NC Court Rules on Partisan Gerrymandering: In a landmark decision this month, a North Carolina state court struck down the Republican-drawn state... 

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** NC Court Rules on Partisan Gerrymandering
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In a landmark decision this month, a North Carolina state court struck down ([link removed]) the Republican-drawn state legislative map as an illegal partisan gerrymander. The court gave the legislature two weeks to redraw district lines for the 2020 elections. Lawmakers are prohibited ([link removed]) from using political data to achieve partisan advantage, and the redrawing must take place in public view. This ruling has national implications and could pave the way for other state constitutional challenges against partisan gerrymandering ahead of the next redistricting cycle.


** Higher Ed Affordability on Everyone’s Mind
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Close to 70% of college students graduate with debt, and the collective student loan debt in the United States in 2019 is now over $1.5 trillion ([link removed]) . In Michigan ([link removed]) , for example, public universities and community colleges face an affordability crisis in which increasing tuitions and state funding cuts have created significant barriers to higher education, especially for students of color. SiX published a report ([link removed]) this month highlighting the most important trends in legislation that state lawmakers have crafted to address the student debt crisis.


** Concerns Over E-Cigarettes Cause State Action
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Michigan ([link removed]) became the first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes and New York ([link removed]) Governor Andrew Cuomo later proposed legislation to do the same in response to concerns of marketing nicotine products towards youth. Since then, there have been calls from state legislators in Utah ([link removed]) , Delaware ([link removed]) , and New Jersey ([link removed]) to follow suit. This occurs on the heels
of an investigation into 450 cases of a mysterious lung illness related to vaping.


** The Paradox of Food Waste and Food Scarcity
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Santa Clara University recently published a study ([link removed]) finding that more than a third of all edible produce is being left to rot in fields, as farmers cannot justify the costs of labor based on the price produce will sell for. This is a significant increase from previous estimates, and may end up drastically increasing the current estimates of overall food waste of in the U.S. at 40 percent ([link removed]) . This is occurring at the same time almost 12 percent ([link removed]) of U.S. households are food insecure, and 37 million individuals ([link removed]) including more than 11 million children in our country face hunger issues.


** States Modernize, Others Limit Access to Voting
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Many states are taking steps to modernize their voting systems and increase access for voters ahead of the upcoming elections. Maine ([link removed]) will become the first state to use ranked-choice voting in presidential elections in 2020, and Pennsylvania ([link removed]) is launching a new option for voters to apply for absentee ballots online. Meanwhile, “1,688 polling sites across 13 states have closed in the six years since the
Shelby v. Holder decision gutted key voter protections,” according to a new report ([link removed]) from The Leadership Conference.


** Health Care Still Inaccessible for Many
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For the first time this decade, federal data ([link removed]) is showing a significant increase in the proportion of Americans without health insurance over the past year. The Census Bureau found that 27.5 million residents ([link removed]) did not have coverage in 2019, reversing the expansion in coverage following the Affordable Care Act. The poverty rate has fallen to its lowest level in 18 years, and yet, we are seeing high levels of inequality and growing numbers of people at financial risk due to lack of health care coverage.


** Lawmakers Speak Out Against Abortion Bans
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Sen. Margie Bright Matthews of South Carolina ([link removed]) and Rep. Sarah Unsicker of Missouri ([link removed]) are voicing their criticisms of legislation to implement new abortion restrictions. These restrictive and oppressive laws are being passed at a time when public opinion polls ([link removed]) show a majority of Americans believe abortions should be legal in all or most cases.

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The State Innovation Exchange (SiX) is a national resource and strategy center that supports state legislators who seek to strengthen our democracy, fight for working families, defend civil rights and liberties, and protect the environment. We do this by providing training, emphasizing leadership development, amplifying legislators’ voices, and forging strategic alliances between our legislative network and grassroots movements.

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