Year: 2021
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California initiative requiring state to adopt regulations on plastic waste certified for 2022 ballot
California initiative requiring state to adopt regulations on plastic waste certified for 2022 ballot News On July 19, a citizen-initiated measure to require California to adopt regulations designed to reduce the use of single-use plastic packaging was certified for the ballot on November 8, 2022. The ballot initiative would also enact a maximum one-cent per…
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Forty-one candidates qualify for California gubernatorial recall
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D) announced on July 17 that 41 candidates had qualified to run in the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The list of candidates includes eight Democrats and 21 Republicans, among which are former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer (R), 2018 gubernatorial candidate John Cox (R), former U.S.…
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Dartmouth study evaluates tone of Ballotpedia’s COVID-19 coverage
Earlier this year, a team of researchers at Dartmouth developed a method to evaluate the tone of news articles written about Covid-19. Using standard sentiment indicators, the Dartmouth team assessed the text of 42,000 articles from dozens of U.S. and international news sources. The study found that U.S.-based news sources used significantly more negative language than the international…
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Federal Register weekly update: DHS reopens public comment on human trafficking victim classification
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s overall regulatory activity, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions. From July 12 through July 16, the Federal Register grew by 1,408 pages for a…
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Republican William Penterman wins Wisconsin Assembly special election
William Penterman (R) was elected to District 37 of the Wisconsin State Assembly in a special election held on July 13. Penterman earned 54.1% of the vote, defeating Democrat Pete Adams and independent candidate Stephen Ratzlaff Jr. Once the results are certified, Penterman will be sworn in for a term that ends in January 2023.…
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Wisconsin Supreme Court affirms agency authority to regulate state water resources
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on July 8 issued decisions in two environmental cases that had pitted the state legislature against the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in a disagreement over which government entity has the authority to regulate water pollution and irrigation practices. In both cases, the court held 4-2 that the DNR is authorized…