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There’s a lot going on, so every Wednesday, the DLCC is sending a roundup of the state legislative stories you might have missed. It’s October 13th, and here is the state of the states.
For questions and suggestions, e-mail us.
ICYMI
- The DLCC and its affiliated organizations announced record-breaking fundraising in an off-year third quarter, raising $5.3 million. The committee and its affiliates have officially raised more than $15 million for the cycle, its fastest pace ever.
- Following Virginia Republican Delegate John McGuire’s announcing his donation of more than $31,000 to Republican candidates across Virginia, the DLCC called on all Republican candidates to reject this funding due to McGuire’s known participation in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
- North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson made disgusting comments on Tuesday, railing about the existence of LGBTQ books in North Carolina libraries, saying “we are not going to stop until the schools of North Carolina are safe from this kind of filth.” Legislative Democrats in North Carolina have condemned this raging homophobia and threats of book banning.
- A group of North Carolina Republican House members announced they would launch a sham election review in the state based on their refusal to believe that Biden won the election. They want to start by inspecting voting machines in Durham County, with or without the cooperation of state or county election officials. Once again the GOP is laying the groundwork for subverting democracy — something North Carolina Republicans are well-versed in.
- Republicans in a Texas House committee voted along party lines to advance a bill that bans trans children from participating on the sports team that they identify with. Charlie Apple, a Texas high school senior who is trans, said of the bill, “I say just listen to us, because while we are trans folks and that is a very important part of our identity, we are also children.”
- North Carolina Republican Rep. Keith Kidwell, who serves in leadership in the state House, appeared on an Oath Keeper database — this is the extreme right-wing group that played a key role in the January 6th insurrection. This is no surprise from a man that met with members of the North Carolina Sons of Confederate Veterans just months after taking office. It would be cool if Republicans would work to expel anti-government extremists from their ranks but North Carolina’s speaker refused to comment.
GOP Fail
- Insurrectionist Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem attended a Trump rally in Iowa this week, where he doubled down on his anti-democratic call to decertify the 2020 election. He said, “the Maricopa County 2020 election can not be allowed to stand” and called for an audit in Pima County. We can only guess Finchem’s presence in Iowa means Trump has found his running mate!
- The Senate Judiciary Committee released a report naming Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Doug Mastriano as having “a lead role” in the attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Mastriano also participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and spent thousands of dollars to bus people to Donald Trump’s rally that day, creating an environment that led to violence, multiple deaths, and an attack on our country.
- Michigan Republican Rep. Daire Rendon wore a QAnon button to a rally outside of the state Capitol this week. She tried to avoid the question but is clearly embracing the far-right conspiracy theory that animates the most radical fringes of the party. This is unfortunately more common than it should be among Republican state legislators.
- Arkansas Republicans passed legislation requiring employers to allow their workers to opt-out of the COVID-19 vaccine on the basis of weekly testing or proof of COVID-19 antibodies, which health officials say should not be used to assess immunity. This is just another way to undermine commonsense public health efforts with little basis in reality.
- In other GOP junk science news, Alaska Republicans pushed for easier access to ivermectin, which is unauthorized by the FDA for preventing or treating COVID-19 and is championed by anti-vaxxers.
- Despite the state income tax producing almost half of all of Iowa’s revenue that funds public school and police budgets, Republicans are pushing a plan that will cut the tax for all Iowans regardless of income. But of course, as a man of the people, the Republican speaker said in defense of the plan, “wealthy Iowans work, too.”
Democratic Leadership
- New York Democrats are introducing legislation that would regulate high-speed internet as a utility and expand access to broadband across the state. The bill allows the Public Service Commission to advocate for New Yorkers to ensure reliable internet access.
- Massachusetts Democrats passed legislation that makes voting rights protections such as expanded early voting, voting-by-mail, and same-day voter registration permanent. The bill also builds into the system additional support for people with disabilities so all voters can exercise their rights.
- A new law passed by Democrats in California requires public schools to provide menstrual products. The legislation mandates that California public schools from grades 6-12, community colleges, and the California State University and University of California systems provide menstrual products to students and encourages private California schools to do the same.
- Florida’s Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book is pushing for legislation that would remove confederate-related holidays. The bill would remove the birthdays of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis and the observance of Confederate Memorial Day from the official state calendar. Let’s stop celebrating traitors!
What’s Next
- Almost everywhere that Republicans have power, and even where they don’t, they are mounting more and more egregious tactics that will subvert the democratic process. Keep an eye out for more copycat sham election reviews to pop up in key electoral states in an effort to support Trump’s Big Lie.
