McAuliffe requires vaccine for campaign staff, a Politifact on CRT, legislator scorecards on the environment, and more
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McAuliffe requires campaign staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccination
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe announced Monday that he is requiring his campaign staff to be vaccinated.
“In the interest of public health and the safety and wellbeing of our team, Terry for Virginia has made the decision to require full vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of employment with the campaign,” said McAuliffe’s campaign manager Chris Bolling.
McAuliffe is not the first Democratic leader in Virginia to take this type of step. Governor Northam ordered all state employees to be vaccinated or face weekly COVID-19 tests and Richmond’s 3600 city employees are required to receive their first dose by Aug. 18.
McAuliffe, however, is the first statewide candidate in Virginia to have this employment requirement. His opponent Glenn Youngkin recently announced that he received the vaccine himself and encouraged his supporters to do it as well.
Youngkin has still pushed back against the prospect of vaccine requirements. “As Glenn has said, he made the choice to get vaccinated himself and he encourages people to get the vaccine, but it should be left to the individual to make the decision,” said Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for the Youngkin campaign.
Now with the latest surge in cases, GOP leaders across the country are starting to take a more aggressive approach in promoting the vaccine after months of apprehension.
An example in Virginia would be the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor recently taking a more direct approach of encouraging her supporters to get the vaccine after saying “we have got to leave people be,” a few weeks earlier.
McAuliffe’s campaign called on Youngkin to take the same step and require his staff to get vaccinated. “If Glenn Youngkin truly wants Virginians to get vaccinated and take this virus seriously, his leadership must start with his own campaign.”
Youngkin’s campaign says that McAuliffe would deny Virginians their rights to healthcare decisions if elected. “If Terry McAuliffe gets the chance, he will shut down our economy, close small businesses, and deny Virginians the right to make their own health care decisions,” Porter said.
McAuliffe’s campaign provided no details about how many staffers still need to be vaccinated or if there is any specific timeline.
“The only way we’re going to truly end this pandemic and keep our economy strong is by getting every eligible Virginian vaccinated as quickly as possible,” Bolling said. “The health, safety and wellbeing of our staff, supporters and volunteers is our top priority, and this is another important step to protect our community and get through this pandemic.”
Politifact: Youngkin offers little proof critical race theory is in 'all' Virginia schools
by Warren Fiske
The Virginia General Assembly has not considered a bill to ban critical race theory from schools. But the topic has roused emotions in a number of localities and become a key issue in Youngkin’s campaign.
So we fact-checked his claim that "critical race theory has moved into all our schools in Virginia," and found it to be highly exaggerated.
REDISTRICTING REPORT CARD LAUNCHED BY REPRESENTUS, PRINCETON GERRYMANDERING PROJECT
RepresentUs, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization, is partnering with the Princeton Gerrymandering Project to produce the Redistricting Report Card, which uses a powerful and unique set of analytics to grade each state’s newly-drawn maps during the redistricting process. The project’s launch comes as the U.S. Census Bureau delivers population data to states on August 12, allowing states to begin drawing voting maps that will be in place for the next decade.
Gerrymandering is a form of political corruption in which politicians manipulate voting maps to pick their own voters, suppress competition, and control election outcomes. Due to technological improvements in map-drawing and shifts in demography, gerrymandering is becoming harder to detect just by looking at a map. In response, the Princeton team developed a powerful new scoring pipeline -- which didn’t exist 10 years ago during the last redistricting cycle -- to help identify unfair, gerrymandered maps.
The Redistricting Report Card utilizes an algorithm that generates 1 million districting plans for each state. The tool compares maps against the full range of possibilities -- both good and bad -- and issues grades. The Redistricting Report Card grades maps on competitiveness, geography, and most robustly, partisan fairness. The tool will grade map proposals from legislatures, redistricting commissions, and even alternative maps produced by reform groups.
“This scoring tool was designed to be the most comprehensive method available for detecting gerrymander attempts in the 2021-2022 redistricting cycle,” said Professor Sam Wang, Director of the Electoral Innovation Lab and Princeton Gerrymandering Project. “It is critical that we deliver to citizens ways to evaluate and correct attempts to skew representation. Our democracy depends on a transparent representation model that is responsive to citizens. We want citizens and map experts nationwide to use tools like this to reclaim their power in the democratic process.”
RepresentUs previously released a Gerrymandering Threat Index showing 35 states are at extreme or high risk of gerrymandering. The Redistricting Report Card will tell us which states end up proposing gerrymandered maps, and how different they are from maps drawn by concerned citizens and organizations.
“Gerrymandering disenfranchises voters and makes it harder to hold politicians accountable. This important new grading tool will sound the alarm about gerrymandered maps around the country, empowering voters to demand their representatives draw fair maps,” said RepresentUs CEO Josh Silver.
Check out the Redistricting Report Card here. Grades will be posted as each state produces maps during their redistricting processes. Citizens are invited to use the report card format themselves, in conjunction with free software. Training sessions will be available.
Virginia LCV releases 2021 Conservation Scorecard, ranking lawmakers on key environmental votes
“Over the past two years, Virginia’s gone from the back of the pack on climate action to one of the states leading in this fight. This doesn’t happen by accident – it happens because Virginia’s 'Conservation Majority' listened to their constituents and made protecting our environment a top-tier priority,” said Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. “We are incredibly grateful for the leadership Virginia’s lawmakers have shown in recent years and look forward to paving the way for more progress to come.”
This year’s scores take into account lawmakers’ votes on 25 bills in the House of Delegates and 22 bills in the Senate of Virginia. Sustainable transportation policy, including the passage of a Clean Cars Standard and complementary legislation to advance vehicle electrification, took an especially prominent role this year as lawmakers worked to address Virginia’s largest source of climate disrupting carbon pollution – the gas- and diesel-powered cars, trucks and SUVs we drive every day.
Fifty-four lawmakers, nine Senators and 46 Delegates, scored a perfect 100-percent score in 2021, earning the designation of “Legislative Hero” for voting alongside Virginia LCV’s positions on top conservation priorities every time this year.
McAuliffe releases new ad for gubernatorial campaign
Virginia school bus drivers left in limbo as state demands they pay back unemployment benefits - Virginia Mercury
by Ned Oliver
Thousands of school bus drivers around Virginia who turned to unemployment benefits to weather the pandemic are being asked to pay the state back — a financial demand drivers say has filled them with anxiety, stress and dread.
“How the hell am I ever going to come up with over $7,000 for the state of Virginia?” said Christina Riblett, a 41-year-old Fairfax County resident who has been transporting children for the local school district for almost a decade.
Nearly 9 in 10 unvaccinated Virginians don’t plan to get COVID-19 vaccine, poll shows - Virginian-Pilot
by Elisha Sauers
Among adult Virginians who haven’t rolled up their sleeves for a poke from a coronavirus vaccine, 87% say they don’t plan to get one, a new statewide poll shows.
Though more than seven in 10 adult Virginians have been vaccinated against COVID-19 with a first dose already, millions who are eligible have yet to receive any, a concerning issue to public health officials, who say a new more contagious strain of the virus is causing cases to surge again.
COVID-19 cases spiking in Hopewell's school system - Richmond Times-Dispatch
by Kenya Hunter
Just two weeks after the Hopewell school system celebrated a successful launch of year-round school, the city’s School Board found itself face-to-face with frightened parents Monday, anxious about mounting COVID-19 infections among students.
The 33 cases in the city’s schools — resulting in at least 200 staff and student quarantines — loom large as school districts across Virginia prepare to reopen school buildings under a new state law mandating five days a week of classroom instruction barring a severe coronavirus outbreak, as defined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
GOP lieutenant governor candidate Winsome Sears kicks off campaign in Middletown - The Winchester Star
By Charles Paullin
Being a Frederick County resident and having represented the Norfolk area in the House of Delegates, Winsome Sears says she understands rural and urban life.
Her life has been an "improbable journey," being the only African American woman elected to the House of Delegates in its over 400-year history, she also will tell you.