2017 State-Level Elections: America's "Special" Children

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > 2017 State-Level Elections: America's "Special" Children

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Handsome Ralph: Sep 3, 2004; Oh boy, posting!
That's where I'm a Viking!

Cerebral Bore posted:

I'm not going to start expounding on my personal history due to some dumb internet argument, buddy.

Still, I'm going to give you a free bit of advice, that oughta be kinda uncontroversial: A critical step to reforming an organization is to put people in charge that actually want to reform it. Or at least understand the need.

Some free advice for you.

If you're not willing to expound on what makes you an expert, then maybe don't start dumb internet arguments by claiming you've got practical experience in reforming large organizations and why that makes you more qualified to say that Perez is loving up.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:08

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 24, 2024 15:02

evilweasel: Aug 24, 2002

Despera posted:

DNC won a statewide election in ala-fuckingbama. You aint going to bring me down

yeah and we're gonna loving retake the house and we can actually retake the Senate blocking any new SCOTUS nominees until 2020 if we do

this was such a huge race, getting to three flips in the senate required winning an impossible race and then we did it before 2018 even started

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:18

Cerebral Bore: Apr 21, 2010; Fun Shoe

Handsome Ralph posted:

Some free advice for you.

If you're not willing to expound on what makes you an expert, then maybe don't start dumb internet arguments by claiming you've got practical experience in reforming large organizations and why that makes you more qualified to say that Perez is loving up.

Funnily enough, I did not bring up anything else except mentioning my experience in passing when it was demanded of me, and furthermore what I'm saying is so blatantly obvious that it should require no special expertise to grasp.

This makes a bit weird that the actual self-purported experts started playing expertier than thou in lieu of actually coming up with a convincing rebuttal, which ought to be easy considering their self-purported expertness, instead managing nothing but a blind insistence that Perez and the DNC must obviously have been super competent and started solving these super-hard issues from day one (which is sort of suspect in light of recent history) before starting the personal attacks.

evilweasel posted:

interesting since you seem to rely entirely on unfounded assumptions about what other people's personal history is, and think that we should listen to your declarations for, uh, some reason despite your obvious brokebrainsness

you have no useful thoughts, cease sharing them

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:19

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

https://twitter.com/AlGiordano/status/940658713135689729?s=17

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:30

evilweasel: Aug 24, 2002

Cerebral Bore posted:

This makes a bit weird that the actual self-purported experts started playing expertier than thou in lieu of actually coming up with a convincing rebuttal, which ought to be easy considering their self-purported expertness, instead managing nothing but a blind insistence that Perez and the DNC must obviously have been super competent and started solving these super-hard issues from day one (which is sort of suspect in light of recent history) before starting the personal attacks.

why would we waste time trying to explain why positions that are transparently stupid and held by an idiot with no logic or credibility were wrong

seems like a waste of valuable resources, odd that someone who was suggesting the dnc was valuable at allocating resources would suggest we allocate our posting resources so thoughtlessly

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:31

evilweasel: Aug 24, 2002

Cerebral Bore posted:

Yeah I have, and it generally doesn't take a year to send down new and simple marching orders to the field either, ya dingus.

lol i missed this

if you thought all you do is issue some orders and sit back and bask in accolades then man you must have been monumentally ineffective. yes, if the dnc had problems literally all you do is issue some new and simple marching orders. this ~finely crafted memo~ is all we need.

man no wonder you think posting on a comedy forum is ~pushing the dnc~

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:36

Lote: Aug 5, 2001; Place your bets

Trabisnikof posted:

https://twitter.com/AlGiordano/status/940658713135689729?s=17

If you can win Alabama with a PVI of 15, the Republicans are one terrible candidate away from losing almost any House race and any state.

The Democrats need to contest every race. No matter how small. No matter how red of a district.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:40

theflyingorc: Jun 28, 2008; ANY GOOD OPINIONS THIS POSTER CLAIMS TO HAVE ARE JUST PROOF THAT BULLYING WORKS; Young Orc

Running a huge organization with thousands of and millions of dollars is actually v. easy and obvious

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:41

evilweasel: Aug 24, 2002

Lote posted:

If you can win Alabama with a PVI of 15, the Republicans are one terrible candidate away from losing almost any House race and any state.

The Democrats need to contest every race. No matter how small. No matter how red of a district.

Alabama is actually a PVI of R+28. Democrats were already doing bonkers on candidate recruitment - something like 3x the candidates with some reasonable amount raised ($5k, I think) that any party has ever had at this point. And that's going to go into hilarious overdrive now. They've gotten that message loud and clear and, more importantly, enough individual people to have candidates to run in each district have. After all, you gotta find someone willing to do it which, usually, is a waste of their time in a deep red district. But now, they can credibly believe they've got a shot no matter how red it is, so they'll have a much easier time convincing people to take the plunge.

Hell, I know someone running for Congress who I don't think was interested in politics two years ago and (assuming they can make it out of the primary, they've got several competitors in a pretty red district) I think they've got a shot. They quit their job and are running full time - that's commitment and they don't even have the nomination.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 00:43

KIM JONG TRILL: Nov 29, 2006; GIN AND JUCHE

evilweasel posted:

Democratic recruiting was already absolutely bonkers, like 2-3x the good challengers that you would get even in a year that looked really promising. After this they may have a candidate everywhere, because even if you can't win in a straight up fight as Generic Democrat in a D+15 wave in a state, you've got a shot at them nominating an unelectable pedophile.

It's not like the DNC didn't know that more challengers is better, it's just hard to get good people to spend months on an unpaid job that has a good chance of going nowhere, usually. Now, uh, people are motivated. I wouldn't be shocked if there was a serious candidate even in Utah and Wyoming.

Dems have a candidate for every single Texas house race for probably the first time ever this year and about 90% of the state congressional races. It's nuts.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 05:22

Goatse James Bond: Mar 28, 2010; If you see me posting please remind me that I have Charlie Work in the reports forum to do instead

Despera posted:

DNC won a statewide election in ala-fuckingbama. You aint going to bring me down

in an off-off-year

# ? Dec 14, 2017 05:47

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

Today in "The VA House of Delegates Is hosed Up"

https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia_House_of_Delegates_elections,_2017

Ballotpedia posted:

December 13, 2:00 PM ET: January 5 court date set for hearing on District 28 race. On December 12, Fredericksburg.com reported that U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis, an appointee of Ronald Reagan (R), had set a January 5 court date for a hearing on the House Democrats' lawsuit challenging the results of the District 28 race. In that race, Robert Thomas Jr. (R) currently holds an 82-vote lead over Joshua Cole (D). The lawsuit was filed due to voting irregularities in Stafford County, where at least 147 voters cast their ballots in the wrong race. A recount of the District 28 results is expected to be held on December 21, 2017. Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cort�s, an appointee of Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said in a federal court filing that "The errors currently identified � are of great concern to the Department of Elections. As the Department has no mechanism to provide a remedy to these voters, the Department supports the court providing an appropriate remedy." The remedy could be a special election to fill the seat. House Republicans have said that the lawsuit is unnecessary.[3]

Additionally we have info on how the recounts are going to go when they start this week:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2017/12/13/virginia-is-holding-recounts-in-four-crucial-legislative-races-heres-how-they-work/

WaPo posted:

Virginia is holding recounts in four key races, starting Dec. 13. Here�s how they work.

The first of four recounts in legislative races � which could change political control of the Virginia House of Delegates � began Wednesday in a courthouse in Fairfax County. That�s where Republican Del. Timothy D. Hugo holds a 106-vote edge over Democrat Donte Tanner in the 40th House District, which straddles Fairfax and Prince William counties.

Republicans are holding onto their majority in the Virginia House of Delegates by a hair � they have just a two-seat advantage over Democrats in the lower chamber. Any one of the four contests under the microscope could tip the balance � including the contest with the slimmest margin, where Republican Del. David E. Yancey beat Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds by just 10 votes.

Election officials and representatives of the candidates will be immersed in arcane election law as they try to decipher the intent of voters who didn�t properly fill out ballots. For example, if someone wrote �MY MAN� over the favored candidate�s name instead of filling in the adjacent circle, that ballot is valid, according to the state board of elections. But if a voter tried to rank candidates numerically, that ballot is considered improper.

Recounts rarely change results. But this year also saw more close House races than any other election in recent memory. And with the chamber currently split 51 to 49, with Republicans leading, a single Democratic pickup would force a power-sharing agreement while two more seats would allow the Democrats to take control for the first time since 1998.
2:26

Democrats are challenging the results of three races Republicans narrowly won on Nov. 7 in the state legislature. This is what you need to know. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

Here�s a guide to how recounts work in Virginia, and what to watch for:

Which races are headed to recount?

Dec. 13 and 14: House District 40 where Del. Timothy D. Hugo (R-Fairfax) leads Democrat Donte Tanner by 106 votes.

Dec. 19: House District 94 where Del. David E. Yancey (R) leads Democrat Shelly Simonds by 10 votes.

Dec. 20: House District 68 where Democrat Dawn Adams leads Del. G. Manoli Loupassi by 336 votes.

Dec. 21: House District 28 where Republican Bob Thomas leads Democrat Joshua Cole by 82 votes.

What actually happens during a recount?

Virginia voters fill out paper ballots, which are fed into electronic scanners and tallied by those machines. The ballots, which are secured in the office of the local elections clerk, are transported by sheriff�s deputies to the local courthouse for the recount.

There, the ballots are scanned once again by machines that have been tested in advance. Ballots that could not be read are hand-counted by two local election officials, who can be monitored by one observer from each party. Any members of the public and media can be present in the room, but they must be away from the tables where the actual recounts are conducted.

While improper tallies and ballots lost in machine jams could also be uncovered, veterans of recounts say ballots that were improperly completed tend to be the biggest source of missed votes.

�I would expect vote totals to change, not dramatically, but they will definitely change on both sides,� said Brian Schoeneman, a Republican and former secretary of the Fairfax County�s electoral board during two recounts. �The district with the 10 votes is the one everyone should be paying attention to because it has the most chance of flipping.�

How do you figure out a voter�s intent?

Even if Virginians filled out their ballots incorrectly, their votes can be tallied if their choice of candidate is clear. Virginia elections officials lay out dozens of possible scenarios involving creative votes and whether they should be counted in a 15-page manual.

In general, if a voter shows they prefer one candidate over the others, their vote is counted. Exceptions include if voters ranked multiple candidates, or if they wrote in a candidate who was already on the ballot.

What if observers disagree on a voter�s intent?

They almost assuredly will.

Disputes over whether a ballot should be counted first go to top elections officials in the room during the recount. Further appeals are handled by the three-judge recount court that has the final say and resolves disputes shortly after the tallying is complete.

What about other issues involving ballots.

The recount is limited to the ballots that were counted. That means disputes over absentee ballots that arrived late or voters who were turned away at the polls will not be part of the recount. And while elections officials discovered hundreds of Fredericksburg-area voters were given the wrong ballots in two districts including the 28th, the issue of misassigned voters is part of a pending federal lawsuit and will not be part of the recount.

What happens after the end of the recount?

The battle for the House of Delegates likely won�t be over even after the recounts.

A federal judge has set a Jan. 5 hearing for the case where Democrats are seeking a new election in District 28 over the issue of more than 100 voters who were given ballots to vote in the wrong district. Losing candidates also have an opportunity to contest the election results with the state legislature, a rarely-used and murky process.

Republicans and Democrats alike aren�t sure how things would unfold with contested elections reaching the General Assembly. Lawmakers last recall such an instance in 1979 when a losing Republican Senate candidate got nowhere with a Democratic-controlled state Senate.

Have recounts swung House races before?

A generation ago. But an analysis by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project shows the six most recent House recounts resulted in few votes changed and no outcomes flipped. The most recent recount, House District 86 in 2013, had the biggest swing with the Republican victor�s margin shrinking by 22 votes, as the use of paper ballots (and the likelihood for missed votes) expanded.

Two apparent House losers became winners in recounts in 1991. Democrat Jim Scott picked up votes during a recount, turning a 17-vote loss into a one-vote win and earning the nickname �Landslide Jim.� Also that year Republican Peter Wray turned a one-vote loss into a seven-vote win after officials discovered a nine on voting machine printout was misread as a zero, according to VPAP.

What�s different about this year?

Virginia fully shed its touch-screen voting machines in recent years in favor of paper ballots. While that leaves a more reliable record to double-check results, it also increases the likelihood of improperly completed ballots.

Landslide Jim won by 1 vote after a recount in 1991.

axeil fucked around with this message at 06:01 on Dec 14, 2017

# ? Dec 14, 2017 05:57

JesusSinfulHands: Oct 24, 2007; Sartre and Russell are my heroes

evilweasel posted:

yeah and we're gonna loving retake the house and we can actually retake the Senate blocking any new SCOTUS nominees until 2020 if we do

this was such a huge race, getting to three flips in the senate required winning an impossible race and then we did it before 2018 even started

prior to yesterday, I was expecting Heller and Flake to get the boot, but was struggling really hard to find a realistic 3rd seat.

after yesterday i think texas and tennessee are both on the table and the other states there is a minimal chance of victory. I am just not sure if every single one of McCaskill, Tester, Donnelly, Manchin, Heitkamp will hold on.

I don't think there's any way there isn't a huge surge in Democratic turnout in 2018, the days of Democrats not voting in 2010 and 2014 are over. There's good reason to expect Republicans to be demoralized and not turn out too, Trump's approval rating stinks and the Republican base hates McConnell and Ryan almost as much as Dems do. This Democratic wave will hopefully be huge.

Hell, Republicans hold the Presidency, Senate, House, 33/50 governorships, and 32/50 state legislatures. There is nowhere to go but up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_state_legislatures#/media/File:US_state_Legislature_and_Governor_Control.svg

# ? Dec 14, 2017 10:54

Quorum: Sep 24, 2014; REMIND ME AGAIN HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE?

axeil posted:

Today in "The VA House of Delegates Is hosed Up"

https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia_House_of_Delegates_elections,_2017

Additionally we have info on how the recounts are going to go when they start this week:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2017/12/13/virginia-is-holding-recounts-in-four-crucial-legislative-races-heres-how-they-work/

Landslide Jim won by 1 vote after a recount in 1991.

Observers who know more than me have given the ten-vote-margin race a slightly higher than fifty fifty chance of flipping. The others almost definitely won't. And that leaves us the court case, which won't have a hearing until like a week before the House sits. :ghost:

# ? Dec 14, 2017 14:35

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

Quorum posted:

Observers who know more than me have given the ten-vote-margin race a slightly higher than fifty fifty chance of flipping. The others almost definitely won't. And that leaves us the court case, which won't have a hearing until like a week before the House sits.

If the 10-vote-margin race flips that gives a final count of:

50D, 49R, 1 undecided

Dems would have a temporary 1-vote majority.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 14:50

Potato Salad: Oct 23, 2014; nobody cares

Office Pig posted:

Cerebral Bore is not some t_d plant no matter how easy it is for you to believe that.

Ah, I don't think he's a literal plant. I'm accusing him of something else -- hard grudge/grievance politics that can easily lead to positions that put purity over people and progress.

In short, prioritizing anger over awareness

# ? Dec 14, 2017 15:38

Potato Salad: Oct 23, 2014; nobody cares

I again want to emphasize that I've yet to meet an irl dsa attendee with positions like a few of those lefties in this thread -- above and beyond the suck zone legitimate criticisms -- where ceding a race to the gop is the right choice in most cases

A lot of irl dsa members I encounter have real things to lose under the gop, and I'm convinced that lacking a real personal threat is at least part of any actual refusal to vote. Lacking a present that probably contributes to ability to stomach concern trolling dems days before elections, but there were apparently some posters itt doing this last week with threatened invisible minority status, so who knows?

I'm not counting begrudging voters who pinch their nose and vote for awful centrist Dem candidates when the alternative is Mr Conversion Therapy Christian.

Potato Salad fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Dec 14, 2017

# ? Dec 14, 2017 15:43

DACK FAYDEN: Feb 25, 2013; Bear Witness

axeil posted:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2017/12/13/virginia-is-holding-recounts-in-four-crucial-legislative-races-heres-how-they-work/

quote:
For example, if someone wrote �MY MAN� over the favored candidate�s name instead of filling in the adjacent circle, that ballot is valid, according to the state board of elections.

brb moving to Virginia and voting like this in every election

# ? Dec 14, 2017 15:56

HappyHippo: Nov 19, 2003; Do you have an Air Miles Card?

JesusSinfulHands posted:

prior to yesterday, I was expecting Heller and Flake to get the boot, but was struggling really hard to find a realistic 3rd seat.

Don't forget McCain's seat. Glioblastoma is brutal even if you're young and he's almost 81. I seriously doubt he'll make it.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 16:07

farraday: Jan 10, 2007; Lower those eyebrows, young man. And the other one.

quote:

Dec. 13 and 14: House District 40 where Del. Timothy D. Hugo (R-Fairfax) leads Democrat Donte Tanner by 106 votes.

https://twitter.com/fairfaxvotes/status/941324493779333120

https://twitter.com/fairfaxvotes/status/941337639386480641

farraday fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Dec 14, 2017

# ? Dec 14, 2017 16:33

Your Boy Fancy: Feb 7, 2003; by Cyrano4747

I�ve been told to stand by for a special election. They�re pretty certain Fredericksburg is going to be a January vote.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 17:30

farraday: Jan 10, 2007; Lower those eyebrows, young man. And the other one.

Your Boy Fancy posted:

I�ve been told to stand by for a special election. They�re pretty certain Fredericksburg is going to be a January vote.

Dude what happened to your Avatar?

Also that is very surprising to me but lets saddle up.

https://twitter.com/fairfaxvotes/status/941344712132366337

farraday fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Dec 14, 2017

# ? Dec 14, 2017 17:34

Oracle: Oct 9, 2004

HappyHippo posted:

Don't forget McCain's seat. Glioblastoma is brutal even if you're young and he's almost 81. I seriously doubt he'll make it.

I think the average survival rate for this is 18-24 months. With the best medical care money could buy Kennedy made it 28 months and was younger than McCain, but McCain's mom is still loving alive and is like almost 100 or something so he has some longevity genes in there. He was diagnosed end of July so its already been 5 months. He'll probably survive past 2018 elections.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 17:54

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

Your Boy Fancy posted:

I�ve been told to stand by for a special election. They�re pretty certain Fredericksburg is going to be a January vote.

Wow, that's surprising. Have they gotten a tip-off from the judge that he will order the relief?

Also what happened to your avatar??

farraday posted:

https://twitter.com/fairfaxvotes/status/941344712132366337

There's only 2 counties in the recount for this race, right? That'd pretty much do it for Hugo then. Make the count 49 Dems to 48 GOP with 3 undecided.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 18:18

Quorum: Sep 24, 2014; REMIND ME AGAIN HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE?

axeil posted:

Wow, that's surprising. Have they gotten a tip-off from the judge that he will order the relief?

Also what happened to your avatar??

There's only 2 counties in the recount for this race, right? That'd pretty much do it for Hugo then. Make the count 49 Dems to 48 GOP with 3 undecided.

Yeah, and all that's left in Fairfax are absentee recounts. Stick a fork in Tanner, this one didn't flip (as expected, none of them but Newport News will).

I'm surprised to hear the confidence re: a new election in Fredericksburg, and I'd expected that if a new election was likely there'd be a hearing scheduled much sooner. But it's possible.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 18:38

Your Boy Fancy: Feb 7, 2003; by Cyrano4747

Hmm, wonder which USPol guy got mad enough to spend money.

A special election is pretty much the only way to amicably fix the Fredericksburg situation. Nobody on the transition team expects anything less, from what I've heard.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 18:57

HappyHippo: Nov 19, 2003; Do you have an Air Miles Card?

Oracle posted:

I think the average survival rate for this is 18-24 months. With the best medical care money could buy Kennedy made it 28 months and was younger than McCain, but McCain's mom is still loving alive and is like almost 100 or something so he has some longevity genes in there. He was diagnosed end of July so its already been 5 months. He'll probably survive past 2018 elections.

It's a lot worse than that, especially if you're 81. I'm not sure if Kennedy had this specific type of tumor. Bit everyone I hear of that has this doesn't last long. A Facebook friend's husband was diagnosed in January and died in November. He was around 30. Gord Downie (somewhat notable musician here in Canada) announced he had it in May 2016 and died in October 2017 at 53. Granted McCain has access to the best medical care available but it's a bleak diagnosis. And he may well decide to retire beforehand.

HappyHippo fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Dec 14, 2017

# ? Dec 14, 2017 20:29

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

HappyHippo posted:

It's a lot worse than that, especially if you're 81. I'm not sure if Kennedy had this specific type of tumor. Bit everyone I hear of that has this doesn't last long. A Facebook friend's husband was diagnosed in January and died in November. He was around 30. Gord Downie (somewhat notable musician here in Canada) announced he had it in May and died in October at 53. Granted McCain has access to the best medical care available but it's a bleak diagnosis. And he may well decide to retire beforehand.

Point of order: Gord Downie announced he had it in May 2016, and died in October 2017.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 20:35

HappyHippo: Nov 19, 2003; Do you have an Air Miles Card?

PT6A posted:

Point of order: Gord Downie announced he had it in May 2016, and died in October 2017.

Oh sorry, right you are. Edited.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 20:48

Your Boy Fancy: Feb 7, 2003; by Cyrano4747

PT6A posted:

Point of order: Gord Downie announced he had it in May 2016, and died in October 2017.

Complete derail: I happened to be bumming through Canada the week of the Hip's last concert, and every town and city was flipping out and setting up simulcasts in the parks for the final concert in Kingston. The whole country was giving toward cancer research, and a couple of Yankees got a crash course in the band.

Fully Completely is now the soundtrack album of every road trip since then, and holy poo poo gently caress cancer for taking such a talented man off the planet.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 21:04

farraday: Jan 10, 2007; Lower those eyebrows, young man. And the other one.

https://twitter.com/fairfaxvotes/status/941381031197839360?s=17

# ? Dec 14, 2017 21:08

Quorum: Sep 24, 2014; REMIND ME AGAIN HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE?

That's the completely unsurprising first recount down, then. HD94, where the republican leads by 10 votes, will be held December 19. Single digit vote swings are very common (as you can see here), and that is a very attainable number given the number of voters in the district who are poor, disenfranchised, and/or otherwise infrequent voters. The final recount, HD68, will be December 20. The Democrat leads by a prohibitive 336 votes there. If we see any swings at all it will be HD94.

This is nuts.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 21:26

Your Boy Fancy: Feb 7, 2003; by Cyrano4747

Quorum posted:

That's the completely unsurprising first recount down, then. HD94, where the republican leads by 10 votes, will be held December 19. Single digit vote swings are very common (as you can see here), and that is a very attainable number given the number of voters in the district who are poor, disenfranchised, and/or otherwise infrequent voters. The final recount, HD68, will be December 20. The Democrat leads by a prohibitive 336 votes there. If we see any swings at all it will be HD94.

This is nuts.

Get ready for war.

Virginia is so strange, and I love its insistence on voting constantly and forever.

# ? Dec 14, 2017 21:28

axeil: Feb 14, 2006

Even the surviving GOP members of the VA House of Delegates have heard the message. The would-be Speaker of the VA House of Delegates if the GOP keeps its majority has proposed extending state employee paid paternal leave to 12 weeks.

Of course he doesn't support extending it to private employees, but hey, it's a start.

http://www.richmond.com/news/virgin...a2553c9e4c.html

Richmond Times Dispatch posted:

Would-be Va. House speaker announces support for 12 weeks of paid parental leave for state employees

The Republican hoping to be the next speaker of Virginia�s House of Delegates announced Thursday that he supports changing state policy to give state employees 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, said he wants to start by offering 12 weeks of leave to full-time, benefited House employees within one year of the birth or adoption of a child.

�As a society, we have to do more to strengthen families and encourage women to remain in the workplace,� Cox, whom House Republicans named as �speaker-designee� earlier this year, said in a prepared statement.

The policy described by Cox would rank Virginia as one of the most generous states in the country when it comes to giving new mothers and fathers cost-free time off. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act only requires large employers to offer 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave.

Currently, state employees looking to take time off can use accrued personal leave, sick leave or short-term disability, a policy Cox called �inadequate.�

�No mother or father should have to use accrued benefits, which they may need at another point, to care for their child and live out the joys of parenthood,� Cox said.

Though Cox was expecting to head into 2018 with a solid Republican majority, his side suffered massive losses in last month�s elections, losing at least 15 seats to Democrats. That left the GOP with a slim, 51-49 majority pending the outcomes of a handful of recounts happening this month.

Cox�s gesture comes roughly a month out from a speakership election in a narrowly divided House, which could have an even 50-50 split if Democrats pick up an additional seat in the recounts. Cox said he would direct House staff to develop the policy �immediately after being sworn in as Speaker.�

If Cox becomes speaker, he could enact a policy immediately for House employees, but extending the benefit to all state workers would require legislative action. Enacting the policy for all state employees would cost an estimated $500,000 per year, according to Cox�s office.

Cox�s office said he does not support requiring private employers to offer the same benefit.

Left-leaning advocacy group Progress Virginia released a statement applauding Cox�s move and saying it should go even further to offer similar time off for employees dealing with �catastrophic illness� or sick family members.

�While Cox�s commitment to employees of the House of Delegates is laudable, it fails to support the hundreds of thousands of Virginia families who struggle to balance family and work in these instances,� said Anna Scholl, the group�s executive director.

# ? Dec 15, 2017 14:14

emocrat: Feb 28, 2007; Sidewalk Technology

https://twitter.com/deltoscano/status/941657597781921793

Toscano is my delegate and the possible Majority leader. He is also apparently a a loving idiot. His office is less than 1 block from the courthouse Fields was in yesterday for the murder of Heather Hayer. Id appreciate it if anyone wants to yell at his rear end on twitter not to voluntarily cede power to these GOP fucks.

edit. To be slightly fair the article is aimed at R's offering power sharing, but Toscano sucks and I have absolutely no faith he wont just hand them whatever they want even if he ends up with the upper hand.

emocrat fucked around with this message at 15:01 on Dec 15, 2017

# ? Dec 15, 2017 14:55

DACK FAYDEN: Feb 25, 2013; Bear Witness

emocrat posted:

https://twitter.com/deltoscano/status/941657597781921793

What's the name of that "law"? The one that's "any time the title asks a question, the answer is no"?

Because no. Salt the earth. Win the recount and win the special election and salt the earth.

# ? Dec 15, 2017 16:35

evilweasel: Aug 24, 2002

DACK FAYDEN posted:

What's the name of that "law"? The one that's "any time the title asks a question, the answer is no"?

Because no. Salt the earth. Win the recount and win the special election and salt the earth.

Technically, they only have to win the recount and get a special election. They can lose it after that point.

Also, people need to read that article. He's saying that Republicans - who currently have a 51-49 lead before recounts and voiding a special election - should agree right now to power sharing. Basically he's offering a deal while control of the chamber is uncertain, with the explicit threat that if they don't, don't come whining back if Democrats take power with a 50-49-unknown and lock it in.

quote:

If Republicans won�t propose power-sharing out of principle, they might want to do so out of self-preservation. If the tide in the handful of contested districts goes against them, they could find themselves in an evenly divided chamber, or in the minority.

The deal is only while its up in the air, not "if we win we'll give you power sharing"

evilweasel fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Dec 15, 2017

# ? Dec 15, 2017 16:36

Zikan: Feb 29, 2004

surprise northam sucks and is bad

https://twitter.com/taniel/status/942395318695579648

this especially stings because when I was knocking on doors in Virginia, the Medicaid expansion and expanding health insurance in general were the number #1 things that motivated people to vote not concerns about costs

# ? Dec 17, 2017 17:25

Quorum: Sep 24, 2014; REMIND ME AGAIN HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE?

Zikan posted:

surprise northam sucks and is bad

https://twitter.com/taniel/status/942395318695579648

this especially stings because when I was knocking on doors in Virginia, the Medicaid expansion and expanding health insurance in general were the number #1 things that motivated people to vote not concerns about costs

Yeah, this is gonna backfire hard. Call and tell them just this, if you can.

# ? Dec 17, 2017 17:28

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# ? May 24, 2024 15:02

evilweasel: Aug 24, 2002

that's indefensible and perhaps the stupidest loving thing he could do especially considering there may be one more election for control of the chamber

# ? Dec 17, 2017 17:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > 2017 State-Level Elections: America's "Special" Children

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