The Majority Institute March 21, 2020

TMI and COVID-19

We want to take a moment to share some information with you regarding how the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting our community and the work we do, as well as some steps we've taken in response to ensure that our subscribers' commissioned research will continue, while we do everything we can to help slow the outbreak in our communities.   While we maintain an office in Denver, Rick, Jon and Anne work remotely. If you need to mail anything to us, please reach out for a home address so we can continue to do our part to flatten the curve and avoid a trip to the office. We have also instituted a “no travel” policy until further notice.   We imagine many of you are shifting towards remote work as well during this crisis. Our friend Marc Litvinoff, managing partner of Global Strategy Group, has some tips for working remotely here . Please feel free to reach out to any of us if you need any help or advice on how to make this work for your teams.   We're confident that this outbreak won't impact the work we do for you in any way, but we are closely monitoring the situation and will notify you immediately if anything changes.   Should you have any questions for us, please feel to reach out. Rick, Jon and Anne rick@majorityinstitute.com jon@majorityinstitute.com anne@majorityinstitute.com

Subscriber News:

Trade unions leading fight to protect workers from... U.S. union federation AFL-CIO said it was “mobilizing to protect front-line workers who are combating the disease every day” and urged senators to pass the $850 billion economic stimulus package that is just finally cleared the U.S. Senate... Read more peoplesworld.org

Coronavirus: UF Health union warns supplies too short at ... “There is a massive shortage of personal protection equipment including safety masks, which are currently only distributed to certain employees working with specific patients,” a release from AFSCME said Wednesday. Read more www.jacksonville.com

California AG sues Betsy DeVos for overturning Obama-era ... “You can gauge a person’s soul by how they respond in a crisis,” American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. “It’s telling that Betsy DeVos, when confronted with the biggest student debt disaster in ... Read more finance.yahoo.com

Let America Vote Praises Senators Klobuchar and Wyden... Let America Vote President Tiffany Muller released the following statement applauding Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) for introducing the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act (NDEBA): "In the midst of unprecedented... Read more endcitizensunited.org

EDF: Trump Administration Must Immediately Halt New... Today EDF sent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Wheeler a letter asking him to immediately halt a new proposed rule advancing the Trump administration's efforts to... Read more www.edf.org

Overview of LCV's 2019 National Environmental Scorecard... What a difference a year makes. After eight long years of climate change deniers running the show in the U.S. House of Representatives, the 2019 National Environmental Scorecard reflects that Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) ... Read more www.lcv.org

You are brave, you are courageous, you are amazing, you... Hola NEA. Here's my message in this surreal moment that we're all facing. It seems like the end of the world. And I'm here to tell you it's not. Read more lilysblackboard.org

Coronavirus response from big companies has been... “It’s not the responsibility of government and taxpayers alone to respond to this crisis,” said Mary Kay Henry, the president of the nearly 2 million member union that represents healthcare workers, in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Read more finance.yahoo.com

National News & Opinion:

Americans Immersed in Coronavirus News; Most Think Media ... About half say they have seen at least some made-up news about the coronavirus; 29% think it was created in a lab The COVID-19 pandemic has caught Americans' rapt attention. Roughly half of U.S. adults (51%) are following news about it very... Read more www.journalism.org

Before the pandemic, three-quarters of Americans said... Americans say there has been a decline in public trust in the federal government and in each other, and they believe this erosion of confidence makes it harder to solve some of the nation's pressing problems, according to a Pew Research Center... Read more www.pewresearch.org

CONGRESS: Democrats want climate action included in... Democrats on both sides of Capitol Hill are pushing to add climate change provisions to the third aid package for people and industries affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic. But it's unclear whether they have the political leverage to make... Read more www.eenews.net

ICE is ignoring a simple way to slow the spread of... Last week, a Cuban asylum seeker called me from a for-profit jail in Louisiana to express the same fear shared by people across the world. Read more www.motherjones.com

Right-wing media figures are making unhinged connections ... The great American longing for a generation-defining crisis - Pearl Harbor envy - is strange and enduring, and it shapes thinking on both sides of the great sociopolitical divide: On the left, global warming is the Third Reich, the so-called... Read more www.mediamatters.org

Coronavirus Forces Bureau To Suspend Census Field... The coronavirus pandemic is forcing the U.S. Census Bureau to temporarily suspend all field operations for the 2020 census for two weeks until April 1, the agency announced Wednesday in a statement on its website. Read more www.npr.org

Who is dividing people? On Sunday, Popular Information reported that Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the United States, did not offer paid sick leave to all of its employees. Many Kroger employees said they received no paid sick leave at all. Others had to wait ... Read more popular.info

Senator Dumped Up to $1.6 Million of Stock After... Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $582,029 ... Read more www.propublica.org

2020 Election News & Opinion:

Some young Midwesterners don't align fully with... Stephanie Olsen does not align with a political party and sees too much "tribalism" in politics. "I think identity politics is toxic," said Olsen, a 30-year-old Milwaukee resident. "We're just fighting against each other constantly.... Read more news.medill.northwestern.edu

Exclusive: New poll shows Asian American voters could... This fall, Asian American voters could help deliver key battleground districts in states like California and Texas to Democrats. According to a February survey of 600 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) likely voters conducted by the... Read more www.vox.com

Can voting by mail save the November election? As states scramble to postpone presidential primaries, election workers abandon their posts, and voters worry about the risk of contagion in crowded polling places, the question of how the nation is going to pull off a general election in... Read more www.latimes.com

Voting by Mail Is the Hot New Idea. Is There Time to... The coronavirus has left states rapidly searching for ways to protect democracy's most sacred institution. In Wisconsin, Democrats sued elections officials to extend voting deadlines. In Rhode Island, the secretary of state wants all 788,000... Read more www.nytimes.com

Ten Recommendations to Ensure a Healthy and Trustworthy... It is quickly becoming apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic will fundamentally change the 2020 election. The government's response to the crisis will affect voters' perceptions of candidates, to be sure-but the pandemic will also affect whether... Read more www.lawfareblog.com

Elections May Have to Change During the Coronavirus... States may shift primary dates, but only Congress can change the federal elections. We spoke to an elections expert to learn what you need to know about how coronavirus could affect the way voters cast their ballots in November. As the novel... Read more www.propublica.org

10 questions about the 2020 election during the... What does a process that typically entails large crowds, handshakes, and baby kissing look like in the age of social distancing? Read more fortune.com

What comes next in the 2020 Democratic presidential... The Democratic presidential nominating process is now at its halfway point, but fear over the spread of coronavirus has slowed the race for the White House to a virtual standstill. Read more www.cbsnews.com

State News & Opinion:

AZ - McSally Launches New Facebook Ads the Same Day She... On the same day Arizona's Republican Senator Martha McSally pledged to suspend political campaigning and "focus 100% of my time on public service" during a national emergency, she launched a new round of Facebook ads for her political campaign,... Read more www.phoenixnewtimes.com

CA - Hidden Housing Could Be Challenge for 2020... Last week, Alameda County mailed flyers to about 4,000 addresses to inform them about how to complete the census if they live in an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, that does not have a separate address with the U.S. Postal Service. Read more www.kqed.org

CO - Counties sue state over new air-quality regulations Garfield and Mesa counties joined seven other counties in the lawsuit against the state Air Quality Control Commission, Air Pollution Control Division and Department of Public Health and Environment Environment Primary category in which blog post ... Read more coloradosun.com

FL - Early Voting Numbers Up, State Dems Say Democrats voted in record numbers ahead of Tuesday's primary election day, the Florida Democratic Party says. Early votes and vote-by-mail numbers were still being tallied earlier this week, but the party says it's already ahead... Read more www.mynews13.com

GA - Early turnout soared before presidential primary ... Turnout had more than doubled compared with 2016 before Georgia's presidential primary was postponed, with over 275,000 ballots cast during two weeks of early voting. Those votes will be counted, but not until the rescheduled Election Day on May 19. Read more www.ajc.com

IL - Businesswoman Marie Newman's victory in Democratic... Two years after nearly ending the Lipinski family's decades-long dynasty, Marie Newman broke through Tuesday night, defeating the socially conservative incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski and ending the reign of one of the Chicago area's most... Read more www.chicagotribune.com

IA - As Grilling Season Approaches, Beef Prices May Dip With grilling season coming, meat eaters in the United States may be treated to slightly lower prices. Many factors contribute to the price consumers pay for a pound of ground beef at the grocery store, but swirling market forces typically don't... Read more www.iowapublicradio.org

KY - Beshear delays primary until June because of... Gov. Andy Beshear is delaying Kentucky's primary election, which was supposed to be held May 19, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The primary will be pushed back to June 23, as requested by Secretary of State Michael Adams. On... Read more www.courier-journal.com

ME - Races to watch: 3 local contests emerge ahead of ... Competitive races for the Maine Legislature are officially underway in three local districts, now that the deadline for filing candidacies has passed.The contested matches are in Maine House Districts 4, 8 and 9.In other districts throughout the... Read more www.seacoastonline.com

MI - Detroit automakers to shut down factories The Detroit 3 are shutting down production for the rest of the month. The automakers made the announcement this afternoon. Ford is halting production at its U.S., Canadian and Mexican manufacturing facilities after Thursday evening's shifts... Read more www.michiganradio.org

MN - DFL Party Moves Conventions to Online Ballot Last night, an emergency meeting of the Minnesota DFL Party Executive Committee made the decision to move local convention activities away from in-person meetings and tele-conventions, and instead conduct party business via an online balloting... Read more www.dfl.org

MO - The 2020 Census Is Underway, But Nonbinary And... Local organizations and governments have worked to avoid an undercount in their communities in the months leading up to the 2020 census. The U.S. Census Bureau started collecting responses to this year's headcount en masse, sending individual... Read more news.stlpublicradio.org

MT - A Montana Nightmare - Gianforte? No Way! The top reasons Greg Gianforte is unfit to be the Governor of Montana Read more www.gianfortenoway.com

NV - Nevada's exchange opens special enrollment period in... Nevada's health insurance exchange is opening a special enrollment period in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange announced Tuesday that Nevadans will be able to enroll in exchange plans between... Read more thenevadaindependent.com

NH - Lawsuit filed over NH ban on large gatherings Three people who planned to attend political and religious events in the next few weeks are challenging New Hampshire's statewide emergency ban on gatherings of 50 people or more to prevent spread of the coronavirus. Read more www.wmur.com

NM - On Assignment: State Dems Move Forward It was probably the last normal Friday that citizens will experience for a while. Just before major announcements changed the ways that Americans live their lives and do their business here on Earth, representatives of the Democratic Party of New ... Read more alibi.com

NC - 'Like a pajama convention:' political parties... With spreading fears of the coronavirus, North Carolina’s Republican and Democratic party officials are taking action to limit large gatherings by switching to virtual party conventions. Read more www.charlotteobserver.com

OH - Considers Vote-from-Home for Postponed Primary Election Gov. Mike DeWine opened the door Tuesday to the possibility that the postponed March 17 primary election could be conducted by mail - something that a handful of other states have done for years. Read more www.governing.com

PA - Who actually has the power to postpone the primary... Everyday life is suspended. Democracy is not. And now it’s on officials to figure out how to keep it going as pandemic strikes during a presidential election year. Read more www.inquirer.com

TN - In one afternoon, 9 Dems pulled petitions for state ... On Thursday afternoon, nine Williamson County Democrats have pulled petitions to run for the Tennessee House of Representatives. This follows a slate of nearly 20 Democrats who ran for the Williamson County Commission in 2018. There has not ... Read more www.tennessean.com

TX - High Democrat Turnout in Texas Suburbs Might Be a ... The dramatically high Democratic turnout in Texas suburbs earlier this month could indicate major changes heading into the remaining races of the 2020 election cycle. With these numbers for Democrats, the 2021 Texas political palette could... Read more www.reformaustin.org

WI - Legislature attempting to involve itself in lawsuit... A Republican-controlled legislative committee is seeking to involve itself in a major lawsuit brought by Democrats that seeks to roll back several absentee voting requirements as the novel coronavirus threatens to keep people away from the polls... Read more madison.com

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