Category: Uncategorized

The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity.   During the week of June 24 to June 28, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,800 pages, bringing…

The United States Supreme Court held 5-4 on June 27 to both affirm the legality of a citizenship question on the U.S. Census and remand Department of Commerce v. New York to the agency due to a lack of reasoned decision-making by Trump administration officials as required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).   Commerce…

During the first half of 2019, Ballotpedia’s coverage of recalls showed a downturn in total efforts compared to the midway points in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Through June 27, Ballotpedia covered 72 recall efforts against 115 officials. During similar time periods in the previous three years, a minimum of 134 efforts (2017) and a maximum…

Gaps in fundraising between Republican and Democratic party committees in the 2019-2020 campaign cycle widened according to June campaign finance reports. The Republican Party leads in national and Senatorial committee fundraising. The Democratic Party leads in House committee fundraising.   Here’s a closer look at the numbers from each committees’ June filings:   The Democratic…

On June 20, 2019, the 11-member Republican minority of the Oregon State Senate did not come to a scheduled legislative session to discuss HB2020, a cap-and-trade bill. With only 18 Democratic members, the chamber fell short of the 20 members needed to take official action on the bill. Although Senate President Peter Courtney announced on…

Each week, we report the number of pageviews received by 2020 presidential campaigns on Ballotpedia. These numbers show which candidates are getting our readers’ attention.   Former Vice President Joe Biden’s (D) campaign page on Ballotpedia received 4,624 pageviews for the week of June 16-22. Biden’s pageviews represented 8.4% of the pageviews for all Democratic…

On June 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that public-sector unions cannot require non-members to pay agency fees to cover the costs of non-political union activities. Lawmakers nationwide have since taken up legislation in response to Janus. The summary below is a detailed account of legislative activity in the year…

On June 12, 2019, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed legislation to join the state in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). Oregon is the 16th jurisdiction to join NPVIC, as well as the fourth state in 2019. The NPVIC is an interstate compact to award member states’ presidential electors to the winner of…

The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing cases for the 2018 term on October 1, 2018, and wrapped up oral arguments on April 24, 2019. As of June 10, the court has issued opinions in 45 of the 69 cases this term, meaning the court has 24 opinions to deliver before the end of the term.…

The average margin of victory in the 2018 elections was the smallest it had been in even-year congressional races since 2012.   Margin of victory—or MOV—is the difference between the share of votes cast for the winning candidate and the share cast for the losing one.   Since it is June, the sixth month of…