.
“It’s unfortunate the court would take such an extraordinary step to block a program that would help people in Harris County — even temporarily,” Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said in a statement after the ruling.
The program was set to begin Wednesday, though there was some confusion about whether the county had begun distributing the funds ahead of schedule. Minutes before the Supreme Court’s order, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis said on the social media website X that the county had already sent the first round of checks. But Ellis later said that wasn't the case.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/23/texas-supreme-court-guaranteed-income/
Ten Republican-Led States Jeopardize Lives by Rejecting Full Medicaid Expansion
WASHINGTON — During Medicaid Awareness Month, it’s important to remember that there are still 10 states with Republican-led legislatures that refuse to fully expand Medicaid, leaving 1.5 million Americans uninsured and with worse health outcomes. Medicaid serves as a lifeline for millions of low-income and vulnerable Americans and reduces racial disparities in health care coverage. It plays a pivotal role in determining the accessibility, location, and timing of medical care, while also mitigating the financial burden of medical expenses.
Despite the Affordable Care Act offering states the opportunity to expand Medicaid, these 10 Republican-led states continue to resist fully expanding this critical program. Republicans in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are leaving billions of federal dollars on the table, continue to lose funding for rural hospitals, and represent a broader GOP willingness to risk the lives of their constituents.
Republicans’ longstanding refusal to fully expand Medicaid encapsulates the importance of state legislative power. When Republicans hold power, they deny health care access for thousands and sometimes millions of their constituents in need. When Democrats are in power, they prioritize Medicaid expansion and health care investments that save lives.
“Republicans in state legislatures have obstructed health care access by refusing to fully expand Medicaid for over a decade. There’s no excuse for ten years of inaction when the results clearly show Medicaid reduces health care disparities and saves lives. The GOP is playing politics with people’s lives while leaving needed federal money on the table. That money could go to keeping rural hospitals open or better meeting the health care needs of the people in these states. Democrats in state legislatures understand these stakes, which is why they have worked to expand Medicaid and prioritize essential health care access. The DLCC will continue to highlight the deadly consequences of Republicans’ decade-long obstruction of Medicaid expansion as we work to build Democratic power in the states.”
https://dlcc.org/press/ten-republican-led-states-jeopardize-lives-by-rejecting-full-medicaid-expansion/
LA: Proposal would require companies to sign pro-gun vows in gov't contracts
Louisiana lawmakers are considering a proposal to prohibit companies from winning government contracts if they refuse to do business with firearm companies or pro-gun groups.
Senate Bill 234, sponsored by Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, was voluntarily deferred Monday before the Senate Finance Committee after members chose to defer all of Monday’s bills to consider them at a later date.
Despite not holding a vote, the committee still heard debate on the measure. It would add restrictions to Louisiana’s public bid law to prohibit any state or local government from contracting with any company unless the contract contains a written verification that the company will not “discriminate” against any “firearm entity” or firearm trade association.
“Citizens should not be compelled by their government to fund gun control,” Miguez said.
https://lailluminator.com/2024/04/23/proposal-would-require-companies-to-sign-pro-gun-vows-in-govt-contracts/
Teacher pay, early education seats cut in initial Louisiana House budget proposal
Louisiana lawmakers advanced a state budget proposal Tuesday that would cut public school teacher pay and reduce the number of early childhood education seats available next school year.
The House Appropriations Committee reduced a $2,000 pay stipend teachers received this school year to just $1,300 next year, saving the state $71 million. It also cuts $24.3 million out of early childhood education, resulting in a loss of almost 2,000 seats.
Instead, the House leadership chose to prioritize other education programs. They agreed to put $30 million toward a targeted tutoring program for kindergarten through third-graders and to allocate $25 million toward differential teacher compensation.
School districts that receive the differential money can use the funds to pay teachers more for hard-to-fill positions. The cash can be used to boost the salaries of educators in math or science or those in schools with more low-income students, for example.
https://lailluminator.com/2024/04/23/teacher-pay-early-education-seats-cut-in-initial-louisiana-house-budget-proposal/
Arizona Democrats stray from abortion message and focus on water in rural areas
Arizona Democrats are looking to capture voters mindful of one resource that is sparse in the desert state: water.
As political battles over abortion and the southern border hit close to home for some Arizonans, record-setting high-temperature summers and droughts worry many. Democrats look to rein in rural voters who have turned on the party by framing water as a “life or death” matter going into the 2024 elections.
“Water made me attorney general,” said Democrat Kris Mayes, the state’s attorney general. “This is exactly the kind of issue we can win back some of rural America.”
In tandem, Mayes and Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) have cracked down on controversial farms that had unlimited access to the state’s limited groundwater supply.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/2975627/arizona-democrats-focus-on-water-rural-areas/
ME: Gov. Mills signs bill protecting providers of abortion and gender-affirming care
Gov. Janet Mills has signed a bill to shield providers of legally protected abortion and gender-affirming care from hostile out-of-state litigation.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Anne Perry, D-Calais, aims to protect health care providers from subpoenas or warrants, health record requests, extradition requests and other civil or criminal proceedings if they provide care – including abortion and gender-affirming care – that has been banned in a patient’s home state.
The bill drew significant debate in the Legislature and prompted a letter from 16 Republican attorneys general in other states who joined together to oppose it, calling it “constitutionally defective.”
Republican lawmakers in Maine who opposed the bill focused their arguments on the impacts of some minors, including 16- and 17-year-olds who can receive abortions and gender-affirming care under certain circumstances. They argued that the bill would make the state a kidnapping and human trafficking safe haven.
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/04/23/gov-mills-signs-bill-protecting-providers-of-abortion-and-gender-affirming-care/
AZ: Abortion Ban Heightens Tensions in Maricopa County's Prosecutor Election
If these statewide solutions fail, though, they’re at least eying Arizona’s local prosecutors as the backstop to an outcome they dread: the prospect of people facing criminal charges—and prison terms—over abortions.
“The least our county attorneys can do is commit that they would not prosecute those cases,” said State Representative Analise Ortiz, a Democrat whose district covers parts of Maricopa County. “They absolutely should do that to bring relief to the millions of people who are scared by this decision.”
Whether such a backstop materializes in Maricopa County—a giant jurisdiction home to more than four million residents in Phoenix and its surrounding areas—is going to come down to November’s prosecutor race.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, a Republican who is up for reelection this year, reacted to the ruling with a statement vowing that women would not be “prosecuted for receiving an abortion,” and especially calls out that she would not prosecute abortions that stem from rape, incest, or molestation. The statement did not, however, address whether she would prosecute doctors who provide abortions. Just days prior, Mitchell had said she’d enforce Arizona’s abortion law “whatever that law is.” She has also denounced as unlawful a gubernatorial order barring county attorneys like herself from prosecuting abortion.
Mitchell’s only Democratic challenger, Tamika Wooten, promises she won’t pursue such prosecutions if she becomes county attorney.
“I will not prosecute a woman for her personal health care decisions, nor will I prosecute the medical provider who performs that,” Wooten, a former local prosecutor and defense attorney, told Bolts. “That is a very serious and personal decision that a person must have with themselves and with their health care provider, and it’s not my business.”
https://boltsmag.org/arizona-abortion-ban-county-prosecutor-elections/
Coalition of Idahoans launch ballot initiative to restore abortion rights
As Idaho faces national scrutiny over its strict abortion bans, a Coalition of Idahoans is launching a ballot initiative aiming to restore abortion access, protect birth control and shield physicians from criminalization.
The Idahoans United for Women and Families Coalition said their poll of about 600 residents shows three out of five Idahoans believe abortions should be legal in some or almost all cases. Spokesperson Melanie Folwell said polling also shows 12% believe abortions should never be legal.
“Too often that is the loudest voice in the room,” she said on a press call Friday. “Those are the people influencing our legislators to make the laws that we're now dealing with, and it just doesn't represent the vast majority of Idahoans.”
Folwell said that’s why the Coalition is campaigning to introduce an initiative on the 2026 ballot. Citing a recent study showing 22% of OBGYNs have left the state in the wake of the bans, Folwell said the campaign will focus first on writing policy clarifying Idaho’s many abortion laws.
https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/health/2024-04-23/ballot-initiative-idahoan-coalition-reproductive-rights-abortion
In one Texas county, elections officials shoulder new costs and burdens to appease skeptics
In Brazos County, suspicions about elections burst into the open last fall, just weeks after a visit from an out-of-state group calling for ballots to be hand-counted.
“Everything seems great. But if you study this, you’ll find that it’s possible to pre-program electronic voting machines and make it do whatever you want,” one resident said at a commissioners court meeting last November, without evidence to support the claims.
“Ever since these machines came along, I’ve heard nothing but accusations of fraud,” said another resident. “I am asking you to investigate. Something was wrong in the 2020 election. Voting machines do only what they’re programmed to do.”
Similar comments continued to pour in for months — at meetings, in emails to county officials, and through public record requests to the county elections department — from people who insisted that the best answer is for counties to ditch voting equipment altogether and to hand count ballots.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/23/brazos-county-elections-skeptics/
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