Keeping it Brief
Federal
Court blocks Trump order to exclude undocumented immigrants from census count
On Thursday, federal judges declared President Trump’s plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count unlawful.
“The court ruled his order violates the federal laws that establish how congressional seats are apportioned. Apportionment is the process of deciding how many members in the House of Representatives each state will receive based on that state’s population”.
The Director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Act project says this is a victory for immigrants and voting rights.
Mnuchin: White House would back additional cash to states in relief deal
During a briefing at the White House, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced that the white house will consider providing more funding for state and local governments. It was additionally noted that “Mnuchin also urged lawmakers to move forward with a package that would address specific areas of agreement, such as enhanced loans to small businesses, money for schools to reopen safely, and direct payments to individuals.
Senate GOP emergency relief plan leaves out direct aids to states
The COVID relief plan set forward by senate republicans this week does not include any support to state or local municipalities. There is also not enough funding in the plan to support Americans who have been severely impacted by the pandemic. Democrats voted strongly against the plan.
If the bill was passed, it would do the following:
Give states the option to continue providing $300 a week in enhanced unemployment benefits to eligible Americans through Dec. 27.
Provide $105 billion to help schools safely provide in-person education and continued learning of all students in elementary and secondary education and higher education.
Allow parents of students at public, private, and religious schools or who home school to use 529 tax plan funds for educational expenses.
Provide $15 billion in child care grants, including direct support for child care providers and authorizes short-term assistance to help child care providers reopen.
Provide $31 billion for vaccine, therapeutic and diagnostic development; vaccine distribution; and medical supplies and $16 billion for testing, contact tracing and surveillance in states.
Set aside about $258 billion for a second round of loans to small businesses. Applicants would be required to show revenue loss and retain business documents.
Provide liability limitations for personal injury claims and medical malpractice claims related to COVID-19. Protections would apply to hospitals and health care workers, small and large businesses, schools, colleges and universities, religious, philanthropic and other nonprofit institutions, and local government agencies.
Forgive a $10 billion federal loan to the U.S. Postal Service that was approved earlier this year. The loan is accessible only if the agency’s cash balance drops to $8 billion and includes a report to Congress on how COVID has increased expenses.
Authorize improvements and supports for sustained on-shore manufacturing surge capacity and capabilities to produce vaccines and therapeutics to respond to COVID-19 and other public health threats. It would also encourage companies that produce medical products to increase manufacturing and stockpiling capacity.
Increase the amount taxpayers can deduct from their tax bill for charitable contributions.
Extend the deadline to Sept. 30, 2021 for spending already appropriated money, but wouldn’t provide additional flexibility or funding to cities and states.
Provide $20 billion in additional farm assistance and $500 million to the fishing industry.
State
House arrest, monitoring not counted for time-served, Ohio Supreme Court rules
A decision by the Ohio Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision that said an Erie County man was entitled to credit for time served in a 2015 case for which he was placed on house arrest after violating terms of his community control, and on electronic monitoring after a new case in 2016.
The decision comes after Eric Reed pleaded guilty to being involved with violent gang activity. Due to his plea he was sentenced to five years of community control and then put on electronic monitoring. When he appeared in court again, after his sentence, he admitted to his involvement in activity. The justice assigned him time in prison in addition to the time he spent on house arrest. The decision to add time onto Reed’s house arrest was recently overturned due to time spent under surveillance at home.
House committee to hear first effort to repeal House Bill 6
The new House Select Committee on Energy Policy will meet on September 10 to discuss HB 6 and its future after former Speaker Larry Householder’s arrest. There have been proposals to repeal the bill, as well as repeal and replace it.
“Nearly all the committee members — 12 out of 15 in all — have received contributions from FirstEnergy at some point in their political careers, campaign finance data shows. Hoops’ campaign committee has received $5,000. The donations to committee members total more than $40,000. The committee also includes two representatives which received campaign contributions from Householder in 2018: Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, whose committee received $10,000, and Brian Baldridge, R-Winchester, whose committee received more than $25,000”.
Ohio approved for $717M in federal pandemic unemployment supplement
The federal government will provide $300 a week to unemployed Ohioans for about a month. The state only has $717 million and 500,000 Ohioans are unemployed.
The future negotiations of the new COVID package will determine whether or not states will receive more financial support from the federal government.
TW: Rape
New tort law first step in getting justice for sexual assault survivors, victim says
Tort is the legal term for an infringement on rights that can lead to a civil lawsuit, usually to obtain monetary relief.
An Ohio law states that when it comes to economic and noneconomic damages from different court cases, there is a monetary limit as to how much one can receive from the case. Non Economic losses, such as pain and suffering are capped at $350,000.
This tort law became prominent in Jessica Simpkins state court case against a church pastor who raped her. She requested $3.5 million in the case due to physical and mental damages, but was denied her request due to the tort law that limits the monetary amount one can receive in court cases in Ohio. Simpkins was only given the $350,000 amount in addition to $150,000 for any potential economic damages.
Rep. Kristin Bogs plans to bring legislation to reform tort laws to the General Assembly
Local
Cincinnati bans plastic bags in the city: How it will work
The Cincinnati City Council voted on Thursday to ban single use plastic bags in the city of Cincinnati. This will go into effect in January 2021 and will prohibit restaurants, grocery stores, and convenient stores from packing customer items in single use plastic bags.
This will only impact restaurants and food-service establishments, like grocery stores. Vendors who sell at farmers markets and other temporary events do not need to follow this ban.
If consumers request a plastic bag, they will be charged 5 cents.
Any business that does not comply will be fined $100 per day until they follow the ban
'It's not a good holiday to celebrate.' Hamilton County commissioner aims to cut Columbus Day
The Hamilton County Commissioner wants to replace the paid day off of Columbus Day with a paid day off on Juneteenth.
“Most of Hamilton County government stopped recognizing Columbus Day as a paid holiday more than two decades ago, substituting it with the day after Thanksgiving. But some union contracts with the county, mostly with the sheriff and bailiffs, get Columbus day off, according to county spokesperson Bridget Doherty”.
The Commissioner hopes to convince judges and police unions to stop recognizing Columbus Day.