Mixed reactions from city officials, public on attention to public monuments

Today's Tap covers reactions to public monuments, vetoes in North Carolina, our newest veto-override analysis, and recall updates from California wher   [View this email in your browser]( [Ballotpedia](   [Facebook](   [Twitter](   [The Tap](   Good morning and welcome to the weekend! Before you dive into this week's state and local news, we are looking for feedback on this newsletter. If you could please answer our [quick, 6-question survey]( we would really appreciate it. Thank you! Looking for the full Tap? [Click through]( for our exhaustive coverage.   Cities begin removal of Confederate and Leninist memorabilia following Charlottesville violence - In North Carolina, protesters in [Durham]( [pulled down]( a Confederate soldier statue at the Durham County Courthouse. The statue, which was erected in 1924, was taken down by protesters who were angered by violent confrontations over the removal of a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Durham protests took place as the Durham County Commission was holding a meeting on unrelated business. Gov. [Roy Cooper]( (D) tweeted, "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments." Durham County released a statement saying a 2015 state law prohibits removal of historical monuments and memorials by local governments without state permission, making removal of the courthouse statue difficult under current law. As of August 17, eight protesters faced misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and property damage along with felony inciting a riot charges. Durham is the fourth-largest city in North Carolina and the [82nd-largest city]( in the U.S. by population. - On Tuesday, Birmingham Mayor [William Bell]( ordered the erection of a plywood structure around the base of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Linn Park. Bell presented the plywood structure as a temporary measure that would decrease the monument’s visibility while the city explored its legal options in seeking its removal. - Attorney General Marshall’s lawsuit argues that the plywood structure erected around the monument is a violation of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017. The act, signed by [Governor]( [Kay Ivey]( (R) on May 24, prohibited the renaming of buildings and streets that have had their current names for 40 years or longer and bars local governments from removing or altering monuments that have stood for at least 40 years. Because the Birmingham monument was erected in 1905, it falls under the protection of the Act. The lawsuit alleges that the erection of a plywood structure around the monument’s base constitutes an alteration of the monument and is illegal under Alabama law. If the court sides with Marshall, the city could face a $25,000 fine for each day that the monument has been covered. - On Wednesday, [Alabama Attorney General]( [Steve Marshall]( (R) filed [a lawsuit]( in [Jefferson County Circuit Court]( against the city of [Birmingham]( arguing that measures taken by the city to hide a monument located in a downtown park violate the [Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017](. - On Wednesday, four Confederate monuments were [removed]( in [Baltimore]( after city officials approved their removal earlier in the week. The monuments to former Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney (erected in 1871), General Stonewall Jackson and General Robert E. Lee (1948), Confederate soldiers (1902), and Confederate women (1917) attracted scrutiny from protesters following the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. Mayor [Catherine Pugh]( (D) initially announced a more deliberate process for removal but expedited the plan to avoid similar confrontations to Charlottesville. Carolyn Billups, the former Maryland president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, criticized Pugh for not consulting the public. The city originally considered their removal in 2015 following the murder of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, by Dylann Roof. Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and the [26th-largest city]( in the U.S. by population. - On Wednesday, a 1956 plaque commemorating a highway named for Confederate President Jefferson Davis was [removed]( by [San Diego]( city officials in California. The plaque, which was rededicated when Horton Plaza was remodeled in 2016, attracted an online petition for its removal and condemnation from state Rep. [Lorena Gonzalez]( (D) and Councilman [Christopher Ward](. Mayor [Kevin Faulconer]( (R) explained his decision to order the removal by saying, "San Diegans stand together against Confederate symbols of division." Daughters of the Confederacy member Donna Derrick told local media, "I don't see any point in removing all of our Southern culture and the war between the states as if it did not ever happen." San Diego is the second-largest city in California and the [eighth-largest city]( in the U.S. by population. - On Wednesday, [Seattle]( Mayor [Ed Murray]( (D) expressed his support for [removing]( a statue of Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin from the Fremont area as well as a Confederate memorial at Lake View Cemetery. Murray made the statement in a radio interview after a group of residents led by a supporter of President [Donald Trump]( (R) protested the Lenin statue and compared it to the Confederate memorial. The Lenin statue originated in Slovakia in 1988, but it was toppled in 1989 and preserved by a Washington state resident who brought it to the United States where it was put on display beginning in 1995. Murray stated, “We should never forget our history, but we also should not idolize figures who have committed violent atrocities and sought to divide us based on who we are or where we came from.” Seattle is the largest city in Washington state and the [21st-largest city]( in the U.S. by population.   North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes two bills; one decreases the governor’s power to appoint members to the state’s Medical Board. - Gov. [Roy Cooper]( (D) issued two vetoes on August 14. One was related to water quality regulation. The other was related to appointments to the North Carolina Medical Board. [Senate Bill 14]( also known as the Business Regulatory Reform Act of 2017 would impose limitations on local governments over landfill permits and would also allow for some exemptions on requiring stormwater restrictions for redevelopment projects. [House Bill 770]( which is comprised of multiple law changes, would decrease Gov. Cooper's power to appoint members to the North Carolina Medical Board. Cooper has six appointments to the board, but House Bill 770 would take away two of Cooper's appointments and let legislative leaders choose the two members. Cooper [called]( it "an intrusion on executive authority." The bill also clarified that state employees can draw another salary for additional work on the state’s Property Tax Commission. - Gov. Cooper has now issued 11 vetoes since he first took office on January 1, 2017. The [North Carolina state Legislature]( has used its [veto-proof majorities]( in each chamber to override five vetoes. Gov. Cooper has argued that four of the bills that the legislature overrode—[House Bill 100]( [Senate Bill 68]( [House Bill 239]( and [Senate Bill 257]( were intended to undermine his authority as governor. Republicans, meanwhile, insist that the legislation restores power to the legislature that was previously taken away by earlier Democratic administrations. - Veto-proof supermajorities: Republican supermajorities in each chamber of the legislature allow Republicans to pass legislation and override gubernatorial vetoes with little intervention by Democrats. A three-fifths majority is needed in each chamber—30 votes in the Senate and 72 votes in the House— to override gubernatorial vetoes. - Read more: [Conflicts between Gov. Roy Cooper and the North Carolina General Assembly](   Court halts changes to recall election laws, possibly preventing California State Sen. Josh Newman (D) from pushing his recall election to 2018 - Justice [Vance Raye]( of the [Third District]( of the [California Courts of Appeal]( handed down a ruling that prevents changes in recall election laws pushed by California Democrats from being enforced until after the court has resolved the outstanding legal issues surrounding the changes. The changes would have likely increased the time it takes for a recall election to be called. This possibly would have allowed state Sen. [Josh Newman]( (D)—the subject of a Republican-backed recall effort due to his support for an increase in the state’s gas tax—to have his recall election the same day as the statewide primary in June 2018. The statewide primary was expected to attract higher Democratic turnout and increase Newman’s chances of surviving the recall. [According]( to the Los Angeles Times, Newman’s recall election could now be held sometime in November 2017 or in the months that follow. - If the Newman recall reaches the ballot, it will be a rare moment in California’s political history. Since 1913, 125 recalls have been launched against state officials in California including 76 against state legislators. Just eight state legislative recalls made it the election phase and only four legislators were successfully recalled. Thus far in 2017, Ballotpedia has tracked 183 state and local recalls, of which 20 have been successful. Story background - The changes to recall election laws were [tacked]( on to California’s 2018 fiscal year budget. They included ending random sampling when verifying signatures on recall petitions, giving petition signers 30 days to withdraw their signatures, establishing a cost estimation process of the election by the state's Department of Finance that has no definitive timeline, and establishing a 30-day period for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to review the department's estimate. - [Discover why recall supporters launched the campaign and what's happened since.](   Verbatim Fact Check During the first Virginia gubernatorial debate, GOP candidate Ed Gillespie and Democratic candidate Ralph Northam disagreed on the strength of the state's economy. Gillespie claimed, "Too many Virginians are working part time who want to work full time. We hit a 10-year low in labor force participation rate last year...and since the Lieutenant Governor [Northam] was first elected to the General Assembly 10 years ago, we have shed 69,000 manufacturing jobs. We're trading out high-paying jobs for low-paying jobs." Gillespie is correct that Virginia’s labor force participation rate was at a 10-year low in 2016. He is incorrect that the state lost 69,000 manufacturing jobs since Northam's election in 2007. According to research by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, involuntary part-time workers comprised 3.5 percent of the state’s workforce (148,600 people) in the second quarter of 2017 compared to 4.6 percent (187,300) in the second quarter of 2010. Virginia’s median household income increased 1.3 percent between 2010 and 2015 (the most recent available data). [Ed Gillespie on Virginia's economy](   California sues the federal government over sanctuary city funding - On Monday, [California Attorney General]( [Xavier Becerra]( (D) filed [a lawsuit]( in the [U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California]( against U.S. Attorney General [Jeff Sessions]( (R) in his capacity as head of the [Department of Justice](. The case alleges that a Department of Justice policy that would bar jurisdictions that do not enforce federal immigration law from receiving funding from federal public safety programs is detrimental to the state’s public safety and violates the U.S. Constitution. - The policy, which was announced by Attorney General Sessions on March 27, would require jurisdictions applying for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grants to demonstrate that they were enforcing federal immigration law. The previous policy, which had been put in place by the Obama Administration in July 2016, required jurisdictions to prove that they were not preventing local law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration law and gave noncompliant jurisdictions time to adjust their policies. California receives $28 million in public safety funds through the program. - The lawsuit also challenges conditions requiring federal agents to have the ability to interrogate prisoners whose immigration status is in question and mandating that the Department of Homeland Security be given 48 hours’ notice before the release of individuals wanted by immigration authorities, arguing that these conditions do not have a basis in federal law. - The state’s lawsuit will be coordinated with a separate lawsuit filed on Monday by [San Francisco]( City Attorney Dennis Herrera which makes similar challenges to the Department of Justice policy. San Francisco stands to lose $1.5 million in federal funding under the new policy. - A Ballotpedia [analysis of the immigration policies of the country’s 100 largest cities]( examined the status of 17 California cities. Of those cities, 10 had active policies prohibiting the enforcement of federal immigration law, while four did not. The approach of the remaining three cities was unknown.   Signatures for Missouri right-to-work veto referendum submitted - Missouri right-to-work opponents to turn in 310,568 signatures. If 100,126 of the submitted signatures are found to be valid, the right-to-work legislation will be suspended and voters will decide the issue at the November 2018 election. Moreover, a certain number of signatures were required from six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. The deadline for submitting the signatures is August 28. - In 2015, [Gov. Jay Nixon]( (D) vetoed a right-to-work bill that the [state Legislature]( passed. Following the [general election]( on November 8, 2016, Republicans remained in control of both chambers of the [state legislature]( and [Eric Greitens]( (R) defeated [Chris Koster]( (D) to become [governor](. The change in partisan control of the governorship made Missouri a [Republican trifecta](. The Missouri State Legislature gave final approval to Senate Bill 19 on February 2, 2017, and  [Gov. Eric Greitens]( (R) signed the bill four days later. - [Mike Louis]( of the [Missouri AFL-CIO]( was one of the individuals who filed for the veto referendum on Senate Bill 19. Louis also filed [multiple initiated constitutional amendments]( designed to provide a constitutional right to employees to negotiate, enter into, and enforce a collective bargaining agreement. As of June 2017, [28 states had right-to-work laws in place](. The majority of right-to-work laws were passed by states between 1944 and 1958, although some were passed after 2010. [Signatures required for referendum](   [Image]   [Map of state government trifectas]     Illinois House to vote on override of Gov. Rauner’s education funding formula veto - [Illinois House of Representatives]( Speaker [Michael Madigan]( (D) has [said]( that his chamber will attempt an override of Gov. [Bruce Rauner’s]( (R) veto of SB 1, a bill that establishes an evidence-based funding formula to disperse state aid to schools, on August 23. SB 1 originally passed the House by a 60-52 vote. 71 votes are needed to override a veto. If the House fails to override the veto, the bill will die and a new funding formula bill will have to be introduced. On August 13, the [Illinois State Senate]( successfully voted to override the veto, with one Republican joining 37 Senate Democrats in the override vote. Democrats have a 67-51 majority in the state House and a 37-22 majority in the state Senate. Illinois is one of 18 states under [divided government](. - [Veto-proof majorities]( Illinois is one of 28 states where one party does not have a sufficient majority to override a gubernatorial veto. Story background - SB 1 establishes an evidence-based funding formula that uses factors such as a district’s property values to determine state aid for public schools. The state’s 2018 fiscal year budget—which passed the [Illinois General Assembly]( on July 6 through an override of Rauner’s veto— requires an evidence-based formula to distribute $6.76 billion in state aid to schools. State aid payments were scheduled to begin on August 10. Because much of school funding in Illinois comes from property taxes rather than state aid, all schools are expected to open on time. However, [according]( to the Washington Post, few schools will remain open throughout the 2017-2018 school year without state funding. Some schools in Illinois have already opened. [Chicago Public Schools]( will open after Labor Day, which is September 4. - [Get the full story on this budget conflict](   Minneapolis Mayor Hodges faces 15 challengers in re-election bid - The filing deadline passed to run in [general elections]( for mayor, all 13 seats on the city council, both elected members of the board of estimate and taxation, and all nine seats on the park and recreation board in [Minneapolis](. The city will be using [ranked-choice voting]( in the election, so all municipal candidates will compete in the general election on November 7, 2017. Mayor [Betsy Hodges]( (D) is running for a second term and faces 15 challengers, including state Rep. [Raymond Dehn]( (D), Minneapolis City Councilman [Jacob Frey]( and former Minneapolis NAACP president [Nekima Levy-Pounds](. On July 8, 2017, Hodges finished third in the endorsement balloting at the city’s [Democratic-Farmer-Labor]( party convention, behind both Dehn and Frey. Since no candidate received more than 60 percent during that vote, the D-F-L did not officially endorse a candidate in the city’s mayoral race. - Mayor Hodges faced criticism for her handling of the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark by Minneapolis police in 2015, including from Levy-Pounds. Following the July 2017 police shooting of Justine Damond, the city's policing culture and Hodges' response to it became a higher-profile issue in the mayoral race. Levy-Pounds and other top challengers, including Dehn and Frey, have called for sweeping changes to the police department and its city governance. - Eleven of 13 of the city’s council members filed for re-election. There will be open-seat races in Ward 3, since Frey is running for mayor, and in Ward 8, where Councilwoman [Elizabeth Glidden]( announced she won’t seek a fourth term. Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and the [46th-largest city]( in the U.S. by population.   [Get the full version of the Tap now.](   Ballotpedia depends on the support of our readers. The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns. [Donate Securely Online]( Decide which emails you receive from Ballotpedia. [Unsubscribe or adjust your preference](   Ballotpedia The Encyclopedia of American Politics 8383 Greenway Blvd., Suite 600 Middleton, WI 53562   [Facebook](   [Twitter](