November, 28 2023, 02:32pm EDT
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Ohio Supreme Court Won’t Hear Objections to Latest District Maps, Despite Partisan Gerrymander
Yesterday the Ohio Supreme Court denied a motion filed by petitioners in Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission to consider objections to the legislative maps adopted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission in September and dismissed the case. The court wrote that, because the most recent maps were approved by the commission across party lines, the circumstances surrounding these maps were different than when the court had allowed a similar challenge to go forward over maps the commission had adopted in September 2021. Regardless of the bipartisan vote, the new maps, like the September 2021 maps, give one party an advantage that, according to the petitioners, is “nearly identical” to the one in the maps adopted in 2021. The court had struck down the 2021 maps as unconstitutional gerrymanders.
In Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and Reed Smith represent petitioners Ohio Organizing Collaborative, CAIR-Ohio, Ohio Environmental Council, Ahmad Aboukar, Crystal Bryant, Samuel Gresham Jr., Prentiss Haney, and Pierrette “Petee” Talley. Please attribute the following quotes as noted.
“Yesterday the Ohio Supreme Court let a redistricting process run by politicians stand against the voters of Ohio and the state constitution. District lines that divide up Black and Brown communities will continue to keep fair representation out of reach. The process is the problem, and we will change it, putting citizens in charge of map-drawing, not the politicians whose futures depend on it.” — Jeniece L. Brock, Policy & Advocacy Director, Ohio Organizing Collaborative
“The Ohio Supreme Court’s dismissal of our case hurts. Ohioans of color must continue to wait for fair representation in state government. We’ve had to rely on a redistricting process that puts elected officials in charge. We need citizen-led redistricting that’s independent of politicians’ concerns and driven by the people’s rights.” — Pierrette “Petee” Talley, petitioner and Executive Director, Ohio Unity Coalition
“The Ohio Supreme Court has closed its door on us, but we will not be silenced. These maps ensure that Ohio’s Muslim communities will continue to be overlooked and marginalized in Columbus. We will continue to work toward reform that takes the job of map-drawing away from the politicians and gives it to the citizens.” — Amina Barhumi, Executive Director, CAIR-Ohio
“The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision sidesteps one of its core responsibilities: providing a check against overreach by a political branch of government. No matter which commissioners voted for the September 2023 maps, the districts do not correspond to the preferences of Ohio voters and carve up the state’s communities for partisan advantage. The ruling is yet another reminder that the only path to protecting the interests of citizens and not politicians is through citizen-led reform.” — Yurij Rudensky, Senior Counsel in the Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law
The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan law and policy institute. We strive to uphold the values of democracy. We stand for equal justice and the rule of law. We work to craft and advance reforms that will make American democracy work, for all.
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Warren Bill Would Overturn Supreme Court Decision Gutting Federal Agency Power
"The Supreme Court's overturning of Chevron undermines our government's ability to promote worker safety, ensure clean air and water, and protect consumers," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Jul 23, 2024
In response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Sen. Elizabeth Warren said exemplified corporations' effort to "hijack our government," the Massachusetts Democrat on Tuesday introduced legislation to effectively overturn the decision and return regulatory powers to federal agencies.
Warren led a group of senators in the Democratic caucus in introducing the Stop Corporate Capture Act (SCCA) less than a month after the high court ruled on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, overturning the "Chevron deference" precedent that had been recognized for four decades.
The legal rule required courts to defer to federal agencies' interpretation of a law if Congress had not passed legislation specifically addressing the issue, and permitted public servants in the federal government to craft regulations related to climate protections, workers' rights, and other crucial issues affecting millions of people in the United States.
The Loper Bright ruling last month, said Warren, made clear that "giant corporations are using far-right, unelected judges to... undermine the will of Congress."
"The Stop Corporate Capture Act will bring transparency and efficiency to the federal rulemaking process, and most importantly, will make sure corporate interest groups can't substitute their preferences for the judgment of Congress and the expert agencies," said the senator.
Specific actions the legislation would take include:
- Streamlining the White House's review period for regulations, creating a 120-day time limit for review;
- Authorizing agencies to reinstate rules that are rescinded by Congress through the Congressional Review Act;
- Creating an Office of the Public Advocate to help members of the public participate more effectively in regulatory proceedings;
- Requiring agencies to respond to citizen petitions for rulemaking that contain 100,000 or more signatures;
- Establishing financial penalties for corporate special interests that knowingly submit false information during the rulemaking process; and
- Requiring all rulemaking participants to disclose industry-funded research or other related conflicts of interest.
Without Chevron deference, said Warren's office in a statement, "industry-backed lobbyists hold more negotiating power in the regulatory process than the general public. They schedule private meetings with regulators, fund sham scientific studies to submit with public comments, and misrepresent the negative impact of stricter regulatory oversight. These actions slow down the enforcement of important regulations, and the American people pay the price."
"The Supreme Court's overturning of Chevron undermines our government's ability to promote worker safety, ensure clean air and water, and protect consumers," the statement added.
The bill has been endorsed by dozens of public interest groups including the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards (CSS), the Consumer Federation of America, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and Earthjustice.
"The Loper Bright decision severely undermined the ability of expert federal agencies and Congress to address our most pressing environmental and health challenges, and instead, transferred an inordinate amount of power to judges who lack the profound understanding needed to craft federal regulations," said Raúl García, vice president of policy and legislation for Earthjustice. "This bill rightly remedies an egregious power grab from the U.S. Supreme Court while creating a more transparent and equitable federal rulemaking process. We thank senators for fighting to ensure that expert federal agencies have the power and mandate to protect the people who need these protections the most, not greedy corporations concerned more about their profits."
Rachel Weintraub, executive director of CSS, said the legislation is a "comprehensive blueprint for modernizing, improving, and strengthening the regulatory system to better protect the public."
"The bill would enhance our government's ability to deliver results for workers, consumers, public health, and our environment," said Weintraub. "And it would level the playing field so that ordinary people—not just big corporations—can weigh in on potential rules that affect them."
Earlier this month, CSS explained how the SCCA would save "our system of public protections," which the Republican Party and the right-wing policy agenda are out to "destroy."
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who introduced similar legislation in the House in March 2023, said the bill "couldn't be more critical after the extreme, conservative Supreme Court stripped the ability of governmental agencies to implement and enforce passed laws."
"Many Americans are taught in civics classes that Congress passes a law and that’s it, but the reality is that any major legislation enacted must also be implemented and enforced by the dedicated, nonpartisan experts at our public agencies to become a reality," said Jayapal. "Too often, this process is driven by corporate lobbyists and special interests who know exactly how to make these processes benefit their bottom lines at the cost of public interest... I am proud to lead this bill, which will level the playing field and ensure that laws passed for the people actually work for the people."
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Report Exposes Trump Proposal to Stop Taxing Tips as 'Hollow Promise'
"In contrast, low-wage voters will be asking, What are Democrats providing as an alternative?" said the head of the group that published the report.
Jul 23, 2024
Most U.S. workers who rely on tips to supplement their often meager incomes would see no benefits from a tax exemption proposed by former President Donald Trump that the authors of a report published Tuesday called a "hollow promise."
The report—published by One Fair Wage and the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley—details how the proposal by Trump, the Republican nominee for president, and Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) related No Tax on Tips Act would deliver little relief to tipped workers.
According to One Fair Wage, "66% of tipped restaurant workers would not benefit from tax exemptions on tips because they or their households do not earn enough to pay income taxes."
"Trump tried to make tips the property of owners the last time he was in office, so he's clearly NOT a genuine advocate for working people."
While the proposal may seem beneficial to tipped workers, the group said it "falls too short of having a real impact and fails to address the fundamental issue facing working-class Americans: the need for a stable, living wage."
According to One Fair Wage, the report's key findings include:
- Tipped restaurant workers earn a median income of just $15,198, a mere 37% of the national median income of $40,480;
- Over 95% of these workers earn less than $53,000 annually, with nearly half earning below the federal income tax threshold of $13,850, making them ineligible for significant tax benefits; and
- The proposal does not address the core issue of higher wages and economic insecurity: The subminimum wage for tipped workers, currently $2.13 per hour federally, perpetuates economic instability, high rates of sexual harassment, and poverty among workers, which tax relief on tips does not address.
While Trump has picked Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate in an apparent bid to win over working-class workers, President Joe Biden on Sunday left the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic presidential nominee.
"Regardless of who's on the ticket, it's clear that candidates who want to win this cycle should address the needs of working people," One Fair Wage president Saru Jayaraman said in a statement. "Let's remember that for his part, Trump tried to make tips the property of owners the last time he was in office, so he's clearly NOT a genuine advocate for working people."
"In contrast, low-wage voters will be asking, What are Democrats providing as an alternative?" Jayaraman added. "In order to reach this critical voting bloc, their response should be loud and clear: It is time to raise the minimum wage and end the subminimum wage for tipped workers."
In a recent interview, Jayaraman toldCommon Dreams that "the restaurant industry has used tips for 150 years in place of what people need, which is a stable base living wage with tips on top."
"It is helpful, for sure, to not have your taxes tipped, but that is a red herring," she added. "That should be on top of what workers really need."
Last week, the Center for American Progress (CAP) published an analysis that found Cruz's bill is "deeply flawed": In addition to excluding 95% of low- and moderate-wage workers who are not working tipped jobs, "it contains few, if any, guardrails to prevent high-income professionals such as hedge fund managers from shifting their compensation to a tax-free tipping model."
"The No Tax on Tips Act potentially kicks the door wide open for tax abuse by the wealthy and fails to deliver any meaningful tax cuts for low- and moderate-wage workers," said CAP senior director for economic policy Brendan Duke. "Just 5% of all workers making less than $25 per hour receive tips. And even among those that do receive tips, the tax cuts would be minimal at best."
Duke asserted that restoring the American Rescue Plan's earned income tax credit and child tax credit expansions would broadly benefit "both tipped workers such as waiters and nontipped workers such as home health aides."
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Labor Unions Urge Biden to Halt Military Aid for Israel
The coalition said the move is needed "as part of the work to secure an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the war in Gaza."
Jul 23, 2024
A coalition of labor unions representing millions of U.S. workers on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to halt military aid to Israel—which is waging war on the Gaza Strip—as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington, D.C.
Since Israel launched its assault on Gaza in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas-led attack, U.S. labor leaders and unions have been among the individuals and groups pushing for an end to U.S. complicity—in the form of both weapons and diplomatic support on the world stage—in what is being investigated by the International Court of Justice as genocide.
The groups behind the letter are the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW), and United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE).
"The Israeli government will continue to pursue its vicious response to the horrific attacks of October 7th until it is forced to stop."
Writing to Democratic President Joe Biden—who on Sunday dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris—the seven unions called for a pause on U.S. military aid to Israel "as part of the work to secure an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the war in Gaza."
After expressing disappointment that neither Israel nor Hamas, which governs Gaza, accepted a cease-fire proposal Biden outlined this spring, the coalition warned that "the Israeli government will continue to pursue its vicious response to the horrific attacks of October 7th until it is forced to stop."
As the letter details:
Recent reports only underscore the urgency of our demands. Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with U.S.-manufactured bombs. Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and destruction of basic infrastructure including schools and hospitals. We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heartwrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza.
The Israeli assault and blockade have killed at least 39,090 Palestinians and injured another 90,147, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Most of the territory's 2.3 million have been displaced—many multiple times—and thousands are missing and presumed dead beneath damaged and destroyed buildings.
The letter argues that "Israel's refusal to minimize civilian harm and its demonstrated restriction of U.S. humanitarian aid call for a halt to U.S. military aid" under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act, challenging a U.S. State Department report from May which enabled the Biden administration and Congress to keep arming Israeli forces.
The coalition's call comes as Netanyahu prepares to address a joint meeting of Congress, a Wednesday event expected to be met with protests, including from lawmakers. Harris—who faces pressure to oppose more U.S. arms for Israel—has opted to attend a previously scheduled event instead of presiding over his speech. The Israeli leader is set to meet with Biden, who is recovering from Covid-19, at the White House on Thursday.
"Our unions are hearing the cries of humanity as this vicious war continues," APWU president Mark Dimondstein said in a statement Tuesday. "Working people and our unions are horrified that our tax dollars are financing this ongoing tragedy. We need a cease-fire now, and the best way to secure that is to shut off U.S. military aid to Israel."
Union members and other observers were quick to note the coalition letter's significance. Yasmine Taeb, a human rights lawyer and advocate, said: "Wow. This is huge."
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, encouraged "those who thought that fury over Biden's facilitation of the Palestinian genocide was limited to Arabs and Gen Z" to read the letter.
Workers who belong to groups in the coalition expressed pride in the letter to Biden while others urged their unions to follow suit.
The Democratic Socialists of America National Labor Commission declared: "Major unions are taking a stand against genocide! Stop military aid to Israel. Free Palestine!"
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