U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance says he plans to ask for unanimous passage today of his bill banning federal mask mandates until the end of next year.
If the move fails, Vance, R-Ohio, said it shows Democrats plan to bring back masks.
“Democrats insist they have no plans to mandate masking again. So, let’s hold them to their words and end the specter of Covid-19 tyranny for good,” Vance said in a news release. “Today, I will go to the Senate floor to request unanimous consent on my ‘Freedom to Breathe Act.’ That means if no one objects, the bill passes automatically. But if Senate Democrats block my legislation, they must be planning to reinstate mask mandates once again.”
On Tuesday, Vance announced the proposed legislation that would stop any federal official, including the president, from implementing a mask mandate through the end of 2024.
It would stop mandates for domestic air travel, public transit systems or primary and secondary schools, along with colleges and universities.
It would also stop airlines, transit authorities and educational institutions from refusing to serve anyone not wearing a mask.
Thursday morning, the freshman senator said Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that Covid-19 cases are spiking and people should again begin wearing masks.
“We all know how this goes. It starts with mask mandates, then social distancing, and then forced lockdowns to ‘slow the spread,’” Vance said. “None of it works, but it costs us dearly. It robbed us of our basic freedoms and shattered our national unity amid a crisis. We cannot let it happen again.”
The most recent numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control show hospital admissions related to Covid-19 rose 15.7% from July 28 to Aug. 26.
In Ohio, those numbers increased 15%.
Ohio lifted its statewide mask mandate in June 2021, nearly a year after Gov. Mike DeWine issued it.
In March 2024, California primary voters will decide whether or not they wish to require hotels to shelter unhoused individuals in vacant rooms. It is a plan that could be adopted by the Anchorage Assembly, which is moving its homeless plans in that direction.
The ballot measure by Unite Here Local 11, a regional hospitality union becoming a major political powerhouse in Southern California and Arizona, has critics wondering why the union would push forward a measure they argue would only put union members in harm’s way.
The answer, critics say, is power over the hotels as they bargain for higher wages in response to skyrocketing cost of living and being able to reassure their members that they can drive sufficient action on homelessness and the availability of affordable housing — without regard to fallout for the city’s residents and its still-recovering tourism industry.
Under the measure, hotels must report vacant rooms to the City of Los Angeles Housing Department by 2 pm each day. The department would then refer unhoused individuals to those hotels, paying a “fair market rate” for lodging them. Notably, hotels would not be required to hold these vacant rooms for program participants, and hotels would be unable to refuse to accept such vouchers or put in rules specifically for voucher holders. Additionally, the measure would require “market demand for the project, and the project’s impact on affordable housing, transit, social services, employees, and local businesses” to be considered in land use permits for hotel developments with 100 or more rooms, and require hotel development projects with 15 or more rooms to replace demolished or converted housing with an equivalent amount of affordable housing at or near the project site.
Unite Here 11 represents over 32,000 members in the hospitality industry employed in hotels, restaurants, airports, sports arenas, and convention centers across Southern California and Arizona. The union is currently involved in a two-month-old, citywide strike, which the union said in a news release is motivated by the high cost of living — especially housing. Due to an enduring housing shortage and little new construction, a Los Angeles Times analysis of U.S. Census data found the county maintains the highest rate of overcrowding in the United States, more than New York City.
In a statement published by Local 11, Jovani Ramirez – a cook who works at both the Beverly Hilton and Fairmont Century Plaza and commutes from Santa Clarita – said, “I am going on strike because I work two full-time jobs to provide for my four children. I need free family healthcare because my youngest son is autistic. It is morally wrong that I work 16 hours a day in our most prosperous industry but cannot afford to live in Los Angeles.”
However, the bargaining group of hotels negotiating with the union contends the organization has refused to talk since July 18. Bargaining group spokesperson Keith Grossman said the hotels offered an immediate $2 per hour wage increase, a total $6.25 per hour wage increase, and a $1.50 per hour healthcare benefits increase he says is “consistent with agreements between other Unite Here locals and in several other major cities,” and that the refusal “raises legitimate concerns about why Local 11 continues to rely on disruptive tactics that harm our communities and damage the interests of union hotel employees throughout the Los Angeles region.”
Through its membership, the union easily gathered the 126,000 signatures required for the ballot measure. While the Los Angeles City Council could have voted to approve the measure outright to make it law today, it instead unanimously opted to send the measure to voters.
“It shows they aren’t thrilled about it as an idea but they don’t want to be the ones to say no to the union, so they threw it to the public as a ballot measure,” Center for Union Facts Communications Director Charlyce Bozzello told The Center Square. “Hotels could become akin to homeless shelters. That’s bad for paying guests, that’s bad for the tourism industry in Los Angeles, and it’s really, really bad for hotel employees.”
CUF is the primary organization opposing the ballot measure and has initiated a media blitz to counter it, launching a television and social media advertising campaign in Los Angeles and a website, HomelessHotels.com, cataloging episodes of violence and abuse against hotel workers through California’s ongoing, statewide Project Roomkey program to place homeless individuals in hotels.
The 501(c)3 organization notes how LA Grand workers were exposed to violence, destruction, illness and bodily fluids including feces, urine and blood on a regular basis. A homeless individual threatened staff in a Little Tokyo hotel with a knife before being shot and killed by the police in the lobby. It says 49 Project Roomkey participants have died while in the program, including eight deaths at one Los Angeles hotel.
CUF filed a complaint against Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez for co-sponsoring a motion to raise the minimum wage for tourism industry employees in the city to $30 by 2028 after being paid $68,618 by the union in 2021, $19,101 in 2022 as a lead organizer. In their complaint, the CUF notes the union-backed minimum wage proposal includes waivers for hotels that participate in a “bonafide collective bargaining agreement,” a tool former Unite Here Local 11 President Tom Walsh told the Los Angeles Times would cause non-union hotels to be less resistant to unionization.
“Local 11 does have a history of pushing controversial or unpopular policies then making sure if a hotel allows their staff to unionize or signs a neutrality agreement, they can get a carveout from that policy,” said Bozello. “That’s going to add a lot of dues-paying members for them.”
Polling from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, which represents all of the hotels in the United States, conducted by Public Opinion strategies with a sample size of 500 Los Angeles voters found that while 98% of voters say homelessness is a crisis in the city, 86% say the city should not prioritize housing people experiencing homelessness in hotels, 81% say such a policy would unfairly burden hotel staff, and 59% say they would be less likely to visit a city and stay in a hotel there if they knew the city would require all hotels to lodge homeless individuals next to regular guests.
“Who’s going to book a room in the city of Los Angeles? People have choices. No one is going to choose to stay in a hotel under those circumstances,” said Chip Rogers, President and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, in an interview with The Center Square.
Nonetheless, Rogers acknowledges that the language around the measure is “all about solving homelessness and housing affordability” and that voters would “actually have to read all the language to see the part about paying guests next to homeless in hotels.”
While the union acknowledged The Center Square’s request for an interview, an interview could not be secured by the time of publication.
After being fired by Mayor Dave Bronson last December, and after the Anchorage Assembly refused to approve a negotiated settlement, former Anchorage Municipal Manager, Amy Demboski has taken legal action against the mayor and the municipality. Her lawsuit alleges “reckless disregard for the law and ethical standards.”
Some of the allegations were already known when Demboski threatened legal action against the city in January. But her lawyer Scott Kendall, who is a political foe of the mayor and supporter of opponent Suzanne LaFrance, has driven the knife deeper, including accusations of gender discrimination, retaliation, violations of whistleblower protections, and an inappropriate workplace relationship among members of his staff. Also, the lawsuit claims, defamation.
The Anchorage Assembly had been asked to settle the lawsuit with Demboski for $550,000, but the liberal majority, knowing this would become key to a campaign against the mayor, decided to refuse paying the agreed-to amount.
There are two unnamed co-defendants in the lawsuit, which names Bronson and the Muni.
Some of the accusations are essentially the same as those previously raised in Demboski’s initial complaint, but the new 24-page legal document introduces accusations of dysfunction, mismanagement, and even corruption in the Bronson administration. The accusations allege Larry Baker, an advisor to Bronson, acted wrongly regarding the navigation center the mayor proposed for Tudor and Elmore Roads, a project that was agreed to by the Assembly, but later was rejected by the same body.
The Assembly majority is hoping to use this red-on-red lawsuit as a form of an independent expenditure group against the mayor, who is running for reelection. This would mean that taxpayers will pay for the city’s expenses in the lawsuit, which will no-doubt damage the mayor’s hopes for reelection next April.
On Wednesday, congressional candidate Nick Begich issued a blistering statement about President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel oil and gas leases in Alaska, calling the president and his allies “economic terrorists,” and linking Biden ally Rep. Mary Peltola to the administration.
“This is a clear attack on Alaska’s economy and way of life and a violation of covenants made under ANILCA,” Begich wrote. “Time after time, the Biden administration and its allies in congress put the interest of their political donors and radical activists ahead of the needs of working Alaskans.”
Biden announced on Wednesday that all new oil and gas exploration and production on Alaska’s North Slope would be canceled. The president has drawn much rebuke from Alaska leaders and has invited a law suit over the matter, probably from the State of Alaska and the Alaska Industrial and Export Authority.
“The Biden administration is being driven by eco-activists who have used the tools of economic terrorism to achieve their goals. From canceling bank financing for Arctic development, to taking over board leadership at leading oil and gas companies, to tying up Alaskan lands in endless court battles, Biden and his allies have made it clear: they will stop at nothing to shut down oil and gas development in Alaska. You can’t negotiate with terrorists. Alaskans must take a stand by kicking Joe Biden out of the White House in 2024 and removing his loyal ally Mary Peltola from Congress.”
Rep. Peltola endorsed Biden for president earlier this year. Begich filed to run against her in June.
After Biden approved the Willow project for the NPR-A, Biden told his supporters, “My strong inclination was to disapprove of [Willow] across the board. But the advice I got from counsel was if that were the case, I might very well lose in court to the oil company and then not be able to do what I really want to do beyond that, and that is conserve significant amounts of Alaskan sea and land forever.”
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., pushed forward the investigation into President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, Wednesday by calling out a federal agency that may be withholding information.
Comer put the spotlight on the National Archives and Records Administration, the federal recordkeeping agency that tipped off the Department of Justice when former President Donald Trump had allegedly held on to classified documents. Comer says NARA has held back certain information, claiming it is “personal.”
“In discussions between NARA and Committee staff regarding the Committee’s previous request for special access to Vice-Presidential records, NARA informed the Committee that certain documents in NARA’s custody would not be produced to the Committee – and, indeed, NARA would not inform the Committee of their existence – if NARA deems those records to be ‘personal records’ as defined by the PRA,” Comer said in a letter to Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan.
Comer pushed back on that sentiment.
“However, ‘personal records’ are defined as those records ‘which do not relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of’ the Vice President,” the letter said. “The Committee has made clear that its investigation involves potential abuse by then-Vice President Biden of his official duties; it cannot be NARA that determines whether certain records ‘do not relate to or have an effect upon’ those duties.”
Comer’s letter is part of an ongoing effort to learn to what degree now President Biden was aware of and involved in his son Hunter’s business dealings. IRS whistleblowers testified that the Biden family and associates received about $20 million from entities overseas, including in Ukraine and China, via about 20 shell companies.
Long-time associate of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, has said publicly that Hunter used phone calls from his father to help secure deals.
“Joe Biden never built an ‘absolute wall’ between his family’s business dealings and his official government work – his office doors were wide open to Hunter Biden’s associates,” Comer said in a letter to Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan. “There is evidence of collusion in the efforts to spin media stories about Burisma’s corruption while Vice President Biden was publicly pushing an anti-corruption agenda in Ukraine.”
As previously reported here, Hunter Biden faces an array of legal challenges related to allegations of gun, tax and foreign influence crimes. Special Counsel David Weiss said in court filings Wednesday that Hunter could face another indictment before Sept. 19.
“Suspiciously, Hunter Biden’s associate had a media statement on Burisma approved by Vice President Biden himself the same day Hunter Biden ‘called D.C.’ for help with the government pressure facing Burisma,” the letter said. “Americans demand accountability for this abuse of government office for the benefit of the Biden family.”
Comer also has asked NARA for information on Air Force Two, which Hunter Biden allegedly used for travel in some of his dealings.
After a summer of sending a parade of cabinet members to tour Alaska, President Joe Biden today said he is canceling all of the oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 1002 area, and also is shutting down development of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Area 1002 was set aside by Congress for oil and gas production. In 2020, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority bid on and was awarded land leases in the region, a lease that was part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017.
As a candidate, Biden promised to shut down oil and gas production on federal lands, including ANWR and the NPR-A, which meant destroying high paying jobs Americans and Alaskan families and communities would benefit from.
Candidate Biden said that he is “completely totally opposed [to development] in ANWR. No more drilling on federal lands period!”
AIDEA said in a statement it will fight the Biden Administration.
“This latest action by the Department of the Interior shows arbitrary disregard for Federal law, based on campaign trail rhetoric. Campaign promises are not enough to justify this agency action. Under the law, Interior must present real facts and reasons that support this reversal in position,” AIDEA said in a press release.
“Interior’s action leaves AIDEA one choice, we have to go to court to protect our rights in the ANWR leases. This time, we will ask the court to allow us to conduct discovery that could include taking the deposition of Biden’s messenger, Secretary Haaland and possibly other administration officials involved so the real motives are made public,” the agency said.
AIDEA is owned by the State of Alaska and is run by a separate board of directors.
“The leases AIDEA hold in ANWR were legally issued in a sale mandated by Congress. It’s clear that President Biden needs a refresher on the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine. Federal agencies don’t get to rewrite laws, and that is exactly what the Department of the Interior is trying to do here,” said Gov. Mike Dunleavy. “We will fight for Alaska’s right to develop its own resources and will be turning to the courts to correct the Biden Administration’s wrong.”
Rep. Mary Peltola put out a statement in opposition to Biden’s actions, although she was one of the first in Congress to endorse him for reelection and was rated the top conservation lawmaker by the League of Conservation Voters.
“I am deeply frustrated by the reversal of these leases in ANWR. This administration showed that it is capable of listening to Alaskans with the approval of the Willow Project, and it is some of those same Inupiat North Slope communities who are the ones that are most impacted by this decision. I will continue to advocate for them and for Alaska’s ability to explore and develop our natural resources, from the critical minerals we need for our clean energy transition to the domestic oil and gas we need to get us there. We can only get to that transition by listening to the people on the ground. Finally, we can’t keep erasing our progress with every administration. I will continue to advocate for permitting reform that includes predictable timelines from the federal government, which must be a reliable partner in leasing and developing our resources,” said Peltola, who is having a fundraiser in Juneau on Wednesday that features anti-Alaska-oil Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, who has long advocated for shutting down Alaska’s economy.
Sen. Dan Sullivan also spoke out against the decision: “Having just spent more than a month home in communities across our state, there is palpable anger and frustration among Alaskans about the Biden administration’s unrelenting assault on our economy and our ability to lawfully access our lands. This war on Alaska is devastating for not only Alaska but also the energy security of the nation. This unlawful cancellation of AIDEA’s ANWR leases today now brings us to 55 executive orders and actions specifically targeting Alaska since President Biden assumed office.”
Murkowski posted her objections, focusing on the shutdown of the NPR-A.
Deb Haaland, secretary of the Interior, said, in her announcement of the decision, “With climate change warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet, we must do everything within our control to meet the highest standards of care to protect this fragile ecosystem. President Biden is delivering on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in history. The steps we are taking today further that commitment, based on the best available science and in recognition of the Indigenous Knowledge of the original stewards of this area, to safeguard our public lands for future generations.”
Businessman Steve Colligan has been named by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to the University of Alaska Board of Regents.
Colligan is a long-time business owner with decades of professional experience in the public and private sectors. He has national and international experience specializing in Information Technology Integration, geographic information systems and geomatics.
A lifelong Alaskan, he holds an Associate of Applied Sciences degree in Petroleum Engineering Technology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Engineering Studies at UAF/UAA.
Colligan has decades of professional education and certifications in technology and project management.
He has been a pioneer in professional use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems and robotics for engineering design, infrastructure inspection and geomatic purposes. He has also been actively involved in STEM education in Alaska schools as president of the Alaska Drone Racing League and the Alaska Government Relations Coordinator for Academy of Model Aeronautics.
Colligan was born and raised in Fairbanks and lives in Wasilla with his family. His appointment is subject to confirmation by the Alaska Legislature.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Ryan Anderson to the Board of Trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation. The appointment is effective immediately.
Mr. Anderson is a 24-year employee of the department. He was its Northern Region Director, overseeing design, construction, maintenance and operations of a transportation system that serve communities in a geographically and culturally diverse region that extends from the Gulf of Alaska to the Arctic Ocean, and from the Bering Sea to the Canadian Border. He earned a B.S. degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1997. He and family are from Fairbanks.
A new trio of House education bills would push back on Critical Race Theory and federal rules in local public schools, the latest in an ongoing battle led by Republicans to respond to curriculum and policy changes in education.
U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., introduced the three new education bills, including the Defending Students’ Civil Rights Act, which codifies that teaching CRT is illegal discrimination; as well as the Empowering Parents Act, which allows parents to hold schools accountable if those schools embrace more progressive racial or gender ideology in the classroom.
Good also introduced the Empowering Local Curriculum Act, which says schools receiving federal dollars cannot be forced to include CRT in their curriculum.
“These three bills would combat federal encroachment in curriculum, protect students from the harmful ideology of Critical Race Theory, and defend parents’ God-given right to educate their children,” Good’s office said.
CRT is an increasingly controversial set of ideas based on the idea that the U.S. is an inherently racist country and always has been and that the U.S. and its institutions can largely be viewed through that lens.
“Parents know what is best for their students and have primary responsibility for their children’s education,” Good said. “Local school boards should represent the will of the parents, not teachers unions, the Biden Administration or DC bureaucrats. I am fighting back against the Biden Administration’s overreach into the classroom with my back-to-school agenda that empowers parents, protects students from racist curriculum, and permits children to focus on their academic pursuits.”
The bills come amid a nationwide debate over the role of parents in their kids’ education. Parents have begun organizing and protesting at school boards, raising concerns about school curriculum and sexualized books in school libraries.
Those parents have often been brushed aside in recent years, sometimes caught on camera in videos that went viral and fueled the “parental rights” movement.
Democrats have pushed back, saying teachers know best what curriculum is needed and that the effort to ban books that Republicans say are age-inappropriate is a form of censorship.
In recent years, equity and CRT ideology in education has become increasingly common with billions of taxpayer dollars behind it.
House Republicans launched an inquiry last year after reports showed that federal funding passed for COVID-related student learning loss was spent to promote “equity warriors,” critical race theory teachings and more at local schools.
The Center Square previously reported on similar funding at the collegiate level. Federal grant documents show that the U.S. Department of Education awarded millions of dollars to a Florida-based education program that trains future educators and other professionals in CRT.
Another similar program, “The Research Institute for Scholars of Equity,” received millions of taxpayer dollars for training college students in critical race theory at several higher educational institutions.
Good is not the only lawmaker raising concerns about progressive ideology in schools and introducing legislation.
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., in July reintroduced the Protect Equality and Civics Education (PEACE) Act, a bill that would prevent tax dollars from promoting CRT within the Department of Education’s American history guidelines, which have increasingly incorporated those ideas.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has also introduced the Combating Racist Training in the Military Act as well as the Stop Critical Race Theory Act.
Good’s legislative effort has received support from several family and education groups.
“The Empowering Local Curriculum Act will end funding for schools promoting divisive ideologies like Critical Race theory that separate students into opposing categories of victims vs oppressors simply based on the color of their skin,” Terry Schilling, president of American Principles Project, said in a statement. “The Defending Students’ Civil Rights Act clarifies that position further by outlining how such a practice violates these children’s Civil Rights, an offense actionable by law. And finally, the Empowering Parents Act ensures that these children, their rights, and their innocence are being protected, not by a distant bureaucracy that can be bought out by well-funded organizations, but by those who have their best interests at heart: their parents.”
Matt Buckham, executive director for Institute for Educational Reform, backed the bills as well, calling out a recurring point of criticism: politicization of schools.
“Government teacher unions push the toxic political agenda of the Democratic party along with their radical lies through Critical Race Theory and woke ideology,” Buckman said in a statement.
