Federal court appoints special master for NC state legislative district maps

  [View this email in your browser]( [Ballotpedia](   [Facebook](   [Twitter](   [The Tap](   This morning's State and Local Tap features the top political stories from North Carolina to California. For a comprehensive review of the week, get the full Tap on Ballotpedia. [Launch the full Tap]( Federal court appoints special master to assist in evaluating, possibly redrawing North Carolina state legislative district maps On Thursday, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina issued an [order]( appointing Nate Persily as a special master "to assist the Court in further evaluating and, if necessary, redrawing" [state legislative district maps]( enacted by the [North Carolina General Assembly]( on August 31, 2017 as the result of a federal court order. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of the United States [affirmed]( a district court decision finding that 28 state legislative districts had been subject to an [illegal racial gerrymander](. The district court then ordered state lawmakers to draft remedial maps for use in the 2018 election cycle. These maps are the subject of the district court's October 26 order, which indicated that the redrawn maps for Senate Districts 21 and 28 and House Districts 21, 36, 37, 40, 41, 57, and 105 "either fail to remedy the identified constitutional violation or are otherwise legally unacceptable." The court did not provide a precise deadline in its order; it did, however, indicate that the "upcoming filing period for the 2018 election cycle" factored into its decision to appoint a special master. The [candidate filing period]( in North Carolina is scheduled to begin on February 12, 2018, and end on February 28, 2018.  All [50 Senate seats]( and all [120 House seats]( will be up for election in North Carolina in 2018. - A special master is an individual appointed by a court to carry out some action on the court's behalf. [Nate Persily]( is a law professor at Stanford University. - To learn more about redistricting in North Carolina, see [this article](. Connecticut General Assembly passes budget, likely ending four-month long stalemate On October 26, both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly passed a budget for the FY2018-2019 biennium. The state Senate voted to advance the budget at around 2 AM ET by a 33-3 vote and the state House advanced it later in the day by a 126-23 margin. The budget deal was negotiated by Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers without the input of Gov. Dan Malloy (D). The vote margins in both chambers were sufficient to override a potential veto by Malloy. After the budget passed, Kelly Donnelly, Malloy’s communications director,[said]( that the budget contained an error related to the tax on hospitals that would cost the state $1 billion. Legislative leaders in the state House said that the chamber would reconvene the following week if an issue in the budget needed to be addressed. - The budget[makes]( several changes to the state’s revenue and spending plans. Read about some of the highlights below: - Revenue: The budget deal makes no changes to Connecticut’s sales or income taxes. It increases the cigarette tax, puts a $10 surcharge on motor vehicle registrations, and requires a $0.25 fee for Uber and Lyft rides. It also requires teachers to contribute one percentage point more toward their pensions and increases the hospital provider fee from six percent to eight percent (although the tax the hospitals pay will be reimbursed by the federal government in Medicaid funding). - Spending: The budget includes up to $40 million to help the city of Hartford avoid bankruptcy. It also restores most of the education and municipal funding that was reduced by the executive order Gov. Malloy was using to fund government programs during the stalemate. During the 2018 fiscal year, 136 of 169 municipalities will see a five percent decrease in education funding from the state. In fiscal year 2019, 88 municipalities will see the same amount or less education funding than they did in 2017, while 81 will see an increase in funding compared to 2017. The budget includes $65 million in cuts per year for the University of Connecticut and it scales back several tax credits, including the property tax credit and the earned income tax credit. Moreover, it puts caps on spending and borrowing by the state and requires the state legislature to vote on all state employee union contracts.   [States in session]   Leaders in the Texas House of Representatives announce retirement Texas Speaker of the House [Joe Straus]( (R) announced that he will not run for re-election in [2018](. In his announcement on Facebook, Straus said that he has accomplished what he set out to do when he first ran for election and will be looking to find different ways to contribute to the state. One of Straus' top lieutenants in the state House, [Byron Cook]( (R), also announced that he will not be running for re-election next year. - Straus has been a polarizing figure in Texas state politics. In 2009, he was first elected to the speakership by a coalition of 72 Democrats and 16 Republicans. Factions of the GOP caucus battled with Straus at times during his speakership, such as the Texas Freedom Caucus. In August, Gov. [Greg Abbott]( (R) targeted Straus for failing to pass half of the 20 items on Abbott's special election agenda. After Straus’s announcement, Abbott released a statement thanking Straus for his service.  In a press event at his office Wednesday afternoon, Straus was unapologetic for trying to work across party lines.  He said, "I will also continue to work for a Republican Party that tries to bring Texans together instead of us pulling us apart." - Straus was confident that he would be able to be re-elected as speaker in 2019.  Dallas News had reported that GOP consultants had begun to find Straus' re-election as speaker to be not such a sure thing.  Last week, the New Leadership PAC was announced as a PAC that would support primary challengers to Straus and his lieutenants. - Texas is one of 26 Republican state government trifectas.  Republicans hold a 20-11 majority in the state Senate and a 95-55 majority in the state House. Earlier this month it was reported that as many as 50 incumbents—many of them aligned with Straus—were expected to face a primary challenge in March 2018.   [Keep the Tap flowing!]( Period for signature withdrawal ends in California recall election without significant changes The California Secretary of State’s office announced that the signature withdrawal period in the [recall campaign]( against Sen. Josh Newman (D) resulted in the removal of 849 signatures from the recall petition. Around 7,000 signatures needed to be removed for the recall election to be cancelled. Now that the signature withdrawal period has ended, the California Department of Finance will begin a 30-day review period of the costs associated with the recall election, which is expected to end on or before December 11, 2017. - The signature withdrawal period was put in place by SB 117, a bill passed by the California Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) during the final days of the 2017 legislative session. SB 117 added the withdrawal period, the Department of Finance cost estimate, and a review of the cost estimate by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to the timeline for recall elections. Together these changes might extend the date of the recall certification to January 11, 2018, which would allow Gov. Brown to consolidate Newman’s recall election with the statewide primary election on June 5, 2018. Higher turnout in the statewide primary could help Newman win his recall election. A legal challenge to SB 117 is currently pending before the California courts. A similar law changing the recall timeline passed over the summer and was struck down by a California Court of Appeal in August. In one-day special session, Maine Legislature delayed the 2016 ranked-choice voting initiative and set up a conditional auto-repeal Gov. [Paul LePage]( (R) [called]( the legislature into a special session on Monday to address a food sovereignty law (LD 725) and funding for the state mapping agency. The legislature also approved a bill—[LD 1646]( delay [Maine Question 5]( which enacted a statewide system of [ranked-choice voting]( and automatically repeal it in December 2021 if a constitutional amendment addressing legal concerns is approved before that. The Maine State Legislature [considered repealing Question 5]( and a [constitutional amendment]( to allow for it during the regular 2017 session but did not pass any bills. Question 5 was approved by voters on November 8, 2016. - The state House took up Rep. Kent Ackley's (Common Sense Independent) LD 1646. The original version of LD 1646 would have delayed the implementation of ranked-choice voting until voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to determine the state's method of voting. Rep. Kenneth Fredette (R) motioned the state House to amend LD 1646 to set a deadline of December 1, 2021, for the passage of a constitutional amendment and, if an amendment is not passed by the date, repeal Question 5. The state House voted to accept the amendment. - The state House then voted 68 to 63, with 20 members not voting, to pass the amended LD 1646. At least 66 votes were required to pass the bill. Rep. Ackley, who sponsored the original version, voted against the amended LD 1646. The chamber’s other six independents also voted against the bill. Democrats voted 11-56, with seven Democrats abstaining, to approve the bill. All 57 voting Republicans voted to approve LD 1646; an additional 13 abstained from voting. - The state Senate voted 19 to 16 to pass the amended LD 1646. At least 18 votes were required to pass the bill. Fifteen Democrats voted against the bill, and two voted for the bill. Seventeen Republicans voted for the bill, and one voted against the bill. - LD 1646 requires Gov. LePage's (R) signature to become law. In the past, Gov. LePage has described ranked-choice voting as violating the state constitution.     [Map of state government trifectas]     California Teachers Association endorses Gavin Newsom for governor On Saturday, the California Teachers Association announced its endorsement of Lt. Gov. [Gavin Newsom]( (D) in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The union's endorsement stated that Newsom had supported increases to education funding in the past, and cited his support for universal access to prekindergarten and decreases to the cost of higher education. - Ballotpedia has tracked 11 Democratic candidates who have entered the race for governor of California. In total, Ballotpedia has tracked 40 declared candidates: 11 Democrats, 12 Republicans, 2 Libertarians, 1 Green Party candidate, and 14 independent candidates. Under California's top-two primary system, all declared candidates will be listed [on the same primary ballot]( on June 5, 2018. The top two finishers in that election will proceed to the general election on November 6, 2018. WA Supreme Court hears arguments over education budget On October 24, the [Washington Supreme Court]( heard arguments in McCleary v. State of Washington, a case from 2011 challenging the sufficiency of education funding in Washington. In 2012, the court ruled in the case that the state had violated the Washington constitution by failing “to make ample provision for the education of all children in Washington.” At that time, the legislature had just passed reforms that were designed to bring the state into compliance by 2018. The court gave the state until 2018 for its proposed remedy to take effect. During the arguments on October 24, 2017, the parties debated whether the state has now met its constitutional obligations. The court will consider the parties’ arguments and then issue a ruling. - Between 2012 and 2017, the court issued a number of orders requested progress reports and detailed information on the legislature’s plans. In 2015, the court began fining the state [$100,000 per day]( until it provided the court with the details of its plan to meet the constitutional standard by 2018. The court stated that it had repeatedly ordered the legislature to provide the plan, and the legislature had not complied. - At least one other state is also grappling with a long-running lawsuit over constitutionally sufficient education funding. On October 2, 2017, the Kansas Supreme Court [ruled]( the state legislature had failed to show it had met its constitutional obligation to adequately and equitably fund the state’s public education system. That case was originally filed in 2010. Minnesota Legislature asks lower court to reinstate funding The Minnesota Legislature filed a request on October 25 for a state district court judge to enforce his ruling in its [lawsuit]( against Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. The legislature filed the lawsuit against Dayton following his line-item vetoes of legislative funding last spring. Judge John Guthmann ruled in favor of the legislature last July, and Dayton appealed to the [Minnesota Supreme Court.]( The supreme court has issued several orders but not a final ruling. In its October 25 request, the legislature argued that Guthmann’s order should go into effect while the supreme court appeal was pending. - On September 8, the Minnesota Supreme Court concluded that Dayton's vetoes were constitutional and ordered the parties to attend mediation. The parties left mediation on September 22 without reaching an agreement. The legislature stated that Dayton had ended the talks. Dayton stated that he had learned that the legislature had access to additional funding sources it had not originally disclosed. Dayton then filed an amended statement with the Minnesota Supreme Court in which he claimed that, contrary to the Legislature's previous assertions, the legislature could access enough funding to stay open until the start of the next legislative session. The court issued a new order requiring the parties to file reports detailing all the funding sources available to the legislature. - During the 2017 session, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed several bills and policy changes Dayton opposed. After a special session, the Legislature passed a state budget bill and then immediately adjourned. Dayton signed the bill into law, but used his line item veto authority to veto the Legislature's funding. Dayton said that he would reinstate the funding if the Legislature agreed to reconsider some of the bills and policy changes Dayton had opposed. The Legislature refused and filed suit, claiming that Dayton’s vetoes violated the separation of powers clause of the Minnesota Constitution. Guthmann ruled in favor of the legislature, and Dayton appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Minnesota is currently one of 18 states under divided government. Poll shows close race for mayor of Charlotte A poll of the mayoral race in Charlotte was [released]( that suggests that the open-seat contest remained close heading into the [general election]( on November 7, 2017. The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA from October 18 through October 21, found that 41 percent of likely voters supported Councilwoman [Vi Lyles]( (D) while 40 percent backed Councilman [Kenny Smith]( (R), with 19 percent undecided. Male voters favored Smith, 52 percent to 33 percent, while female voters supported Lyles, 48 percent to 24 percent. Lyles defeated Mayor Jennifer Roberts and three other candidates to win the Democratic primary on September 12, 2017. Smith defeated two candidates to win the Republican nomination that same day. The winner of the general election will become the city’s seventh different mayor in the last eight years. If Smith wins, Charlotte would become the third-largest city in the U.S. with a Republican mayor, after San Diego (Kevin Faulconer) and Jacksonville (Lenny Curry). Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and the [16th-largest city]( in the U.S. by population. Biden endorses incumbent Kriseman in St. Petersburg mayoral race Former Vice President [Joe Biden]( (D) [endorsed]( incumbent Rick Kriseman (D) over former mayor Rick Baker (R) in the St. Petersburg mayoral race. Biden released a statement announcing his support of Kriseman and also recorded a robocall which was sent to selected voters in the city. Biden stated that he backed Kriseman because of his track record on issues "like reducing poverty, reducing crime, preparing for climate change, and creating jobs where you can support a middle class family." [Read on](   Ballotpedia depends on the support of our readers. The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns. [Donate Securely Online]( Decide which emails you want from Ballotpedia. [Unsubscribe]( or [adjust your preferences]( →   Ballotpedia The Encyclopedia of American Politics 8383 Greenway Blvd., Suite 600 Middleton, WI 53562   [Facebook](   [Twitter](