Citizens Not Politicians Coalition submits 731,306 signatures for redistricting reform
Thousands of Ohioans – including many Episcopalians – spent months talking to fellow voters in all 88 counties to achieve this amazing total – greater than the number of signatures collected last year for the reproductive rights amendment. Now the petitions go to county boards of election where bipartisan teams will determine which signatures are from eligible Ohio voters and whether the total reaches the required minimum of 413,487, including at least 5% of the turnout in the last governor’s election in 44 counties.
This review will be completed during July. The Citizens Not Politicians amendment, drafted bipartisan leadership including former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, an eminent Republican, would create a new process that includes prohibiting elected officials and lobbyists – people with a built-in conflict of interest – from drawing our legislative districts. This follows the 2020-21 impasse between the Ohio Redistricting Commission – all of them current office holders – and the State Supreme Court, which found every map they submitted to be in violation of specific anti-gerrymandering rules approved by voters in 2015 and 2018. If the amendment qualifies for the ballot, I’ll let you know how you can help continue to inform voters.
Election Protection Summit July 13
The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations has created a toolkit of election engagement materials called Vote Faithfully 2024, including the opportunity to sign up as Episcopal Election Activators. As an invitation to pitch in in our state, the nonpartisan Ohio Voter Rights Coalition is holding an Election Protection Summit on Saturday, July 13, at the League of Women Voters of Ohio offices at 431 E. Broad Street in Columbus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Whether you’ve served as an Election Poll Worker, Poll Monitor, Election Protection Ambassador, or Peacekeeper, we would love to see you there. This summit will give us a chance to connect in-person with a network of democracy defenders, celebrate all the work you’ve done on behalf of our democracy, and prepare for the November election ahead,” they write. “There will be lunch, breakout sessions, speakers, and resources available to get everyone on the same page before the November election. RSVP here.
Almost 159,000 Ohio voters will be purged unless they respond by July 22: help your community stay enrolled.
In May, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose released a list of almost 159,000 people who will be purged from the voter rolls this year for inactivity unless they confirm or update their registration by July 22. Please encourage service providers in your congregation and community to invite people check their voter registration status at this link, and help them confirm or renew their registration if necessary. Explain that they can confirm or update their registration online, at their county Board of Elections, or at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. If their registration is cancelled, they can renew it by Oct. 7 in order to be eligible to vote in November.
Ohio House passes HB 79 energy efficiency bill, but take no vote on community solar or controversial SB 83 on higher education
Thank you to everyone who has been making calls or sending emails on three bills we’ve been following for over a year. Here’s what happened last week.
The Ohio House voted June 26 to pass HB 79, which partially restores the energy efficiency programs which were killed by the 1979 HB 6 nuclear bailout bill that is the heart of the massive corruption scandal leading to federal and state criminal cases. HB 79 would enable utilities to offer rebates helping ratepayers to afford energy efficiency measures to reduce their energy consumption and costs. Jake Zuckerman of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has an excellent summary of the bill and its difficulties in getting through the House. To become law, it has to pass in the Ohio Senate during the lame duck session this fall, and then be signed by the Governor.
The House Public Utilities Committee abruptly cancelled its planned hearing June 26 on HB 197, which would create a community solar pilot program. The lead sponsors of the bill are both Republican and the only major opposition is from AEP, but it is still stuck in committtee.
A yes vote in the Ohio House was the only obstacle to the controversial higher education bill SB 83 going to the Governor, but House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) did not put it on the agenda of the final session before the summer recess. Instead, the House passed the bipartisan CAMPUS bill requiring institutions of higher learning to adopt policies to combat intimidation or harassment based on race, religion, or ethnicity!
SB 83 would severely curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at Ohio’s public universities and chill how faculty teach on “controversial topics” such as race, voting, marriage, abortion, and climate change. The bill’s main sponsor, Senator Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), gave a press conference saying that he is pausing the effort but hopes for a change next year in House leadership. This reflects the titanic power struggle between Stephens, whose district is in our diocese, and Senate President Matt Huffman, who is running for a House seat and wants to replace Stephens, who won the speakership with bipartisan support in January 2023.
Supreme Court rulings with enormous implications
By now you have probably seen a ton of reporting on the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision on presidential immunity as well as last week’s curtailing prosecution of other January 6 defendants. The Court also released huge decisions on EPA rules to protect human and environmental safety. From the point of view of separation of powers, the rulings seem paradoxical. While one person – the current or former President – gained immunity from prosecution for actions deemed “official,” the administrative agencies of the executive branch have suffered repeated blows to their authority to interpret federal statutes in rulemaking, even though these are drafted by people with relevant expertise and the rulemaking includes public review and testimony.
“Today the United States Supreme Court overthrew the central premise of American democracy: that no one is above the law,” wrote Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson on July 1. “It decided that the president of the United States, possibly the most powerful person on earth, has ‘absolute immunity’ from criminal prosecution for crimes committed as part of the official acts at the core of presidential powers. The court also said it should be presumed that the president also has immunity for other official acts as well, unless that prosecution would not intrude on the authority of the executive branch. This is a profound change to our fundamental law—an amendment to the Constitution, as historian David Blight noted.”
Richardson quotes statements that Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavenaugh made at their confirmation hearings that no one is above the law, yet all three concurred in the 6-3 decision.
“Now they have changed that foundational principle for a man who, according to White House officials during his term, called for the execution of people who upset him and who has vowed to exact vengeance on those he now thinks have wronged him,” she continues, documenting every point, as she always does, with footnotes to sources you can read yourself. “Over the past weekend, Trump shared an image on social media saying that former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), who sat on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, was guilty of treason and calling for ‘televised military tribunals’ to try her.”
Richardson continues: “Asha Rangappa wrote: ‘According to the Court, a President could literally provide the leader of a hostile adversary with intelligence needed to win a conflict in which we are involved, or even attack or invade the U.S., and not be prosecuted for treason, because negotiating with heads of state is an exclusive Art. II function. In case you were wondering.’ Trump is currently under indictment for retaining classified documents.”
The Court’s decisions on January 6 cases join massive changes in administrative law. The Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision released June 28 overturns 40 years of precedent folllowing the Chevron decision allowing federal agencies to interpret federal statutes in making rules.
On June 29 the New York Times published a summary of several Supreme Court rulings blocking EPA rulemaking on air pollution, water pollution, and carbon emissions. “A spate of decisions over the past two years by the Supreme Court has significantly impaired the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit pollution in the air and water, regulate the use of toxic chemicals and reduce the greenhouse gasses that are heating the planet,” wrote reporter Coral Davenport.
“This term, the court’s conservative supermajority handed down several rulings that chip away at the power of many federal agencies. But the environmental agency has been under particular fire, the result of a series of cases brought since 2022 by conservative activists who say that E.P.A. regulations have driven up costs for industries ranging from electric utilities to home building. Those arguments have resonated among justices skeptical of government regulation.
“On Friday, the court ended the use of what is known as the Chevron doctrine, a cornerstone of administrative law for 40 years that said that courts should defer to government agencies to interpret unclear laws. That decision threatens the authority of many federal agencies to regulate the environment and also health care, workplace safety, telecommunications, the financial sector and more.”
Advocacy updates are compiled by Ariel Miller, a longtime community advocate and member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming. Connect with her at arielmillerwriter@gmail.com.
