Showing posts with label SCHOOL BUSES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCHOOL BUSES. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

POLITICO Nightly: The future of the Voting Rights Act is still in jeopardy

 

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BY ZACH MONTELLARO

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Voting rights activists rally outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments in the Moore v. Harper case. A sign reads "HANDS OFF MY VOTE!"

Voting rights activists rally outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments in the Moore v. Harper case. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

UNEASY ANNIVERSARY — The Voting Rights Act dodged a bullet earlier this month when the Supreme Court passed on the opportunity to further narrow its scope. In a case out of Alabama, the court upheld a key provision which allows minority voters to challenge voting maps that hinder their collective ability to elect their chosen candidates.

And today, the first major domino fell after the Alabama ruling when the Supreme Court restored a lower court’s ruling that Louisiana’s congressional lines also likely diluted the power of Black voters there — a decision that will likely reverberate in other states, including Georgia and Texas.

It’s an unexpected development, given the last decade of jurisprudence on the VRA. Sunday marked the 10-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder , which kicked off a near-unbroken pattern, until this month, of the high court whittling away at the VRA. A decade later, the future of the landmark piece of legislation remains incredibly uncertain.

The Court’s decision 10 years ago was the first of many blows to the Voting Rights Act. The 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, effectively eviscerated Section 5 of the VRA, which required states and local municipalities with a history of discriminatory voting practices to get any changes to election laws precleared by either the Department of Justice or a federal court in D.C. The court gutted those protections by tossing out the formula used to determine if a jurisdiction had that history of discrimination. Since there’s no way to determine who has a discriminatory history, the thinking went, there’s no way to apply Section 5 protections. But that was only the beginning.

The court further chipped away at other sections of the Voting Rights Act in subsequent decisions, like one in 2021 adopting five “guideposts” to assess voting rules that activists decried for its sweeping nature . The Shelby County decision and subsequent rulings allowed for what voting rights activists have called a wave of new state election laws that have restricted the vote. The Brennan Center — a liberal think tank — found that there had been at least 29 laws passed in 11 states that were previously subject to preclearance, either in whole or in part, that added some sort of new voting restriction over the last decade.

This pattern seemed like it would continue unabated — until earlier this month, that is. The decision from the Alabama redistricting case shocked most court watchers, who assumed the court would continue on its path of cutting away at the Voting Rights Act. Instead, along with today’s ruling in the Louisiana case, it could lead to another majority Black House seat in both states — and open a path for a boon in minority representation across the South.

That does not mean the future of the Voting Rights Act is secure, however. The Alabama decision in Allen v. Milligan merely affirms the current law that has already been whittled away over the last decade, and does not expand it. And Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was in the majority in that case, nevertheless channeled Justice Clarence Thomas’ biting dissent by noting in a concurrence that the case did not delve into “the authority to conduct race-based redistricting … indefinitely into the future.”

Also still to be decided is a case in Arkansas, arguing the provision at the core of the Voting Rights Act does not allow for a “private right of action.” If successful, it would represent perhaps the biggest blow to the VRA yet, limiting challenges to just the federal government and closing the door to private groups’ right to sue entirely. The Eighth Circuit heard that case earlier this year , and has yet to issue a decision.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at zmontellaro@politico.com or on Twitter at @ZachMontellaro .

 

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WHAT'D I MISS?

— Supreme Court won’t hear charter school dress code case that promised broader fallout: The Supreme Court today declined to take up a case that could have upended the charter school industry , but a legal fight over the future of the embattled segment of public schools is not over. Justices denied a petition to hear Charter Day School, Inc. v. Peltier after conferring over the case last Thursday. Religious liberty groups, some school choice organizations, plus 10 attorneys general in Republican-led states had asked the justices to intervene after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a charter dress code that required girls to wear skirts.

— Freedom Caucus takes key vote on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s future: House Freedom Caucus members took a momentous vote today on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s future with the group , according to three people familiar with the matter — but it’s not yet clear whether she’s been officially ejected. The right-flank group took up Greene’s status amid an internal push, first reported by POLITICO, to consider purging members who are inactive or at odds with the Freedom Caucus. Greene’s close alliance with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and her accompanying criticism of colleagues in the group, has put her on the opposite side of a bloc that made its name opposing GOP leadership. While her formal status in the conservative group remains in limbo, the 8 a.m. vote — which sources said ended with a consensus against her — points to, at least, continued strong anti-Greene sentiment.

— Study shows federal weather model underplays flooding, putting infrastructure spending at risk: The federal government is relying on an outdated weather model that is putting hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure spending at risk , according to a study by climate research firm First Street Foundation. The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, H.R. 3684 (117), calls for state and local governments to consult a federal prediction model that First Street says vastly underestimates the likelihood of flooding. That means that many new projects could face flooding threats far earlier than expected, forcing local governments to pay for unanticipated maintenance or potentially wasting funds from the $350 billion the legislation set aside for projects.

 

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NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024

STUMBLING BLOCKS — For several months this year, Ron DeSantis seemed poised for a breakthrough in New Hampshire. But in the month since DeSantis formally entered the presidential race, he’s stumbled in the first-in-the-nation primary state , reports POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky and Meredith McGraw.

He got dragged into a tit-for-tat endorsement battle with Trump that generated some media attention but little measurable increase in support. His first visit to the state as a presidential candidate drew more headlines for what he didn’t do — take questions from voters — than the retail politicking he did. And that’s on top of polls that had already swung back in Trump’s favor.

There are signs that even inside DeSantis’s orbit, they see New Hampshire as a challenge. The super PAC that’s effectively running his operation has been off the air in New Hampshire since May — temporarily, its founder told POLITICO — while running a new ad in Iowa and South Carolina this week.

BORDER CONTROL — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved today to undercut Donald Trump on immigration, reports POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg, casting the former president as ineffectual on the issue that helped propel him to the White House in 2016 . He depicted President Joe Biden as even worse.

In his first major policy proposal as a presidential candidate, DeSantis called for an end to “catch and release” — a practice of discharging undocumented migrants into their American homes while they await court hearings. He called for asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border to be blocked entry while their claims are processed. And he said, as Trump has previously, that children born in the United States to parents living here illegally should no longer be granted citizenship, a proposal that stands to face significant legal challenges.

TV TIME — Super PACs for the former president and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the two top-polling candidates in the GOP race so far, are spending millions to get their messages to the primary electorate .

The Wall Street Journal reports that much of the advertising is targeting Republicans in states that launch the nomination process early next year: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Some spots are running nationally, another option used by campaigns to win over supporters in those and other states near the front of the nomination calendar, as many voters are just starting to tune into the race.

The advertising pace is likely to pick up in July as some lesser-known candidates work to meet qualification requirements for the first Republican National Committee debate on Aug. 23.

 

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AROUND THE WORLD

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, seen on a laptop screen, addressing the nation in Moscow today.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, seen on a laptop screen, addressing the nation in Moscow today. Putin said that he gave an order to avoid bloodshed during an armed rebellion over the weekend. | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images

WHAT NOW? — Vladimir Putin’s strongman mask is slipping — and Ukraine sees opportunity in the chaos, writes Zoya Sheftalovich .

Warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin’s short-lived mutiny over the weekend exposed Putin’s tenuous grip on the levers of power , the disunity within his ranks and the weakness in Russia’s own border defenses. The ease with which Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries were able to take control of Russian territory and march to within 200 kilometers of Moscow — and the videos of Russians cheering for them — showed Putin’s regime is far from invincible.

“Today the world saw that Russia’s bosses do not control anything,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address late Saturday. “In one day, they lost several of their million-plus cities and showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, oligarchs and anyone else how easy it is to capture Russian cities and, probably, weapons arsenals.”

On Sunday, Prigozhin’s mercenaries started pulling out of Russia’s southern Voronezh region, which is situated along a highway that the Wagner Group wanted to use to march on Moscow, and from Rostov-on-Don, the Russian city close to the Ukrainian border seized by Wagner on Saturday.

The question is, where will they go now?

With Prigozhin out of the way during his supposed exile in Belarus, the Wagner mercenaries — 25,000 of them, if Prigozhin is to be believed — will either go back to where they came from, or sign contracts with the Russian defense ministry.

Indeed, Russian military bloggers have speculated that Prigozhin launched his offensive on the country’s military leadership in response to the Kremlin seeking to defang him by integrating his mercenaries into the army. (Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier this month ordered all “volunteer detachments” at the front in the Ukraine war to sign contracts with the ministry by July 1 — which Prigozhin vowed to oppose.)

 

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NIGHTLY NUMBER

$1.7 billion

The amount that the Department of Transportation is awarding in grants to purchase zero- and low-emission buses across 46 states and territories. The grants will enable transit agencies and state and local governments to buy 1,700 U.S.-built buses, nearly half of which will have zero carbon emissions. Funding for the grants comes from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill.

RADAR SWEEP

SCHOOL TIES — Earlier this month, after years of legal battles that ended at the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Education Agency took over management of the Houston Independent School District , the state’s largest school system. Nearly every local Houston official is against the takeover, and the state-appointed superintendent for HISD, Mike Miles, could currently be the most hated person in the county, with some residents leveling threats at him. Miles, for his part, plans to totally overhaul three chronically underperforming high schools using a similar model that he implemented while he was in Dallas. Michael Hardy reports for Texas Monthly on Miles, his educational philosophy and the future of the Houston school system.

PARTING IMAGE

On this date in 1963: President John F. Kennedy spoke in front of a crowd of more than 300,000 in the main square in front of Schöneberg City Hall. Kennedy delivered one of the most famous anti-communist speeches of the Cold War, "Ich bin ein Berliner."

On this date in 1963: President John F. Kennedy spoke in front of a crowd of more than 300,000 in the main square in front of Schöneberg City Hall. Kennedy delivered one of the most famous anti-communist speeches of the Cold War, "Ich bin ein Berliner." | AP Photo

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Thursday, May 11, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Covid’s curtain call

 


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BY SOPHIE GARDNER , KELLY GARRITY AND LISA KASHINSKY


EMERGENCIES EXIT — The public health emergencies are ending, but Covid-19 challenges persist.

Another new pandemic normal has dawned with the end of the state and federal pandemic public health emergencies. And many of the rules and waivers intended to stop the virus’ spread sunset with them.

Now Gov. Maura Healey is dealing with the demise of policies that predate her tenure, some of which she's choosing to end. Here’s how her administration is navigating a few of them:

THE GREAT MASKING DEBATE — Healey’s decision to end mask mandates in hospitals and other health care settings has drawn plenty of headlines . Hundreds of local medical workers signed onto an open letter to the Department of Public Health last month saying that letting the policy lapse was not only “dangerous” but “unethical.” Public health and disabilities advocates continue to argue that ditching masks puts immunocompromised people at further risk.

But the state’s new public health commissioner is defending Healey’s mask move. “We made the decision in collaboration and in conversation with many experts across the state,” DPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein told Playbook, noting that hospitals are encouraged to create their own masking mandates and “use local factors to help decide when and where masks may be necessary.”

AXING THE VAX MANDATE — Healey is also rolling back the Baker administration’s order requiring executive branch employees to get vaccinated or get out. Some 1,000 workers quit or were fired under the Republican governor’s rule, though he eventually brought some of them back.

Now his successor is figuring out what to do about the rest. The Healey administration said it remains in negotiations with state employee unions about rehiring workers, but neither side seems to want to get into the details.

MASS. MIGRATION — The state is also bracing for another surge in migrants that could hit its overwhelmed shelter system with the end of Title 42 , the pandemic-era policy used to block people at the southern border.

And Republican governors could make it worse. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has pledged to continue sending migrants to blue cities including Chicago, New York, D.C. and Philadelphia. And he's threatened that there could be “more [locations] to come.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is readying his state to resume the relocation program that made headlines last year when the potential presidential contender flew nearly 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard unannounced.

“We would be extremely concerned” if governors were “repeating that kind of action,” Elizabeth Sweet, the executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Coalition, told Playbook.

Healey is preparing for that possibility on top of the steps she’s already taken to expand the state’s overburdened shelter system. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas briefed Healey and other governors yesterday on the Biden administration’s preparations for Title 42’s expiration, with an emphasis on legal immigration pathways.

“We have been in close contact with our local and federal partners to prepare for the end of Title 42, and we will need their help to ensure we can meet the already rising need in Massachusetts, as our Emergency Assistance shelter system is currently operating at capacity,” Healey spokesperson Karissa Hand said in a statement.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . Tips? Scoops? Lingering Covid concerns? Email us: sgardner@politico.com , kgarrity@politico.com and lkashinsky@politico.com .

TODAY — Healey speaks at the EMPath EMPower Celebration at 6:30 p.m. at the Boston Children’s Museum. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at a NAIOP Massachusetts meeting at 8 a.m. in Boston and visits Cambridge Behavioral Health Center at 10 a.m. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu participates in a Disability Community Forum at 2:30 p.m. at Suffolk Law School and attends a STEM Lab unveiling at 4 p.m. AG Andrea Campbell is honored at the City Year Greater Boston Starry Night Gala at 6:45 p.m.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark hosts a press conference to “condemn MAGA GOP attacks on women and families” at 1:15 p.m. at the Capitol. Rep. Ayanna Pressley holds a press conference on over-the-counter birth control at 3:15 p.m. at the Capitol.

 


 
VAX-ACHUSETTS

— VIRTUAL REALITY: One other pandemic-era policy change your Playbook hosts are watching? Telehealth prescriptions.

Doctors were set to lose the ability to prescribe controlled medications through telemedicine. And the renewed restrictions on accessing drugs like Adderall and oxycodone without a face-to-face visit with a doctor could have proved particularly challenging in Massachusetts, which is experiencing an increasing lack of primary care physicians .

Barbra Rabson, the president of Massachusetts Health Quality Partners, a nonprofit which aims to improve the quality of patient care in the state, told Playbook that the prospect of losing the increased access to primary care through telehealth was “frightening.”

But the feds offered a last-minute reprieve on Tuesday, pushing the telemedicine policy’s expiration date back until at least November.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Protesters disrupt joint session of Mass. Legislature with demands for fossil fuel cuts,” by Adam Reilly, GBH News: “Just after 11 a.m., as the House and Senate wrapped up the first session of this legislative cycle’s Constitutional Convention without engaging in any deliberation, about a dozen protesters from the groups Extinction Rebellion Boston and Scientist Rebellion rushed to unfurl a banner with the message ‘No new fossil fuel infrastructure’ in the front row of the gallery overlooking the House floor. … At 5 p.m., when the State House officially closed, nine of them were arrested on trespassing charges.”

— “ACLU sues state auditor for access to redacted information in prisoner health reports,” by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: “The ACLU of Massachusetts is demanding greater transparency from state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office, alleging in a lawsuit that her staff won’t release complete reports on deaths and health care access at two state prisons. But DiZoglio insists that the information that was withheld had nothing to do with prisoner health care and says she could have explained that if the ACLU had just asked.”

— “Mass. Black and Latino Caucus proposes new spending,” by Peter Roby, Bay State Banner: “Members of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus last month proposed an additional $419.3 million in spending to the House budget for next year. They secured $40.6 million. A 9.7% success rate at work would worry most professionals, but in political calculus, it amounts to a surplus of talking points, at least for a while.”

— "Senator plans to push voc school admission changes through budget amendment," by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine.

 

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FROM THE HUB

— “As Boston works to keep elections on schedule after court ruling, council tensions could risk delay,” by Emma Platoff, Boston Globe: “[Boston Mayor Michelle] Wu wrote in a letter to the council Wednesday that she was moving to relax candidate filing deadlines, and told the body it had until May 30 to approve the new map for this fall’s contest. She will even present her own map proposal to the council, she said, a step that underscores the urgency of the process. … But if Wednesday’s council meeting was an early signal as to whether councilors will be able to meet that tight timeline, it was not a positive one. … Councilors could not agree even on which legislative committee should take up the agenda items related to redistricting, turning a typically noncontroversial procedural step into a drawn-out dispute that enflamed old tensions.”

— ENDORSEMENT CORNER: Unite Here Local 26 is endorsing Sharon Durkan in the special election for Boston's District 8 city councilor. Durkan plans to join union members on the picket line outside the downtown Hyatt Centric Hotel this afternoon.


PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— ENTERING THE SLOW ZONE ON T SAFETY LEGISLATION: A key lawmaker wants the governor’s blessing up front when it comes to legislation that would move safety oversight of the MBTA out from under the Department of Public Utilities.

“The governor is the one who, certainly in the area of transportation and safety , took on the responsibility. It was such a major campaign issue,” state Rep. William Straus , House chair of the joint Transportation Committee, told Playbook. “To me, it’s hard to reorganize such an important function of state government if the Legislature hasn’t made use of the governor’s insights.”

The Transportation Committee is wrestling with how to proceed after members heard hours of at times emotional testimony Monday on bills that would shift safety oversight of the T to either a new, independent commission (S. 2199 from state Sen. Michael Barrett ) or to the state’s inspector general (H. 3452 from Straus). Monday’s speakers seemed to favor the former — even the inspector general, Jeffrey Shapiro, called for creating a new agency , though he said his office could oversee it.

But any bill that emerges from the committee will likely be some combination of what’s currently on the table. It’s a complicated process with far more at stake than just MBTA safety — the DPU also regulates Uber and Lyft rates, for instance — and lawmakers are being noncommittal on their timeline.

Healey issued the standard “I’ll review anything that comes to my desk” response when asked earlier this week whether she supports either bill. A spokesperson later said Healey “looks forward to working with” MassDOT and MBTA officials and “her legislative partners to evaluate safety across the entire system, including the role of oversight.”

— “Harvard graduate student injured by falling utility box at MBTA station says she intends to sue transit agency,” by John R. Ellement and Taylor Dolven, Boston Globe.

DAY IN COURT

— “Former Mass. State Police union boss Dana Pullman sentenced to 2.5 years in prison over kickback schemes,” by Shelley Murphy, Boston Globe: “The former leader of the Massachusetts State Police union was sentenced Wednesday to 2.5 years in prison on a litany of charges for running the bargaining unit like a racketeering enterprise and taking kickbacks from a union lobbyist."

— “Varsity Blues college admissions scam convictions of John Wilson, Gamal Abdelaziz reversed by US Appeals Court,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “The First Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the admissions scam convictions for former Staples exec and Massachusetts resident John Wilson, and for former senior gaming and hospitality exec Gamal Abdelaziz, of Las Vegas.”

— "New court filings indicate feds are investigating alleged retaliation at Mass. max security prison," by Deborah Becker, WBUR.

— “Detention hearing for accused docs leaker Jack Teixeira canceled, court records show,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald.

FROM THE 413

— “Holyoke Councilor Wilmer Puello-Mota expected to consider RI plea offer,” by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “Holyoke Ward 2 City Councilor Wilmer E. Puello-Mota is expected to hear a Rhode Island plea offer. He’s scheduled to reappear in Kent County Superior Court in Warwick, Rhode Island June 12 for a disposition and another routine proceeding called a Frye hearing meant to ensure he’s receiving effective legal counsel.”

— IN MEMORIAM: “Longtime former North Adams City Councilor and mayoral candidate Robert Moulton Jr. has died,” by Greta Jochem, Berkshire Eagle.

 

GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE .

 
 
THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “City committee hesitant on pausing homeless encampment sweeps,” by Marco Cartolano, Telegram & Gazette: “As the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance reports a growing number of homeless people in Worcester County, some city councilors had reservations Tuesday on a request for a temporary moratorium on encampment sweeps, citing the conditions of the encampments.”

— “School Bus Driver Strike Ends in Marlboro,” by Alysha Palumbo and Mike Pescaro, NBC10 Boston.

MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

— “Cable carnage: Trump turns CNN town hall into televised combat,” by Meridith McGraw, Kelly Garrity and Alex Isenstadt, POLITICO: “Former president Donald Trump refused to say he had lost the 2020 presidential election and defended his actions on Jan. 6 during a town hall event in New Hampshire on Wednesday night.”

— RAPID RESPONSE: New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu , who's considering his own presidential bid, told CNN after the town hall that Trump looked "weak" and "defensive."

Trump "had a chance to move on from 2020, he didn't do it. He had a chance to own some of the issues of Jan. 6 ... what his role there was, he didn't do it," Sununu said. "If you're an independent voter, if you're a suburban mom, all these voters that Republicans are trying to bring back into the mix, I don't see any of them being convinced by anything."

— “Corey Lewandowski spoke with Vivek Ramaswamy Super PAC about role,” by Alex Isenstadt, POLITICO.

 

 
HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY —  to state Treasurer Deb Goldberg, Phil Sanzo, Bryan Barash, Greg Piatelli, Nicole Landset Blank  and Kasey Poulin.

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: MASKS OFF — GBH's Katie Lannan walks hosts Steve Koczela, Jennifer Smith and Lisa Kashinsky through the end of the state and federal Covid-19 public health emergencies. Plus, a breakdown of the Senate budget and the latest Boston redistricting drama. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud .

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how:  jshapiro@politico.com .

 

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