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Two weeks until Kentucky’s statewide primaries

Welcome to the Tuesday, May 2, Brew. 

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. A preview of Kentucky’s May 16 statewide primaries
  2. Election Day roundup: Massachusetts, Nebraska, Indiana and more
  3. 33 candidates filed for federal and statewide offices last week

A preview of Kentucky’s May 16 statewide primaries

Kentucky’s gubernatorial election headlines its statewide races this year, and both major parties will choose their nominees in the upcoming primaries on May 16. 

The May 16 primary is largely for state executive offices. Kentucky is one of only three states—along with Louisiana and Mississippi—holding state executive elections this year. Unlike in New Jersey and Virginia, Kentucky is not holding state legislative elections (there is, however, a special election on May 16 to fill a vacancy in the state Senate, and we’ll take a look at what’s at stake there later in this story). 

In Kentucky, the candidate who wins a plurality of the vote in the primary advances to the general election. Kentucky is one of 39 states in which primary candidates advance by winning a plurality of the vote. Primaries with only one candidate are canceled. In those cases, candidates advance automatically to the general election. 

Let’s take a look at what’s on the ballot on May 16.

Governor

Kentucky is one of 11 states with divided government. Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, was first elected in 2019. Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the legislature.  

Beshear faces Peppy Martin and Geoff Young in the Democratic primary. Beshear was Kentucky’s Attorney General from 2016 to 2019. Martin was the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1999. She lost to then-Gov. Paul Patton (D) 22.2% to 60.7%. Young ran unsuccessfully for governor as a Democrat in 2015, and was also a candidate in 2016 and 2018 for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District. Martin lost in the primaries on both occasions. 

Twelve candidates have entered the Republican primary. Media analysis has generally focused on three candidates—Daniel Cameron, Ryan Quarles, and Kelly Craft. 

Cameron is the current state Attorney General. Previously, he served as legal counsel to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R). On June 16, 2022, former President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Cameron. 

Quarles is the state Commissioner of Agriculture and a former Kentucky House member. Four state senators and 22 state representatives have endorsed Quarles. 

Craft served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Trump from 2019 to 2021. U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) endorsed Craft. 

The Cook Political Report, rates the general election Lean D: “After eking out a win in 2019 over unpopular Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, Gov. Andy Beshear starts out with the edge to win a second term. Given the state’s heavy red lean, Republicans still have an opportunity, but they must first get through their own crowded primary.”

Matt Blevin was the last Republican governor of Kentucky. He served from 2015 to 2019. 

The lieutenant governor is also up for election. As of 2020, gubernatorial and lieutenant governor candidates run as a ticket. Gubernatorial candidates have until Aug. 8 to designate a running mate.

Kentucky is one of six states in which a simple majority in both chambers of the legislature can override a gubernatorial veto. In 36 states, a two-thirds vote is required from both chambers.

Other state executive elections

Here are the other state executive elections up for election this year in Kentucky. Click a link to read more about the elections.

Special state legislative election

Kentucky is holding a special election on May 16 to fill a vacancy in state Senate District 8. Republican Ralph Alvarado, the previous officeholder, resigned on Jan. 6 to become commissioner of the Tennessee Health Department. Robert Sainte (D), Greg Elkins (R), and Richard Henderson (Independent) are running in the election.

Although this is an odd-numbered year, there are a few states holding statewide elections. Recent Brew editions have previewed upcoming elections in New Jersey and Virginia.

In the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Kentucky 62% to President Joe Biden’s 36%. 

Click below to read more about Kentucky’s upcoming elections. 

Keep reading 


Election Day roundup: Massachusetts, Nebraska, Indiana and more

It’s Tuesday, and that means it’s Election Day for some voters. Let’s look at a few of the elections we’re covering today. 

State legislative elections

In Massachusetts, voters will decide primaries for two vacancies in the state House of Representatives. General elections are scheduled for May 30. 

  • Ninth Suffolk District: The district became vacant after Jon Santiago (D) resigned to accept a job in Gov. Maura Healey’s (D) administration. The district covers part of Boston. John Moran and Amparo Ortiz are running in the Democratic primary. Moran completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. No Republican primary was scheduled.
  • Tenth Suffolk District: The seat became vacant after Edward Coppinger (D) resigned on Feb. 28 to accept a job with MassBio. Approximately 41,210 residents live in the district. The district includes part of Boston and Brookline. Bill MacGregor, Robert Orthman, and Celia Segel are running in the primary. No Republican primary was scheduled. 

As of this writing, 34 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2023. There were an average of 69 state legislative special elections between 2010 and 2022. So far this year, one district has changed party control. In the Jan. 10 special election for Virginia Senate District 7, Aaron Rouse (D) defeated Kevin Adams (R). The former incumbent, Jennifer Kiggans (R), resigned on Nov. 15, 2022 after being elected to represent the 2nd Congressional District. In 2021, six seats changed party control in special elections—three from Republican to Democrat and three from Democrat to Republican.  

Mayoral elections

We’re covering 40 mayoral elections in 2023. Voters in Lincoln, Neb., Fort Wayne, Ind., and Indianapolis, Ind., will vote in mayoral elections on May 2. 

The elections in Indiana are primaries. General elections are scheduled for Nov. 7. Both Fort Wayne and Indianapolis have Democratic mayors.  

We covered Lincoln’s general mayoral election in detail in the April 26 edition of the Brew. Incumbent Leirion Gaylor Baird and Suzanne Geist are running in the nonpartisan election. They were the top-two vote-getters in the April 4 primary. Baird is a Democrat. Geist was a Republican state legislator until her resignation in 2023. 

School board elections

Three seats on the Lincoln Public Schools school board in Nebraska are up for nonpartisan election on May 2. Primaries were held April 4. 

  • In District 2, Emily Pollen is running against Piyush Srivastav. Read Pollen’s responses to our Candidate Connection survey here
  • In District 4, incumbent Annie Mumgaard is running against Alaina Brouillette. Read Brouillette’s responses to our Candidate Connection survey here.
  • In District 6, incumbent Bob Rauner is running against Richard Aldag IV. Rauner and Aldag completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. We previewed their survey responses in the March 29 edition of Hall Pass, our weekly newsletter on education and school boards.  

Click below to stay up to date on all our election coverage.

Keep reading 


33 candidates filed for federal and statewide offices last week

Last week, 33 candidates filed to run for congressional and state offices—including for elections in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Two weeks ago, we tracked 40 candidates who declared for congressional and state offices.

This year, we’ve tracked 575 declared candidates for federal and statewide offices.

Here’s a breakdown of the candidates who declared last week:

Of the partisan nature of the declared candidates….

  • 18 are Democrats.
  • 14 are Republicans. 
  • One is a minor-party candidate.

Of the offices tracked…

  • 27 filed for Congress
  • Three filed for state legislatures
  • Two filed for governorships
  • One filed for a lower state executive office.

Between March 27 and April 17, we tracked an average of 30.5 candidates who filed for federal or state elections.

We cover elections for tens of thousands of offices across the country, and part of that work includes keeping tabs on the candidates who file to run for those offices. We’ll periodically bring you updates on how many candidates are signing up to run for state and federal offices. We process both official and declared candidates.

Click here to read more about our definition of candidacy. Click the link below to see a list of all declared candidates for federal elections in 2024. 

Keep reading 



Abortion, marijuana, and policing—One week until voters in San Antonio decide ballot measure

Welcome to the Monday, May 1, Brew. 

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. San Antonio voters to decide measure on abortion, marijuana, policing
  2. New York adopts new state Assembly lines
  3. Number of enacted election-related bills on par with 2022

Goodbye, April showers, time for some May flowers! 


San Antonio voters to decide measure on abortion, marijuana, policing

Voters in San Antonio will decide on a charter amendment regarding abortion, marijuana, and police actions on May 6.

If approved, Proposition A would:

  • Prohibit local police from enforcing criminal abortion laws;
  • Decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana;
  • Ban the use of no-knock warrants and chokeholds; 
  • Direct local police to issue citations instead of arrests for certain other misdemeanors; and,
  • Establish a city justice director appointed by the mayor and city council.

Before we dive into the measure, I asked our Ballots Managing Editor, Ryan Byrne, about this amendment. Byrne said, “We’ve heard about cities decriminalizing marijuana in states where it’s illegal, but this is the first measure that attempts to decriminalize abortion at the local level.”

In 2022, residents in six Texas cities—Austin, Denton, Elgin, Harker Heights, Killeen, and San Marcos—voted in favor of decriminalizing marijuana possession. The Austin measure also banned law enforcement’s use of no-knock warrants.

Ground Game Texas, an organization supporting Proposition A, says the San Antonio measure is the first time any voters in Texas will decide on a measure regarding abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision last summer.

The Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek wrote, “For more than a year, progressive organizers in Texas have been waging a concerted — and largely successful — effort to convince voters to reform policing laws in their cities, pushing the envelope of what state law could allow.”

Svitek continued, “But now they are facing their biggest test yet in San Antonio,” where Proposition A “could spark the biggest showdown yet with the Republican-dominated state government.”

Texas state law prohibits all abortions except those needed to save the life of or prevent serious risk to the mother. Texas also prohibits both medicinal and recreational marijuana. 

The San Antonio Police Department has prohibited the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants since 2014 and 2020, respectively, except for cases where responding officers determine an imminent threat to life. These are departmental policies rather than codified laws.

In addition to Ground Game Texas, supporters of Proposition A include the Bexar County Democratic Party, the San Antonio AFL-CIO, and Act4SA, which said Proposition A “reduces burden on officers, prevents unnecessary arrests for nonviolent low level crimes … [and] pushes police accountability.”

Opponents of Proposition A include the Bexar County Republican Party, the Texas Alliance For Life, and the San Antonio Police Officers Association. 

Arguments against the proposition have focused primarily on the increased issuance of citations rather than the abortion or marijuana aspects. Danny Diaz, the city’s police union president, said, “We won’t be able to arrest and do our job … They’re talking about … rehabilitating criminals … but the businesses are the ones that are going to suffer.”

If approved, Proposition A will likely face legal challenges. The Texas Alliance For Life filed a lawsuit alleging the measure illegally addresses multiple subjects. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against the group in March, saying the measure could remain on the ballot but that voters retain legal avenues to challenge the measure after the election.

Keep reading 


New York adopts new state Assembly district lines

Did you think redistricting was done? Think again!

On April 24, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed legislation enacting new State Assembly boundaries for use starting in the 2024 elections.

And the redistricting fun isn’t over yet! Texas is actively working on new state legislative maps ahead of the 2024 election. And North Carolina will also redraw the legislative and congressional maps it used in 2022 following a recent state supreme court decision.

South Carolina has an active lawsuit regarding their congressional maps. And Ohio will need to redraw both its congressional and state legislative maps ahead of the 2026 elections due to provisions in its state constitution. Learn more here.

In New York, the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) voted 9-1 on April 20 to advance the new Assembly map to the legislature for final approval. The Assembly voted 132-13 in favor, and the Senate voted 59-1 in favor of the new districts.

The new maps replace a previous set invalidated by a 2022 court decision in Nichols v. Hochul. The lawsuit alleged the state failed to follow constitutional procedures during its initial drafting process. 

Due to the timing of the lawsuit, the state used the initial maps in 2022, under which Democrats won in 102 districts and Republicans won in 48.

The magnitude of this change may be limited. Gothamist’s Giulia Heyward and Jon Campbell wrote that the new maps are roughly identical to the invalidated lines approved in 2022.

New York State of Politics’ Kate Lisa wrote that the court ruled “the Assembly maps were invalid because the Legislature drew its own lines after the state Independent Redistricting Commission failed to propose a second set of maps.”

In January 2022, the IRC voted 5-5 to submit two sets of maps to the legislature. Legislators voted against both proposals, after which they produced their own lines. 

Courts previously invalidated the state’s congressional and senate maps, but in both cases, new lines were in place in time for the 2022 elections.

Keep reading 


Number of enacted election-related bills on par with 2022

As of April 27, legislators across the country have enacted 86 election-related bills this year, up from 83 such bills at this point in 2022.

Of this year’s 86 enacted bills, Republicans sponsored 47, or 55%, up from 49% of the total enacted at this point last year. Democrats sponsored 19%, up from 18% in 2022. Bills with bipartisan sponsorship remain at 19% of the total enacted, the same as last year. Those with unclear partisan sponsorship are down to 8% from 13% in 2022.

The 2023 totals include five new bills enacted over the past week, all in Maryland, which has a Democratic trifecta. Here are a few of those bills:

  • House Bill 410 requires local elections boards to hold public meetings before voting to change polling place locations, adds things like fraud, threat, and bribery to the list of ways you cannot influence voters’ decisions, and changes certain procedures relating to election custodians.
  • House Bill 379 directs local elections boards to begin processing and counting absentee ballots eight days before the first day of early voting. It also requires that boards notify a voter within three days if an absentee ballot is missing a signature and give them the chance to fix it.
  • Senate Bill 863 changes the requirements for the State Administrator of Elections to be removed and that the Administrator serve until a successor is appointed.

In addition to these five newly-enacted bills, 38 other bills have moved further along in the legislative process over the past week: 18 passed both chambers and are awaiting final approval, and 20 passed one chamber, moving on to the next.

You can view a full list of enacted bills this year here. To stay up-to-date with the latest news in election-related legislation, subscribe to The Ballot Bulletin, our weekly newsletter—dropping every Friday afternoon—that delivers the latest updates on election policy. Every week, we track legislative activity, big-picture trends, recent news, and in-depth data from our Election Administration Legislation Tracker.

Keep reading 



ICYMI: Top stories of the week

Each week, we bring you a collection of the most viewed stories from The Daily Brew, condensed. Here are the top stories from the week of April 24-April 28.


Pennsylvania to hold special elections to—once again—determine control of state House

Two special elections on May 16 will determine partisan control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives following the resignations of Lynda Schlegel Culver (R) and Michael Zabel (D). Culver has run unopposed in every election since 2018, including most recently in her 2022 re-election bid, while Zabel won re-election in 2022 with 64.3% of votes.  

Democrats currently have a one-seat majority in the House, with 101 members to Republicans’ 100.

Regular readers of The Brew will know that we’ve written a lot about Pennsylvania House over the last six months (see here, here, and here, for example). That’s because control of the narrowly divided chamber has shifted between Republicans and Democrats since the November 2022 elections thanks to a series of vacancies and special elections

Read more


Florida voters will decide whether to make their school board elections partisan

Next year, Florida voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would allow for partisan school board elections.

On April 19, the Florida Senate gave final approval to House Joint Resolution 31 (HJR 31), a constitutional amendment that would establish partisan elections for seats on the state’s 67 school boards.

All 28 Republicans and Sen. Linda Stewart (D) voted in favor of the proposal. The chamber’s remaining 11 Democrats voted against it.

We told you about HJR 31 earlier this month after the House approved the proposal 79-34 along party lines.

The amendment will need at least 60% voter approval to pass. The amendment would take effect for the 2026 school board elections if approved.

Read more


Ohio Senate passes measure requiring 60% vote to approve constitutional amendments

On April 19, the Ohio Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR 2), an amendment that would raise the threshold for voters to approve amendments to the Ohio Constitution from a simple majority to 60%. The vote was 26-7 along partisan lines. If the House passes the bill, it could go to voters in August 2023.

Illinois and Florida require a 60% supermajority to approve constitutional amendments.

Click here to read more about supermajority requirements for constitutional amendments. 

Read more



The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration, April 28, 2023

Welcome to The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration. Every Friday, we deliver the latest updates on election policy around the country, including legislative activity, nationwide trends, and recent news.

In today’s issue, you’ll find: 

  • Legislative activity: About the bills acted on this week and a big-picture look at all the bills we have tracked this year.
  • Recent news: Noteworthy developments in election policy at the federal, state, and local levels, including litigation and ballot measures. 

Legislative activity

State legislatures acted on 158 election-related bills from April 21 to April 27, down from 182 bills the previous week. Of these, 75 either passed one chamber, passed both chambers, were enacted, or were defeated. 

Highlights:

  • These 158 bills represent 6.5% of the 2,433 election-related bills introduced in 2023. At this point in 2022, 111 bills had been acted on in some way in the past week, and we were tracking 2,508 election-related bills, 3.1% more than this year.
  • Of the 75 bills moving past the introductory stage, 10 (13.3%) are in Democratic trifecta states, 52 (69.3%) are in Republican trifecta states, and 13 (17.3%) are in states with divided governments.
  • The bill topics with the most legislative activity this week were contest-specific procedures (30), ballot access (28), audits and oversight (26), counting and certification (24), and voter registration and list maintenance (22). Contest-specific procedures refers to primary systems, municipal election procedures, recall elections, special election procedures, and other systems unique to a particular election type. 

Recent activity and status changes

Of all election-related bills in state legislatures in 2023:

  • 86 have been enacted (+5 from last week)
  • 64 passed both chambers (+18)
  • 186 passed one chamber (+20)
  • 2 advanced from committee (No change)
  • 2,031 have been introduced (-9)
  • 64 are dead (No change)

Enacted bills

States have enacted 86 election-related bills in 2023, three more than the 83 bills states had enacted at this point in 2022. Of these 86 bills, Democrats sponsored 16 (18.6%), Republicans sponsored 47 (54.7%), and 16 (18.6%) had bipartisan sponsorship. Committees or legislators with a party affiliation other than Republican or Democrat sponsored the remaining bills. To see all bills approved this year, click here

Five bills were enacted this past week, all in Maryland.

Maryland (Democratic trifecta)

  • MD HB410: Elections – Polling Place Plan, Prohibited Acts, and 2024 Primary Election Date
  • MD SB863: State Administrator of Elections – Removal From Office
  • MD SB379: Election Law – Ballot Issuance, Processing, and Reporting Procedures and 2024 Primary Date
  • MD HB1200: Elections – Election Judges – Minimum Compensation
  • MD HB535: Election Law – Ballot Issuance, Processing, and Reporting Procedures and 2024 Primary Date

Bills that passed both chambers

Sixty-four bills have passed both chambers (but have not yet been enacted) in 2023. These bills represent 168.4% of the 38 bills that had passed both chambers at this point in 2022. To see all bills that have currently passed both chambers, click here.

Active bills that passed both chambers since April 21, with their official titles, are below.

Indiana (Republican trifecta)

Kansas (divided government)

  • KS SB221: Amending statutes concerning election officials, election crimes and election procedures.
  • KS HB2087: Directing political parties to have procedures for the selection of presidential electors.
  • KS HB2053: Senate Substitute for HB 2053 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs – Providing for a presidential preference primary election on March 19, 2024, and establishing voter registration and voting procedures for such election.
  • KS SB208: House Substitute for SB 208 by Committee on Elections – Amending provisions relating to the governmental ethics commission’s authority to investigate and enforce the campaign finance act and limitations on the receipt and expenditure of contributions.

Montana (Republican trifecta) 

  • MT SB61: Clarify definition of election officials
  • MT SB93: Generally revising ballot issues
  • MT SB254: Generally revise election laws
  • MT SB117: Prohibiting use of certain funds for conducting an election
  • MT SB143: Allow for a referendum to terminate citizen initiated zoning district
  • MT HB543: Revise laws for ballot wording for bonds and levies
  • MT HB335: Generally revise election laws related to absentee ballot list procedures
  • MT SB197: Revise and extend post-election audit process
  • MT HB598: Prohibit use of ranked-choice voting methods
  • MT HB172: Revise laws related to post-election audits

Oklahoma (Republican trifecta)

  • OK SB481: Security of election officials; prohibiting certain actions towards election officials. Effective date. Emergency.

South Carolina (Republican trifecta)

  • SC H4216: Spartanburg School District 7, reapportionment

Tennessee (Republican trifecta)

  • TN HB0817: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2 and Title 6, relative to local elections.
  • TN SB0854: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 17 and Title 2, Chapter 8, relative to elections.
  • TN SB1007: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, relative to elections.

Defeated bills

Sixty-four bills have been defeated in committee or by a floor vote in 2023. These bills represent 36.4% of the 176 bills that were defeated at this point in 2022. To see all bills that have been defeated in 2023, click here.

No bills have been defeated since April 21.


Recent activity by topic and sponsorship

The chart below shows the topics of the bills state legislatures acted on since April 21. Click here to see a full list of bill categories and their definitions.

* Note: Contest-specific procedures refers to primary systems, municipal election procedures, recall elections, special election procedures, and other systems unique to a particular election type. 


All 2023 bills by topic and sponsorship

The chart below shows the topics of a sample of the 2,433 bills we have tracked this year. Note that the sums of the numbers listed do not equal the total number of bills because some bills deal with multiple topics.  


Enacted bills by topic and sponsorship, 2022 vs. 2023


Recent activity by state and trifecta status

Forty (34.1%) of the 158 bills with activity this week are in Democratic trifecta states, 92 (58.2%) are in Republican trifecta states, and 26 (7.7%) are in states with divided governments. 

Of the 111 bills with activity during this week in 2022, 51 (46%) were in states with Democratic trifectas, 32 (28.8%) were in states with Republican trifectas, and 28 (25.2%) were in states with divided governments. 

The map below shows election-related bills acted on in the past week by state trifecta status.


All 2023 bills by state and trifecta status

Of the total bills introduced in 2023, 1,055 (43.3%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 1,123 (46.1%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 256 (10.5%) are in states with divided governments. 

Texas legislators have introduced the most election-related bills this year. Texas holds legislative sessions in odd years only, and so had no activity in 2022. New York was the most active state at this point in 2022. South Dakota has enacted the most bills this year. In 2022, New York and California had enacted the most bills at this point. 

The map below shows the number of election-related bills introduced by state in 2023 by state trifecta status.


Recent news

Utah among top states enacting election legislation for second consecutive year

For the second year in a row, Utah is among the top three states that have enacted election-related legislation. Utah lawmakers enacted 12 of the 29 election-related bills (41.4%) introduced in 2023, and nine of 18 bills in 2022 (50%). Republicans were the sole sponsors of all but two of these bills. Utah is a Republican trifecta, and the only state to hold a trifecta status unchanged between 1992 and 2023. No other state was in the top three in both years. In 2022, Colorado (50%) and Connecticut (50%), both Democratic trifectas, rounded out the top three. The other two states enacting the most election-related legislation so far this year are Arkansas (45%) and South Dakota (42.1%), both of which are also Republican trifecta states. The most common topic of enacted bills in these states is counting and canvassing procedures (six bills), followed by audits (five bills). 


Voting rights groups sue over Georgia election bill

Voting rights groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia, filed a motion to halt a Georgia elections bill in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on April 24. The bill, SB202, prohibits anyone except for poll workers from distributing food or drinks at polling places within 150 feet of voters waiting in line. The bill also requires voters to provide a photo ID in order to cast absentee ballots and limits the number of absentee ballot drop boxes. Poy Winichakul, an attorney for the SPLC, said, “There can be no reason for denying food or water to people in long polling lines, other than trying to prevent them from exercising their freedom to vote. These barriers to voting must be removed so all Georgians can have a voice to advocate for their communities in the crucial 2024 elections.” The SPLC and other groups filed a similar motion in May of 2022, which the district court did not grant. In a 2022 hearing on the first legal challenge, lawyers for state said the bill would prevent illegal campaigning and make poll workers’ jobs easier. Attorney Gene Schaerr said, “It’s a bright line rule. No one has to decide how much is too much.”


Arizona appeals court issues ruling in ballot auditing lawsuit

The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling ordering the Arizona Republican Party to pay attorneys’ fees and other costs in a lawsuit challenging Maricpoa County’s ballot auditing procedures during the 2020 election. In the original 2020 lawsuit, the party’s attorneys argued that county officials incorrectly selected ballots for auditing from voting centers rather than by precinct. Writing for the court, Judge Michael J. Brown, an appointee of former Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), said the Arizona Republican Party “cites no authority suggesting that general allegations about public mistrust and the legitimacy of the election, to the extent they could be relevant in a proper election-related lawsuit, provided any legal justification for filing its claims here.” A spokeswoman for the party said in a statement that, “We were surprised by the court’s decision, and will be speaking with legal counsel soon to discuss the best path forward. We are committed to ensuring that elections are fair and accurate.” 


Montana Senate tables bill to change primary elections

On April 19, a Montana House committee tabled a bill that would change how the state’s U.S. Senate primaries are conducted. SB566 would create a top-two primary for state’s U.S. Senate seats in which the two candidates with the most votes would advance to the general election, regardless of party. Eleven of the House State Administration Committee’s 12 Republican members and all six Democratic members voted to table the bill. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Greg Hertz (R), said, “It always bothers me that sometimes our statewide elected officials don’t end up with the majority vote.” State Rep. Kelly Kortum (D) said the bill was “an irresponsible way to change Montana’s election laws,” adding that, “A broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, and others across Montana publicly spoke out against the bill.” State legislators across the country have introduced more than 90 bills dealing with primary election systems in 2023, enacting one and defeating five. 



Utah in the top-three for rate of election policy legislation enactment for second straight year

Welcome to the Friday, April 28, Brew. 

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Utah among top states enacting election legislation for second consecutive year
  2. President Joe Biden (D) announces re-election bid  
  3. #FridayTrivia: How many mayoral elections are we covering this year? 

Utah among top states enacting election legislation for second consecutive year

For the second year in a row, Utah is among the top three states that have enacted election-related legislation

Utah lawmakers enacted 12 of the 29 election-related bills (41.4%) introduced in 2023, and nine of 18 bills in 2022 (50%). Republicans were the sole sponsors of all but two of these bills. Utah is a Republican trifecta, and the only state to hold a trifecta status unchanged between 1992 and 2023. 

No other state was in the top three in both years. In 2022, Colorado (50%) and Connecticut (50%), both Democratic trifectas, rounded out the top three. 

The other two states enacting the most election-related legislation so far this year are Arkansas (45%) and South Dakota (42.1%), both of which are also Republican trifecta states. The most common topic of enacted bills in these states is counting and canvassing procedures (6 bills), followed by audits (5 bills). 

Overall in 2023, 3.4% of election-related legislation has been enacted into law. In 2022, that figure was 10.5%. 

The most common topics of enacted legislation in Utah from both years were:

  • Ballot access for candidates (5 bills)
  • Counting and canvassing procedures (4 bills)
  • Audits, ballot measures (initiative and referendum), voter ID for absentee/mail-in ballots, signature matching, vacancy procedures, enforcement against non-officials, absentee/mail-in voter assistance, cybersecurity, and physical security (3 bills each)

Here’s a closer look at some of those bills: 

  • Senate Bill 0170 (SB 0170), enacted in 2022, is an example of a bill about ballot access. It establishes a new filing period for candidates of a qualified political party to be elected at the next general election. 
  • House Bill 0037 (HB 0037), enacted in 2023, established a new signature matching requirement for absentee ballots. The change requires poll workers to verify that a signature is “reasonably consistent with the individual’s signature in the voter registration records” or verifiable by other means before determining that a mailed ballot shall be canvassed. This bill also requires election officers to establish ways disabled voters can cast ballots if they can’t vote by mail. 
  • House Bill 0264 (HB 0264), enacted in 2022, is an example of counting and canvassing procedures. HB 0264 describes the process of voting and of determining winners in an alternate voting methods race depending on the voting method selected by a municipality participating in the state’s Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project. The legislature established The Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project through HB35 in 2018 that allows municipalities to adopt ranked-choice voting for local elections. 

Utah’s 2023 legislative session ended on March 3. The most commonly enacted bill topics were signature matching, and absentee/mail-in voter assistance (3 bills each). In 2022 it was ballot access for candidates (4 bills). 

You can use our Election Administration Legislation Tracker to keep up to date on election administration in your state and across the country.

As of this writing, states have enacted 81 election-related bills this year. Click the link to learn more about those new laws.

Keep reading


President Joe Biden (D) announces re-election bid 

On April 25, exactly four years after he announced his 2020 presidential campaign, President Joe Biden (D) announced his campaign for re-election in 2024. Biden’s entry brings the tally of noteworthy presidential candidates to three Democrats, five Republicans, and one Republican with an exploratory committee.

Below is a summary of each candidate’s campaign activity from April 21 to April 28:

  • Democratic candidates
    • In addition to announcing his campaign, Biden announced his campaign leadership. Senior White House Advisor Julie Chavez Rodriguez will serve as campaign manager. Quentin Fulks, who worked on Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D-Ga.) 2022 re-election campaign, will be deputy campaign manager. Co-chairs for the campaign include Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.).
    • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (D) issued a statement responding to Biden’s re-election campaign announcement.
    • Marianne Williamson (D) held an event in New York City on April 22 and campaigned in Michigan on April 24. She also issued a statement responding to Biden’s re-election campaign on April 25.
  • Republican candidates
    • Nikki Haley (R) delivered a policy speech outlining her position on abortion. From April 26 to April 28, she campaigned in New Hampshire.
    • Asa Hutchinson (R) held a campaign launch event on April 26 in Bentonville, Ark. He also spoke at an event hosted by the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition on April 22.
    • Vivek Ramaswamy (R) spoke at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition event on April 22 and continued campaigning in the state through April 24. He also issued a statement on Biden’s re-election campaign on April 24 and began a four-day campaign tour in South Carolina.
    • Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), still exploring a possible presidential campaign, also spoke at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition event on April 22 and issued a statement responding to Biden’s re-election campaign on April 25.
    • Donald Trump (R) held a campaign event in New Hampshire on April 27. He campaigned in Florida on April 21 and released an ad criticizing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on April 24. Trump also issued a statement on Biden’s re-election campaign on April 24.
    • Ballotpedia did not identify any campaign activity from former Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton (R).

At this point in the 2020 cycle, 23 noteworthy candidates were running for president. Twenty-one were seeking the Democratic nomination, and two—Trump and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld—were seeking the Republican nomination.

What was going on at this time in 2020’s cycle….

  • Notable stories at the time in 2020’s cycle included Biden’s presidential campaign announcement on April 25, 2019, Rep. Seth Moulton’s (D-Mass.) campaign announcement on April 22, and three Democratic presidential candidates announcing they supported impeaching then-President Trump.

What was going on at this time in 2016’s cycle….

  • In the 2016 election, four noteworthy candidates had announced their campaigns as of April 28, 2015. There was one Democrat, the eventual 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton (D), and three Republicans, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). At this point in the 2016 cycle, noteworthy stories included profiles of Republican donors and reporting on former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s (R) preparations for a presidential run.

Click the link below to learn more about 2024 presidential candidates and news.

Keep reading 


#FridayTrivia: How many states require that a simple majority of voters approve constitutional amendments? 

In the April 27 Brew, we brought you coverage of Ohio’s Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR 2), which would raise the threshold for voters to approve amendments to the state constitution from a simple majority (50.1%) to 60%. 

The Ohio Senate passed SJR 2 on April 19, and it will go before voters in August if the House votes similarly. 

Currently, 49 states require voter approval of constitutional amendments (Delaware is the only state that does not). Of those 49 states, how many require a simple majority? 

  1. 38
  2. 13
  3. 45
  4. 32 


Ohio considering measure to raise ballot measure approval requirement to 60%

Welcome to the Thursday, April 27, Brew. 

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Ohio Senate passes measure that would require 60% of the vote to approve constitutional amendments
  2. Dr. Shauna Reilly unpacks ballot measures in the latest episode of On the Ballot, our weekly podcast
  3. Tell us about your district’s school reading program

Ohio Senate passes measure to require 60% vote requirement to approve constitutional amendments

On April 19, the Ohio Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR 2), an amendment that would raise the threshold for voters to approve amendments to the Ohio Constitution. The vote was 26-7 along partisan lines. If the House passes the bill, it could go to voters in August 2023.

Currently in Ohio, a simple majority (50.01%) of votes is needed to approve a constitutional amendment. SJR 2 would require a 60% majority of voters to approve an amendment. Illinois and Florida require a 60% supermajority to approve constitutional amendments.

SJR 2 calls for a special election on Aug. 8, 2023. However, in January, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed House Bill 458, a mostly Republican-backed bill that eliminated August special elections. A separate bill, Senate Bill 92 (SB 92), would amend the law to allow August elections in certain circumstances. The Senate passed that bill 25-8 on April 19, and it is currently before the House. On April 24, DeWine said he would sign the bill, once again allowing August special elections.

Sen. Rob McColley (R), speaking in support of SJR 2, said, “The constitution is not meant to be a policy document. The constitution is meant to inform us as to how the government is supposed to be run and to enshrine rights for all Ohioans.”

Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, an organization that has opposed raising the threshold for passing constitutional amendments, said, “citizen-led ballot measures aren’t overused. We haven’t had one on the ballot since 2018. It’s unnecessary to make the process more complicated and it’s disrespectful of voters.”

The process of putting SJR 2 on the ballot is playing out against the drop of the Ohio Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative. This proposed amendment says that, “Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.” Supporters have begun collecting signatures to place the initiative on the November 2023 ballot. 

Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, an organization backing the abortion initiative, called SJR 2 “a direct attack on our attempt to secure abortion access for all Ohioans.” 

Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, said he supports SJR 2 because “We need to prevent out-of-state interest groups, whether they be liberal interest groups or conservative interest groups, from coming into Ohio.”

Click here to learn more about abortion regulations in each state. 

Of the 49 states that require voter approval of constitutional amendments, 38 states require a simple majority vote, while 11 states require a supermajority vote or other criteria that must be met for ratification. Delaware does not require voter approval for constitutional amendments. 

Click here to read more about supermajority requirements for constitutional amendments. Click the link below to learn more about Ohio’s 60% vote requirement measure. 

Keep reading 


Dr. Shauna Reilly unpacks ballot measures in the latest episode of On the Ballot, our weekly podcast

Speaking of ballot measures…

In this week’s episode of On the Ballot, our weekly podcast, host Victoria Rose interviews Dr. Shauna Reilly, an author and political science professor at Northern Kentucky University. Dr. Reilly teaches courses on American politics and political behavior, and her research focuses on direct democracy and the accessibility of election materials to voters.

Victoria and Dr. Reilly take a deep dive into the topic of ballot measures, a matter that’s dear to us here at Ballotpedia. Dr. Reilly discusses her research on the effect that ballot readability and topic have on voter participation. They also talk about recent trends and themes emerging in the ballot measure world, including changes in the laws governing ballot measures and topics voters will continue to see at the polls.

As a member of Ballotpedia’s Ballots Team, Victoria is no stranger to the subject, making this episode a must-listen for anyone interested in learning more about how ballot measures work!

New episodes of On the Ballot come out Thursday afternoons, so if you’re reading this on the morning of April 27, you’ve still got time to subscribe to On the Ballot on your favorite podcast app before this week’s episode comes out!

Click below to listen to older episodes and find links to where you can subscribe.

Listen here


Tell us about your district’s school reading program

Hall Pass is Ballotpedia’s weekly newsletter that keeps you informed about the conversations driving school board politics and education policy. New editions reach your inbox Wednesday afternoons.

We periodically ask our readers informal questions about recent topics of interest. Some of the questions we’ve asked in the past include, “Should districts adopt a four-day school week?” and “What are your thoughts on the current and the proposed budget for your school district?

In this week’s edition (which came out yesterday!), we asked our readers a brief question: Do you think your district is using the best possible reading program? 

If you’d like to respond to our question above, click here—you can do it anonymously, if you prefer—and we may share your response with fellow subscribers in an upcoming edition of Hall Pass. We know school districts face diverse issues and challenges, which is why we want to hear what’s happening in yours. 

Here’s a sample of what else you will find in this week’s newsletter:

  • On the issues: We took a look at a recent conversation on educational expectations and whether schools can improve student outcomes at all. Are students inherently destined for success or failure regardless of their educational resources? Can any reforms change academic outcomes? We compare articles by Freddie DeBoer and Auguste Meyrat.
  • Recent election results: Three seats on the Newark Public Schools school board in New Jersey were up for general election on April 25. Allison James-Frison and incumbents Hasani Council and Josephine Garcia won election. James-Frison won 22.1% of the vote, while Council and Garcia won 23.8% and 23.2%, respectively.
  • Upcoming elections: Lincoln Public Schools, Nebraska’s second-largest district by enrollment, is holding general elections on May 2. Four days later, on May 6, we’re covering general elections in 58 Texas school districts, including five with more than 75,000 students.
  • Candidate Connection survey responses: We took a look at recent responses from two school board candidates: Danny Cage, who is running in the general election for Multnomah Education Service District Board of Directors, Position 6, At-Large, in Oregon, and Jeff Myers, who is running in the general election for Beaverton School District school board Zone 6 in Oregon. Both elections are on May 16. 

Click below to subscribe! And if you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take our Candidate Connection Survey. 

Keep reading



Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #58

Welcome to Hall Pass, where we keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance.

In today’s edition, you’ll find:

  • On the issues: The debate over whether school reform can improve educational and social outcomes 
  • In your district: reading programs
  • Share candidate endorsements with us! 
  • School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
  • Florida voters will decide whether to make their school board elections partisan
  • Extracurricular: education news from around the web
  • Candidate Connection survey

Email us at editor@ballotpedia.org to share reactions or story ideas!


On the issues: The debate over whether school reform can improve educational and social outcomes

In this section, we curate reporting, analysis, and commentary on the issues school board members deliberate when they set out to offer the best education possible in their district.

Today, we look at a recent conversation on how much schools can improve student outcomes. Are students inherently destined for success or failure regardless of educational resources? Can any reforms change academic outcomes?

Freddie DeBoer writes that most proposals for improving schools cannot improve student outcomes. DeBoer says the evidence supports the idea that students have their own natural or intrinsic level of academic potential, which we have no reason to believe we can dramatically change.

Auguste Meyrat writes that some reformers are too optimistic about student potential and the effectiveness of certain reforms. But Meyrat says DeBoer is too pessimistic and suggests that certain changes could still improve the educational system and create opportunities for success for more students. 

Education Commentary is Dominated by Optimism Bias | Freddie DeBoer, Substack

“There’s a bias that runs throughout our educational discourse, coming from our media, academia, and the think tanks and foundations that have such sway in education policy. It’s a bias that exists both because of a natural human desire to see every child succeed and because the structural incentives in the field make rejecting that bias professionally risky. The bias I’m talking about is optimism bias, the insistence that all problems in education are solvable and that we can fix them if only we want to badly enough. At least a half-century of research, spending, policy experimentation, and dogged effort has utterly failed to close the gaps that so vex our political class. But still we hear the same old song about how we could close those gaps tomorrow if we really wanted to, an attitude that has distorted education policy and analysis for decades. … This implies that common sense is correct and that individual students have their own natural or intrinsic level of academic potential, which we have no reason to believe we can dramatically change.”

More Money And Gimmicks Won’t Improve Public Schools, But Competition From Charters Will | Auguste Meyrat, The Federalist

“I think most of us would welcome more realism in considering what’s possible in education and what is not, but deBoer’s brand of pessimism is utterly misguided. It mistakes the forest for the trees, casting ineffective educational gimmicks and failed programs as proof that the overall quality of one’s schooling has no effect on an individual’s success. Worse still, by tying academic achievement to inherent ability (nature over nurture), his argument implies the only real way to make a population smarter is through eugenic methods. And no, recommending that the government cut more checks to the poor doesn’t make this argument any less racist or classist. Rather than succumb to despair, we should redouble our efforts in reforming our country’s education system, which obviously stands in great need of it. Although it may not be feasible to cultivate a nation of hyper-intelligent intellectuals or to create a system of perfect academic parity between each and every subgroup in the population, there are many ways to go about improving the system.”


In your district: reading programs


School districts face diverse issues and challenges. We want to hear what’s happening in your school district. Please complete the very brief survey below—anonymously, if you prefer—and we may share your response with fellow subscribers in an upcoming newsletter.

Today’s question:

Do you think your district is using the best possible reading program?

Click here to respond!


Share candidate endorsements with us! 

As part of our goal to solve the ballot information problem, Ballotpedia is gathering information about school board candidate endorsements. The ballot information gap widens the further down the ballot you go, and is worst for the more than 500,000 local offices nationwide, such as school boards or special districts. Endorsements can help voters know more about their candidates and what they stand for. 

Do you know of an individual or group that has endorsed a candidate in your district? 

Click here to let us know.


School board update: filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications

Ballotpedia has historically covered school board elections in about 500 of the country’s largest districts. This year, Ballotpedia is covering elections for approximately 8,750 seats in 3,211 school districts across 28 states—or about 36% of all school board elections this year. Click here to read more about our 2023 school board coverage. 


Election results from the past week

Three seats on the Newark Public Schools school board in New Jersey were up for general election on April 25. Allison James-Frison and incumbents Hasani Council and Josephine Garcia won election. James-Frison won 22.1% of the vote, while Council and Garcia won 23.8% and 23.2%, respectively. 

Overall, eight candidates were on the ballot. 

Council, Garcia, and James-Frison ran as part of the “Move Newark Schools Forward Slate.” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who is affiliated with the Democratic Party, endorsed the slate. Baraka endorsed a slate of three candidates called the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” in the 2022 elections. All three candidates won election, receiving about the same percentage of votes as the “Move Newark Schools Forward” slate won this year. 

Thomas Luna, Tawana Johnson-Emory, and James Wright Jr. ran as part of the “Newark Kids Forward” slate. Johnson-Emory and Wright Jr. are both teachers at charter schools.

Latoya Jackson, Allison James-Frison, and Ade’Kamil Kelly also ran, though not as part of a slate. 

Newark Public Schools is the largest district in New Jersey, with an estimated enrollment of 42,000 students. The board consists of nine members elected to three-year terms, and all members are elected at-large.


Upcoming school board elections

We’re covering school board elections in the following states in the next month.

Nebraska

Lincoln Public Schools, the state’s second largest district by enrollment, is holding general elections on May 2. Primaries were April 4. Three seats are up for election. 

Texas

On May 6, we’re covering general elections in 58 Texas school districts, including the following with more than 75,000 students:


Florida voters will decide whether to make their school board elections partisan

We’re tracking 14 certified and potential education-related measures voters will decide in 2024. One of those is the Florida Partisan School Board Elections Amendment, which would implement partisan elections for seats on the state’s 67 school boards. If you subscribe to the Daily Brew, you may have seen a version of this story on April 24.

We provided some early coverage of that amendment in the April 5 edition of this newsletter, before the legislature had voted to put the amendment on the ballot.

On April 19, the Florida Senate gave final approval to House Joint Resolution 31 (HJR 31), a constitutional amendment that would establish partisan elections for seats on the state’s 67 school boards. The amendment will need at least 60% of the vote to pass in 2024. If it does pass, it’ll take effect for 2026 school board elections.

All 28 Republicans and Sen. Linda Stewart (D) voted in favor of the proposal. The chamber’s remaining 11 Democrats voted against it.

State Rep. Spencer Roach (R), the sponsor of the amendment, said, “This is not about, at least for me, advancing the cause of one political party over another. But for me it’s about transparency, and I simply believe that we have an obligation to give voters as much information about a candidate as possible, and let them make a decision about vetting a candidate. 

State Rep. Angela Nixon (D), said, “I believe this bill is not about transparency at all. This bill is about making our school-board elections and our school boards more contentious, more like D.C., which [Republicans] honestly always try to oppose.”

Florida is one of 41 states that hold nonpartisan school board elections where every candidate appears on the same ballot without party labels. Historically, Florida school board candidates ran in partisan races, but voters approved—64.1% to 35.9%—a constitutional amendment in 1998 that made school board elections nonpartisan.

If voters approve the measure, Florida would become the fifth state to hold partisan school board elections exclusively, joining Alabama, Connecticut, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, where candidates can choose to run under a specific party’s label.

The rules vary in Georgia, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Some districts use partisan elections, while others use nonpartisan elections with differences typically based on specific state or local laws.

Florida’s proposal was one of a few proposed in legislatures this year. Lawmakers in Indiana and Kentucky introduced similar measures. Unlike in Florida, however, neither advanced from their chamber of origin before their deadlines to be acted upon.

Tennessee most recently changed its school board election methods. In 2021, Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed into law a bill allowing county party committees to decide whether they want to use partisan or nonpartisan elections. Previously, all school board elections were nonpartisan.

Education-related measures are also on the 2024 ballot in Utah and Arkansas


Extracurricular: education news from around the web

This section contains links to recent education-related articles from around the internet. If you know of a story we should be reading, reply to this email to share it with us! 


Take our Candidate Connection survey to reach voters in your district

Today, we’re looking at responses from Danny Cage, who is running in the general election for Multnomah Education Service District Board of Directors, Position 6, At-Large, in Oregon, and Jeff Myers, who is running in the general election for Beaverton School District school board Zone 6 in Oregon. Both elections are on May 16.

Multnomah Education Service District is an educational cooperative that provides services to the eight school districts in the county. The Beaverton School District is the third largest school district in Oregon, with an estimated enrollment of around 41,300. 

Here’s how Cage answered the question, “What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

  • I have served my community as a community organizer, staffer in the legislature, public servant in the office of the governor, consultant to a nonprofit which works to expand access to public budgets for all Oregonians. It has been an honor to serve my community through public service and I will continue this work as a member of the Multnomah Education Service District.
  • Students and young people are and must be treated as stakeholders in their own public education. I believe that expanding who has a seat at the table makes for better governance and a more representational society. I am running to be the youngest person to have been elected to the Multnomah Education Service District and as a student to be a stakeholder in our education and bring a new perspective that has historically been left out of public education.
  • Vote Danny Cage for Multnomah Education Service District Position 6, At Large

Click here to read the rest of Cage’s answers. 


Here’s how Myers answered the question, “What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

  • Priority #1: Academics. We need to leverage proven methods and materials for our children to be and feel successful in achieving their goals. It’s time to raise the bar!
  • Priority #2: Safety. Students and staff need to feel safe and able to focus to be successful. After years of struggling with a failed approach to discipline, we need to go back to basics.
  • Priority #3: School Environment. We need to take meaningful action on the top issues impacting school staff: large class sizes, ever-increasing workloads, conflicting priorities, and responsibility without authority.

Click here to read the rest of Myers’ answers. 

If you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take the survey.



Second Circuit weighs in on CFPB funding structure

The Checks and Balances Letter delivers news and information from Ballotpedia’s Administrative State Project, including pivotal actions at the federal and state levels related to the separation of powers, due process, and the rule of law.

This edition: 

In this month’s edition of Checks and Balances, we review legal challenges to the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB); President Biden’s veto of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution aiming to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) revised Waters of the United States rule; and President Biden’s recent executive order raising the monetary threshold for significant rules, among other provisions.

At the state level, we take a look at a lawsuit aiming to block Minnesota’s new vehicle emissions regulation and clarification from the Oklahoma Attorney General on the state board of education’s rulemaking authority.

We also highlight a new study from administrative law scholars Steven J. Balla, Bridget C. E. Dooling, and Daniel R. Pérez examining partisan use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). We wrap up with our Regulatory Tally, which features information about the 193 proposed rules and 195 final rules added to the Federal Register in March and OIRA’s regulatory review activity.


In Washington

Second Circuit weighs in on CFPB funding structure

What’s the story?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Law Offices of Crystal Moroney, P.C. on March 23, 2023, that the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is constitutional and does not violate the Constitution’s appropriations clause. The ruling departs from a 2022 holding by the Fifth Circuit that is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

After the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in August 2020 in favor of the CFPB’s civil investigative demand against the Law Offices of Crystal Moroney, the law office appealed on the grounds that the agency’s petition was unenforceable in part because the CFPB’s funding structure (which flows through executive branch disbursements from the U.S. Treasury rather than through congressional appropriations) violates the appropriations clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Second Circuit, however, upheld the agency’s funding structure, arguing that Congress approved of the funding mechanism when it passed the Consumer Financial Protection Act.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, however, ruled in 2022 in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited that the CFPB’s funding structure violates the appropriations clause, which vests Congress—not the executive branch—with control over fiscal matters. CFPB appealed the decision and the case is scheduled to be heard by SCOTUS during the court’s October 2023-2024 term. The upcoming SCOTUS decision could overturn the Second Circuit ruling. 

Want to go deeper?


Biden vetoes CRA resolution aiming to nullify EPA rule

What’s the story?

President Joe Biden (D) issued a veto on April 6, 2023, to block a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution aiming to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) revised Waters of the United States rule, which largely restores the Obama-era regulatory framework under the Clean Water Act. Biden stated in his message, “The increased uncertainty caused by H.J. Res. 27 would threaten economic growth, including for agriculture, local economies, and downstream communities.” As a result of the veto, the rule remains in effect. 

Federal lawmakers in the 118th Congress have filed CRA resolutions aimed at nullifying certain administrative rules issued under the Biden administration and preventing agencies from issuing similar rules in the future. The selection of pending CRA resolutions below addresses rules on topics ranging from student loans to environmental regulations: 

  • Student loan cancellation: U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced a CRA resolution on March 27, 2023, aiming to nullify a rule from the U.S. Department of Education regarding student loan cancellation. “The Biden administration’s tuition bailout is bad public policy, and it’s unfair to people who’ve paid their college debt off by working multiple jobs or consciously meeting their obligations,” argued Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a statement.
  • Regulatory definition of ‘habitat’ for endangered species: Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), joined by Republican cosponsors, introduced a CRA resolution on March 30, 2023, aiming to nullify a rule from the National Marine Fisheries Service and maintain the regulatory definition of ‘habitat.’ Lummis argued in a statement, “By scrapping the definition of habitat within the ESA, the Biden administration is causing chaos and confusion among private property owners throughout Wyoming and the west. … This CRA will ensure that Wyoming landowners are not unfairly targeted by the administration and that habitat designations are based on science, not on politics.”
  • Endangered species listing of northern long-eared bat: Representative Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) and Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) filed separate CRA resolutions on March 30, 2023, joined by Republican cosponsors, aiming to nullify a rule from the Fish and Wildlife Service that reclassifies the northern long-eared bat as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. “The listing of the northern long-eared bat is an example of the ESA being used to stifle development rather than its intended purpose, which is to protect species from human-caused harm,” argued Stauber in a statement.  

The CRA as of April 2023 has been used to repeal 20 administrative agency rules, including one rule repealed under President George W. Bush (R), 16 rules repealed under President Donald Trump (R), and three rules repealed under President Joe Biden (D).

Want to go deeper?


Biden raises monetary threshold for significant rules

What’s the story?

President Joe Biden (D) issued an executive order on April 6, 2023, to make changes to the regulatory review process. The order raises the monetary threshold for classifying significant rules and seeks to reduce the number of actions that require review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

The executive order changes the definition of a significant regulatory action to include any action with an annual effect of $200 million or more, as opposed to $100 million or more. It also directs the OIRA administrator to review all other significant rules (those regarding novel policy issues) and seeks to classify agency rules in an effort to limit the number of actions that require review by OIRA. The order also directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to update regulatory analysis guidance Circular A-4 within one year, among other provisions. 

OIRA Administrator Richard Revesz stated in a blog post that “these new steps will produce a more efficient, effective regulatory review process that will help improve peoples’ lives.” 

Former OIRA Administrator Susan Dudley, however, argued in Forbes “that amendments to key definitions may seriously curtail the number of rules subject to the analysis and interagency review practices that have been the bedrock of regulatory development in the United States for the last half-century.”

Want to go deeper?


In the states

Minnesota associations sue state agency to block vehicle emissions rule

What’s the story? 

A group of Minnesota business associations filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) on March 13, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota against the adoption of a zero-emissions vehicle regulation modeled on similar regulatory action in California. 

The fuel emissions mandate was issued in California, effective November 30, 2022, in an effort to scale down emissions from light-duty passenger cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs by 2035. The California regulation was later adopted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on July 26, 2021. Minnesota was among a group of 17 states considering adopting California’s mandate. 

The Clean Fuels Development Coalition, Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, ICM Inc., Minnesota Service Station and Convenience Store Association, and National Association of Convenience Stores argued that the mandate violates the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), which prohibits states from adopting fuel efficiency standards that contradict the federal standard. The president and CEO of the National Association of Convenience Stores, Henry Armour, argued, “Adopting California’s rules in Minnesota would stop further investments in efficient use of renewables and other liquid fuels and would result in more net carbon emissions than we would have without these misguided rules,” according to CSP.  

A spokesperson for MPCA, Andrea Cournoyer, stated, “While the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency reviews this latest legal action, we are confident these standards will continue to stand and remain focused on implementing the standards, building out Minnesota’s electric vehicle infrastructure and advancing Minnesota’s Climate Action Framework,” according to StarTribune

Want to go deeper?


Dispute over Oklahoma State Board of Education’s rulemaking authority

What’s the story? 

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) ruled on April 4, 2023, that the State Board of Education (BOE) does not have the authority to issue administrative rules without the directive of the state legislature. The attorney general’s ruling follows efforts by the Oklahoma BOE to mandate restrictions on school libraries and sexual education. 

The Oklahoma BOE voted on March 23, 2023, to enact regulations regarding library materials and sexual education. The rule required schools to remove library materials that fell into the category of what the agency referred to as “pornographic material and sexualized content.” Another rule was passed in an effort to allow parents to review and object to instructional materials concerning sexual education. 

Drummond’s ruling stated, “Any rule promulgated relying only on the general ‘powers and duties’ within section 3-104 is invalid and may not be enforced by the State Department of Education or the Board.” The ruling argues that any proposed rules that exceed the BOE’s statutory authority are void.   

State Superintendent Ryan Walters (R) responded to the ruling on April 6, 2023, stating that “because the Attorney General’s approach is consistent with the proposed Board rules, I respectfully commend the rules for consideration and adoption by the Legislature.”

Want to go deeper?


Examining partisan use of the CRA

A new study from administrative law scholars Steven J. Balla, Bridget C. E. Dooling, and Daniel R. Pérez aims to examine historical use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in an effort to clarify what the authors view as assumptions about its partisan applications by Republicans. In “Beyond Republicans and the Disapproval of Regulations,” Balla, Dooling, and Pérez conclude that the CRA has been used regularly since its passage as a “position taking” mechanism by both Republicans and Democrats alike:

“Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), legislators deploy expedited procedures to repeal agency regulations. For decades, the conventional wisdom—drawn from a handful of cases in which rules were repealed—has been that the CRA is primarily used by Republicans to nullify regulations issued at the close of Democratic presidential administrations. In this article, we demonstrate that the conventional wisdom provides an incomplete account of the use of the CRA. The centerpiece of our approach is an original data set of all resolutions disapproving of agency regulations introduced over a 26-year period. The analysis of this data set demonstrates that Democrats make regular use of the CRA and that resolutions are consistently pursued outside of presidential transitions. Given these patterns, we argue (contrary to existing accounts) that the CRA is not inherently deregulatory and routinely has utility as an instrument of position taking for legislators of both political parties.”

Want to go deeper

  • Click here to read the full text of “Beyond Republicans and the Disapproval of Regulations” by Steven J. Balla, Bridget C. E. Dooling, and Daniel R. Pérez

Regulatory tally

Federal Register


Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

OIRA’s March regulatory review activity included the following actions:

  • Review of 70 significant regulatory actions. 
  • Ten rules approved without changes; recommended changes to 55 proposed rules; four rules withdrawn from the review process; one rule subject to a statutory or judicial deadline.
  • As of April 3, 2023, OIRA’s website listed 107 regulatory actions under review.
  • Want to go deeper? 


Iowans to vote on gubernatorial succession amendment in 2024

Welcome to the Wednesday, April 26, Brew. 

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Iowans to vote on gubernatorial succession amendment in 2024
  2. Voters in Lincoln, Neb., to select a mayor in May 2 general election
  3. Democratic Party committees lead Republican Party committees in fundraising for the 2024 election cycle

Iowans to vote on gubernatorial succession amendment in 2024

As is true in 44 other states, Iowa’s lieutenant governor is first in line to replace the governor in the event of a vacancy. But who fills the vacant lieutenant governor office?

That’s a question Iowa voters will decide in 2024 when the Iowa Gubernatorial Succession Amendment appears on the ballot. Currently, if Iowa’s governor leaves office, the lieutenant governor assumes the duties and powers of the governor but does not have the authority to appoint a new lieutenant governor. If voters approve the measure, the new governor—the former lieutenant governor—would have the power to appoint a new lieutenant governor. 

The succession issues came into sharp focus in 2017, when then-Gov. Terry Branstad (R) resigned to become President Donald Trump’s (R) ambassador to China. Kim Reynolds, who had been elected lieutenant governor in 2010, became governor, and Reynolds selected Adam Gregg (R) as her replacement.  

However, before Reynolds was sworn in, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller (D) issued a legal opinion stating Reynolds lacked the authority to appoint her own lieutenant governor. In the end, Gregg served as lieutenant governor and drew the normal salary but remained outside the line of succession until he was elected to a full term in 2018. If the governor’s office had become vacant before Gregg won election, the president of the Iowa Senate would have become governor. 

We looked at the gubernatorial line of succession in all 50 states in the March 31 Brew

Here’s who comes first in the gubernatorial line of succession across the country:

  • In the 45 states with a lieutenant governor, that individual is the first in the line of succession. That includes West Virginia and Tennessee, where the state Senate presidents serve as lieutenant governor ex officio.
  • In Maine and New Hampshire, the president of the state senate is first in line to succeed the governor. 
  • In Arizona, Oregon, and Wyoming, the secretary of state is first in line to succeed the governor.

Voters in Indiana will also decide a constitutional amendment related to the gubernatorial line of succession in 2024. Under the proposal, the superintendent of public instruction would be removed from the line of succession since the position was abolished in 2021 and replaced by the secretary of education, a position the governor appoints.

The Iowa Legislature referred the amendment to the ballot on April 19, when the Iowa Senate voted 50-0 to approve House Joint Resolution 3 (HJR 3). The Iowa House approved HJR 3 81-81 on Feb. 1. In Iowa and 12 other states, legislatively referred constitutional amendments go before voters if they pass both chambers of the legislature in two consecutive legislative sessions. The amendment passed the House and Senate in February and March of 2022, respectively. 

Keep reading


Voters in Lincoln, Neb., to select a mayor in May 2 general election

We’re covering 40 mayoral races this year, and the next general election on our calendar is May 2, in Lincoln, Neb. (we’re also covering mayoral primaries in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Indianapolis, Ind., as well as Columbus, Ohio, on the same day).

Let’s take a look at Lincoln—Nebraska’s state capitol. With a population of around 293,000, it’s the fifth largest state capitol holding mayoral elections this year.

Incumbent Leirion Gaylor Baird and Suzanne Geist are running in the nonpartisan election. They were the top-two vote-getters in the April 4 primary. 

While mayoral elections in Lincoln are officially nonpartisan, candidates for office are often affiliated with one of the two major political parties. Gaylor Baird is affiliated with the Democratic Party, and Geist is affiliated with the Republican Party. The last Republican mayor of Lincoln, Mike Johanns, left office in 1998.

Gaylor Baird was first elected mayor in 2019. A former member of Lincoln’s City Council, Gaylor Baird has focused on public safety, economic development, and infrastructure.

Geist, a business owner, represented District 25 in the Nebraska Senate from 2017 until April 6, 2023, when she resigned. Geist said she would support law enforcement, promote economic growth, and invest in local infrastructure. 

Gaylor Baird has criticized Geist for her voting record while serving in the state senate, including on abortion, transgender issues, and concealed firearms. Baird said: “Her voting record at the state Capitol makes it clear that her priorities are not our shared priorities. … They hurt Lincoln and they hurt Nebraska.”

Geist has criticized Gaylor Baird’s record on public safety. Geist tweeted, “It’s important to understand that law enforcement supports me, not @MayorLeirion for a reason. I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with law enforcement in the legislature because it was the right thing to do. Leirion stood by when there were riots in ‘20 instead of with the police.”

The Lincoln Fire Fighters Association, EMILY’s List and the Sierra Club endorsed Gaylor Baird. The Lincoln Police Union, Gov. Jim Pillen (R), and U.S. Sens. Pete Ricketts (R) and Deb Fischer (R) endorsed Geist.

Lancaster County, where Lincoln is located, voted for President Joe Biden (D) 52.7% to Trump’s 44.9% in 2020. 

As of April 2023, the partisan breakdown of the mayors of the 100 largest U.S. cities was 62 Democrats, 26 Republicans, three independents, and seven nonpartisans. Two mayors’ partisan affiliations were unknown. Based on 2020 population estimates, 76.1% of the population of the top 100 cities lived in cities with Democratic mayors, and 16.2% lived in cities with Republican mayors at the start of 2022.

Lincoln is also holding elections for seats in the city council and the Lincoln Airport Authority on May 2, 2023.

Keep reading 


Democratic Party committees lead Republican Party committees in fundraising for the 2024 election cycle

The three committees associated with the Democratic Party have raised a cumulative $81 million for the 2024 election cycle, while those associated with the Republican Party have raised $66 million. Those figures are through March 31, 2023, the most recent required reporting deadline.

The three Democratic committees are the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). The three Republican committees are the Republican National Committee (RNC), National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

So far in the 2024 election cycle, the DNC, DSCC, and DCCC each lead their Republican counterparts in cumulative receipts and disbursements. See the table below for exact figures.

The Democratic committees’ cumulative receipts this past March ($81 million) outpace their receipts at this point in the 2020 election cycle ($67 million), but are lower than their receipts at this point in the 2022 election cycle ($105 million).

On the Republican side, the three committees raised $66 million as of last month, which is lower than their March 2019 fundraising total ($90 million) and their March 2021 fundraising total ($101 million).

Learn more about party committee fundraising at the link below. 

Keep reading 



Biden issues executive order on environmental justice


Economy and Society is Ballotpedia’s weekly review of the developments in corporate activism; corporate political engagement; and the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) trends and events that characterize the growing intersection between business and politics.


ESG developments this week

In Washington, D.C., and around the world

The EU moves to pass ESG due diligence bill

The European Union is getting closer to passing a bill that will require greater due diligence on the part of most businesses with respect to ESG-related factors. The bill could expose companies to greater liability and penalties for certain ESG violations such as environmental damage caused by a corporation (or damage caused by a company that a corporation does business with). Some European businesses are pushing back against the bill:

“Some of the most powerful lobbyists in Europe’s finance industry are preparing to fight the passage of an ESG bill, after it won early backing from European Union lawmakers.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe, whose members dominate the region’s debt and equity capital markets, says a planned EU law designed to make it easier to sue companies for ESG violations ignores the unique status of financial firms. 

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) moved a step closer to becoming law last week, after the EU Parliament’s legal affairs committee struck a preliminary agreement to cover all sectors, including the finance industry. If passed, the law will force companies to pay a lot more attention to their value chains.

In practice, that means that human rights abuses or environmental damage that occurs in an EU corporation’s value chain may expose that company to civil liability or regulatory penalties.

CSDDD has the potential to be one of the EU’s most far-reaching pieces of environmental, social and governance rulemaking. While ESG regulations passed to date impose disclosure requirements on companies, the due diligence directive would force them to act on the information they’re disclosing. If they don’t, they can be punished by regulators and sued by stakeholders.

Lara Wolters, the EU Parliament member responsible for ushering CSDDD through the chamber, said she’s bracing for a “tough” battle with the finance industry. She also said there’s too much at stake for lawmakers to cave.

The power that banks, asset managers and insurers have “is huge,” Wolters said. So to suggest “that power isn’t going to be used to try to affect any positive change” would be “crazy,” she said.

The next step for CSDDD is a formal vote of the parliament committee, which is due to take place on Tuesday. After that, it goes to the full chamber and then to the European Council.”

Biden executive order incorporates environmental justice into federal agency missions

Last week, President Biden issued an executive order creating a White House Office of Environmental Justice and directing all federal agencies to prioritize what it described as environmental justice in their policymaking whenever and however possible:

“President Biden will sign an executive order Friday in the Rose Garden that will direct every agency of the federal government to incorporate “environmental justice” into its mission, the White House said. 

The White House has invited environmental justice leaders, climate advocates and community leaders to join the president at the signing ceremony today. There, Biden will reaffirm his administration’s commitment to fighting climate change and correcting “disproportionate environmental harms,” including those inflicted by a “legacy of racial discrimination including redlining.”  

“The executive order will direct agencies to address gaps in science and data to better understand and prevent the cumulative impacts of pollution on people’s health. It will create a new Office of Environmental Justice in the White House to coordinate all environmental justice efforts across the federal government. And it will require agencies to notify nearby communities in the event of a release of toxic substances from a federal facility,” a White House official said….

The new White House Office of Environmental Justice created by Biden’s action will be led by a Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer, who will be tasked with coordinating “environmental justice” policy across the whole federal government….

The White House contrasted Biden’s planned action with policies favored by House Republicans and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., accusing “extreme MAGA Republicans” of being in the pocket of Big Oil.” 

GOP presidential candidate criticizes Biden administration for encouraging ESG

The day after President Biden’s environmental justice announcement, the New York Post published an op-ed by a challenger for the White House, Vivek Ramaswamy. The op-ed – which is an excerpt from Ramaswamy’s new book Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn’t Vote For – criticized the administration for, in Ramaswamy’s view, tilting the scales on ESG and steering public funds to pet projects using the investment strategy. Ramaswamy – an entrepreneur and the founder of the self-described post-ESG asset management firm Strive – announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination earlier this year:

“It’s no surprise that liberal politicians have been some of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies’ strongest proponents.

ESG-friendly politicians often co-opt pension fund money for political ends.

However, that’s not the only power they have.

Elected officials can also wield influence through executive orders, agency directives, and letter writing to pave the way for ESG asset managers to access the back door of corporate America and sometimes even shove those managers through.

That’s exactly what President Biden has done.

The first thing he did when he took office was pick up his executive order pen.

He used it to direct his federal agencies to revisit their rules with an eye toward making them more ESG-friendly.

There was no need for messy bipartisanship, congressional compromises, or involving the legislative branch at all.

Why bother with the tedious, constitutionally approved method of making new laws when there is an army of federal bureaucrats at your disposal?

On day one of his presidency, he lamented “the unbearable human costs of systemic racism” and mandated an “ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda.”…

The same day, he rejoined the Paris Agreement, and simultaneously issued another order directing that all federal agencies “immediately commence work to confront the climate crisis.”…

Within a week, he issued yet another order, promising “bold, progressive action that combines the full capacity of the Federal Government with efforts from every corner of our Nation, every level of government, and every sector of our economy.”  

He charged every federal agency with appointing an “Agency Chief Sustainability Officer” and announced that the United States would be “promoting the flow of capital toward climate-aligned investments and away from high-carbon investments.”  

By May, his executive orders became even more specific, focusing federal climate efforts on the financial sector in particular.

Through strokes of the executive pen, a Green New Deal that would never be approved by Congress would be pushed on corporate America through Wall Street, guided by the heavy hand of federal agencies at every turn.

Following the orders of the new climate commander-in-chief, the government joined the ESG battle. For the most part, federal agencies were pleased to be conscripted into service.

The Department of Labor was one of the first agencies to respond….

There’s another little-known federal agency that is playing a big role in allowing ESG to go unchecked: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The agency is tucked inside the Department of the Treasury and is tasked with regulating US banks.

As ESG proponents know, access to banking services from major financial institutions is a critical part of any business—if a business can’t open a bank account, process credit card payments, or get lines of credit, it can’t exist.

Cutting off banking services is a death blow and one that can be delivered without political or market accountability….

So through the OCC’s somewhat obscure rule-making and guidance-issuing process, the Biden administration has handed ESG activists their sledgehammer back.

Banks, like asset managers, are simply one more tool that politicians can manipulate to further political agendas that Congress would never enact.”


In the states

Florida advances bill opposing ESG

The Florida Senate passed a bill on April 19 that would prohibit the state and local governments from using ESG in debt financing and investing. The bill now goes to Governor Ron DeSantis (R):

“Florida’s Republican-controlled Senate approved on Wednesday a bill that bans state and local governments from using environmental, social, governance criteria when selling debt or investing public money. The legislation, which had already cleared the state’s House of Representatives last month, will now be brought to DeSantis for his signature.

The 44-year-old governor has attacked ESG as part of a larger conservative agenda at the center of his likely 2024 GOP presidential run. DeSantis, like other Republican officials, has criticized Wall Street’s ESG policies as “woke capitalism.” His administration has pulled about $2 billion from BlackRock Inc. and singled out Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, one of Wall Street’s leading ESG advocates.

The new legislation prohibits Florida municipalities from selling bonds tied to ESG projects, as well as imposing restrictions on seeking ESG ratings. In 2022, Florida issuers sold $13 billion of long-term bonds, making it the fourth-largest issuer in the US, behind California, New York and Texas.

The law also bars Florida’s public money from being deposited in financial institutions that are deemed to pursue “social, political, or ideological interests” in their investment decisions. Florida had almost $37 billion in state deposits, with Wells Fargo & Co. holding the biggest individual amount, $6.5 billion, according to data from Florida’s Bureau of Collateral Management.”


On Wall Street and in the private sector

Some companies are hoping to avoid ESG discussions during annual meeting season 

According to Axios, this spring – during the annual general meeting season and the accompanying votes on shareholder proposals – many companies are trying to avoid discussions related to ESG or other perceived controversial matters:

“Companies don’t want to talk about their environmental, social and governance goals anymore, experts in ESG and communications tell Axios….

Promoting ESG policies was once an easy layup to score good press — and theoretically move toward bettering society — but now it’s a way to court controversy, the ire of politicians, and attention from well-funded anti-ESG groups….

Anti-ESG forces are in full swing this proxy season — the time of year when public companies host their annual meetings, and shareholders vote on a slate of investor proposals.

Investors have filed 68 anti-ESG proposals this year to date — compared to 45 in all of 2022, per data from the Sustainable Investments Institute, a nonprofit.

About one-third of the anti-ESG proposals this year are focused on diversity — asking companies, including Apple, JPMorgan, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, to report on the “risks” that their anti-discrimination or racial justice efforts pose to their business.

Two proposals ask companies to avoid public policy positions unless there’s a business justification. And a handful are asking public companies to report the risks posed by attempting to achieve net zero or decarbonization goals….

“Companies should be prepared to deal with ESG backlash,” the Conference Board warned in its recent proxy season preview.”

Nevertheless:

“Companies are soldiering on with diversity or climate initiatives they think are important — or good for business — but they’re just less willing to talk about it.

Worth noting: The retreat isn’t simply about anti-ESG efforts. Businesses are also more inclined to stay mum as regulators like the SEC start paying more attention to companies’ ESG-related claims.

The bottom line: ESG efforts aren’t going away, but you might see fewer press releases and puff pieces about the issue.”