1. Ballotpedia releases research on public-sector union membership
2. Local Roundup
3. Register for our September 25 briefing on 2020 ballot measures

Ballotpedia releases research on public-sector union membership

Nearly 50% of the country’s public-sector union employees are located in five states, according to a new Ballotpedia study released this week. This finding is based on data for 228 of the most prominent public-sector labor unions nationwide as selected based on media reports, consultation with local and state experts, and our own research efforts. In total, we counted 5,654,109 members in those 228 public-sector unions.

Throughout 2019, Ballotpedia researched and analyzed the membership, finances, and political spending of public-sector unions. We’ll be sharing these findings in the weeks ahead in Union Station—our newsletter covering the latest developments in public-sector union policy. 

Since it is nearly impossible to collect comprehensive data on membership of every public-sector union, we identified the most prominent public-sector unions in each state and determined their membership. This included state-level affiliates of national unions, such as the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, and the Fraternal Order of Police.

The Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME in June 2018 that public-sector unions cannot require non-member employees to pay agency fees covering the costs of non-political union activities. This decision overturned precedent established by the Court in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education in 1977. That ruling held that non-union public employees could be required to pay labor union fees as long as they weren’t used for ideological or political purposes. 

Among the 228 unions, these five states had the highest number of public-sector union members: 

• California: 811,483 members belonging to six large unions—approximately 14% of the nationwide total.

• New York: 808,669 members belonging to five unions—14% of the nationwide total.

• Illinois: 342,518 members belonging to five unions—6% of the nationwide total.

• New Jersey: 324,750 members belonging to four unions—6% of the nationwide total.

• Pennsylvania: 324,411 members belonging to five unions—6% of the nationwide total.

There are 2,611,831 public-sector union members in those five states which accounts for 46% of the nationwide total. There are 664,180 public-sector union members in the 25 states with the fewest members, about 12% of the nationwide total.  

To learn more about our methodology, including a discussion of existing research and various challenges involved in collecting data, please review this article. For a complete breakdown of our membership data, including links to state-specific data sets, click the link below.

Local Roundup

At Ballotpedia, we provide election coverage of all officeholders in the nation’s 100 largest cities—including mayors, city council members, and other municipal officers. We also cover every election on the ballot in these cities, such as county officials and local ballot measures.

Here’s our weekly summary of the local news we’re covering. Email me to suggest some interesting local election coverage in your area—I’d love to hear about it!

Atlanta

Aretta Baldon and Davida Huntley advanced from a nine-candidate field September 17 in a special election for a seat on the Atlanta Public Schools school board. Baldon finished first with 31% of the vote and Huntley was second with 25%. The two will meet in a runoff election on October 15. 

The seat became vacant after Byron Amos—who had served on the board since 2011—resigned in January 2019 to run for a seat on the Atlanta City Council. The winner of the special election will fill Amos’ unexpired term, which ends in 2021. With only eight current board members, the school board has had at least one vote—a plan to rate district schools—end up in a 4-4 tie. 

Boston

Boston is holding primary elections September 24 in four of nine city council districts and for the four at-large seats on its 13-member city council. The top two finishers in each district race—and the top 8 finishers in the at-large race—will advance to the November 5 general election. Fifteen candidates—including the four incumbents—are running for the at-large seats. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median population of the nine Boston City Council districts was 71,554, based on 2013 estimates. 

Three of the four district races holding primaries are open-seat races; Ten incumbents are running for re-election and four of them are unopposed. Boston’s mayor—Marty Walsh—was last elected in 2017 and is not up for election until 2021. Members of Boston’s City Council serve two-year terms.

Memphis, Tennessee

Early voting began September 13 in the city’s October 3 municipal elections. Incumbent Jim Strickland, former Mayor Willie Herenton, County Commissioner Tamara Sawyer, and nine other candidates are running for mayor. Strickland defeated then-incumbent A.C. Wharton to win his first term in 2015.

Memphis voters will also elect all 13 members of the city council, the city court clerk, three municipal court judges, and decide one local ballot measure. Nine incumbent city council members and all three municipal court judges are running for re-election. The Memphis city charter does not provide for runoffs so whichever candidate receives the most votes in any race will win outright. Early voting continues through September 28. 

Register for our September 25 briefing on 2020 ballot measures

It may feel a bit early, but the process of certifying ballot measures which will go before voters next year is well underway. Thirty-nine statewide ballot measures have already been certified for the 2020 ballot in 18 states. In the five even-numbered years from 2010 to 2018, an average of 172 statewide measures were decided by voters.

Join me and Ballot Measures Project Director Josh Altic for a free briefing on this topic at 11 a.m. Central Time September 25. We’ll discuss the ballot measures already certified for 2020 ballots, the most notable measures likely to be certified next, and the most interesting trends and topics Ballotpedia experts are expecting. 

Some of the issues we’ll cover are the veto referendum deciding whether Colorado will join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which states may see ballot initiatives on redistricting, and how the increase in voter turnout in the 2018 general elections may affect the number of initiatives that reach the ballot in California.

It’s never too early to think about this important component of the 2020 elections so I hope you can join us. 

1. Utah legislature modifies medical marijuana initiative
2. Appeals court rules federal housing board structure violates separation of powers
3. What’s the Tea?

Utah legislature modifies medical marijuana law

Sometimes voters approve an initiated state statute that is then changed by legislators in a process known as legislative alteration. An example of such changes happened this week to Utah’s medical marijuana measure. An initiated state statute is a law that a state adopts via the ballot initiative process. Twenty-one states have a process by which changes to state law can be put before voters through an initiated state statute signature petition process. 

Voters approved Utah Proposition 2, which legalized the medical use of marijuana for individuals with qualifying medical illnesses, in November 2018. It passed 53% to 47%.  

The state legislature convened a special session this week to, among other things, alter the state’s medical marijuana law, first passed by voters as Proposition 2 and later altered and superseded by House Bill 3001 in December 2018. Among other modifications, HB 3001 provided for a state-run medical marijuana dispensary, removed Proposition 2’s provision allowing patients to grow their own marijuana and made changes to the list of conditions that qualify for medical marijuana treatment.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R) said, “My administration is dedicated to ensuring that quality, medical-grade cannabis products are accessible to patients by March of 2020. Removing the requirement for a state central fill pharmacy will provide efficient and timely distribution of this substance for those who need it.”  

The removal of the provisions for the state-run medical marijuana dispensary comes after Davis County and Salt Lake County attorneys in July advised their health departments against dispensing medical marijuana, stating that county health department workers could be prosecuted for marijuana distribution. Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said,  “the federal Controlled Substances Act is directly in conflict with what the state statute [under HB 3001] requires health departments to do. There is no exemption in federal law for being basically a marijuana distributor — a dealer — for a county. There is no exception.”

During the session, the legislature unanimously passed Senate Bill 1002 (SB 1002) which repealed provisions providing for a state-run medical marijuana dispensary. 

The bill also made the following modifications:

• Provided for awarding licenses to operate 14 private dispensaries, and allowed the state Department of Health to issue additional licenses “based on market necessity”;

• Authorizes the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food to license research universities to research medical marijuana;

• Provided for electronic medical marijuana cards;

• Provided that a court could not consider the use of medical marijuana differently than the legal use of any prescribed medication that is a controlled substance.  

Utah is one of 11 states that have no restrictions on legislative alterations, which means the legislature can amend or repeal initiated state statutes with a simple majority vote at any time.

Voters approved 97 initiated state statutes and two initiated ordinances in D.C. from 2010 to 2018. Of these 99 initiatives from 2010 through 2018, 28 were repealed or amended as of April 2019. The states with the most cases of legislative alteration since 2010 were Maine—with four initiatives altered out of eight approved—and Colorado and Oregon—each with three initiatives altered out of five approved. 

Among initiatives approved from 2010 through 2018, marijuana was the topic that featured the most legislative alterations, as eight initiatives were changed. 

Appeals court rules federal housing board structure violates separation of powers 

The composition of a regulatory agency formed after the 2008 recession to oversee the nation’s housing market has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court. That decision remanded the case back to a federal district court to resolve other questions about policy decisions made by the agency. 

Congress formed the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008. The FHFA is an independent government agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored entities that deal in mortgages, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System. According to its website, approximately 80 percent of United States housing lenders rely on the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

The FHFA has a single director, who is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. In July 2018, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that structure unconstitutional because it is led by a single director who is only removable by the president for cause. The panel held that this violated the separation of powers and its opinion stated that “Congress insulated the FHFA to the point where the Executive Branch cannot control the FHFA or hold it accountable.” The panel consisted of Chief Judge Carl Stewart and Judges Catharina Haynes and Don Willett, who were appointed by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, respectively.

The full Fifth Circuit ruled 9-7 on September 6 to affirm the panel’s conclusion that the structure of the FHFA was unconstitutional. It held that the FHFA for-cause removal structure “limits the President’s removal power and does not fit within the recognized exception for independent agencies.” The U.S. Supreme Court established an exception for agencies led by multi-member boards in the 1935 case Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. The Fifth Circuit held that precedent does not support removal protections for agencies led by single directors like the FHFA. The nine-judge majority consisted of Judge Willett joined by Reagan appointees Edith Jones and Jerry Smith; George W. Bush appointees Priscilla Owen and Jennifer Elrod; and Trump appointees James C. Ho, Kyle Duncan, Kurt Engelhardt, and Andrew Oldham. The seven dissenting judges were Chief Judge Stewart; Clinton appointee James Dennis; George W. Bush appointees Leslie Southwick and Catharina Haynes; and Obama appointees James Graves, Stephen Higginson, and Gregg Costa.

Like many people, I sometimes lose track of what month we’re in as I’m rushing around doing day-to-day stuff. It’s been pretty warm here in the northeast the past few weeks, so it’s been easy to forget that it’s September. 

Because I’m so interested in politics, I do know notice it’s getting close to November when I see signs that Election Day is right around the corner. It’s about 45 days away, so we’re not too far away. 

How about you? Have you noticed active campaigning (billboards, yard signs, radio or television advertisements) about the 2019 (or 2020!) elections in your area?

• A. Yes→
• B. No→

September 19, 2019: Seven Democratic presidential candidates will speak at the first day of Georgetown’s presidential candidate forum on climate change. Cory Booker issued his labor policy plan.

Share the latest from the campaign trail.