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Welcome to the Thursday, January 23, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Ballotpedia launches new Learning Journey on the civil service
- Sanders leads Democratic candidates in Ballotpedia pageviews for second straight week
- Group submits signatures for veto referendum on tax legislation in Utah
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Ballotpedia launches new Learning Journey on the civil service
Earlier this month we launched two new Learning Journeys—on executive control in the administrative state and executive appointment and removal power. Today we’re introducing another Learning Journey on the civil service.
The civil service is individuals other than military personnel who are employed by the federal government. These individuals, also known as civil servants, are sometimes referred to as government bureaucrats or career administrators. In the context of administrative law, a civil servant is a civilian who is employed by a federal administrative agency. According to the Congressional Research Service, there were an estimated 2.7 million federal civilian employees in 2019.
This Learning Journey guides you through the structure and development of the federal civil service, including recent executive orders issued by President Donald Trump (R) that instituted changes to civil service practices. We also examine contemporary state-level policies that have departed from the traditional federal civil service model.
Our Learning Journeys send you a series of emails with information, examples, and exercises to help you understand the concept. It’s a great way to take something complicated and break it down into smaller pieces of information that are more fun to read and easier to follow.
Along the way, you’ll be able to contact us with any questions and comments you may have. You can also set how frequently you receive these messages—daily, weekly, or in-between. Oh, and one other great feature? It’s free! Click the link below to get started.
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Sanders leads Democratic candidates in Ballotpedia pageviews for second straight week
The first presidential nominating contest is in less than two weeks with the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3. That is the first of four Democratic primaries or caucuses next month, including the New Hampshire primaries, the Nevada caucuses, and the South Carolina primary ahead of Super Tuesday on March 3.
Democrats will also hold three primary debates in February, with the first one in Manchester, New Hampshire on Feb. 7. Six candidates—Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, and Elizabeth Warren—have already qualified for that event. Candidates have until February 6 to qualify.
Sanders led all Democratic presidential hopefuls in Ballotpedia pageviews for the week ending Jan. 18. It was the second consecutive week that Sanders led. Biden’s page had the second-most pageviews during this week and Michael Bloomberg’s page was third.
We track and report the number of views candidates’ 2020 presidential campaign pages receive to show who is getting our readers’ attention.
Deval Patrick's campaign received the most pageviews relative to the prior week. His campaign page increased in pageviews by 55.3%. Andrew Yang saw the smallest increase in pageviews relative to last week among Democratic candidates with 7.4%.
Yang remains the leader in overall pageviews with 162,812. He is followed by Buttigieg, Biden, Warren, and Sanders.
You can find the full data on all presidential candidates by clicking the link below.
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Group submits signatures for veto referendum on tax legislation in Utah
A group in Utah submitted signatures earlier this week—on Jan. 21—intended to place a veto referendum on the ballot regarding Utah Senate Bill 2001 (SB 2001), titled Tax Restructuring Revisions. A veto referendum is a type of citizen-initiated ballot measure that asks voters whether to uphold or repeal a law passed by the state legislature.
Among other things, SB 2001 was designed to make the following changes in Utah:
- decrease the individual income tax rate;
- decrease the corporate franchise tax and corporate income tax rate;
- change how the personal exemption tax credit is calculated;
- create a nonrefundable tax credit for social security benefits;
- increase the sales tax on food and food ingredients;
- create a refundable grocery tax credit;
- create a sales tax exemption for menstrual products; and
- create a tax on gasoline (motor fuel) and special fuels, and add a new tax on diesel fuel.
SB 2001 passed the legislature in a special session on December 12, 2019. It was approved in the state House by a vote of 43-27 with all votes in favor by Republicans and 16 Democrats joining 11 Republicans voting against. The state Senate approved the final version, 19-7. All votes in favor were by Republicans and five Democrats and two Republicans voted against it. Gov. Gary Herbert (R) signed the measure into law on Dec. 18.
Supporters of the veto referendum, who would be advocating for a "no" vote if it appears on the ballot, include the Utah Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Utahns Against Hunger, Harmons Grocery, and candidates for Governor, Zachary Moses (D) and Jon Huntsman Jr. (R). The Utah Parent Teacher Association said, "It is Utah PTA’s position that the tax reform legislation that was recently approved by Utah’s Legislature in a special session is a threat to the long-term funding of education in Utah.”
Utah Senate Majority Whip Daniel Hemmert (R), who voted in favor of SB 2001 in the Senate, said the following in support of the legislation: "The education fund will still be better off [under the bill] than it has been in prior years, to the tune of about $200 million."
The number of signatures required to qualify a veto referendum for the ballot in Utah—115,869—is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for presidential candidates in the previous presidential election. Additionally, petition circulation must be distributed so that signatures equal to 10 percent of votes cast for president are collected from each of at least 15 of the 29 counties in the state. The deadline to submit those signatures—Jan. 21—was 40 days after the adjournment of the legislative session when the targeted bill was passed. County clerks have until Feb. 4 to verify the signatures.
Utah is one of 23 states that provide for citizen-initiated veto referendums. In states that allow for veto referendums, those in a darker shade of blue on the map have had more such measures go before voters. Between 1906 and 2018, voters decided 521 veto referendums that appeared on the ballot in those states. Voters repealed 340—65.3%—of the targeted laws.
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