This week in progressive state blogs is designed specifically to spotlight the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf. Let me know via comments or Kosmail if you have a favorite state- or city-based blog you think I should be watching.
Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents.
At Show Me Progress of Missouri, WillyK writes—The Ferguson Commission Report: D.O.A.?
Tuesday the Ferguson Commission, a body convened by Governor Jay Nixon in response to the protests engendered by the police shooting of teenager Michael Brown, released its report. The priorities identified by the Commission have been admirably summarized by the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The Commisson expects to continue meeting to move these priorities forward.
That the Commission will stay involved now that their report has been tendered is good news. Especially since the question that seems to be on every commentator's mind is whether or not there is any chance that the report will really result in significant action. I have to say that to my mind the list of "accountable bodies" that the Commission members identified for each priority augers poorly for the possibility of real change.
For many of the nineteen points summarized by the Post-Dispatch, several accountable bodies are named. I can only wonder just how these bodies are going to respond to often very specific goals that seem to be based on underlying assumptions that I'm not sure are universally shared. Actually, I wonder just how many of these bodies, even if they agreed with the underpinnings of the report, will manage to coordinate effectively. I haven't seen too much during the thirteen years that I have lived in this area that encourages optimism. Many of the accountable bodies listed have shown themselves in the past to be especially wedded to the status quo, others are notoriously contentious. Some, especially state agencies, are already underfunded and may resent new or reformulated tasks.
The real bugaboo, though, lies in the fact that for ten of the priorities listed in the Post-Dispatch, the state legislature is among the accountable bodies.
More links and excerpts from progressive state blogs below the orange gerrymander.
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Blue Oklahoma,
DocHoc writes—
Munson, Democrats Win Big In Special House Election:
Cyndi Munson
Let me join in the chorus of accolades for Democrat Cyndi Munson, who won Tuesday's special election for the House District 85 seat in northwest Oklahoma City.
Munson, 30, who formerly worked for Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma, beat Republican Chip Carter in a 2,640 to 2,268 vote, or by a total of 372 votes or with 54 percent of the vote, which comes to, in media parlance, an eight-point victory.
The numbers here are important, as I will point out later, but there's no doubt this is an exciting victory for Munson and Democrats because the HD 85 seat, last held by David Dank, had been GOP-safe for more than 50 years. It was even a seat once held by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin. Munson knocked on a lot of doors for this victory, and it paid off for her and Democrats.
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Progress Illinois,
Ellyn Fortino writes—
Unions Boost Weekly Earnings For Illinois Women By $122, Report Shows:
Women workers in Illinois who belong to a labor union earn an average of $122 more per week than their non-unionized counterparts.
That's according to a recent analysis by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) on the "union advantage for women" in terms of wages and benefits.
The group found that unionized women earn more than non-unionized women in every U.S. state and are more likely to have a pension plan and receive health insurance coverage through their job.
The gender wage gap is also smaller among unionized workers, the findings showed. Women represented by a union earn 88.7 cents for each dollar unionized men earn. That gap widens to 78.3 cents between all women and men.
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Miscellany Blue of New Hampshire,
William Tucker writes—
The deal Frank Guinta made with party operatives:
Congressman Frank Guinta has apparently had to privately review his legislative strategy with party operatives and provide “political justifications” for those legislative goals in order to obtain their support.
Last week the Washington Post published a copy of the contract the National Republican Congressional Committee requires House members to sign in order to participate in its Patriot Program, an initiative that provides augmented support for some of the House’s most vulnerable Republicans.
The Patriot Program Contract also requires members to provide detailed fundraising, communications and data plans; to report weekly on how call-time and fundraising events are progressing; and to exclusively use NRCC-approved staff and vendors for campaign services.
Guinta was named to the program in February of this year, approximately two months before the public learned of the Federal Election Commission ruling that found Guinta funded his 2010 campaign with an illegal $355,000 loan from his parents.
The group of endangered Republicans has been criticised by opponents for agreeing to the conditions outlined in the contract. A typical attack came from Colorado state Sen. Morgan Carroll, who denounced Patriot Program member Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) for “giving authority to outside D.C. interests” and “blatantly putting his political party over the people that he represents in exchange for campaign funds.”
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Better Georgia,
Brandon Hanick writes—
Gov. Deal’s cronies strike gold with school takeover plan:
When Gov. Deal introduced his “opportunity school district” plan, every Georgian familiar with his record of shameless corruption and cronyism asked the same question: “Opportunity for whom?”
One has to look no further than Erin Hames, one of Deal’s former aides, to begin to understand how the governor’s school takeover plan will funnel taxpayer money away from our teachers and students and into the pockets of Deal’s cronies.
From the AJC:
“Documents released Thursday in an Open Records Act request reveal that Erin Hames will make $30,000 over the next year consulting Deal on education policy even as she draws from a no-bid $96,000 consulting contract with the Atlanta Public Schools system.”
Hames, one of the chief architects of Deal’s school takeover plan, has figured out a way to make an easy six figures — or maybe more — by consulting school districts onhow to avoid being taken over while continuing to write the rules about which schools will be taken over.
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This is more than a conflict-of-interest. This is double-dealing with taxpayer money.
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The Mudflats of Alaska,
Howard Weaver writes—
Big Ideas for a Big State:
President Obama’s recent attention to Alaska — especially in Dillingham, Kotzebue and Seward — provides a welcome focus for looking beyond the bleak landscape of oil price collapse and budget cuts toward a brighter, more sustainable future. For perhaps the first time since western contact, Alaskans may be motivated to turn away from the love-em-and-leave-em dynamics of extraction to embrace their genuine treasures: the cultural diversity and frontier spirit of its people; an abundance of renewable resources that can be managed and sustained forever; and indigenous wisdom from the North that can benefit all mankind.
Seward, then trapped in antique notions of development, once invested its hope in projects like a shiny new grain export terminal and a prison on the outskirts of town. Yet despite sometimes ugly protests and resistance to “federal interference,” it was the creation of Kenai Fjords National Park and opening of the Alaska SeaLife Center that created lasting economic value.
In Dillingham, the president stood at the heart of the eternal debate about renewable versus non-renewable resources; no matter how big the mine, gold is temporary, while healthy salmon return forever.
And Kotzebue illustrates the most important undervalued resource of all: the accumulated wisdom gathered by people living for thousands of years in one of earth’s harshest environments.
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BlueNC,
Todd writes—
More irony from the GOP:
They kill the renewable energy tax credit that has led to a surge of solar projects in rural NC, creating jobs and generating tax revenue for rural counties (not to mention the benefit for rural land owners).
Then the GOP throws millions of dollars into a fund to recruit a auto manufacturer because those fantasy jobs for one plant in one place are somehow better than the real solar jobs across the state.
Idiots.
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Left in Alabama,
Larry Lee writes—
Alabama Charter School Legislation Language Came Straight From ALEC "Model Bill":
The legislative supermajority in Montgomery would have us believe that when they conjure up education policy like the Alabama Accountability Act or the charter school bill they retreat to a darkened room with their Ouija board and magically re-appear with ideas they alone thought up.
But evidence increasingly shows this tale is as plausible as telling us that every night an army of fairies flutters across Alabama exchanging money for teeth first-graders leave under their pillow.
Case in point--the similarities between the charter school bill recently rejected by the state of Washington Supreme Court as unconstitutional, "model" charter legislation churned out the American Legislative Exchange Council and Alabama Senate Bill 45 passed last spring.
The American Legislative Exchange Council—better known as ALEC—was founded in 1973 and has come under fire because it blurs the line between corporate well-being and public well-being. It has been described as a "corporate bill mill" which supplies state lawmakers model legislation strongly supported by ALEC corporate funders.
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Burnt Orange Report of Texas,
Shelby Cole writes—
Governor Abbott’s “LIFE” Initiative is Outrageous—and Pointless:
On Friday, Governor Greg Abbott unveiled his latest attack on Planned Parenthood called the “LIFE” initiative in response to a series of heavily edited videos that strongly imply that Planned Parenthood and its affiliates are profiting from the sale of fetal tissue.
Through this “LIFE” initiative, Abbott wants to:
• Eliminate all taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood
• Further expand the availability of adoption services so people can better understand their “options”
• Make it illegal for abortion doctors to alter procedures to preserve fetal body parts
• Criminalize any exchange of fetal tissue “for any purpose whatsoever.”
Here are my top two reasons why Governor Abbott’s “LIFE” initiative is outrageous:
Reason 1: There is simply no proof that Planned Parenthood has sold fetal tissue for profit. [...]
Reason 2: Governor Abbott is not a medical professional [...]
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Eclectablog of Michigan,
Eclectablog writes—
Time to Care Coalition launches ballot initiative to require paid sick time for Michigan workers:
Last February, Denno Research released a poll conducted for Mothering Justice and the Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan that shows overwhelming support for requiring Michigan employers to provide time off for workers who are sick or who need to care for sick families members. Their poll of 600 respondents throughout the state showed that an astonishing 86% of Michiganders favor workers earning paid sick days. An equally astonishing 83% of them support making this the law.
The Time to Care Coalition, which includes the Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan, MOSES, Restaurant Opportunity Center United (ROC), Mothering Justice, Detroit People’s Platform and the Michigan League for Public Policy, is now working to make that happen. This morning they held a press conference in front of the state Capitol building announcing that they have launched a ballot initiative to put the question before voters in 2016. “Having the ability to earn paid sick time would ensure that working people are able to balance work and time caring for their families and themselves, which are critical to building strong, thriving communities. That’s why I’m so excited to join this effort,” said Roland Leggett, field director for the Time to Care Coalition. “We’re hitting the ground running and are confident that we will get this initiative on the ballot.”
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Montana Cowgirl,
Cowgirl writes—
Gianforte, Daines Get Stuffed By Invited Guest:
There was a major shindig this weekend in Bozeman, a Tech Summit at which big hitters from Silicon Valley showed up at the invitation of [Republican Senator] Steve Daines to tell the crowd how Montana can grow its technology sector and thus increase the number of high wage jobs in the state. Just so everyone understands what we’re talking about here, the way these events work is that these CEOS take time out of their schedule to do Steve Daines a favor and speak at his thing, so that Daines can be the toast of the town for a day. Then when the CEOs need a tax break, they call Daines and he obliges.
[Creationist and anti-LGBT entrepreneur] Greg Gianforte was a headline speaker, and the event was as much for his benefit as it was for the topics discussed. But Gianforte got stuffed badly by one speaker, a man named Doug Burgum. As Eric Whitney recounts in a story for Montana Public Radio, Burgum started a company in Fargo, and sold it to Microsoft for three billion dollars. But at the summit, Burgum chose to talk not about taxes and gigabytes in his speech, but about marriage equality.
His point, which he delivered directly to Gianforte and Daines who were watching from the crowd, was that if you have a right-wing social climate, you will not attract the people you need for a robust tech economy, namely, the millennials.
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HorsesAss of Washington,
Carl Ballard writes—
At A Minimum:
It was very interesting to look at these maps [h/t] of how well you can raise a family or a single person on minimum wage. Looking at the second to last map, it’s nice to see that Washington’s wage is enough to let, at least some people in some circumstances, make a living.
That’s obviously the cheapest parts of the state. Even there, the state’s minimum wage isn’t enough to raise a family. So a push for a higher statewide wage seems pretty reasonable.
And here in the most expensive parts of the state it’s even more needed. Hopefully the Seattle and SeaTac minimum wages will have some relief here in King County. But it really should be statewide.