| 3.29.21

IT: D.C. statehood debate, and... 🚱 Should more states enact tighter voter restrictions?

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by Causes | 3.29.21

Welcome to Monday, March 29th, bulls and bears...

Georgia has become the first 2020 battleground state to pass sweeping legislation to roll back voting rights, despite no evidence of widespread fraud in November's election.

President Joe Biden won the state by a mere 12,000 votes in November.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said during the signing:

"Few [bills] are more important than the law I signed moments ago" which ensures Georgia’s elections are "secure, accessible and fair."

Voting rights groups say the law will disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color.

GOP politicians have proposed 253 laws, in 43 states, to restrict voting access, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice.

Biden called GOP efforts to restrict voting in states like Georgia "pernicious, "un-American," and "sick."

Read a list of GA's new voting restrictions, then join the conversation:

Do you want your state to pass tighter voter restrictions?

Partisan Divides Over D.C. Statehood

The House Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing last week regarding Democrats’ legislation to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, and it underscored that the partisan divides on the issue have not narrowed since the House considered the bill's predecessor last year.

The District of Columbia’s non-voting delegate to Congress, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), contended that “despite many questions from Republican members seeking to undermine the constitutionality of the bill and the readiness of D.C. for statehood," the hearing will raise the profile of the issue and lead to greater support like the process in the last Congress did:

“The last hearing had the important effect of informing Americans about the lack of rights of the people who live in their own nation’s capital. I can only predict that public support for D.C. statehood, which we saw increase to 54% after the House hearing, markup and passage of the bill last Congress, will continue to grow after today’s hearing.”

Republicans argued that a constitutional amendment would be required to make D.C. #51 because it was established by the Constitution out of land ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia, and Congress was given lawmaking power over the District.

Do you support or oppose D.C. statehood?

200 Million Vaccine Doses in First 100 Days

President Biden has announced a new COVID-19 vaccine goal: 200 million shots administered within his first 100 days in office.

Biden had initially pledged 100 million shots in his first 100 days. While some had criticized that goal as being overly ambitious, the administration reached 100 million shots 58 days into Biden's presidency.

Currently, the U.S. is administering around 2.5 million vaccines a day. If this number holds, America will reach 200 million shots shortly before Biden's 100th day in office, which is April 30.

Will you (or have you) gotten the COVID-19 vaccine?