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Hello and welcome to the weekend. Below we have the week's top state and local news. Check it out!
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New Hampshire, Oregon stay-at-home orders expire
- New Hampshire’s stay-at-home order and the 10-person limit on gatherings expired at 11:59 p.m. on June 15. The stay-at-home order had been in effect since March 27.
- Multnomah County became the final county to enter Phase One of Oregon's reopening plan on June 19, lifting the state's stay-at-home order. The order had been in effect since March 23.
- As of June 20, stay-at-home orders have ended in 39 states. Nineteen of those states have Republican governors and 20 have Democratic governors (including Wisconsin, where the state Supreme Court invalidated the stay-at-home order). The four states with active stay-at-home orders have Democratic governors.
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Pennsylvania House Speaker Turzai resigns
- Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai (R) resigned from the state legislature on June 15 to take a job in the private sector. He was first elected as a state Representative in 2001 and had announced in January that he would not run for election in 2020. Turzai had served as Speaker of the House since January 2015. He previously served as the House majority leader from 2011 to 2014.
- House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler (R) will serve as interim House Speaker.
- The Morning Call reported that Turzai has expressed an interest in running for governor in 2022. He was a 2018 gubernatorial candidate but withdrew from the race before the filing deadline and ran for re-election to the state House of Representatives that year instead. Incumbent Gov. Tom Wolf (D) will be prevented by term limits from seeking re-election in 2022.
- The current partisan composition of the Pennsylvania state House is 109 Republicans, 93 Democrats, and one vacancy.
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Voters in Kentucky and New York to decide state legislative, judicial primaries
- Kentucky and New York are holding statewide primaries.
- In Kentucky, primaries are being held for 19 state Senate seats, all 100 state House seats, one state supreme court seat, and one state intermediate appellate court seat. On March 16, Governor Andy Beshear (D) and Secretary of State Michael Adams (R) postponed Kentucky's primary election from May 19
to June 23 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In April, Beshear issued an executive order suspending the state's eligibility requirements for absentee voting and directing all residents to vote by mail if they're able to do so.
- Additionally, a special general election is being held in District 26 of the Kentucky State Senate.
- In New York, primaries are taking place for all 63 state Senate seats and all 150 state Assembly seats. In April, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) issued executive orders suspending the state's existing eligibility criteria for absentee voting and automatically sending absentee
ballot applications to all eligible voters.
- On April 24, Cuomo canceled special elections originally scheduled to take place in one state Senate district and three state Assembly districts. Those seats will remain vacant until the general election on November 3.
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Vermont releases reopening guidance for schools in the fall
- The Vermont Agency of Education released a 25-page document providing guidance for reopening schools. This includes health checks on entry, staggered drop-off and pickup times, and hand sanitizing stations at entrances.
- In March and April, all states except Montana and Wyoming closed schools to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year. Those states accounted for 99.4% of the nation's 50.6 million public school students.
- Five states (Alabama, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, and Wyoming) have reopened their campuses for students and staff. Eight states have announced schools will reopen in the fall. Officials in 10 other states have released guidance for reopening schools to in-person instruction, but have not indicated when or whether they plan to do so.
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South Carolina to hold 11 primary runoffs for state legislative seats
- South Carolina is holding primary runoffs on June 23, 2020, following its June 9 primaries. The state holds primary runoffs for races in which a candidate does not receive a majority of votes in the primary. Eleven races will be on the primary runoff ballot, including for eight state House seats and three state Senate seats.
- The three state Senate primary runoffs include two for the Republican Party and one for the Democratic Party. Five of the state House primary runoffs are Republican, and three are Democratic.
- Three incumbents are running in primary runoffs: Republican Luke Rankin in Senate District 33, Republican Neal Collins in House District 5, and Republican Bill Chumley in House District 35.
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Courts in Maine move into second phase of reopening
- The Maine Judicial Branch moved into Phase 2 of reopening, which will remain in effect through July 2. Under this phase, the court may begin handling more proceedings. Anyone entering the courthouse must wear a mask and sanitize their hands upon entrance and exit. Social distancing measures are in place, including a limit on courtroom gatherings to 10 people. The Judicial Branch is expected to move into Phase 3 from July 6 through July 31. Under that phase, grand juries may resume. Phase 4 is expected to begin Aug. 3 and run through Sept. 4. Jury trials may resume in Phase 5,
which is expected to begin on Sept. 7.
- The New Jersey Supreme Court approved a post-pandemic plan that will allow state courts to move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 beginning June 22. In Phase 2, some proceedings will be able to resume in-person, including five jury trials that began before courthouses were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many proceedings will continue to be conducted remotely.
- The New York Unified Court System announced that state courts outside of New York City could move into Phase 2 of reopening on June 12. Under this phase, essential family matters can be conducted in-person. Nonessential proceedings, mediation and alternative dispute matters, and “criminal, juvenile delinquency and mental hygiene law proceedings pertaining to a hospitalized adult” will continue to be held virtually. Face masks and face coverings are required. Other safety measures include social distancing and the regular sanitation of court facilities.
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Louisiana extends candidate qualifying deadline to July 24
- On June 5, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed HB751 into law, extending the candidate qualifying deadline for the Nov. 3 election from July 17 to July 24.
- Louisiana is one of at least 17 states that have modified their candidate filing procedures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The other states are Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. For more information, see this article
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New Hampshire announces end of eviction and foreclosure policies implemented during pandemic
- Gov. Chris Sununu (R) issued an executive order that will end eviction and foreclosure protections on July 1. Previous executive orders implemented these protections in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Executive Order #4 prohibited landlords from initiating eviction proceedings and prohibited nonjudicial and judicial foreclosures during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Executive Order #24 provided exceptions for landlords to begin eviction proceedings for lease or law violations, property damage caused by tenants, or substantial adverse impact on the health and safety of the other person. The order also allowed for eviction proceedings to be started in cases where a tenant abandons their rental unit or space.
- California’s Judicial Council delayed its decision to end the judiciary's halt on evictions and foreclosures during the coronavirus pandemic, keeping the moratorium in place for the time being. In April, the Judicial Council voted to suspend evictions and foreclosures until 90 days after the expiration of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) state of emergency, which remains in effect.
- In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) extended the state’s eviction moratorium through June 30.
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Kansas requires travelers from three more states to self-quarantine
- On June 17, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment updated its travel-related quarantine guidelines to include Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas, joining Maryland. Anyone who has traveled to those states is required to quarantine for 14 days after arriving in Kansas. Residents are no longer required to self-quarantine upon traveling from Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
- On June 16, the Hawaii State Department of Health dropped the 14-day quarantine requirement for inter-island travelers. Passengers and crew still need to fill out a travel and health form before boarding. The 14-day quarantine requirement on out-of-state travelers remains in effect.
- The Arkansas Department of Health dropped its 14-day quarantine requirement for all travelers on June 15. Previously, travelers from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New Orleans were required to isolate upon entering Arkansas.
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Illinois Attorney General tests positive for coronavirus
- On Tuesday, June 16, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (D) announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. He said he had minor symptoms and was working from home.
- Ballotpedia has tracked 35 state-level politicians who have tested positive for coronavirus.
- Ballotpedia has identified seven members of Congress who have tested positive for coronavirus, including U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.), who made such an announcement on June 15.
- Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) announced on June 13 that she had tested negative for COVID-19. She received a test on June 12 and self-quarantined after being in close contact with a family member who later tested positive for the virus.
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Candidate filing period to end for state legislative offices in Rhode Island
- The filing deadline to run for state legislative offices in Rhode Island will pass on June 24. The primary is scheduled for September 8, 2020, and the general election will be held on November 3, 2020.
- In Rhode Island, prospective candidates may file for the following offices:
- The next and second-to-last statewide filing deadline in the 2020 election cycle is on July 14 in Delaware.
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Ballot Measures Update
- Ninety-five statewide measures in 32 states have been certified for the 2020 ballot so far.
- Twenty-five of the certified measures are citizen-initiated measures. Sixty-nine are legislative referrals. One is an automatic constitutional revision commission question.
- Five new measures were certified for the November ballot last week.
- An initiative setting requirements for dialysis clinics qualified for the ballot, making 2020 the second general election in a row at which California voters will decide a dialysis-related ballot measure.
- The Colorado Legislature referred three measures to the Nov. 3 ballot:
- The Georgia Legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the ballot that would waive the state’s sovereign immunity to allow residents to sue the state over laws that are found to be unconstitutional.
- Four statewide measures have been on the ballot so far this year. Four more are on the ballot over the summer, and the remaining 87 are on the November ballot.
- On June 30, voters in Oklahoma will decide State Question 802, an initiative to expand Medicaid coverage.
- Proponents of nine additional ballot initiatives and veto referendums in California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington submitted signatures, which are pending verification by state officials.
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Special Elections
- Forty-seven state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 24 states so far this year, with 27 seats having taken place already. Heading into those races, Democrats had previously controlled 10 of the seats, while Republicans previously controlled 16. One seat flipped from Democratic control to Republican control, and four seats flipped from Republican control to Democratic control.
- In special elections between 2011 and 2019, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of four seats nationally each year.
- An average of 56 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past five even years (2010: 30, 2012: 46, 2014: 40, 2016: 66, 2018: 99).
- An average of 88 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past five odd years (2011: 95, 2013: 84, 2015: 88, 2017: 98, 2019: 77).
- Upcoming special elections include:
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States in session
Seventeen states—California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont—are in regular session.
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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.
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