Highlights from the Week
On February 16th, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling that embryos created through in vitro fertilization, otherwise known as IVF, should be considered as children. The case surrounded the loss of frozen embryos in an accident at a storage facility in Alabama, and couples who lost embryos in that process sued under the state’s wrongful death law. This resulted in both a shutdown of IVF services around the state and a conversation nationally about fetal personhood, with officials in both parties decrying the ruling. To read a statement from President Joe Biden, click here. To read a statement from Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, click here. To read a statement from Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, click here. To read a statement from Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, click here. To read a statement from Representative Terri Sewell of Alabama, click here. Lastly, to read a statement from Representative Robert Aderholt of Alabama, click here.
On February 27th, 2024, Michigan held its presidential preference primary for both Democrats and Republicans. A key state in the upcoming General Election, both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won their respective parties decisively. President Biden won all but two of Michigan’s 117 delegates to the Democratic Convention and 81% of the vote, with 13% going to “uncommitted” as a protest over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza. On the other side, Trump won his primary with 68% of the vote and 12 of the 16 delegates, with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley winning 27% of the vote and 4 delegates. There will be three more contests over the weekend in the Republican primary ahead of Super Tuesday, where 15 states will hold presidential preference primaries. You can view the results here. To read a statement from President Joe Biden, click here, and to read a statement from Former President Donald Trump, click here.
On February 29th, 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed a short-term stopgap spending bill to keep the government funding for a week, through March 8th. This bill, which would fund agencies in six different areas–Agriculture and the FDA; the Commerce and Justice Departments; science, energy, and water development; the Interior Department; Department of Veterans Affairs; and the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development–passed by a vote of 320-99. Later that day, it went to the US Senate for consideration and it passed by a vote of 77-13. Congress will still need to pass legislation to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, and intended for this deal to buy more time for Congressional leaders to draft and pass the full-year spending bill. To read more about the legislation and how your representatives voted, click here. To read a joint statement from Congressional Leaders–House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as Appropriations chairs Representatives Kay Granger of Texas and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, click here. To read a statement from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, click here. To read a statement from Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee, click here. Lastly, to read a statement from Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, click here.
Elections
By the Elections Research team: Nick, Zachary, Caleb, Seth, Jessica, Max and interns Isabella, Guiselle, Elsie, Jun, Stephen, Deonte, Sierra, Braden, Ashlyn, and Maddie
Biographies & Elections:
Want to learn about some of the elections that happened this week? Click on the state below to view the results:
Want to learn more about candidates running for elected office in 2024? Click on the states below to see the full list:
Want to learn more about elected officials in your state? You can see the full list here:
Want to learn more about the leadership in each state legislature? You can see the full leadership rosters here:
Want to learn more about which committees elected officials are a part of? You can see the full list of committees for each state here:
Officials
By the Officials Research team: Sam, Johanan, Neal, Thomas, and Quinn. Interns: Deaja, Luiza, Deyab, Tina, Nicholas, Elizabeth, Dev, Ethan.
Public Statements: 220 statements were added this week. See highlights from the week for notable statements.
Key Votes:
States: 54 new votes were added.
Iowa Senate passed SF 2095 - Authorizes Religious Freedom for All Government, Business, Corporate, and Foundation, Employees
New Mexico Senate passed HB 2 - Appropriates Funds for the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year State Budget
Wisconsin House passed AB 1026 - Authorizes State Public Schools to Hold Students Back for Truancy
Tennessee Senate passed SB 1968 - Prohibits Individuals from Running for or Holding 2 Positions in State Government Simultaneously
Oklahoma Senate passed HB 1955 - Repeals the 4.5% State Grocery Tax
U.S. Congress: 2 new votes were added.
House passed HR 7463 - Extension of Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2024
Senate veto override failed S J Res 38 (vote to overturn a previous veto) - A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Federal Highway Administration relating to “Waiver of Buy America for Electric Vehicle Chargers
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
This year to date, the SIGs team has entered 27,901 ratings and 6,561 endorsements for candidates.