Welcome to the Friday, Jan. 8, Brew.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. 12 ballot measure firsts in 2020
2. 13 states to swear in newly-elected state legislators next week
3. Tracking year-end data on the administrative state

12 ballot measure firsts in 2020

Voters in 34 states decided 129 statewide ballot measures last year, approving 93 of them—72%. As our ballot measures team analyzed 2020's results, they identified 12 stories and events that either never happened before or hadn't happened in a very long time.

In honor of 12 months in a calendar year, we’re bringing you 12 ballot measure firsts from 2020.:

1. A record amount of money—more than $1.20 billion—was raised nationally for statewide ballot measure campaigns. Total ballot measure campaign contributions were higher than in 2016 ($1.01 billion) and 2018 ($1.19 billion) when there were 163 and 167 measures, respectively. Four states—Alaska, California, Illinois, and Massachusetts—had the most expensive statewide measure campaigns in their history.
2. California Proposition 22 was the first time voters in any state decided a gig economy policy through a statewide ballot measure.
3. Voters approved a legal psilocybin mushroom program, and Oregon became the first state to decriminalize all drugs.
4. Marijuana legalization measures have appeared on statewide ballots every even-numbered year since 2010. They were all put on the ballot through citizen initiatives. In 2020, the New Jersey state legislature was the first to put a marijuana legalization measure on the ballot.
5. Colorado voters decided the first-ever statewide ballot measure proposing a state-run paid medical and family leave program.
6. Alaska became the first state to adopt top-four primaries for state executive, state legislative, and congressional offices.
7. Voters decided a statewide measure proposing a $15 per hour minimum wage for the first time.
8. Colorado voters approved Proposition 113, entering the state into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). The NPVIC is an interstate compact to award member states' presidential electors to the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide. Colorado is the first state that entered the compact through a ballot measure. The 14 other NPVIC member states joined the compact through legislation.
9. Massachusetts Question 1 and Question 2 were the first statewide ballot initiatives to qualify for the ballot partially through electronic signatures. Four initiative campaigns in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit in April 2020 requesting the ability to collect electronic signatures due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The campaigns and Massachusetts’ secretary of state agreed to a settlement allowing electronic signatures for the measures’ second round of signature gathering. 
10. The Louisiana legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the ballot at the state's Dec. 5 election. It was the first post-November statewide measure in Louisiana since at least 1974. 
11. Alabama voters statewide decided two constitutional amendments that only affected two counties. Constitutional amendments that affect only a certain jurisdiction, but are voted on statewide, are not new in Alabama. However, these two amendments were the first to be put on the statewide ballot according to a procedure for constitutional amendments of local application passed in 2016.
12. Colorado voters were the first to decide a ballot initiative to reintroduce and manage gray wolves on designated lands. Alaska and Michigan voters have decided ballot measures concerning the regulation of wolf hunting, but not on the reintroduction of wolves.

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13 states to swear in newly-elected state legislators next week 

Members of Congress elected on Nov. 3 were sworn into office on Jan. 3, the date specified in the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution. And after Congress certified the Electoral College results yesterday, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in on Jan. 20. 

But what about in the states?

Eleven states held gubernatorial elections on Nov. 3. Six have already sworn in the winner: Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, and Vermont. The governors of Indiana, Missouri, and Washington—who were all incumbents re-elected to another term—will be sworn in on Monday, Jan. 11. Delaware and West Virginia, where incumbent governors were also re-elected, will hold their swearing-in ceremonies during the week of Jan. 18.

Of the 44 states that held legislative elections on Nov. 3:

• 12 states swore in newly-elected legislators in 2020,
• 17 states have sworn in members so far this month,
• 13 states will swear in new members from Jan. 11 through Jan. 13, and 
• Nevada and New Mexico will swear in their state legislatures on Feb. 1 and Jan. 19, respectively.

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Tracking year-end data on the administrative state

We've been tracking data on the administrative state since launching our Administrative State Project in 2017. Year-end data about changes to the Federal Register and White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviews were released this week. You can find that information on our site, but here are four interesting items from the year-end data:

• The Federal Register grew by 87,352 pages in 2020. Over the same period in 2019 and 2018, the Federal Register reached 72,564 pages and 68,082 pages, respectively.
• The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.
• The Trump administration issued 34 significant proposed rules, 74 significant final rules, and one significant notice in 2020. Items are considered significant when they could have large effects on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. 
• OIRA reviewed a total of 646 significant rules in 2020. The agency reviewed a total of 475 significant rules in 2019, 355 significant rules in 2018, and 237 significant rules in 2017.

Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.

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