Mi. GOP Official: "He kicked me in my balls as soon as I opened the door,"

Trump Lawyer Bumped From New York AG Case

Former Donald Trump attorney Alina Habba has been kicked off the New York attorney general’s case against him, among other cases, and will instead assume two roles in his Save America leadership PAC, according to a Friday press release. She will become the PAC’s legal spokesperson and general counsel while continuing to assist the ex-president in “certain legal matters.” Trump’s communication director described her as working “diligently” and “tirelessly” on the “many witch-hunt cases that have been unfairly brought” against him, but did not give a reason for her seeming demotion besides that she will have more time to dedicate to her new duties at the PAC. Habba admitted to searching for records at Mar-a-Lago—apparently with Trump’s permission—last year in response to a subpoena from the New York attorney general only days before the FBI raided the Florida estate. In a recent appearance on Fox News Tonight, Habba stumbled while trying to provide Trump’s defense for the leaked audio tape from a meeting at his Bedminster Golf Club.




https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-lawyer-alina-habba-bumped-from-new-york-ag-case?utm_source=twitter_owned_tdb&utm_medium=socialflow&via=twitter_page&utm_campaign=owned_social

Wisconsin's Governor Is Teaching a Master Class on How to Outmaneuver the GOP

Surrounded by applauding elementary school students, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed a state budget plan on Wednesday that effectively guaranteed increased funding for the rest of every young Wisconsinite’s K-12 education. And for the children who will follow those children into the state’s public schools. And the grandchildren of those children. And the grandchildren of the grandchildren. And the grandchildren of the grandchildren of the grandchildren.

With a few strokes of his uniquely powerful veto pen, the Democratic governor had remade the narrowly drawn biennial budget passed by Republican legislators to boost education funding for the next four centuries. Yes, really: Instead of lifting state-imposed limits on raising school revenues through 2024–25, Evers artfully reworked the numbers—crossing out the initial “20” and the hyphen—to extend the plan until 2425.

Wisconsin’s gubernatorial veto power, which was written into the state Constitution in 1930, has survived repeated court tests and modest amendments across 10 decades. What distinguishes it from the powers other governors have is the inclusion of what’s been referred to as a “digit veto” that allows the removal of a number to change a spending plan. Democratic and Republican governors have employed it over the past 50 years, but none so audaciously as Evers just did.

As news of the governor’s move spread nationally, everyone was talking about the seeming optics of a mild-mannered governor so theatrically beating conservatives in a high-stakes battle over the future of public education. But there was more to it than that. The boldness with which Evers had acted provided a template for Democrats—perhaps even a Democratic president—for unapologetically knocking back Republicans who are more interested in satisfying corporate donors than in providing health care for the sick, housing for the homeless, or education for working-class children. Pointing to Evers as an example of the sort of move progressives have been begging Democrats to make, SiriusXM radio host and veteran political commentator John Fugelsang exclaimed, “This is what people have been waiting for.” Republicans were furious. Democrats were gleeful. The Wall Street Journal’s opinion page may have been grumbling about the governor, but Derek Black, the University of South Carolina Law School professor who authored the book Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy, summed up the sentiments of education advocates when he observed that Evers “stands out in an era of public ed bashing governors.”





https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/tony-evers-wisconsin-schools-veto/

Bonus Tweet of the Day

CA-31: Retiring Napolitano endorses state Sen. Bob Archuleta (D) as successor

MI: Tweet of the Day

FL: Ron DeSantis issues zero fines after 6,600 hotels rack up sex trafficking violations

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration has declined to issue fines after over 14,000 violations of a sex trafficking law by Florida hotels and lodging establishments.

An investigation published on Sunday by the Sun Sentinelfound that 6,669 hotels and other lodging establishments had received 14,279 citations since a 2019 sex trafficking law required them to make modest changes to protect victims.

In one case, The Plaza Hotel was cited five times after a 17-year-old girl was choked because she would not turn over all her earnings to her sex trafficker.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation told the paper that no fines had been issued because the establishment had corrected the problems within a 90-day grace period provided by the law.

State Sen. Lauren Book passed the law and was shocked to find out that state enforcers had required no fines.

"The reason that we had the cure period was that you fix the problem, not that you fall back on your laurels because the department then gives you another 90 days after some time," she explained. "That's not the intention, that's not the spirit of the law or the intention. So it's my intention to go back and change that and not allow for that."




https://www.rawstory.com/florida-trafficking-fines/

MI: 'Skirmish' breaks out at today's state GOP meeting today.

CA-31: Rep. Grace Napolitano (D) Announces Retirement

Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte, announced her retirement Saturday at the age of 86.

Napolitano, who has served in Congress for 24 years after a long career in local and state politics, made the announcement at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday morning for the Grace F. Napolitano Nature Education Center in La Puente.

“This is the only city I have represented for all those years, even before in the state Assembly,” she said, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported. “That is why it is fitting that I hear today announce the end of this term, which is in 2024 I will be retiring for the United States Congress.”

Her congressional colleague Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, was also on hand at Saturday’s dedication.

“I knew she was a fighter for her constituents, but it wasn’t until I went to Congress and joined her that I really got to see what a fighter she is,” Chu said, according to the Valley Tribune. “Thank goodness she’s the lead on water because together we were able to secure $20 million in the last two years to help with that cleanup effort — Thanks to Grace.”

Napolitano represents California’s 31st Congressional District, which includes El Monte, West Covina, Covina, Baldwin Park, Azusa, Bradbury, Duarte, Irwindale, South El Monte, Industry, La Puente, Avocado Heights, West Puente Valley, Valinda, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Monrovia.




https://mynewsla.com/education/2023/07/08/rep-grace-napolitano-announces-retirement-la-area-democrat-is-86/

OH: Monday last day to register to vote in election on citizens' rights to amend constitution

Ohio is holding a special election Aug. 8, and the deadline to register to vote is Monday.

The special election will take place in all precincts in Portage County.

There will be one statewide issue on the ballot: Issue 1, a proposal by the Ohio General Assembly to make harder to amend the state's constitution.

The proposal, if approved, would require 60% of voters to pass a new constitutional amendment, instead of a simple majority of 50% plus one.

The Issue 1 proposal would also require citizens who want to place an amendment on the ballot to collect signatures from at least 5% of voters from the last gubernatorial election in all 88 counties, instead of the current 44.



https://www.record-courier.com/story/news/local/2023/07/08/monday-last-day-to-register-to-vote-in-ohios-august-special-election-july-10/70356665007/