USAPP Managing Editor, Chris Gilson, looks at the week in US state blogging

Gilson, Christopher

LSE Research Online

State	of	the	States	for	23	February:	Pennsylvania’sspecial	election	debate,	South	Carolina’s	“parodymarriage”	bill,	and	California’s	“bell	ringer”	candidateUSAPP	Managing	Editor,	Chris	Gilson,	looks	at	the	week	in	US	state	blogging.		Northeast	On	Wednesday,	NH	Labor	News	wonders	if	the	New	Hampshire	state	House	is	still	“our”	House	of	Representativesafter	170	House	members	pledged	to	uphold	the	policies	of	Americans	for	Prosperity	–	a	conservative	lobby	group	–even	if	those	positions	apparently	are	not	on	line	with	the	wishes	of	those	they	represent.Heading	west	to	Vermont,	VTDigger	looks	at	arguments	that	state	Democrats	will	have	a	hard	time	finding	one	oftheir	number	to	challenge	GOP	Governor,	Phil	Scott	this	coming	November.	They	say	that	for	all	the	talk	of	Scott’sdominance	in	the	current	legislative	session,	he	has	not	actually	achieved	a	great	deal.This	week	RIFuture.org	comments	on	allegations	of	sexual	misconduct	with	a	minor	that	have	been	levelled	againststate	Senator	Nick	Kettle.	They	argue	that	his	past	transgressions	–	including	mocking	the	homeless	and	creating	afake	Facebook	page	to	hurt	a	state	Democrats	–	both	mean	that	he	should	resign	whether	he	is	guilty	or	innocent.Moving	on	to	the	Garden	State,	Thursday	sees	the	second	part	of	Blue	Jersey’s	series	on	why	healthcare	in	the	stateis	heading	towards	a	“zombie	apocalypse”.	They	say	that	although	health	insurance	premiums	in	New	Jersey	are	onthe	rise	and	the	US	Congress	has	done	away	with	Obamacare’s	individual	mandate,	newly	minted	Democraticgovernor,	Phil	Murphy	and	the	state	legislature	are	fighting	back	with	executive	orders	and	legislation	to	stabilize	andreduce	premiums.Next	month	sees	Republican	Rick	Saccone	and	Democrat	Conor	Lamb	face	off	in	an	election	for	Pennsylvania’s	18 thCongressional	district.	PoliticsPA	reports	on	the	candidates’	first	debate,	commenting	that	while	both	suggested	thatmental	health	was	the	main	issue	relating	to	the	recent	school	shooting	in	Parkland,	Florida,	they	differed	on	thelegalization	of	medical	marijuana.	Staying	in	the	Keystone	State,	Raging	Chicken	Press	has	the	news	that	USSenator	Pat	Toomey	has	stated	in	a	press	conference	that	the	state	Supreme	Court’s	recent	ruling	that	the	state’sCongressional	map	had	been	gerrymandered	by	Republicans	was	a	“partisan…unconstitutional	power	grab”.South	On	Friday,	Virginia’s	Bearing	Drift	reckons	that	in	the	Old	Dominion	State,	“it’s	2004	all	over	again”.	They’rereferencing	the	budget	stalemate	from	that	year	that	the	state	GOP	looks	to	be	on	the	road	to	recreating	14	yearslater	after	they	proposed	a	Medicaid	expansion	in	the	state	budget	that	the	state	Senate	is	unlikely	to	agree	to.Staying	in	Virginia,	Blue	Virginia	says	that	when	it	comes	to	guns,	the	state	GOP	is	even	more	extreme	thanPresident	Trump	after	they	killed	bills	which	would	ban	bump	stocks,	institute	universal	background	checks,	andrequire	minors	to	obtain	parental	permissions	to	keep	firearms	in	their	homes.FITSNews	this	week	says	that	the	South	Carolina	government	has	come	up	with	more	“definitional	nonsense”	with	aproposal	to	refine	the	institution	of	marriage	and	define	any	marriage	which	did	not	involve	a	man	and	a	woman	as	a“parody	marriage”.Florida	Politics	writes	that	in	the	aftermath	of	the	Parkland	school	shooting	last	week,	the	state’s	Republicangovernor,	Rick	Scott	is	facing	a	“reckoning”	on	guns	with	other	state	lawmakers	as	he	focuses	on	keeping	guns	outof	the	hands	of	those	with	mental	illnesses	rather	than	limiting	their	ownership,	a	stance	which	puts	him	in	line	withthat	of	the	National	Rifle	Association.Continuing	on	to	Louisiana,	Something	Like	the	Truth	argues	that	the	state’s	near-constant	fiscal	woes	are	distractingits	citizens	from	the	state’s	real	problems.USApp – American Politics and Policy Blog: State of the States for 23 February: Pennsylvania’s special election debate, South Carolina’s “parody marriage”bill, and California’s “bell ringer” candidatePage 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-02-23Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2018/02/23/state-of-the-states-for-23-february-pennsylvanias-especial-election-debate-south-carolinas-parody-marriage-bill-and-californias-bell-ringer/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/On	Wednesday,	Yellowhammer	reports	that	the	state’s	Senate	has	passed	a	$2	billion	state	budget	that	gives	moremoney	to	state	law	enforcement,	mental	health	services	and	to	its	prison	system,	but	has	no	new	taxes.	MidwestOn	Monday,	Capitol	Fax	writes	that	Illinois	Governor	Bruce	Rauner,	has	been	slammed	by	those	on	his	right	in	theGOP	over	his	recent	comments	over	the	Janus	vs.	AFSCME	Supreme	Court	case	on	workers’	rights.	Rauner	statedthat	he	is	involved	with	the	case	(which	involves	an	Illinois	worker)	and	has	predicted	that	it	will	be	successful,comments	which	have	drawn	the	ire	of	the	Liberty	Justice	Centre	which	are	linked	to	the	campaign	of	Jeanne	Iveswho	is	running	against	Rauner	in	the	GOP	gubernatorial	primary.In	Indiana	this	week,	Ogden	on	Politics	says	that	state	Democrats	“appear	certain”	to	pick	up	several	of	the	state’slegislative	seats	in	this	year’s	mid-term	elections.	At	the	moment	the	GOP	have	70	of	100	seats	in	the	state	Houseand	40	of	50	in	the	state	Senate;	a	twenty	point	swing	would	mean	a	60/40	split	in	the	state	House.Right	Wisconsin	writes	Thursday	that	despite	Democrats’	claims	that	Republican	Governor	Scott	Walker	has	been“leaving	women	behind”,	the	state’s	women	actually	“win	with	Walker”	via	tax	cuts	and	School	Choice	policies.The	Unablogger	weighs	in	on	the	indictment	of	Missouri’s	Republican	Governor	Eric	Greitens	on	a	charge	of	invasionof	privacy,	commenting	that	it	is	a	case	of	a	“politically	ambitious	prosecutor	from	one	party	seeks	to	take	down	thestate’s	governor	from	the	other	party”,	against	the	wishes	of	the	alleged	victim.Say	Anything	blog	reviews	the	state	of	North	Dakota’s	federal	races	after	a	few	days	of	announcements	and	othermaneuvering:	Congressman	Kevin	Cramer	is	running	for	US	Senate,	the	NDGOP	Chairman,	Kelly	Armstrong	andState	Senator	Tom	Campbell	are	running	for	the	US	House,	as	is	“mystery	candidate”	Tiffany	Abentroth.Moving	south,	South	Dakota	War	College	reports	that	the	state’s	US	Representative,	Kristi	Noem,	who	is	alsorunning	for	Governor,	has	stated	that	the	National	Rifle	Association	would	be	welcome	to	have	their	convention	in	thestate,	following	a	request	from	the	Mayor	of	Dallas	for	the	group	to	relocate	their	annual	gathering.	West	and	Pacific	On	Wednesday,	The	Montana	Post	wonders	how	the	state’s	budget	got	to	its	current	dire	point	–	they	blame	nearlythree	years	of	Republican	pressure	to	cut	taxes	despite	balanced	budget	proposals	from	Governor	Steve	Bullock.Heading	south,	Colorado	Peak	Politics	writes	that	the	Democratic	Governors	Association	has	plans	to	spend	at	least$20	million	to	win	the	state’s	gubernatorial	race	this	year	so	that	it	can	favor	Democrats	when	the	state	is	redistrictedin	2021.	They	argue	that	in	2011,	state	Democrats	–	not	Republicans	–	gerrymandered	the	state’s	House	and	Senateseats.On	Thursday,	Eye	on	Boise	reports	that	a	bill	which	would	allow	out-of-state	insurance	providers	to	sell	theirinsurance	in	Idaho	will	move	to	the	state’s	Senate.	While	the	bill	may	result	in	lower	premiums,	insurance	companieshave	been	reticent	to	provide	such	plans	in	other	states	which	have	enacted	similar	laws.Blog	for	Arizona	this	week	comments	that	Republican	Governor	Doug	Ducey’s	bid	for	re-election	is	in	trouble,	afternew	polls	show	that	his	support	stands	at	40	percent	against	a	generic	Democrat,	with	nearly	28	percent	of	voters	asyet	undecided.California’s	election	season	is	beginning	to	pick	up	with	various	potential	candidates	jockeying	for	position	ahead	ofthe	state’s	primaries	in	June.	Fox	&	Hounds	wonders	if	Amanda	Renteria	is	a	“bell	ringer”	in	the	Democraticgubernatorial	primary	–	potentially	not	a	real	contender,	but	putting	herself	forward	on	the	ballot	in	order	to	reduce	afew	points	of	the	real	contender.In	January,	many	residents	of	the	Aloha	State	were	alarmed	by	a	false	alert	about	a	North	Korean	missile	attack	fromthe	state’s	Emergency	Warning	Agency.	Honolulu	Civil	Beat	says	that	a	new	report	has	shown	that	Hawaii	needs	tospend	millions	of	dollars	to	be	able	to	effectively	warn	the	public	about	looming	disasters.Featured	image:	“Visitor	Center	Welcomes	me	to	Pennsylvania”	by	miracc	is	licensed	under	CC	BY	NC	SA	2.0USApp – American Politics and Policy Blog: State of the States for 23 February: Pennsylvania’s special election debate, South Carolina’s “parody marriage”bill, and California’s “bell ringer” candidatePage 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-02-23Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2018/02/23/state-of-the-states-for-23-february-pennsylvanias-especial-election-debate-south-carolinas-parody-marriage-bill-and-californias-bell-ringer/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/Please	read	our	comments	policy	before	commenting.Note:		This	article	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	USAPP–	American	Politics	and	Policy,	nor	ofthe	London	School	of	Economics.Shortened	URL	for	this	post:	http://bit.ly/2CLwYeWUSApp – American Politics and Policy Blog: State of the States for 23 February: Pennsylvania’s special election debate, South Carolina’s “parody marriage”bill, and California’s “bell ringer” candidatePage 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-02-23Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2018/02/23/state-of-the-states-for-23-february-pennsylvanias-especial-election-debate-south-carolinas-parody-marriage-bill-and-californias-bell-ringer/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/

State of the States for 23 February: Pennsylvania's special election debate, South Carolina's "parody marriage" bill, and California's "bell ringer" candidate

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State of the States for 23 February: Pennsylvania's special election debate, South Carolina's "parody marriage" bill, and California's "bell ringer" candidate

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