After a tumultuous and highly anticipated election, state legislatures are preparing to inaugurate a new class of legislators in the coming months...

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
COVID cases are spiking around the country again—many areas are experiencing record spikes and overwhelmed health care systems. SiX has resources for state legislators ([link removed]) looking to propose policy changes in their states.


** SiX’s Analysis: What Happened in the States
------------------------------------------------------------

After a tumultuous and highly anticipated election, the nation is preparing for a federal transfer of power to the Biden administration and state legislatures are preparing to inaugurate a new class of legislators in the coming months. See SiX’s analysis ([link removed]) to understand the 2021 landscape in the states. The pipeline of public leadership is starting to look more like America—the new class of legislators will include the country’s first openly nonbinary state legislator, numerous new transgender legislators, and a number of first elected Muslim, Cambodian, and Native Americans to serve in their states’ general assemblies. These historic wins occurred despite the significant structural challenges, like gerrymandering, that continue to undermine our democracy and state legislators.


** Changes Made to Elections Due to Pandemic May Become Permanent
------------------------------------------------------------

States expanded access to voting in a variety of ways this year in response to the pandemic. Early voting, mail-in ballots, dropboxes, and corresponding policies allowed voters to keep their distance while still making their voices heard. Now election officials and voters alike are hopeful that states will make permanent ([link removed]) the policies intended to address voting during a pandemic.


** Nevada's Constitution Will Protect Marriage Equality
------------------------------------------------------------

In a historic first, Nevadans voted to remove their constitutional provision ([link removed]) defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, making Nevada the only state to protect marriage equality in its constitution. Nationwide, voters elected six transgender candidates ([link removed]) , including three state legislators. This group of legislators, like so many of the candidates who won last week, are diverse across gender, ethnic, and religious lines, making their state legislatures more representative of their communities.


** Communities of Color Instrumental in Electoral Organizing and Change
------------------------------------------------------------

Voter engagement efforts were essential during this campaign, but advocates, specifically in Black communities in Georgia ([link removed]) and Latinx and Indigenous communities ([link removed]) in Arizona, have been hard at work for years to get voters registered and to the polls. This time their years of organizing paid off. The monumental turnout in BIPOC communities was instrumental for progressive wins and a direct result of years-long organizing. Our democracy and our elections are stronger when more people—and people who are representative of America—participate.


** Oregon Decriminalizes Drugs, But Implementation is Everything
------------------------------------------------------------

Oregon became the first state to decriminalize low-level drug possession ([link removed]) last week as voters passed a ballot measure that aims to shift the focus from punishment to treatment and recovery, and several states overwhelmingly voted for marijuana legalization ([link removed]) . Decriminalization is an important first step, but implementation through a racial justice lens is imperative to avoid the racial disparities that persist in other states that have decriminalized drugs—even in states that have legalized marijuana, Black people are still more likely to be arrested than white people for marijuana possession, despite making up a smaller portion of the population. In some states that legalized marijuana, racial disparities
increased ([link removed]) , proving the need for careful and equitable implementation.


** Voters Approve Removing Racist Relics
------------------------------------------------------------

Racist ideologies and symbols remain in flags, constitutions, and election laws but voters approved ballot measures to remove some of these racist relics in several states last week. Alabama voters passed an amendment to remove racist language in their state constitution. Mississippi voters approved measures to replace the Confederate state flag ([link removed]) and eliminate their version of a statewide electoral college ([link removed]) —the origin of which (and modern day effect) was to keep Black Americans from winning statewide seats. Two states, Utah and Nebraska, removed references of slavery ([link removed]) from their state constitutions.


** New Resource for RFLC Members
------------------------------------------------------------

With a changed Supreme Court and state legislatures mostly unchanged by the 2020 elections, progressive state legislators face a critical moment in protecting and expanding reproductive freedom. In response to this challenge, SiX Repro is proud to launch a new microsite ([link removed]) where Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council members can conveniently access reproductive rights resources like evidence-based messaging, issue-specific fact sheets, and cutting-edge research. Email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) for full access to the microsite or if you have any questions.
Ballot Initiatives: Abortion Rights

Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed abortion ban ([link removed]) marking a big shift in conventional wisdom about abortion politics. People support abortion rights, including rights for those needing to make that decision later in their pregnancy. With this, we also stand in shared disappointment and sadness with our RFLC members and partners in Louisiana at the passage of Amendment 1 ([link removed]) , which explicitly states there is no right to an abortion and the funding of an abortion in the Louisiana Constitution.

============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** stateinnovation.org ([link removed])

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.

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.