Redistricting and Public Health

Redistricting reforms will be considered by state legislators across the country in several states in the Fall of 2021, including Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina. Unfair redistricting practices such as gerrymandering exacerbate disparities in public health outcomes, while fair and equitable redistricting has the potential to help communities better address inequities in public health, including reproductive and maternal health and wellbeing.

More on The Redistricting Landscape 2021-2022 from Brennan Center for Justice

The Impact of Redistricting on Public Health

Fair, transparent, and accountable redistricting led by independent commissions ensures more equitable representation in state legislatures and increases the likelihood that public health concerns (physical, environmental, and social) are addressed with policy solutions.

This is particularly important for communities of color, who, due to systemic and structural racism, experience greater disparities in public health outcomes (including mental and physical health during and after pregnancy) than white communities.

APHA Policy #LB20-04: Structural Racism is a Public Health Crisis

Legislatures created with gerrymandered maps allow legislators to pass policy that the majority of their constituents do not support- including policies that can cause significant public health harm such as restrictions on abortion care and contraceptive access.

Center for American Progress: Redistricting and Representation

Gerrymandering keeps conservative politicians in power and hinders the ability of states to expand Medicaid. Communities of color are underrepresented in state legislatures (and Congress) due to gerrymandering and deliberate voter suppression. Medicaid expansion is associated with improvements in health outcomes, mortality rates, lower rates of housing evictions, lower rates of medical debt, and higher rates of financial wellbeing.

SiX and N.O.B.E.L Women: No Democracy without Black Women
Center for American Progress: How Partisan Gerrymandering Limits Access to Health Care
Ibis Reproductive Health and Center for Reproductive Rights: Evaluating Priorities

Prison gerrymandering—the counting of incarcerated individuals in the county where they are imprisoned rather than their home communities—impacts representation, power building, and community funding, and disportionately affects communities of color who are incarcerated at higher rates due to the discriminatory judicial system. For example, the Wisconsin legislature's refusal to switch to vote by mail in the midst of the 2020 COVID pandemic resulted in long, crowded, lines and increased risk of voter exposure to infection.

SiX and Prison Policy Initiative: Ending Prison Gerrymandering- How State Legislators Can Ensure Accurate and Equitable Redistricting
States with gerrymandered districts create a monopoly on power that can exacerbate public health crises when they happen.
The Brennan Center: Gerrymandering Meets the Coronavirus in Wisconsin

The Impact of Public Health on Redistricting

The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the 2020 census...which has delayed the redistricting cycle.

Delaying the map-drawing process could mean that new maps are not ready before legislative elections in some states, such as Virginia. Delayed maps may force other states, such as Texas, to address redistricting during special sessions. Special sessions have less oversight and increase the risk of unfair maps being drawn.

Brennan Center for Justice: The Redistricting Landscape 2021-2022

Digital Tips: Smartphone Photography

As state legislators, you juggle many hats, and sometimes have to be your own photographer.

These five tips will help you capture high-resolution photos using your smartphone:

Smartphone Photography Tips

1) Avoid zooming; instead, move closer to the subject. Most smartphones have a "digital zoom" that enlarges the image artificially, which decreases the resolution. The more you zoom in, the more resolution you lose. So when it's safe to step closer, move towards your subject rather than pressing zoom.

Split-photo of lifesaver ring; on the left side, the photo is low-resolution. On the right side, the photo is high-resolution. — Example: The photo on the left was taken approximately 40 feet away, using the iPhone 7's digital zoom. The photo on the right was taken from about 5 feet away, using no zoom. Notice the difference in photo quality.

2) Stabilize your shot with a tripod or by simply leaning up against a wall.

3) Hold down the shutter button until the photo is complete. If you move your finger away too quickly, the image may be blurry. On an iPhone, you can reduce motion by using the volume controls instead of the shutter button.

4) Find the best lit setting for the photo. Most smartphones can take pictures in low-light conditions, but the photo's quality will suffer as a result. Where possible, use a window or the sun as your primary light source. Generally, you should not shoot facing the main light source. (That's why sunset pics are so hard to nail!) Instead, position the light source behind the person shooting the picture.

5) Finally, don't text that photo! Ever wondered why pictures you receive via text message look grainy? The likely culprit isn't the phone itself but the method used to send the photo. Most text messaging apps highly compress images sent via cellular networks. (The same issue holds for videos.)

Instead of texting, save the photo to Google Drive, Dropbox, SendAnywhere, or your preferred file storage or photo app, and then share the link with others. You can also use AirDrop or e-mail, but be careful: some e-mail programs also significantly compress images.

With all that being said, rules are meant to be broken. Sometimes, the best photos are unintentional or gloriously blurry. But when you're taking a professional picture for use in press, print, or the web, be sure to reference the recommendations above.

Fighting Back Against Anti-Trans Legislation

Anti-transgender lawmakers set records this year with their harmful and hateful legislations: thirty-three states introduced more than 100 anti-transgender rights bills across the country.

SiX convened a panel with Colorado Rep. Brianna Titone, Dominique Morgan (Black & Pink), and Corinne Green (Equality Federation) to discuss how state legislators can fight differently and fight better against anti-trans legislation.

Q&A: Fight Better Against Anti-Trans Bills

Can you give us an overview of what's been going on across the country?

Corinne Green: The largest attacks have come in the form of medical care bans and athlete bans. As broader attacks on the LGBT community start to find less purchase in statehouses around the country, we've seen our opponents hone in on trans youth—the most vulnerable segment of our population. They've found that taking advantage of people's lack of education around trans people, and their wiring to care about children has worked really well.

The number of anti-trans bills is double what we saw just five years ago. These bills are designed to ban transgender kids—specifically transgender women—from participating in school sports, and then also make it very difficult for transgender children to access gender-affirming care.

Unfortunately, these aren't the only kinds of bills we're seeing. There are still efforts to prevent trans people from using the correct restrooms. One of the most egregious bills we saw this session is the Tennessee bill requiring a specific warning sign be placed outside any bathroom that a trans person is allowed to use; it's supposed to be 6x8", use scary red lettering, etc.

We've also seen:

attempts to increase penalties for trans people who are perceived to be in the wrong restroom
limits on people's ability to update their identity documents
limits around including trans healthcare in insurance plans in various states
targeted attacks to exclude trans women from women's shelters when they're on the streets and need a place to stay

So while the moneymakers for our opposition tend to be the athlete bans and the medical care bans, it's still a broad attack.

We're also finding that they're rolling our issues into the intersectional issues that our community has always dealt with. Bills that attempt to limit teaching around racism in America often also have a component limiting teaching around gender identity and sexual identity. And so there's abroad pushback that we need to respond to as a coalition of marginalized people.

Corinne Green is the policy and legislative strategist at Equality Federation. In this role, she tracks all LGBTQ related legislation across the country and provides policy analysis and support to Equality Federation members. Corinne is a harm reduction and queer rights activist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to joining the Equality Federation, she worked for Transgender Law Center, where she oversaw the passage and implementation of California’s Gender Recognition Act, the country's largest expansion of access to non-binary gender markers, and created the Protect Trans Health campaign to defend gender identity protections and the Affordable Care Act.

What tools have you used to combat anti-trans legislation? And what else might you need to be helpful on the ground?

Anti-trans legislation happens all the time. And sometimes, it's not blatant. Sometimes it is hidden.

So, when I was debating bills on the floor, one of the bills said "pregnant people" right in the title. And one of my colleagues came up and said, "We're going to change that to biological women." I heard that and I was like, "Oh, no, no, no, they did not just do that." And I walked down to the well to defend trans people because they were trying to erase us.

So I told them, "You need to understand that biological women are not the only people who can get pregnant. Trans men can also get pregnant, people with uteruses can get pregnant." And I said, "We're not erasing trans people today."

I really put myself out there for my colleagues to understand who I am. And why what they do or say is hurtful to me. And I have to defend myself often.

Not every legislature has a trans person or non-binary person there. So you know, we're relying on allies to stand up for us. And that's really important when we can't be there to defend ourselves in person.

When it comes to legislation in general, especially in committees, I've found that personal stories are important. It's super important to communicate that we're people and we're your constituents.

Representative Brianna Titone was elected in 2018 as the first openly transgender legislator in the Colorado General Assembly. She serves as the Vice Chair of the Joint Technology Committee and serves on the Health and Insurance Committee and Energy and Environment committees. Additionally, she serves as the chair of the House Democrats LGBTQ caucus and is dedicated to eliminating gaps in consumer protections, health care and LGBTQ rights in Colorado.

Many national trans rights organizations are white-led. As a black trans woman leading the largest prison abolitionist organization in the country, how do you hold the importance of visibility in this moment?

Dominique Morgan: I've driven three hours to be heard for two minutes. I've tried to show the world the deepest, darkest parts of how I've been harmed, [all] to sit in front of three or four legislators in Nebraska who acted like I was reading them my grocery list.

I don't want us to keep pushing people to be exposed and go through trauma to prove that they should be treated as human beings. And I don't think [political] positions are the be-all-end-all. But I think it's a step. If you were to look at the queer and trans people in power in our community, you would think that Black and brown trans people don't exist. You would think that our existence is predicated on Pose and sex work. And for many of us, that is our truth. But we also have girls out here who are in tech. There's a spectrum of our experience, right? And I think that's what's really important.

We're talking about amplification; we're talking about a centered experience for trans Black folks. And we're talking about challenging and calling in white, trans and gender non-conforming folks to get comfortable with being de-centered. To be de-centered with love.

Now, I don't know how y'all did in y'all households, but if an elder walks in, did y'all just sit there and look at that elder stand there, or did you get up and give that chair up? You got up and gave them the chair. "Get up, your Auntie need to sit down." "Get up your grandmother's coming in the house." Because you understood what that person went through that day; your body hadn't gone through the same thing. So they needed that seat. I need white folks who are within our queer community to have that sort of grace.

Dominique Morgan Black and Pink Credit JoshuaFoo

Dominique Morgan is an award-winning artist, activist, and TEDx speaker. As the executive director of Black and Pink, the largest prison abolitionist organization in the United States. She works to dismantle the systems that perpetuate violence on LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people and individuals living with HIV and AIDS, partnering her lived experience of being impacted by mass incarceration, including 18 months in solitary confinement, with a decade of change making artistry, advocacy, and background in public health. She continues to work in spaces of sex education, radical self-care, and transformative youth development with intentions of dismantling the prison industrial complex, and its impact on our communities.

What SCOTUS’s Latest Blow to Voting Rights Means for States

The Supreme Court has dramatically weakened one of the remaining, most vital tools we have to defend and advance multi-racial democracy in America: Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

In today’s 6-3 decision, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the Court held that two Arizona voting laws that disproportionately disenfranchise Latino, Black, and Native voters do not violate the Voting Rights Act. While the Court did not eviscerate Section 2 wholesale, as many feared, it imposed stricter standards for evaluating future voting rights claims. Moving forward, it will be significantly harder to challenge and overturn racially discriminatory voting laws in federal courts – including the wave of anti-voter bills enacted in 2021.

To help unpack the details of the case, check out pieces from The Guardian, Election Law Blog, Vox, and Slate. You can read the Court’s opinion here, including Justice Kagan’s powerful dissent (starting on p. 45).

Why the Brnovich decision matters for states

Our democracy is at a turning point. In 2021 alone, conservative legislators in nearly every state have introduced over 400 anti-voter bills in a coordinated, national strategy to win elections for the Right. This wave of laws poses an alarming threat to our freedom to vote and intentionally silences the voices of voters of color, young voters, low-income voters, and new Americans. With Republicans in control of 61 of 98 state legislative chambers, there is no end in sight to the assault on our democracy.

The Supreme Court already struck down the Voting Rights Act’s crucial preclearance requirement in Shelby v. Holder (2013), and the For The People Act – which would create national standards for voting – is being blocked by conservatives in Congress. By narrowing the application of Section 2 in Brnovich v. DNC, the court damaged one of the last, most vital tools we have to defend and advance multi-racial democracy in America.

In his majority opinion, Justice Alito endorsed conservative state legislators’ baseless lies and policies on election fraud, noting that a state “may take action to prevent election fraud without waiting for it to occur within its own borders” – even if those laws discriminate against Black and Brown voters. SCOTUS’s nod to a known conservative strategy – invoke fraud to deny our freedom to vote – makes the threat to our democracy even more urgent.

What To Do

State legislatures are the key battlegrounds to protect the freedom to vote. Absent federal legislation, it's crucial that legislators in every state step up. Following the Brnovich decision, legislators can:

Review and strengthen your state’s voting rights protections and legal remedies (like Virginia just did in passing their own voting rights act this year, and as Campaign Legal Center’s report recommends);
Speak boldly about protecting the freedom to vote (using these messaging resources);
Connect directly with your constituents on voting rights (like these legislators in North Carolina and Florida);
Collaborate with your caucuses to advance a cohesive pro-voter and defensive democracy strategy, well in advance of the 2022 legislative season;
Make every effort to engage communities directly in the 2021 redistricting process to ensure political maps are fair and representative (as we discussed in a recent webinar); and,
Advocate for national standards for voting, redistricting, and campaigns proposed in The For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Additional Information on the Case

The Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee decision substantially narrows Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act – one of the last remaining tools Americans have to fight racial discrimination in voting.

In 2016, the Democratic Party challenged two Arizona voting laws as racially discriminatory under Section 2 of the VRA and the 15th Amendment. Section 2 enables voters to dispute policies that disproportionately prevent minority voters from casting ballots and electing representatives of their choice. The two Arizona policies in question barred mail ballot collection by anyone other than a voter’s immediate family, and required election officials to discard all ballots cast by voters in the wrong precinct.

While Section 2 has been primarily used to defend against racial gerrymanders and minority “vote dilution,” this section has become much more important for election policy cases after SCOTUS halted the VRA’s preclearance requirements in Shelby v. Holder (2013). Before Shelby, places with histories of racial discimination in elections had to preclear all voting policy changes with the federal government before going into effect. In fact, Arizona’s ballot collection policy in question in Brnovich was effectively blocked by preclearance in 2011.

In January 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that – in Arizona’s context – ballot collection and out-of-precinct voting restrictions have discriminatory impacts on Native, Latino and Black voters in violation of Section 2. Native Arizona voters who live far away from precincts and mailboxes are much more likely to rely on community ballot collection than White voters. Native, Latino, and Black Arizonans are also much more likely to move residences and to have their precincts relocated than White voters. The Ninth Circuit also found evidence that the ballot collection law was purposefully enacted to target minority voters.

Arizona Republicans petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case, and conservatives nationwide urged the Court to limit the application of Section 2 going forward. Amid an unprecedented wave of racialized, anti-voter laws, Brnovich v. DNC further restricts options for protecting voting rights in America. And it could reshape our democracy for years to come. For additional background on Brnovich, check out resources from The Brennan Center and Harvard Law School.

Digital Tips: Using Instagram Highlights

This resource is adapted from our Digital Tips e-mail series. To sign up to receive these resources in your inbox regularly, join our network.

Did you know you can see how many people visit your Instagram profile each month? Every visitor may not opt to follow your Instagram, but each visit is a valuable chance to introduce yourself to constituents and shed light on your current priorities.

Instagram Stories Highlights are an easy way to ensure new visitors can easily find updates about you and your work. You can use Instagram Stories Highlights to highlight legislative updates, break down important issues, and share your personal story.

Screenshot of Kansas Rep. Haswood's Instagram Stories Highlights — *Kansas Rep. Haswood's Instagram Story Highlights*

Below, find three steps to create a quick Instagram Highlight. I did all of the following steps on my iPhone 7 in a few minutes.

Creating a quick Instagram Highlight

1. Find visuals: Start with an app like Unsplash (also available on desktop) to find free, high-quality photos related to the theme of your Instagram Story.

If the subject matter is difficult or inappropriate to visualize, use a photo of your legislature instead, or search "texture" on Unsplash to find an abstract background.

2. Create the first Story: In the first Story, add a photo and a large title to introduce the topic.

3. Add details in consecutive Stories: You can use the same background photo or a different one in the next set of stories. Break up your explanatory text across multiple stories, so the information is not overwhelming. And always provide context: keep in mind that visitors to your profile may be entirely new to the issue you're discussing or even to how a state legislature works.

If you'd rather create a selfie video instead of using text, go for it! Just be sure to add captions, which can be auto-generated within Instagram Stories.

Use emojis and GIFs to help illustrate the information, but don't go overboard. (Tip: You can paste in any photo or GIF from your phone to Instagram Stories!)

4. Create the Highlight: After posting your Story, you can easily create an Instagram Highlight. Then, give the Highlight a short title and "cover." or thumbnail.

Instagram Highlights demo — *After posting your Instagram Story, you can add it to your Instagram Highlights*

Free Downloads

Here's a little help to get started: download one of SiX's Instagram Stories templates and use our collection of icon thumbnails to make your highlights easy to identify. You can also screenshot all of these resources in SiX's Instagram Highlights!

Instagram story template; question reads "What I love most about our district:"

IG Story Template - Our DistrictDownload

Instagram story template; prompt reads: "What I'm passionate about"

IG Story Template - PassionateDownload

Instagram story template; prompt reads: "One thing I'm working on is"

IG Story Template - WorkingDownload

Instagram story template; prompts read: "The best way to keep in touch" and "You can get involved by"

IG Story Template - ContactDownload

Digital Tips: We ❤️ Legislator Tweets

This resource is adapted from our Digital Tips e-mail series. To sign up to receive these resources in your inbox regularly, join our network.

In this issue of Digital Tips, we'll help inspire your social strategy by analyzing three tweets from legislators in our network.

Tutorial: Tweets from Legislators

A check-in tweet from Sen. Julie Gonzales

Check in, comunidad: what’s an accomplishment you’re proud of? What’s bringing you anxiety? What challenge are you working through? What’s bringing you joy?
— Senadora Julie Gonzales (@SenadoraJulie) March 25, 2021

Why We Love It

Colorado State Sen. Julie Gonzales' tweet illustrates how informal but genuine posts can enrichen your social media strategy. Asking your audience a question—and then engaging with their answers— is a great way to build community and connect directly with constituents.

Tips

It takes time to build a space where people feel comfortable sharing publicly. Don't be discouraged if, at first, you don't get responses. Try enlisting a colleague or friend to answer the question (using their account) so that you can reduce the barrier to participation for other followers.

You can also tailor your question to a particular issue you're championing. For example, if you're advocating for expanded child care access, you can ask, "Parents and caretakers: what's been your experience finding child care for your kids?"

An accessible explainer thread from Rep. Rayner-Goolsby

Florida has one of earliest voter registration deadlines of any state - requiring people to register at least 29 days before an upcoming election. And there is no possibility to register the day of an election. Do you remember what happened in November 2020? The system crashed.
— Michele Rayner-Goolsby (she/they) (@micheleforfl) April 28, 2021

Why We Love It

This tweet from Florida Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby is the first in a four-part thread about the ongoing battle over voter restrictions in Florida. Sometimes, it's precisely when an issue is front-page news that an accessible explainer is needed.

Tips

In addition to drawing upon facts, use personal anecdotes (or constituent experiences) to present a complete picture and leave readers with a memorable mental image.

Whenever possible, avoid legislative jargon if there's a more straightforward way to get across the same point.

A heartfelt message from Sen. Polehanki

Happy #TeacherAppreciationWeek! pic.twitter.com/LJd3PpTFiU
— Senator Dayna Polehanki (@SenPolehanki) May 4, 2021

Why We Love It

Michigan State Sen. Dayna Polehanki's video for Teacher Awareness Week is an excellent example of how a thoughtful message—whether written or on video—can set your content apart and make your followers feel seen.

Tips

Captioning your videos is essential, and there are lots of low-cost and free ways to do it. Here are a few tools I like: MixCaptions (free or paid; for desktop and mobile), Kapwing (free or paid; best for desktop), and Rev.com (paid; for desktop.)

Finally, note that the length of Sen. Polehanki's video is just 37 seconds. Though Twitter videos can be up to 140 seconds long, it's best to keep them short.

Quick Links: Digital Resources From Around The Web

📱 Why Do Videos Sent from My iPhone Vary so Much in Quality?

🪄 How to Make The Facebook Algorithm Work For You

📸 5 Instagram Accessibility Tips

🤳🏾 Taking Great Selfie Videos and Photos

Digital Tips: Text Spacing in Graphics

This resource is adapted from our Digital Tips e-mail series. To sign up to receive these resources in your inbox regularly, join our network.

Tutorial: Line Height

Look at the paragraphs below. Which one is easiest for you to read?

Two paragraphs with different styles of line spacing; the first paragraph is cramped, while the second paragraph displays optimal line spacing.

If you chose option 2, you, like most people, find proper spacing essential to readability.

One of the most important elements to consider when adding text to graphics is line spacing, also known as leading.

Here's a handy rule: Line spacing should be 125% to 150% of your font size. Different programs measure line spacing differently; since many legislators use Canva for graphic design, I'll use it in this example.

In Canva, the line spacing value (called "line height") is relative to the font size. So you should set your line spacing to a value between 1.2 and 1.5.

Bonus Tip: Don't squash too many details in one graphic! Remove unessential information and include extra details in the post or tweet's caption.

Quick Links: Digital Resources From Around The Web

🗣 Tips for Getting Used To The Sound of Your Own Voice

🏳️‍⚧️ The Gender Spectrum Collection: Stock Photos Beyond the Binary

📸 Twinsta: Share Your Tweets on Instagram

🔠 The Ultimate List of Social Media Acronyms and Abbreviations

Against Hate: Responding to Anti-Asian Violence

Asian American communities have experienced an alarming rise in racially-motivated attacks since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and experts fear many incidents are going unreported.

No one should have to live in fear of being attacked for who they are. The resources below can help you and your constituencies report, respond, and join in collective action against anti-Asian attacks.

Learn how to intervene and stand against racism

Bystander Intervention Guide (Hollaback)
How to Respond to Coronavirus Racism (Teaching Tolerance)
COVID-19 Resources to Stand Against Racism (Asian Americans Advancing Justice)
Bystander Intervention Training (Asian Americans Advancing Justice)

Take action in your state

Use examples from other electeds to help model your state's response:
- NY Attorney General Letitia James launched a hotline for New Yorkers to report hate crimes and bias incidents.
- Michigan lawmakers encouraged constituents to report hate crimes to the state e-mail and hotline.
- The New Jersey legislature introduced a resolution denouncing hate crimes and calling for the governor and AG to provide victims' assistance and enhance security at targeted institutions. Legislators introduced similar resolutions condemning anti-Asian violence in California and Hawaii.
- Legislators in Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Ohio introduced bills to create state advisory commissions on Asian and Pacific Islander (API) affairs. Existing API commissions in other states have centralized resources for residents and facilitated meetings for the public in the wake of anti-Asian violence.
- California lawmakers approved $1.4 million in funds to support research on anti-Asian violence and the development of multilingual COVID-19 resources for API communities.
- Lawmakers in New York introduced legislation to require the collection of demographic information on the sexual orientation, gender identity, and race and ethnicity of both alleged perpetrators and victims of hate crimes.
Use your platform to speak out. One horrible aspect of this crisis is the lack of media coverage—we cannot afford to be silent.
Access pro bono assistance and other legal responses to hate crimes from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA.)

Document incidents

By sharing what you experienced or witnessed, you can educate the public, empower others, show service providers where help is needed, and strengthen advocacy efforts for hate crimes response and prevention.

Other resources

Anti-Asian Hate Crime During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Reproduction of Inequality (American Journal of Criminal Justice)
Hate crime laws state-by-state (Anti-Defamation League)
They Blamed Me Because I am Asian: Findings from Youth-Reported Incidents of AntiAAPI Hate (The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council - A3PCON)

What Should I Post? Building a Social Media Strategy for Legislators

Legislators and staffers often wear many hats, including the role of social media manager. Is it possible to build an engaged social media following while juggling other priorities? Yes! And having a solid strategy can help.

A successful social media strategy requires more than tweeting regularly—it involves identifying realistic goals and concrete steps to reach those goals. Use the prompts and resources below to start developing a social strategy today.

Strategy Prompts

Big Picture

Who is my audience? What content can I uniquely offer them?
What should my social media profile convey at first glance?
What should my followers know or feel when they see my content?

Style & Tone

What visuals should be most prominent? (GIFs from popular culture, personal photos, community events, etc.)
Should my tone be conversational? Formal?
How often do I respond to constituents? (This may change depending on the platform.)
Where is my voice needed? Where can I elevate someone else’s voice?
What holidays and commemorative dates do I want to post about?

Content

What parts of my personal life am I comfortable sharing? How often do I want my face to appear on my feed?
What information can I provide that my constituents may not be seeing elsewhere?
What issues should be reflected on my account?
Who am I aligning myself with? What organizations, thought leaders, other electeds should I be retweeting or engaging with?

Cheatsheet: Help! What Should I Post?

Got time?

Write a thread: Explain your priorities for the session or some of the barriers to the work you're doing.
- Tip: Use simple language and link to articles that have more information.
Compare and contrast to other states
- Tip: Browse NCSL’s list of legislature social media accounts and look at what legislatures in other states are posting about. Look for an issue relevant to your state and use it as an example to draw a comparison.
Cite a statistic: Use an engaging stat to start a discussion about an issue area.
- Tip: Find a reliable source (e.g. Guttmacher for repro, Brennan Center for voting rights) and find a stat that captures the importance of the issue. The more localized the stat, the better. (If you have space in the post, credit the source by tagging them—you may get an RT!)
On This Day: Use Google Photos or Twitter advanced search to find a photo you took on this day (or thereabouts) in a previous year. Or use OnThisDay.com, Equal Justice Initiative's calendar, and similar sources to find a societal date or holiday to recognize.
- Tip: Set a reminder in advance of the date.
Tell a constituent story: Share an anonymized (unless you have permission) story about a constituent’s experience or an anecdote about a recurring theme you're hearing from constituents.
Ask a question: Ask your constituents a question—but be prepared for the responses!

Don't have time?

Repost a Tweet: Use Twinsta or TweetPik to repost a recent tweet to Facebook and/or Instagram. In the caption, re-emphasize the messaging in your original tweet or add more insight.
Quote an Article: What’s the last great article you read? Pull your favorite quote from it and post. Even better: add a little insight after the quote.
- Tip: Paste the article's URL in the Twitter search box, and see who else has posted the article.
Respond: Instead of publishing an original tweet, reply to someone else’s tweet.

Tools & Resources

(All of these websites are free to use, but some have premium options for more features.)

Animoto: online video creation
Buffer: Simple social media scheduling
Burst, Pexels, Pixabay, & Unsplash : Free high-quality stock photos
Canva: Ready-made graphic templates and graphic creation tools
Feedly: News aggregator app
Google Alerts: Set up alerts about keywords
- Tip: Use Google search operators to refine your results
Hootsuite: More advanced social media scheduling
Omnilink and Linktree: Instagram “link in bio” manager
Pocket: Save and organize a reading list of articles.
Spark: Make simple videos on desktop or mobile

Articles:

Search Twitter More Efficiently with These Search Operators | LifeHacker
Is Your Social Media Accessible to Everyone? These 9 Best Practices Can Help | Shondland

Downloads

What Should I Post? Building a Daily Social Media Strategy (PDF of Presentation)Download

Selfie-Guide - M+R (PDF)Download

Digital Security Essentials for Elected Officials - Digital Defense Fund (PDF)Download

Preparing for Statehouse Violence

Table Of Contents

Govern Safely
Commit to transformation
Downloads & Other Resources

Following the January 6 attacks, we have compiled important information with recommendations on how legislators can protect their personal and digital safety, demand accountability, and commit to a generation of cultural transformation.

Govern Safely

Protect your personal/family safety. Take any threats of violence seriously, and report all threats to the appropriate law enforcement agency in your state, and the FBI.

Transition to full remote governance. Due to the heightened security risk at state capitols–both due to threats of violence and the raging global pandemic–work with your legislative and constitutional officers to move to full remote governance. Many states have already moved their legislative work online in accessible, democratic ways. For more information on how to make this transition, please reference these materials we produced earlier last summer with our partners, Demand Progress, and U.S. Representative Katie Porter.

Minimize the risk of violence at your state capitol. If remote governance is not a possibility, focus on understanding your safety risks at your place of work. Demand clear and sufficient information about how your security team is prepared for attacks. Do not force a public written response, as that may compromise everyone's safety if details of the security plan are publicly known. Advocate for swift gun-safety changes at the capitol, including banning the open or concealed carry of weapons, even for legislators (some who may have had a hand in the recent violent insurrection in the U.S. Capitol). Michigan was recently able to ban open carry in their capitol with bipartisan support. For direct support on gun safety policies, contact stategovaffairs@everytown.org.

Demand accountability. Impeach. Expel. Investigate. Demand that Trump and his co-conspirators, from Senators and House Members to state legislators, who fed, fueled, and fomented these attacks on our democracy must also be removed or resign.

Expose and document extremist behaviors in your institutions. Join this public call for individuals, elected officials (local & state), and law enforcement to publicly condemn white supremacist groups and violence. Join together with your neighbors and proclaim that this type of violence will not be permitted in our backyards. Commit to exposing it, pushing back on it, protecting against it, and punishing it when you see it. Consider the tools you have available to you to expose extremist behaviors in your state government, including open records requests and other tools to expose those who conspired to commit violent insurrection and sedition against our nation.

Commit to transformation

Acknowledge that violent white extremism is an ongoing threat to democracy. Do not attempt to minimize these attacks or assign blame to fringe elements of our society. The current violence is the result of centuries of white supremacy combined with a political system that more often than not rewards anti-democratic measures and racist and anti-Semitic means. The rise of authoritarianism, violent white supremacy, and populism is front-and-center in our global political discourse. The work ahead to find truth, reconciliation, and healing will require deep, ongoing transformative work. It is unfair and unwise to place this vast social challenge at the feet of police and armed guards whose only known response mechanism is more violence, or who may have been involved in the attacks.

Use your position to change the definition of public leadership. Take a bold public stand against white supremacy in your official capacity. You can amend existing state loyalty oaths for legislators, legislative candidates, and/or state employees to include the denunciation of white supremacy groups. See an example from Illinois here.

Deeply invest in multi-racial organizing rooted in race equity. It is not a coincidence that the attack on the Capitol was on the same day that the transformational organizing work of Black and Brown communities flipped two U.S. Senate seats, changing partisan control of the chamber. Violent white backlash is a hallmark of American history and this type of terrorism demonstrates that extremists are afraid of the ascending power of BIPOC communities across this country.

As we allow ourselves the space to grieve and rage, let us also be emboldened by the knowledge that our strategy is working. We must continue to fight tirelessly to build a robust, multi-racial democracy and dream of the country we want to live in.

Downloads & Other Resources

E-mail helpdesk@stateinnovation.org to request access to the recording of a training withClick to watch training with the Digital Defense Fund, SiX, and Local Progress or view slides below to learn how to take proactive measures to prioritize your physical and digital safety.
- Additional resources shared during the presentation:
  - Guidance for Reporting on Extremist Groups & Threats
  - Violence Prevention & De-escalation Resources for State & Local Officials
  - Many states have address confidentiality programs for various folks; more info at https://victimconnect.org/resources/address-confidentiality/
  - On collecting doxxing evidence: endtechabuse.org

Digital Security Essentials for Elected Officials (PDF)Download

What Just Happened in the States

Partisan Control of State Legislatures Remains Largely Unchanged

In November 2020, nearly 6,000 of the nation’s 7,383 state legislative seats were up for election. Come January 2021, the partisan control of state legislatures will look almost identical to how they looked two years prior: of the 98 chambers that have partisan control, 59 are held by Republicans, 37 by Democrats (as of this writing, the Arizona Senate and House remain in flux; Nebraska is a unicameral, nonpartisan chamber).

Though communities of color in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan beat back Donald Trump’s fascism and division federally, gerrymandering and other structural barriers kept their state legislatures relatively unchanged. For example, in Wisconsin, Joe Biden won 49.4% of the vote (as of November 5th), but Republicans retained 61% of all state legislative seats.

Progressive Policy Victories Were Achieved via Ballot Measure

Voters of all political persuasions overwhelmingly support progressive public policy options, mostly through direct democracy in the ballot measure process.

Alabama voters removed racist language from their state constitution.
In California, voters restored voting rights to individuals serving parole for felony convictions.
In Colorado, voters rejected a ban on later abortion—in even higher numbers than they voted for Joe Biden—again affirming broad bipartisan support for abortion access.
In Colorado, voters also approved a new national standard for paid family and medical leave, which will begin in 2024.
In Florida, almost 61% of voters approved raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2026.
In Utah and Nebraska, voters stripped the “slavery as a punishment” clause from their state constitutions.
Marijuana was decriminalized, legalized, and/or taxed in five states: Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota.

Statehouses Across the Country Will Be More Diverse

The 2020 election produced a diverse new class of progressive electeds in red and blue states alike.

Oklahoma elected the country’s first openly nonbinary state legislator, Mauree Turner– and they are a Muslim millennial!
In New Mexico, there is now a 37–33 majority of women in the House.
Five newly elected state legislators will become the first Muslim legislators in their states: Mauree Turner in Oklahoma, Madinah Wilson-Anton in Delaware, Iman Jodeh in Colorado, Samba Baldeh in Wisconsin, and Christopher Benjamin in Florida.

Several LGBTQIA “firsts” were celebrated throughout the country: In Delaware, Sarah McBride became the first transgender person elected to a state Senate. Two other Democrats became the first openly transgender people to win seats in their states’ Houses: Taylor Small in Vermont and Stephanie Byers in Kansas. Tenessee elected its first openly gay and openly bisexual legislators, Eddie Mannis and Torrey Harris, respectively.
In Washington state, the number of Black women legislators tripled from the previous year.

The pipeline of public leadership is starting to look more like America— but we still have far to go. We can never achieve justice if our decision-makers are older, whiter, and more affluent than the people they represent; only 29% of state legislators who hold office are women and 78% are white.

In many states, legislators are part-time, paid very little (if at all,) and required to drop everything to be fully available for their legislative sessions. This has led to state legislatures being disproportionately composed of retirees, independently wealthy people, and those whose educational and career privileges allow them to hit pause on their careers for up to several months per year without repercussions.

What Comes Next

The most immediate challenge facing all state legislatures next year will be swelling budget deficits due to the pandemic and the recession. At the same time, state legislators face an extreme risk across the progressive movement—that all hopes are laid at the feet of the new President without an acknowledgment that state legislatures have significant power to shape the political terrain for generations to come.

We know that bold champions can make a difference in every legislative context — majorities, minorities, and split governance states — and our champions need resources and support to create transformative change. SiX is designed precisely for this work.

The road ahead isn’t easy, but the work to transform this country is a long arc. We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors and are so grateful to be in this generational struggle.

COVID Response: Resources for State Legislators

As the coronavirus situation continues to unfold, we’re compiling resources here to help you navigate the many challenges this presents to your community. We know that crises like these have disproportionate impacts on vulnerable and low-income communities and want to make sure we stand up for those most at risk. As legislators, you are uniquely positioned to find solutions that mitigate the harm for at-risk medical populations (people with chronic health conditions, people with disabilities, the elderly), hourly workers, the millions of Americans without access to health care or paid sick days, and everyone who is one health emergency away from financial ruin.

The resources we've linked to below can help you use your platform to provide clear, scientifically-based information to the public and advocate for better policies.

If you have actions or new policies that are happening in your states, please share them so we can provide them to other legislators across the country. Please email helpdesk@stateinnovation.org.

Race and the Virus: Bias, Data, Testing, and Impact

The spread of COVID-19 took longer to reach rural America, however, once it did, it highlighted some basic infrastructure needs that are lacking for rural residents. During COVID-19, rural people have faced many of the same challenges as urban residents, yet have struggled to access adequate information, medical services, food and medicine due to an erosion of public investment in rural infrastructure.

See more here.

Health Care

In addition to the risks to individuals’ physical health, the COVID-19 pandemic affects every health care system in the United States (medical, public health, insurance) and each of their corresponding workforces. State legislatures have a responsibility and opportunity to ensure that these systems are operating effectively and equitably for the health of all people.

See more here.

Unemployment and Worker Protections

The Covid pandemic has had devastating impacts on every single worker and every aspect of our economy, particularly women and Black, Brown, and Indigenous workers. Too many are grappling with how to pay for the basic necessities they need to survive and many are being forced to decide between going back to a job that may be unsafe or protecting their health. Fortunately, legislators and partners can implement innovative solutions that will make our workforce and our local economies safer and stronger.

See more here.

Preventing Evictions

Our nation is in the midst of a housing crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under our nation’s system of racial capitalism, housing serves more as a financial asset or investment than a basic human right. The current system disproportionately harms working-class, Black, Indigenous, and communities of color (BIPOC)—leaving them out of both asset building opportunities and housing protections. Evictions already place a disproportionate harm on Black women and their families, who are almost four times as likely to be evicted as households led by white men. Housing stability has always been a civil rights issue that directly descends from our nation’s history of segregation and racist housing practices.

See more here.

Official Election mail voting register scaled

Democracy and Voting

2020 Census

The 2020 Census is still on and it is more important than ever to get out the count and encourage communities to self-respond. SiX’s Census Get Out the Count Toolkit for State Legislators has everything you need to promote the census digitally with your constituents during the pandemic and is being updated regularly. Here’s the most important message the all legislators should be lifting up:
- “Responding to the census has never been easier. You can fill out the form from the comfort of your home—online, over the phone, or by mail—all without having to meet a census taker in person.”
To make sure you’re staying informed and sharing the latest information with your constituents, check out the Census Bureau’s news room and overview of 2020 Census Operational Adjustments Due to COVID-19.
- On April 13, the Bureau announced major operational changes for the 2020 count. All field data collection activities have been suspended until June 1, and the enumeration period has been extended until October 31, 2020. That means households will now have until the end of October to self-respond to the census, though legislators should still encourage communities to participate as soon as possible.

Voting & Elections

COVID-19 poses an incredible threat to voter access and participation in our elections and requires a multi-pronged, well-funded solution. To meet this challenge, states must rapidly ensure that voting systems are safe, resilient, and flexible. Democracy advocates across the country are uniting behind the below areas of reform to protect our democracy during the pandemic:
- Expanded voter registration, including online registration, same-day registration, and automatic registration;
- Expanded mail voting, including pre-paid postage and fair and consistent ballot verification and cure processes;
- Expanded early voting and in-person voting opportunities;
- Reforms to polling station locations, setups, and sanitation protocols (following CDC guidelines); and
- Robust public education.
For a detailed overview of these policy recommendations see the following resources from SiX’s national partners:
- Brennan Center for Justice: How to Protect the 2020 Vote from the Coronavirus, Voters Need Safe and Sanitary In-Person Voting Options, Why a Vote-by-Mail Option Is Necessary, and Estimated Costs of Covid-19 Election Resiliency Measures
- National Taskforce on Election Crises: COVID-19 Election Guide
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: Voting Rights Coalition Letter: Protect Voting Rights and Public Safety in Response to COVID-19
- Brennan Center for Justice: How to Protect the 2020 Vote from the Coronavirus and Estimated Costs of Covid-19 Election Resiliency Measures
- Center for American Progress: Election Contingency Planning During the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Campaign Legal Center: Three Measures to Ensure Ballot Access During the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Fair Fight Action Fund: Protecting Our Democracy Amid COVID-19
- Marc Elias: Four Pillars to Safeguard Voting Rights with Vote by Mail
For technical recommendations on expanded vote by mail, check out the National Vote at Home Institute’s extensive reference library and Scale-Up Roadmap to Secure the 2020 Election. This article from Washington Monthly outlines Utah’s path to scaling vote by mail. SiX’s 2018 Modern and Secure Elections Playbook also includes policy guidance and legislative language on vote by mail systems.
For additional resources, see the Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources page, National Association of Secretaries of State’s (NASS) Issue Briefing: Election Emergencies & COVID-19, and NCSL’s COVID-19 and Elections page.

Reproductive Rights

COVID-19 poses specific threats to reproductive health care access and needs; further, some states have taken advantage of the crisis to play politics and restrict abortion care access. But research shows that even in the midst of COVID—and despite disinformation spread by the anti-choice opposition—people continue to oppose restricting access to reproductive freedom.

See more here.

Education

The Department of Education and the White House are pressuring schools to open in the fall but are providing little to no guidance for doing so safely, threatening to withhold funding for states or districts who do not comply. While the pressure to reopen schools in the fall grows, so does the number of coronavirus cases, leaving school districts and states scrambling to keep up with a quickly changing situation. States will have to consider how to keep all students, teachers, faculty and support staff safe—not just those in wealthy communities—through budget considerations, remote learning options, financial aid, school meals, testing and tracing, and more.

See more here.

Food Systems and Agriculture

Covid-19 demonstrated that the corporate food supply chain is one crisis away from failing, which puts communities at risk of being food insecure and could cause barriers for local farmers working to address the food needs of their community. In order to ensure that communities are resilient in their ability to access food during a crisis, legislators should work to ensure that there is a sound regional and/or local alternative food supply chain with a plan to get food to those who need it while also ensuring that food and farm workers are adequately protected in their workplaces.

See more here.

Immigration

Undocumented Immigrants make up a disproportionate share of frontline workers and are especially concentrated in high-risk industries such as food production, health care, and transportation. However, these same immigrant workers have been excluded from any economic relief included in the CARES Act and are unable to access unemployment insurance. To compound this devastating situation, Trump’s immigration enforcement machine continues to target undocumented residents and separate families at astounding rates, which has led to extreme health risks within immigration detention centers across the United States.

See more here.

Rural Communities

See more here.

Defend Against Harmful Policies

State legislatures are on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, trying to do their best to protect and provide vital social services to their constituents. While some states are passing inclusive policies to stabilize our local economies, others are using the pandemic as an opportunity to pass harmful policies that will have devastating impacts on our communities. Additionally, some policies are intended to support struggling families but are having unintended consequences.

See more here.

COVID Resources: Unemployment and Worker Protections

Resources:

Unemployment benefits and preventing wage theft of stimulus checks
- The National Employment Law Project highlights six key priorities for strengthening unemployment systems
- The EARN network hosted a webinar about unemployment solutions
- The National Consumer Law Center lists a number of states who are working to protect stimulus checks from garnishment

Worker Health and Rights
- A Better Balance produced an emergency paid sick leave tracker for States, Cities and Counties
- Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard University in partnership with NELP collected a number of measures that state and local officials can take to protect workers as economies reopen, as well as tools to help encourage the use of communication to keep workers safe
- Workers compensation - Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed into law a bill that provides temporary workers compensation
- Hazard pay - Any employer that provides COVID-19 essential services shall provide hazard pay if it employs at least six individuals. See this bill from Massachusetts .
- The Colorado Legislature passed CO HB 20-1415 (enacted on July 11, 2020) which prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against any worker who raises concerns about workplace health and safety practices related to a public health emergency.
- NELP provides an overview of 14 states that have adopted comprehensive worker safety protections
- Many states are fighting back against corporate immunity that lets businesses off the hook if they don’t protect workers. A state level toolkit to push back is here.

Farm & Food Worker Safety
- Appropriate funds for farmers to purchase PPE for farm and food workers. See this bill from New Jersey.
- Ensure that state information related to farm worker safety is communicated in both Spanish and English. Here is what Vermont did and this is the bill being considered in California.
- Through executive action, Governors from California and Michigan have taken action to protect farm workers. An Executive order from California Governor Newsom requiring paid sick leave for workers, while Michigan Governor Gretchen Withmer issued an Executive Order on migrant housing camps during COVID-19.

COVID Resources: Reproductive Health Care

Always work with your state’s reproductive rights, health, and justice coalition - contact us for support if needed!

Resources:

Communicating about Reproductive Freedom During COVID
Attacks on reproductive freedom have not disappeared during the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, politicians in some states are using the pandemic to try to ban or restrict access to abortion in new ways. But research shows that even in the midst of COVID—and despite disinformation spread by the opposition—people continue to support reproductive freedom. Click here for messaging guidance.

Actions State Legislators Can Consider to Protect Reproductive Health Care
From removing existing barriers to abortion care to expanding tele-health services, state lawmakers can facilitate easier access to reproductive health care that reflects our current realities. And any COVID-19 response should be viewed through the lenses of racial and gender justice.
- Ten Things State Policymakers Can Do to Protect Access to Reproductive Health Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Guttmacher Institute. May 2020.
- Expanding Telemedicine Can Ensure Abortion Access During COVID-19 Pandemic Center for Reproductive Rights and Columbia University. Spring 2020.
- Promoting Equitable Access to Health Care in Response to COVID-19. National Women’s Law Center. Spring 2020.
- 5 Ways State Policymakers Must Center Gender Justice in Their COVID-19 Response. National Women’s Law Center. Spring 2020.
- COVID-19 Policy Platform Demanding Reproductive Self-Determination for All of Us. If/When/How. Spring 2020.

COVID-19’s Impact on Accessing Reproductive Health Care and Maternal Health
To help make the case, consult the most recent data and research on how reproductive and maternal health care are being impacted by COVID-19.
- Surveying State Executive Orders Impacting Reproductive Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Guttmacher Institute. July 2020.
- The COVID-19 Outbreak: Potential Fallout for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Guttmacher Institute. March 2020.
- Early Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the 2020 Guttmacher Survey of Reproductive Health Experiences. Guttmacher Institute. June 2020.
- Safeguarding Maternal Health and Rights in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Center for Reproductive Rights and Columbia University.
- COVID-19 Abortion Bans Would Greatly Increase Driving Distances for Those Seeking Care. Guttmacher Institute. April 2020.
- Youth Reproductive Rights & the COVID-19 Response. Advocates for Youth, Center for Reproductive Rights, URGE, SIECUS, If/When/How. Spring 2020.
- Protecting and Promoting Women’s Rights Is Key to Defeating the Coronavirus at Home and Abroad. Center for American Progress. May 2020.

Abortion as Essential Care during COVID-19
Abortion was under attack as Governors around the U.S. saw an opportunity to capitalize on a crisis to ban abortion care. These resources make it clear that abortion is critical, timely care, and that a global health pandemic and economic crisis are the exact wrong reasons to limit access to abortion care.
- VIDEO: Abortion is Essential featuring SiX, ACLU, an abortion provider and OH State Rep. Tavia Galonski. State Innovation Exchange. April 2020.
- Abortion is Essential Care. Center for Reproductive Rights and Columbia University. Spring 2020.
- COVID-19 Underscores the Nonessential Nature of Abortion Restrictions. Center for Reproductive Rights and Columbia University. Spring 2020.
- How State COVID-19 Orders Can Impact Abortion Access. Center for Reproductive Rights and Columbia University. Spring 2020.

Contact us at reproductiverights@stateinnovation.org for:
- Communications and messaging guides for abortion care and COVID-19
- State-specific research and support
- To convene or facilitate a briefing or strategy session with your legislative colleagues and state coalition partners

COVID Resources: Race, the Virus: Bias, Data, Testing and Impact

Existing demographic data has revealed the disproportionate health effects of the coronavirus on Black and Brown people, communities of color, and Indigenous people. However, comprehensive racial and ethnic data does not exist in every state nor are there uniform reporting guidelines across the country. In order to better address racial disparities, legislators are pushing for improved data collection, an investment in contact tracing programs, and greater transparency on racial impact.

Resources:

General Information on Racial Disparities and Equity
- APM Research Lab demonstrates key findings on COVID-19 deaths based on race and ethnicity in the U.S.
- Community Catalyst summarizes the COVID-19-related health and economic challenges for communities of color
- An in-depth overview of COVID-19-related racial disparities
- Data for Black Lives issued a report with research on and policy demands for racial data transparency
- SiX led a webinar on “Principles for an Anti-Racist State Equitable Response to COVID-19” that discussed a paper from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Improved Data Collection and Analysis
- PolicyLink developed policy recommendations for disaggregating data on race and ethnicity to advance a culture of health
- Examples of comprehensive racial data transparency bills from Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Michigan

Contact Tracing Programs
- United States of Care: executive summary of state actions on contact tracing
- New York requires city contact tracers to be representative of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the communities they will serve
- Examples of appropriations bills that support contract tracing from Hawaii, Minnesota, and North Carolina
Addressing Racial Disparities
- This comprehensive racial equity checklist from Community Catalyst includes policy options for addressing racial inequities in response to COVID-19
- Ohio and Massachusetts introduced bills that would require a racial impact and health disparities analysis for health-related initiatives and policies
- South Carolina developed a testing plan that emphasizes testing in rural and under-resourced minority communities, urban areas, and congregate living areas

COVID Resources: Preventing Evictions

Now, with the pandemic and economic crisis already harming Black Americans and people of color at astonishing rates, inaction by policymakers will drastically intensify the housing crisis, destroy the lives of millions of people, and destabilize our entire nation.

As of September 4, there is now a federal eviction moratorium from the CDC that extends protections to some renters at risk of eviction for nonpayment of rent during the COVID pandemic. For more on this, see NLIHC for this overview of the moratorium and this FAQ for Renters. At-risk renters should contact their local legal aid offices, tenant associations, or local bar associations ASAP.

In addition to pressuring Congress to pass emergency rental assistance, broaden eviction preventions, and suspend rent and mortgage payments, what action can state lawmakers take?

First, see how your state ranks on Eviction Lab’s COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard. Then consider what immediate emergency measures your state needs to prevent mass evictions and what longer-term solutions should come next.

IMMEDIATE MEASURES

Whether by bringing legislation (if in session) or by pressuring the governor, these are key policies to consider to immediately put in place:

Rent and Mortgage Cancellation
- Rent cancellation has been pushed at both the state and federal level
  - At the federal level, H.R. 6515 would cancel all rent and mortgage payments
  - Several states have also introduced legislation which would cancel rent for tenants financially harmed by COVID-19. Illinois, New York, and New Jersey all introduced legislation to cancel rent, and Massachusetts introduced legislation which would have placed a freeze on rent increases.
Eviction freezes and moratoriums
- States across the country took action to place a moratorium on evictions either for the duration of the crisis or a shorter time period through executive, legislative, and judicial action. While the moratoriums prevented the immediate evictions of renters, they have been criticized by tenants and housing justice groups as simply differing an inevitable “avalanche of evictions”, without broader relief.
  - State legislatures across the country passed legislation either extending, expanding, or establishing their own eviction moratoriums. Two of the stronger bills were passed in Massachusetts and Oregon.
Rental grace period/ Reasonable repayment plans: Once eviction moratoria lift, tenants who miss their rent payment will still be liable for unpaid rent, but few will be able to pay that rent all at once. Legislators should mandate that landlords provide reasonable rent repayment plans.
- Oregon HB 4213 gives tenants a six-month grace period following the end of the moratorium to pay the balance of unpaid rent
Emergency rental assistance and cash directly to Americans:
- States like Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado, New Jersey, and New York have established rental and mortgage assistance funds to assist renters and homeowners struggling to make their housing payment
Extend access to rental assistance funds to all people, regardless of immigration status.
- See NILC’s resources for more information.
- 8 USC 1621(b) creates an exception for emergency disaster relief and certain assistance programs

LONGER TERM

The national housing crisis will exist past the end of the pandemic, and we need systemic solutions to provide affordable housing and protect renters. These are key policies that states can pursue:

Rent control and rent stabilization
- New York, California, and Oregon became the first states to pass statewide rent control legislation in 2019, limiting the amount landlords can increase rents year-to-year.
- Legislators Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey each introduced rent control bills in 2020, while New York and California attempted to strengthen and expand their existing laws
Just Cause eviction laws
- Just cause eviction extends protections to renters by limiting the reasons landlords can evict a tenant to failure to pay rent and material breach of a lease
- Cities like Seattle, Oakland, Berkeley all have just-cause protections, while New Jersey, California, and Oregon have enacted legislation at the state level.
Homes for All
- Homes for All has emerged as a demand for renewed investment in publicly-owned, permanently affordable housing, also known as social housing.
  - At the federal level, Homes for All legislation has been introduced that would construct 9.5 million units of public housing, and 2.5 million units of affordable, privately-owned housing.
  - At the the state level, legislators in Maryland introduced legislation which would construct 2,000 units of permanently affordable, publicly-owned, mixed-income housing.
Take housing out of the rent court system
Establish housing as a human right
- Local governments, like Dane County, WI, have passed resolutions to acknowledge housing as a human right, and other states like Hawaii, Connecticut, and California have attempted to pass legislation at the state level.
Affordable housing trust funds; protect existing stock of affordable housing
Change zoning laws
- The city of Minneapolis ended single-family zoning and increased the minimum zoning density in its 2020 comprehensive plan
- Oregon enacted legislation in 2019 to require cities over 10,000 people to allow duplexes on single-family zoned lots, and requires the city of Portland to allow quadplexes and “cottage clusters” on single-family zoned lots.
Source of income as protected category
- Multiple states and local jurisdiction have banned landlords from discriminating against working-class tenants by making source of income a protected category. These protections often include social security, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, housing vouchers, alimony, child-payments, and other public assistance programs
Automatic moratorium on eviction filings, execution of writs, and utility shutoff during an emergency like a public health epidemic.
Suppress court records to prevent the permanent “Scarlet E:” Evictions and eviction filings result in an adverse housing record for tenants. A statewide eviction moratorium should include a provision to suppress court records related to a tenant’s eviction and rental debt accrued due to pandemic-related hardship.
- Minneapolis and Portland have both limited the ability for landlords to screen tenants. Among the protections, landlords can not consider evictions which occurred over three years prior.
- Colorado passed legislation that suppresses eviction records while cases are proceeding, and removes them if a case is dismissed. Unfortunately, the eviction is not suppressed if the landlord wins and an eviction is ordered.
Boost enforcement and penalties: Eviction law should prevent unlawful evictions and increase penalties for landlords who cut power, threaten their tenants, or otherwise attempt to push tenants out of their homes while eviction moratoria are in place.
Develop rental relief funds
Extend tenant cure periods
Right to counsel for eviction cases and advice services
Court-based programs and policies

RESOURCES:

To watch and listen:

The Impending Eviction Crisis: Housing as Health Care and Racial Justice (June 25, 2019. Hosted by ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice)
Local Progress and SiX Network Call on Housing and Homelessness (April 5, 2020)

Organizations, online resources, and written materials:

Eviction Lab
- Spreadsheet of eviction moratoria and utility shutoff changes from across the country
- State scorecards and policy explanations
Housing and Health Care for All! Demands from the Movement 4 Black Lives

National Housing Law Project. They offer a whole set of resources including:
- Summary and Analysis of Federal CARES Act Eviction Moratorium
- Model State Moratorium: This is NHLP’s model moratorium to stop all five phases of the eviction process, with provisions on late charges, landlord access to premises, and payment plans.
- Coronavirus Eviction Moratoria: Considerations and Best Practices is an NHLP analysis for federal, state, and local eviction moratoria.
- Emergency Rental Assistance Recommendations This NHLP resource highlights principles for emergency rental assistance administration at the federal, state, and local levels.
- Safe at Home: Non-Monetary Relief for Tenants During the COVID Emergency This NHLP document outlines a number of strategies besides rent relief to help tenants remain housed and to preserve stability during this time of economic uncertainty and health risk. (June 2, 2020)
National Low Income Housing Coalition Has a great set of timelines and collection of federal and state actions.
- FAQ: Coronavirus and Homelessness
National Alliance for Safe Housing, COVID-19 Response Resources Provides links to a number of resources for advocates who serve survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
Eviction Innovations: an an inventory of services being piloted and proposed to address the eviction crisis
National Alliance to End Homelessness: Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response
National Law Center on Homeless and Poverty - COVID-19 Protections for Homeless Populations
Policy Link: Centering Racial Equity in Housing
Homes Guarantee: A National Home's Guarantee Briefing Book

COVID Resources: Immigration

Resources:

Economic relief for immigrant families: According to the Migration Policy Institute, the citizen restrictions in the CARES Act has excluded 15.4 million people from the $1,200 stimulus payments: 9.9 million undocumented immigrants, along with 3.7 million children and 1.7 million spouses who are either U.S. citizens or green-card holders.
- California’s Governor allotted $75 million in state disaster relief funds to provide undocumented state residents with one-time cash transfers of $500 per adult. Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, April 2020.
- Colorado’s legislature expanded the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit during the 2020 session to increase cash payments to low-income families and became the first state in the nation to include undocumented workers in the tax credit. Colorado General Assembly, July 2020.
- Municipalities such as Austin and Minneapolis have created funds to help low-income families who have been economically impacted by COVID-19 to pay rent or other expenses and specifically prioritize families who have been left out of federal relief efforts. Migration Policy Institute, April 2020.
Healthcare for frontline workers: The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act passed by Congress in March authorized COVID-19 testing to be covered by Medicaid, leaving 3.7 million low-income, uninsured non-citizens without coverage for testing and treatment under Medicaid.
- California’s legislature expanded Medicaid access to undocumented immigrants under the age of 26. DHCS, January 2020.
Worker Health Protections: Six million immigrant workers are at the frontlines of keeping U.S. residents healthy and fed during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the immigrants represent 17 percent of the 156 million civilians working in 2018, they account for larger shares in coronavirus-response frontline occupations: 29 percent of all physicians and 38 percent of home health aides, for example. They also represent significant shares of workers cleaning hospital rooms, staffing grocery stores, and producing food.
- Paid Sick Leave: Twelve states, as well as Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, have paid sick leave laws, which largely cover immigrant workers.
- Paid Family and Medical Leave: Eight states, and Washington D.C., have paid family and medical leave programs, which largely include immigrant workers and their families.

COVID Resources: Health Care

Resources:

Health Data
- CDC guidance on COVID-19 symptoms and protection are updated regularly (Spanish version)
- Kaiser Family Foundation keeps an up-to-date tracker of state data (cases, deaths, and tests)
- The American Public Health Association hosts a series of evidence-based webinars on the science behind COVID-19 for the benefit of policymakers, public health/health care officials, and the general public

State Policy Trackers
- Create and download custom state policy reports on the Kaiser Family Foundation
- Select from several health care policy categories in NCSL’s state actions database for summaries of state legislation on COVID-19 (both bill content and legislative progress)

Testing and Tracing
- Guidance for state governors on COVID-19 testing capacity and strategies for consideration from the National Governors Association
- The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials provide summaries of contact tracing legislation introduced in the states and key considerations for drive-through and mobile testing
- State examples: South Carolina developed a testing plan that emphasizes testing in rural and under-resourced minority communities, urban areas, and congregate living areas

Telehealth
- State-by-state policy actions on telehealth compiled by the Center for Connected Health Policy
- KFF analysis, infographics, and examples of state efforts to expand telehealth under Medicaid
- State Examples:
  - New Jersey, Colorado, and Rhode Island introduced legislation that would expand telehealth coverage for audio-only appointments
  - New Jersey enacted a bill that waives cost-sharing for telehealth services
  - North Carolina, Iowa, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire are examples of states that introduced bills on ensuring telehealth payment parity

Support for Health Care Professionals
- Minnesota passed a comprehensive health care bill to support front-line workers and their work environments
- The Federation of State Medical Boards keeps up-to-date lists of the states that have waived in-state licensure requirements, modified CME requirements, and expedited licenses for retired physicians and medical schools in several states have expedited graduation to get new providers out into the workforce
- The Center for American Progress outlines why it is important to provide child care for health care workers and to remove barriers for immigrant medical workers during COVID-19
- Public Health officials and workers are facing heightened attacks as they work to protect the health of communities around the country prompting professional associations to call on elected officials for increased protections.

Insurance Regulations and Coverage
- This comprehensive COVID-19 resource page from Community Catalyst includes policy options and messaging tools, including general and state-specific social media graphics
- Track state plan amendments and other administrative actions to address COVID-19 on KFF’s Medicaid Emergency Authority tracker
- The Commonwealth Fund’s map of state coverage policies has a dropdown of actions that go beyond the federal minimum or existing state standards
- 8 recommendations for Medicaid and CHIP from State Health and Value Strategies
- State Examples:
  - Louisiana and New Jersey enacted similar laws that waives or lowers cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing and treatment
  - Ohio introduced a bill that would temporarily waive certain Medicaid requirements and expand financial eligibility to 200% for adults
  - North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Kansas, and Florida made efforts to expand their state’s Medicaid plan

COVID Resources: Food Systems and Agriculture

In order to ensure that communities are resilient in their ability to access food during a crisis, legislators should work to ensure that there is a sound regional and/or local alternative food supply chain with a plan to get food to those who need it while also ensuring that food and farm workers are adequately protected in their workplaces.

Resources

Support for Farmers

Appropriate additional funds for their agriculture community. Here are bills from Vermont and North Carolina and Utah.
- Appropriate additional resources for farm safety, rural mental health and farm crisis services. Here is what Minnesota has done.
- Include small independent farmers in any small business aid like this bill from New York did.

Local Food Infrastructure

Designate farmer's markets as essential local service providers. Here's a list of states that have done this.
- Provide opportunities for increased local meat infrastructure. Oregon, North Carolina, New Mexico, Hawaii, Utah, Wyoming have all been working on bills to bolster local meat production to service small and independent farmers who are providing meat for their local communities.
- Create working groups to assess food security and a local food supply to bolster community resiliency. New York and Utah have both done this.

Food Security

Use new flexibility in SNAP to respond to COVID-19 challenges. Here is an overview of what states can do and here is what New Jersey did to increase access to SNAP benefits.
- Provide additional resources for food access, particularly to underserved communities. Here is one example from Minnesota. Mississippi attempted a bill to include reimbursements to local municipalities for a variety of services including food delivery to senior citizens and other vulnerable populations. Pennsylvania has a bill that includes resources for a food hotline, food banks and additional SNAP benefits.
- Provide additional support for Food Pantries. Here is what Colorado did and North Carolina appropriated additional funds as part of an omnibus package to be split equally among food banks.
- Provide grants to local organizations to purchase local food (this helps farmers too). An example from Minnesota.
- Provide emergency food assistance to undocumented persons like California did.
- Allow school buses to use the eight-light system when making food deliveries to families with school-aged children, as was done in Vermont.

Farm & Food Worker Safety

Appropriate funds for farmers to purchase PPE for farm and food workers. See this bill from New Jersey.
- Ensure that state information related to farm worker safety is communicated in both Spanish and English. Here is what Vermont did and this is the bill being considered in California.
- An Executive order from California Governor Newsom requiring paid sick leave for workers, while Michigan Governor Gretchen Withmer issued an Executive Order on migrant housing camps during COVID-19. .

COVID Resources: Education

General Resources

The Education Commission of the States has information, policy considerations, and examples from states in the following education topic areas:
- Assessments and Accountability
- Broadband and Technology Access
- Continued and Future Learning
- Early Learning
- Finance
- Instructional Time and Grade Promotion
- Postsecondary
- Remote/Virtual/E-Learning
- Special Education
- Student Health and Wellness
- Teachers
- Workforce

Resources: K-12

Guidance for Reopening K-12
- National Education Association’s guidance for reopening has recommendations for school administrators and teachers (as opposed to state legislators) but will help legislators understand the challenges, risks and opportunities for intervention.
- American Federation of Teachers has a guide to reopening. PDF pages 12-14 has recommendations and information for legislators.
- CDC guiding principles for evaluating risk in school setting options.
- See a guide on school buildings and repurposing large common areas and calculating social distance spaces in classrooms: School Buildings and Social Distancing: A Downloadable Guide

Broadband and Technology Access
- National Digital Inclusion Alliance has a list of state government initiatives to address access to the internet during Covid-19.
- Most states plan to use Governor’s Emergency Education Relief funds to expand or continue meeting student needs to access reliable, high speed internet and devices. Legislators can see how other states have used their funds and other opportunities to expand broadband.
- Urge the Federal Communications Commission to take measures to secure broadband access for those impacted by COVID-19 like New Jersey did.
- Invest in broadband activity to significantly increase rural broadband capacity for distance learning, remote working, telehealth and other critical services like Vermont did.
- Invest in existing rural cooperatives in order to support the expansion of broadband to rural communities. This is what Mississippi did.
- Establish a grant program for broadband expansion like was done in Minnesota and Mississippi.

Food Security for Students K-12
- USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services response to Covid-19 includes lists of child nutrition programs, waivers, parent/guardian meal pick-ups, and other nationwide waivers for students (including students who receive free and reduced lunches).

Funding for K-12
- For background, see What Congressional Covid Funding Means for K-12 Schools
- The CARES Act provides $13.5 billion in emergency aid for K-12 schools that may be directly impacted by how individual states cut their own education spending.
- An interactive tool that can be adjusted to look at any budgeting scenario: School Funding; what to expect and what states can do.
- Covid-19 Legislative responses: Interactive map to track education bills by state. Includes tracking for all education-related state action regarding the outbreak.

Teacher Resources
- American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) state policy tracking map that is useful for highlighting present changes to policies for initial licensure, clinical experiences, hiring and induction, and state standards to support EPPs and teacher candidates during Covid-19.
- A guide to community conversations on reopening schools safely. Also includes information on bringing the community together around the conversation.

Resources: Institutions of Higher Education (IHE)

Guidance for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education (IHE)
- CDC guidance: IHE general setting recommendations and on-campus housing settings including for lowest risk, more risk, and highest risk options.
- The CARES Act provides almost $14 Billion directly to IHE. ACE simulated distribution of funds that would be allocated by The Department of Education.
- Higher Education policy considerations from NCSL includes in-person vs. remote learning options, financial considerations, admissions and enrollment, and more, and can be found here.

COVID Resources: Rural Communities

Resources:

General
- The CDC has compiled a list of resources that address the unique challenges of rural communities. You can find that list here.
- The CDC has also compiled a list of resources for tribal communities. That list can be found here.

Broadband
- Urge the Federal Communications Commission to take measures to secure broadband access for those impacted by COVID-19 like New Jersey did.
- Invest in broadband activity to significantly increase rural broadband capacity for distance learning, remote working, telehealth and other critical services like Vermont did.
- Invest in existing rural cooperatives in order to support the expansion of broadband to rural communities. This is what Mississippi did.
- Establish a grant program for broadband expansion like was done in Minnesota and Mississippi.

Rural Health Care
- For background, see this paper that looks at the urban - rural mental health disparities in the US During COVID-19. You can access it here.
- Designate funds specifically for rural health care and services. North Carolina did this as part of an omnibus bill.
- Appropriate funds to cover the costs incurred by rural hospitals as a result of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is what Mississippi did.
- Reimburse rural health care providers for expenses incurred for telehealth services. This is what Colorado did.

Rural Small Business
- When creating small business loan or grant programs, prioritize applicants who come from rural areas, women- or minority-owned businesses or businesses owned by veterans. See this bill in Colorado as an example.

Rural Homelessness
- The National Healthcare for the Homeless Council has a list of resources that are unique to addressing homelessness in rural areas. You can access the resources here.
- For background, the US Interagency Council on Homelessness has a pre-COVID report that discusses the unique challenges of addressing homelessness in rural communities. You can access the report here.
- Ensure that supportive housing services are extended to rural communities, where people have less access to nonprofits and other easily accessible social services. This is what Colorado attempted.

Paid Sick Leave Policy Playbook Supplement and Polling Memo

See SiX's new resources: Paid Sick Days Policy Playbook Supplement and Pre-Session Polling on Paid Sick Leave.

Over 33 million people in the US do not have access to paid sick leave, and this has a disproportionate impact on low and moderate wage workers. Access to paid sick days is even more critical in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus health crisis has revealed the need for access to paid sick leave more than ever — particularly for lower wage, Black, or Hispanic workers and working mothers whose incomes and families are more directly affected by the coronavirus. Fortunately, states without robust paid sick leave laws are taking action to help increase access.

Since we first released our Paid Sick Days Policy Playbook in 2016, the number of states requiring employers to provide paid sick days has jumped from 5 to 14. In light of these changes, and folks’ urgent need for paid sick leave access, SiX has released the Paid Sick Days Policy Playbook Supplement. In addition to reflecting new paid sick leave legislation, SiX is releasing Pre-Session Polling on Paid Sick Leave which evidences the high public support for paid sick leave in three states where legislatures have yet to act — Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

Abortion is Essential Healthcare

Crisis does not erase inequality. It lays it bare.

We've seen how low-income c ommunities of color, have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis. And we've seen how anti-abortion officials are pulling out all the stops to use this crisis as an excuse to ban abortion.

During this unprecedented pandemic, our elected officials should be focused on our families’ health and safety. It’s unconscionable that politicians would use a national crisis to try to deny critical health care to anyone. Now more than ever we should be coming together as communities to make sure everyone can safely get the healthcare they need, not actively working to deny our neighbors care--including and especially abortion care.

That's why SiX Repro Team worked with legal, medical, and legislative experts to release a 19-minute video on abortion as essential healthcare.

Legislating in a Pandemic: Transparent & Remote Governance

Table Of Contents

Considerations for Transparent & Accessible Governance in Emergencies
Examples of Remote Governance Transitions
Reads & Resources

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing list of state legislatures have postponed session and legislators themselves have started testing positive for the virus. While some states quickly moved to remote sessions and amended open meeting laws to prevent crowds at state capitols, many are struggling to make this transition in a transparent and accessible manner. Other states have limited or no government continuity plans in place, and some are grappling with constitutions or state laws that appear to prohibit remote governance and voting altogether.

While this is an unprecedented time in American history, where preserving the public health and the continuity of government collide, it will not be the last time that legislatures must shift how they do business. At extraordinary moments like today, state legislatures must adopt methods of flexible, remote governance while prioritizing transparency and public access.

State legislatures adapting to the new reality of governance can learn from early experiences, challenges, and critiques that other state and local governments have faced in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognize that shifting your state’s approach to governance will not be easy and that there will be hiccups and mistakes along the way. To anticipate and overcome these challenges and to find viable solutions to keep government working and accessible, we encourage state legislators to work with their executive branch counterparts, state technology officers, local officials, state/local advocates, peer legislators from across the country, and of course, SiX.

After reading this blog, email democracy@stateinnovation.org with your remaining questions and your asks for direct support. We are all taking this transition one step at a time, and we want to meet you and your state where you are.

Considerations for Transparent & Accessible Governance in Emergencies

Common Cause released a strong set of transparency recommendations for national, state, and local officials to follow when transitioning to remote forms of governance and adjusting open meeting laws. SiX strongly recommends that state legislatures consider these guidelines when setting up new, emergency governance structures:

“Postpone non-priority government action until the state of emergency has ended.
Provide widespread public notice of scheduled government proceedings.
Provide public access to observe government proceedings via live and recorded video available on government websites. [This requirement must apply in cases where public officials continue to meet in person but the public cannot be present for public health purposes.]
Provide public ability to participate in government proceedings via videoconference where possible and, at a minimum, via telephone and submission of written testimony.
Require all members of a public body participating in a meeting or proceeding to be clearly audible and visible at all times, including to the public.
At the start of the meeting, require the chair to announce the names of any members of the public body participating remotely.
In the event audio or video coverage of a proceeding or meeting is interrupted, require the presiding official to suspend discussion until audio/video is restored.
Require all votes to be roll call votes.
At the beginning of any executive session, require all members of the public body to state that no other person is present or can hear them.
Record all open sessions of meetings and make such recordings available to the public via government website.”

SiX also recognizes that, even by following the above principles, a rapid transition to remote governance can and will exacerbate barriers to participation in governance for many community members. While continuity of governance through remote voting and committee hearings is key as this crisis evolves, legislators must consider how this transition will impact equitable access for marginalized constituents and work to find creative solutions. This includes (but is not limited to) ensuring access for people with:

poor internet connectivity;
low technology proficiency or access;
disabilities (e.g. vision or hearing loss); and
limited English proficiency and lack of access to translation.

Examples of Remote Governance Transitions

Below we highlight several examples of rule changes, statutory changes, and executive orders that have enabled states to adapt and govern flexibly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Note that these are not perfect examples and many could benefit from stronger or clearer transparency provisions in line with the above guidance from Common Cause. That said, we hope sharing these examples offers a helpful base of information for other states to analyze and build on.

We will continue to update this list with new examples as more states make this transition and learn from each other.

Vermont

Vermont legislators and other public bodies must now convene electronically and provide virtual public access to all meetings. Legislators are primarily using Zoom to convene and deliberate. (This Tweet from a Vermont government reporter offers a taste of what remote legislating looks like!)

2020 Vermont H 681

Sec. 5. LEGISLATIVE INTENT; COVID-19 RESPONSE AND OPEN MEETINGS BILL AS PASSED BY THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE

It is the intent of the General Assembly that during the continued spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the State of Vermont public bodies should organize and hold open meetings in a manner that will protect the health and welfare of the public while providing access to the operations of government. Public bodies should meet electronically and provide the public with electronic access to meetings in lieu of a designated physical location. Accordingly, this act sets forth temporary Open Meeting Law procedures in response to COVID-19.

Sec. 6. OPEN MEETING LAW; TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF DESIGNATED PHYSICAL MEETING LOCATION REQUIREMENTS

(a) Notwithstanding 1 V.S.A. § 312(a), during a declared state of emergency under 20 V.S.A. chapter 1 due to COVID-19:

(1) a quorum or more of the members of a public body may attend a regular, special, or emergency meeting by electronic or other means without being physically present at a designated meeting location;

(2) the public body shall not be required to designate a physical meeting location where the public may attend; and

(3) the members and staff of the public body shall not be required to be physically present at a designated meeting location.

(b) When the public body meets electronically under subsection (a) of this section, the public body shall use technology that permits the attendance of the public through electronic or other means. The public body shall allow the public to access the meeting by telephone whenever feasible. The public body shall post information on how the public may access meetings electronically and shall include this information in the published agenda for each meeting. Unless unusual circumstances make it impossible for them to do so, the legislative body of each municipality and each school board shall record its meetings held pursuant to this section.

(c) In the event of a staffing shortage during a declared state of emergency under 20 V.S.A. chapter 1 due to COVID-19, a public body may extend the time limit for the posting of minutes prescribed in 1 V.S.A. § 312(b)(2) to not more than 10 days from the date of the meeting.

Rhode Island

On March 16, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo issued Executive Order 20-05 which relieved state/local officials from open meeting law prohibitions on the “use of telephonic or electronic communication to conduct meetings.” Though the Executive Order provided for virtual public access to government meetings, technical challenges and ambiguities to these rules became apparent in just the first week. Common Cause Rhode Island and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Rhode Island quickly sent a letter to state officials urging modifications to the Executive Order including: clarifications to transparency requirements for government bodies that continue to meet in person but are no longer accessible to the public (i.e. because of closed capitols) and protocols to safeguard public participation in the event of technological glitches or connectivity issues (i.e. dropped video conference or conference call lines). Other states can anticipate and learn from the Rhode Island experience.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania lawmakers enacted multiple pieces of legislation to enable remote governance. Legislators in both the House and Senate are now able to vote on legislation and participate in committee hearings remotely. As of March 26, 2020, the State Capitol remained open for (in-person) session but a large portion of legislators intentionally participated remotely via video chat to enable social distancing.

2020 Pennsylvania HR 834 RESOLVED, That a member who is not present in the Hall of the House may designate either the Majority or Minority Whip to cast the member's vote on any question as to which there has been consultation between the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader; and be it further
RESOLVED, That, after consultation between the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, if the process permitted for designated voting under this temporary rule is not agreed upon, the vote shall be cast pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representatives in existence on March 15, 2020; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a designation shall be accomplished by filing an attestation with the Chief Clerk which affirms that the member will not be present in the Hall of the House and identifies either the Majority or Minority Whip as the designee; and be it further [...]
RESOLVED, That, unless amended or revoked by the House, the temporary rules adopted in this resolution shall expire when the declaration of disaster emergency issued by the Governor on March 6, 2020, is terminated by executive order, proclamation or operation of law.

2020 Pennsylvania S.R. 318 RESOLVED, That, notwithstanding Rule 14(h) of the Senate, members may remotely participate in committee meetings as follows: remote participation means simultaneous, interactive participation in a committee meeting by committee members not physically present at the location of the meeting, through means of communication technologies designed to accommodate and facilitate such simultaneous, interactive participation; committee members participating remotely shall be counted for the purpose of determining a quorum; a quorum shall be established through a roll call; and technology employed for remote committee meetings must safeguard the integrity of the legislative process and maintain the deliberative character of the meeting by providing for simultaneous, aural and verbal communication among all participants.

Maine

Before adjourning early for 2020, Maine lawmakers enacted legislation to allow public bodies covered by the state’s open meeting law to conduct business remotely provided that the public is given advance notice, all participating members are able to hear and speak to one another, there is a clear method of electronic public participation, and all official votes are taken by roll call.

2020 Maine LD 2167 §403-A. Public proceedings through remote access during declaration of state of emergency due to COVID-19

1. Remote access. Notwithstanding any provision of law or municipal charter provision or ordinance to the contrary, during a state of emergency declared by the Governor in accordance with Title 37-B, section 742 due to the outbreak of COVID-19, a body subject to this subchapter may conduct a public proceeding through telephonic, video, electronic or other similar means of remote participation under the following conditions:

A. Notice of the public proceeding has been given in accordance with section 406, and the notice includes the method by which the public may attend in accordance with paragraph C;

B. Each member of the body who is participating in the public proceeding is able to hear and speak to all the other members during the public proceeding and members of the public attending the public proceeding in the location identified in the notice given pursuant to paragraph A are able to hear all members participating at other locations;

C. The body determines that participation by the public is through telephonic, video, electronic or other similar means of remote participation; and

D. All votes taken during the public proceeding are taken by roll call vote.

2. Application to legislative proceedings. This section does not apply to public proceedings of the Legislature, a legislative committee or the Legislative Council, except that while the state of emergency as set out in subsection 1 is in effect, the Legislature, a legislative committee or the Legislative Council may restrict attendance by the public to remote access by telephonic, video, electronic or other similar means. This section also does not apply to town meetings held pursuant to Title 30-A, section 2524 or regional school unit budget meetings pursuant to Title 20-A, section 1483.

3. Repeal. This section is repealed 30 days after the termination of the state of emergency as set out in subsection 1.

Nebraska

On March 17, 2020, “Governor Pete Ricketts issued an executive order [(Executive Order No. 20-03)] to permit state and local governmental boards, commissions, and other public bodies to meet by videoconference, teleconference, or other electronic means through May 31, 2020. The Governor’s order stipulated that all such virtual meetings must be available to members of the public, including media, to give citizens the opportunity to participate as well as to be duly informed of the meetings’ proceedings. The Governor’s order did not waive the advanced publicized notice and the agenda requirements for public meetings [(set forth in (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1411)].”

New Jersey

The New Jersey legislature enacted a fairly simple statute to allow lawmakers to use technology or electronic means to conduct business if the Governor has declared a state of emergency. It does specifically outline transparency requirements. Lawmakers simultaneously enacted a law that allows local government bodies to govern remotely as well (see 2020 New Jersey A 3850).

2020 New Jersey A 3852
b. All sessions of the Legislature shall be held at Trenton or, on a temporary basis, for ceremonial or commemorative purposes or, notwithstanding section 1 of P.L.1963, c.118 (C.52:1-1.1), by reason of emergency or other exigency, at such other locations in the State as shall be designated by the Legislature by concurrent resolution.
c. During a period of emergency or exigency, as determined by the Governor pursuant to the laws of this State or by the Legislature pursuant to concurrent resolution, the Legislature may use any technology or electronic means to conduct its business or otherwise carry out its purposes, or to comply with the requirements of paragraph 6 of Section IV of Article IV or, for the purpose of ensuring the continuity of governmental operations, of paragraph 4 of Section VI of Article IV of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey.

Texas

On March 16, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott suspended provisions of the state’s open meeting law that requires “government officials and members of the public to be physically present at a specified meeting location,” while emphasizing key transparency provisions for remote meetings. According to the Governor’s office:

“Members of the public will be entitled to participate and address the governmental body during any telephonic or videoconference meeting.”
“To hold a telephonic or videoconference meeting, a governmental body must post a written notice that gives the public a way to participate remotely, such as a toll-free dial-in number, and that includes an electronic copy of any agenda packet that officials will consider at the meeting.”
“A governmental body must provide the public with access to a recording of any telephonic or videoconference meeting.”

The directive also allows state and local officials to contact the Texas Department of Information Resources for information and support setting up teleconferences and video conferences. Governor Abbott invoked emergency authority under Texas Gov. Code § 418.016 to change these requirements.

Reads & Resources

During COVID-19 State of Emergency, Transparency and Public Access to Government Proceedings Must Be Maintained, Common Cause, 3/18/20
Letter to Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo Re: EO 20-05, Common Cause and ACLU of Rhode Island, 3/19/20
As Lawmakers Fall Ill, Congress and State Legislatures Must Enact Continuity Plans, Demand Progress
Memo: Continuity of Legislatures, Daniel Schuman, Demand Progress Policy Director, 3/17/20
Legislative Sessions and the Coronavirus, National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
Continuity of Legislature During Emergency, NCSL
States Suspend Legislatures Without Passing Emergency Coronavirus Legislation. Could Remote Voting Provide a Fix?, The Intercept, 3/19/20
Virus Concerns Lead to 'Public' Meetings Without the Public, New York Times, 3/21/20
States Adapt Governance and Public Access to Telecommuting in Wake of Coronavirus, CT Examiner, 3/19/20

COVID-19 Repro Resources

In this urgent global health pandemic, anti-abortion lawmakers are once again playing politics with people's lives and health, and there are very real reproductive health impacts and needs this moment presents.

Click here for general RFLC talking points on the coronavirus.

Important: Here are some issues that you should talk to your repro coalition and abortion and family planning providers about. In some states, they may want public support and in other places, it may be harmful to raise these issues at all, even within the administration or with other, less friendly, legislators or officials. Your support of reproductive health care is crucial at this time. Please check in with the state coalition organizations and reproductive health care providers to see how best you can support them during this difficult time, and we encourage you to reach out to us to connect you if you don’t already have an existing relationship.

Ensure patients can get the reproductive health care they need. Abortion is an essential and time-sensitive procedure.
- After the ban was briefly lifted, Texas will again be allowed to implement its temporary ban on abortions "not medically necessary to preserve the life or health" of the patient as part of the state's directive suspending "non-essential" medical procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic. Read more.
- The coronavirus pandemic is deepening the divide on abortion access between blue and red states by sparking a debate over whether the procedure is medically essential. Read more. And find an updated list on where states stand from Rewire News here.
- In Massachusetts, a memorandum shared this week clarifies what constitutes a “nonessential, elective invasive procedure” that should be postponed or canceled while Massachusetts is under a state of emergency. Abortion care was classified as an essential procedure. Read more.
- In Michigan, an executive order was issued classifying pregnancy and pregnancy related procedures as essential. Read more.
- In New Jersey, an executive order explicitly includes family planning & abortion care services as essential services. Read more.
- The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, along with seven other reproductive health organizations, issued a statement deeming abortion as an essential service. Read more.
- The National Abortion Federation (NAF) calls on leaders to ensure that outpatient abortion clinics can remain open and urges hospitals to continue to provide abortion care. Read more.
- In reality, both complications and emergency department visits related to abortion care are exceedingly rare as this research from Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health illustrates.

Ask your state’s coalition how court closures may impact young people seeking care in states that have parental involvement requirements: More than half of states have such requirements for young people seeking abortion care and provide access to judicial bypass alternatives.

Consider how existing telehealth laws and services in your state might be helping or harming access to reproductive health care including abortion. Seventeen states ban telehealth for abortion, and the urgency of expanding telehealth has grown considerably. There is no reason other than politics to exempt medication abortion from telehealth services.
- As Rewire News reports, A visit to a primary care doctor or OB/GYN to get something relatively routine, like a birth control prescription, will likely take a backseat during the COVID-19 outbreak, as cities go into various states of lockdown and hospitals brace for an overload of patients. Read more.
- Click here for a fact sheet from the EMAA Project on how telehealth can help improve access to medication abortion.
- Guttmacher Institute offers a policy review of how telehealth can improve access to abortion here.
- Ibis Reproductive Health provides issue briefs here which explains how telehealth models have expanded access to abortion, and here which describes the safety, effectiveness, and satisfaction with telemedicine for medication abortion.

Economic uncertainty and reproductive health care: As Americans consider facing new economic challenges, remember that all health insurance, public and private, should cover all reproductive health care needs, including abortion. Work to ensure your state’s Medicaid program and public employees’ health insurance covers abortion care and that private insurers do the same.
- The Guttmacher Institute updated their overview of where state funding of abortion under Medicaid stand. You can find your state here.
- All* Above All unites organizations and individuals to build support for lifting the bans that deny abortion coverage. Click here to learn more about their campaign to restore public insurance coveragefor abortion.

Stay vigilant. Extremist legislators are still advancing outrageous abortion restrictions and bans despite a global pandemic.
- State Lawmakers Aren’t Letting the Coronavirus Stop Their Crusade Against Abortion Rights
- For full COVID-19 coverage from Rewire News, click here.

Fighting Back Against Anti-Transgender Legislation in the States

The bad news: Across the country, there's been a rise in hateful legislation that attacks the basic dignity and humanity of transgender youth.

The good news: These bills have already been stopped in states including South Dakota and Florida, and there are resources to help in every state!

The bottom line? Transgender young people know who they are and all of the data shows that when they are affirmed in their gender they have comparable outcomes to their peers. By contrast, when denied treatment and affirmation, transgender people experience high rates of suicidality and negative health outcomes. These bills are based on false and/or deliberately misleading notions of health care for transgender youth and on fear of trans inclusion in public life.

Please reach out if you would like support defeating these bills in your state.

Anti Trans Bill in the States: A Conversation

Jessie Ulibarri, SiX Co-Executive Director teamed up with Chase Strangio from the ACLU, Katrina Karkazis from Yale University and Florida State Rep. Carlos Smith for a conversation about these bills. Watch or listen below.

Audio: Anti Trans Bill in the States: A Conversation

Inspiration from South Dakota and Florida

Check out this video of FL Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith taking down the false claim that care for transgender youth is experimental or unproven:

As with any issue, stories are the most powerful messengers. If you have five minutes, check out this story from 17-year-old Quinncy Parke, one of the many heroes who helped stop South Dakota's #HB1057, which sought to ban transition-related care like puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy for trans minors.

Restoring A Fair Workweek

State Policies to Combat Abusive Scheduling Practices

By the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and SiX

Today a majority of working Americans – over 80 million people – clock into a job with an hourly wage. As millions of families benefit from higher minimum wages (thanks to the work of many of you!), these victories are undermined by unstable work hours. Many hourly workers are expected to be available 24/7 to work part-time jobs with no guaranteed hours, and experience huge fluctuations in weekly income.

That's why we've teamed up with the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) to bring you resources on how you can restore a Fair Workweek for workers in your states.

See below for a new policy brief, video and audio interviews with experts, an example op-ed, and sample social media.

Download the brief here.

We all need a workweek we can count on – one that allows all of us to care for our families, stay healthy, and get ahead. This new policy brief outlines the problem, the research, and the ways to create new work hour protections that ensure that hourly workers at large service-sector chains have a greater voice in their workweek, predictable schedules, and the opportunity to work full time.

Also check out these video and audio interviews on Fair Workweek legislation that break down research on the problem, policy reforms, and legislative strategy:

Protecting the Power of the Ballot Initiative

The SiX Democracy Project is teaming up with the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) to help state legislators protect the ballot measure process and champion direct democracy.

The resources below highlight why you, as a state legislator, should care about this important tool for change and how you can identify and disrupt common tactics conservatives deploy to undermine direct democracy.

A Video Guide for Legislators: Protecting the Power of the Ballot Initiative

BISC State Legislative Manager, Jaspreet Chowdhary, introduces us to ballot measures, reviews major progressive policy wins at the ballot box, and outlines common tactics conservatives deploy to undermine direct democracy.

Ballot Measure Basics

Ballot measures, specifically citizen initiatives, are direct democracy – a place where eligible voters can make decisions about policies that impact their daily lives. Advocates use ballot measures to win public policy that has stalled under the dome, apply pressure, raise awareness about an important topic, or change the underlying narrative about an issue. Here are a few quick resources to get legislators up to speed on ballot measures:

Legislative Threats to Direct Democracy

Legislative threats to direct democracy are on the rise. In 2019, there were more legislative attacks on the ballot measure process than the previous two years combined. 2020 is on track to be another record breaking year. The resources below highlight common tactics used to undermine direct democracy and how legislators can evaluate proposed changes to the ballot measure process.

Five Ways Legislators Can Learn More & Support Ballot Measures

When considering changes to your state’s ballot measure process, check with local progressive allies, BISC, and SiX to make sure you don’t inadvertently create barriers to direct democracy.
Help advocates draft language for ballot measures that is politically and legally sound. When legislators and advocates team up, ballot measures are more likely to withstand challenges and less likely to be undermined.
Email democracy@stateinnovation.org and bisc@ballot.org to learn more about your state’s ballot measure process, threats, and how to fight back.
Become a SiX Democracy Champion. Join a cohort of over 200 legislators from all 50 states who have committed to championing reforms for an equitable, inclusive, and participatory democracy – with dedicated policy, messaging, and strategy support from SiX. Visit stateinnovation.org/democracy to learn more and join the fight.
Join the BISC listserv to receive the latest news on ballot measures, ballot.org.

The Census Is a Year Away: How State Legislators are Ensuring a Fair & Accurate Count

DENVER, Colo. – Advocates across the nation are recognizing April 1, 2019, as Census Day of Action, marking a year until the 2020 Census begins. Every ten years, the federal government conducts a census to track changes in population and demography, and this data is used for important determinations related to how federal, state, and local actors allocate their resources, essential public research, and the determination of future political representation. State legislators play a crucial role in ensuring that all people count.

Census data determine the allocation of more than $800 billion in annual federal funding and are often used in state and local policy making, decision making, and research. An inaccurate census in 2020 would jeopardize funding for a range of programs and services like fire departments, highways, hospitals, and the national school lunch program. It would also compromise crucial supports for all communities – white, black, and brown alike. Census data are also used for the processes to draw local, state and federal political maps – known as reapportionment and redistricting – and therefore are vital to advancing a fair and representative democracy.

“Progressive lawmakers across the country are using their voices and their positions to ensure every single resident in their state is counted, fairly, accurately and without fear in 2020,” said SiX Executive Director Jessie Ulibarri. “State legislators recognize that critical resources and electoral representation are at stake for their communities. We recognize that all people must count and applaud legislators who are dedicating resources to reach hard-to-count groups such as communities of color, low-income communities, immigrants, and young children.”

Below is an overview of various state legislation to support a fair and accurate census. So far this year, at least 59 bills from 25 states have been introduced to support 2020 Census preparation and participation. Most bills aim to do one or more of the following:

Authorize state Complete Count Committees
Fund Census outreach programs with an emphasis on hard-to-count communities
Condemn the inclusion of the citizenship question
End prison gerrymandering

State Complete Count Committees (CCCs): CCCs are encouraged to reflect each state’s diversity and will work to raise awareness of the Census, develop messaging plans tailored to their constituents, identify and engage hard-to-count communities, and motivate full participation in 2020.

There are currently at least 14 bills from eight states that would establish state CCCs (Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia). These are in addition to the nearly 20 states that have successfully established CCCs through legislation, executive order, or a combination of the two over the last two years.
A notable bill in Massachusetts would create a Massachusetts Census Equity Commission with a particular focus on undercounted communities. The bill proposes a diverse and distinctive set of membership requirements, including appointees from the Senate Black and Latino Caucus and House Asian Legislative Caucus; representatives from agencies and organizations serving refugees and homeless persons; a representative from the Wampanoag tribe; and youth, elderly, and renter representatives.

Citizenship Question: Perhaps the most visible and controversial aspect of 2020 Census preparation has been the Trump administration’s last-minute attempt to add an untested citizenship question—a move that would depress participation by noncitizens and mixed-immigration-status households and reduce census accuracy.
- Legislators in Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, and Pennsylvania have introduced resolutions this year that declare strong opposition to the citizenship question and urge the federal government not to include it on the 2020 questionnaire.
  
  Fund the Census and Reach Hard-to-Count Communities: Legislators across the country are proposing substantial appropriations for census education and outreach efforts that target hard-to-count communities. By funding robust outreach and preparation today, states can secure millions—or possibly billions—of federal dollars in the future.
- A bill recently introduced in Colorado (CO HB19-1239) would establish a 2020 Census outreach grant program with a budget of $12 million to fund local governments and community organizations “to conduct 2020 census outreach, promotion, and education to focus on hard-to-count communities in the state and to increase the self-response rate and accuracy of the 2020 census.”
- Illinois lawmakers have proposed at least six bills that would appropriate substantial funding for census outreach and education efforts. Proposed appropriations range from $17 million to $33 million.
- Over the last two years, the California legislature has appropriated over $100 million dollars for census activities through several bills.
- Minnesota legislators (2019 MN HF 1644) are working to ensure that Census Bureau employees have access to apartment buildings and other residential facilities. Renters and individuals living in multi-unit buildings are often hard-to-count, and are therefore undercounted, in the census
  
  Ending Prison Gerrymandering: The practice of counting incarcerated Americans as residents of the town where they are imprisoned rather than in their home community distorts local and state representation and leads to a hidden transfer of political power from urban to rural areas.
- At least 15 bills from 11 states have been introduced that would end prison gerrymandering and count incarcerated individuals at their last known home address. These bills have been proposed in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas, and have already passed one legislative chamber in New Jersey (2019 NJ S 758) and Washington (2019 WA SB 5287).

The Impact of Redistricting on Public Health

The Impact of Public Health on Redistricting

Smartphone Photography Tips

Q&A: Fight Better Against Anti-Trans Bills

Why the Brnovich decision matters for states

What To Do

Additional Information on the Case

Creating a quick Instagram Highlight

Free Downloads

Tutorial: Tweets from Legislators

A check-in tweet from Sen. Julie Gonzales

An accessible explainer thread from Rep. Rayner-Goolsby

A heartfelt message from Sen. Polehanki

Quick Links: Digital Resources From Around The Web

Tutorial: Line Height

Quick Links: Digital Resources From Around The Web

Learn how to intervene and stand against racism

Take action in your state

Document incidents

Other resources

Strategy Prompts

Big Picture

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Cheatsheet: Help! What Should I Post?

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Downloads

Table of Contents

Govern Safely

Commit to transformation

Downloads & Other Resources

Partisan Control of State Legislatures Remains Largely Unchanged

Progressive Policy Victories Were Achieved via Ballot Measure

Statehouses Across the Country Will Be More Diverse

What Comes Next

Race and the Virus: Bias, Data, Testing, and Impact

Health Care

Unemployment and Worker Protections

Preventing Evictions

Democracy and Voting

Reproductive Rights

Education

Food Systems and Agriculture

Immigration

Rural Communities

Defend Against Harmful Policies

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Support for Farmers

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Food Security

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Considerations for Transparent & Accessible Governance in Emergencies

Examples of Remote Governance Transitions

Vermont

Rhode Island

Pennsylvania

Maine

Nebraska

New Jersey

Texas

Reads & Resources

Click here for general RFLC talking points on the coronavirus.

Anti Trans Bill in the States: A Conversation

Inspiration from South Dakota and Florida

Resources

State Policies to Combat Abusive Scheduling Practices

Download the brief here.

Table of Contents

A Video Guide for Legislators: Protecting the Power of the Ballot Initiative

Ballot Measure Basics

Legislative Threats to Direct Democracy

Five Ways Legislators Can Learn More & Support Ballot Measures