Republicans control our Legislature by a thin margin. As a result, they can jam through some pretty awful legislation. Our Legislative Committee Chair provided this grim report at this morning’s Monthly Democratic Action Meeting.
2021 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
SUPPRESS THE VOTE: 25 bills designed to make voting more difficult – particularly voting by mail
- PEVL Purge if you don’t vote by mail in two successive elections
- Voter has to include their DL # and DOB on their mail-in ballot
- Makes it a Class 5 Felony if you send a mail-in ballot to someone who didn’t ask for it
- Bar election officials from receiving private money to run an election, or combat disinformation
- Criminalize protesters – at the discretion of the police department
EDUCATION: Numerous bills to eliminate the money set aside in Prop 208 in 2020 and huge expansion of school vouchers that will cripple Public Schools throughout the state.
- Expand Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) to almost all public-school children
- Alter tax laws to allow wealthy individuals to avoid paying the incremental tax in Prop 208
WOMAN’S RIGHTS: Pass anti-abortion bills that are so egregious that they will be contested in court all the way to the Supreme Court and then be upheld by the conservative majority on SCOTUS.
- Make it a crime to terminate a pregnancy for a genetic abnormality in the fetus
ENVIRONMENT: Support fossil fuel constituents and hamstring any attempt to support green energy efforts.
- Infringe on the power of the Corporation Commission and derail clean energy rules and policies
- Make it harder to process complaints against agricultural nuisance sources such as feed lots
- Prohibit the protection of most of the state’s water sources
BUDGET:
- Deliver a $1.0 Billion tax cut in 2021
- Establish a flat income tax of 2.5%