Dear friends,
On balance, things aren’t so good. Still, I cherry-picked some sweet news for you.
The freshest cherry in the basket is that abortion rights advocates in Ohio have collected enough signatures to get a referendum to protect abortion rights on the November ballot.
If passed, the amendment would establish a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” with “reasonable limits.” Similar to the standard once set under Roe v. Wade, the amendment would permit abortion up to the point when a fetus can survive outside of the womb, usually around 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Ohio’s state legislature passed a 6-week ban last year, which has been blocked temporarily by a state court.
There is strong popular support for the new ballot measure. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to get out the vote.
Issue 1 put on the ballot with zero Democratic support and is an obvious ploy to foil the reproductive rights amendment. The good news is that early voting in Ohio is up by a factor of five compared to last August’s election.
Another fresh cherry is the tentative labor agreement between UPS and the Teamsters, which is expected to avert a strike that would have involved hundreds of thousands of workers. The agreement announced today secures hefty raises and
also ends a two-tiered classification for drivers, provides part-timers with longevity raises, adds Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday off, and ends forced overtime on off days.
“UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations. We’ve changed the game, battling it out day and night to make sure our members won an agreement that pays strong wages, rewards their labor, and doesn’t require a single concession. This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers” [from a statement by Teamsters general president, Sean M O’Brien].
Raising the bar for all workers is language I like to hear.
The ruling in a US District Court clears the way for the law, which also
closes the “Charleston Loophole,” which allows gun purchases to move forward by default after three days even if a background check has not been completed.
The NRA has called the law
“the nation’s most extreme gun control Initiative.”
I like the sound of that AND I wish it were more extreme.
Under Illinois’ new measure, all people charged with offenses will be eligible for release on personal recognizance — a promise that they will show up in court for their trial. The court can still seek a pretrial detainment in certain criminal cases, but they can’t levy a monetary requirement.
It is still a crime to be poor in other states, where defendants are held behind bars if they can’t pay cash bail. Still, this is a very important first.
Almost two weeks ago, I was working at my desk when I saw the news that Biden had canceled student debt for folks in income-driven repayment plans who had been paying down loans for more than twenty years. I immediately got in touch with a friend who has an insane student debt burden dating from the 1980s.
She got an email moments later, which cautioned her:
Some reasons why you might want to consider opting out include concerns about a potential state tax liability.
We set to work immediately to figure out if the canceled loan, which counts as income, would end up creating a huge tax bill for her. She talked to someone from her state senator’s office.
I started searching bills, because Governor Hochul signed a bill in 2022 that said that student loan debt cancelled under the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program would not be subject to tax under New York State law.
Sure enough, the bill to waive NYS income taxes on the debt cancellation my friend is being offered has already passed both houses in Albany. It just needs the governor’s signature. Folks who have been paying off student loans for decades need relief!
Call on Governor Hochul to do the right thing again and sign the bill to exclude student loan discharge from state income tax!
Back with plenty of action on Thursday!
with love,
L