Highlights from the Week
On December 13th and 14th, the United States Senate and House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act. Passed by a vote of 87-13 in the Senate and 310-118 in the House, this bill is the annual defense appropriations bill, and includes provisions such as pay and other benefits for military personnel, military construction projects, and national security projects for the Department of Energy and other related agencies. To read more about this bill, as well as how your representatives voted, click here. To read a speech from Senator Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, click here. To read a speech from Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, click here. To read a speech from Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, click here. To read a speech from Representative Carlos Gimenez of Florida, click here. To read a speech from Representative Adam Smith of Washington State, click here. Lastly, to read a speech from John Garamendi of California, click here.
On December 19th, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court decided to remove former President, and current 2024 Republican candidate, Donald Trump from the state’s ballot for the primary and general elections. By a vote of 4 to 3, the court ruled that Trump is ineligible to be president due to the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court stayed its decision until January 4th, 2024, since the Colorado Secretary of State will be printing ballots the following day. However, on December 28th, 2023, Maine’s Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, decided to remove Trump from the ballot for the same ineligibility reasoning. It remains to be seen whether other states will follow suit, but two states–California and Michigan–have decided to keep Trump on the ballot for their upcoming presidential primary elections. To read a statement from Donald Trump, click here. To read a statement from Maine's U.S. Senator, Susan Collins, click here. To read a statement from Maine’s other U.S. Senator, Angus King, click here. To read a statement from Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, click here. To read a statement from Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, click here. Lastly, to read a statement from Representative Doug Lamborn, click here.
Elections
By the Elections Research team: Nick, Zachary, Caleb, Seth, Jessica, and Max
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
Public Statements: 0 statements were added this week. See highlights from the week for notable statements.
Key Votes:
States: 23 new votes were added.
Michigan Governor signed HB 4230 - Repeals Restrictions on Public Employers Political Contribution Payroll Deduction Plans for Consenting Employees
Michigan Governor signed HB 5021 - Amends Retirement Plans for New Hires in the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System
Michigan Governor signed SB 382 - Requires State Departments Take Reasonable Steps to Help Michigan Residents with Limited English Proficiency Access to State Services
New Mexico Governor signed SB 53 - Amends Radioactive Waste Storage Rules
New York Governor signed S 7564 - Amends Provisions Governing Public Campaign Financing
U.S. Congress: 0 new votes were added.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
This year to date, the SIGs team has entered 56,353 ratings and 15,105 endorsements for candidates.