A Texting Ban Plan Aimed at Florida State Legislators; Ransomware Targets County in Indiana
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Rahm Emanuel’s emails; Paul LePage’s ‘economic tsunami’ in Maine; and tough times for Minnesota farmers.
TEXTING | The incoming speaker of the Florida House of Representatives wants to ban texting while legislating. Republican Rep. Richard Corcoran says the rule is meant to raise ethical standards by blocking lobbyists from texting with lawmakers who are in committee, or the House chambers. The texting ban is part of a broader effort by Corcoran aimed at “cleaning up our own House.” Referring to lobbyists texting lawmakers, he said: “Those are the things that interfere with the civility and the purity of the process.” [Miami Herald]
RANSOMWARE | Hackers want a large sum of money from Madison County, Indiana after seizing control of government servers and stealing critical information, and investigators are saying they’ve never seen this type of ransomware virus before. The Sheriff’s Department can’t currently bring up prior reports or court records or book people into jail using county computers. [IndyStar]
EMAIL | Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton isn’t the only person doing damage control after the latest WikiLeaks dump of hacked emails. The leak shows Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel used personal email chatting with government leaders and political figures. "After the mayor's election in 2011, the campaign fund set up a new email to ensure the mayor was not using government email for private or political use, which could violate city ordinance or state law,'" said spokesman Adam Collins. "A dedicated Gmail domain allowed for better security given the growing threat of cyberattacks." [Chicago Tribune; The Associated Press via Herald & Review]
CRIMINAL JUSTICE | A review of cases in Massachusetts from last year found 105 instances of people jailed for “fine time,” where defendants are jailed to “pay off” court fines and fees they can’t otherwise afford—even if they never committed a crime that would have required time behind bars. “I was sent to jail because I was poor,” said one such defendant. [Boston Globe]
TAXES | Maine Gov. Paul LePage is expected to once again seek an income tax cut and broader sales tax as part of his final two-year budget proposal in office. The state’s next legislative session starts in December, and LePage is already calling the combination of new federal overtime rules with two ballot measures possibly increasing the minimum wage and taxing the wealthy to increase school funding an “economic tsunami.” [Portland Press Herald]
AGRICULTURE| Low crop prices and declining farmer incomes are sending ripples through rural economies in Minnesota. Average net income for farmers in the state has been declining steadily during the last three years. Such slumps can translate into less spending and lower rent prices for land. “Tighten your belt, cut back on inputs but don’t hurt your yield, run machinery a little bit longer, and try to get the best deal for supplies,” said one farmer. [Star Tribune]
DAMS | A controversy over removing four large dams from the Snake River to protect wild salmon continues to play out in the northwestern United States. A federal judge earlier this year rejected the latest government plan to protect the threatened and endangered fish within the Columbia River system. This led to new efforts among conservationists and others opposed to the dams. Meetings about dam removal began last month and are scheduled to continue until Dec. 8 in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. The Snake River flows from western Wyoming to the Columbia River in Washington. [The Associated Press via The Olympian]
COMINGS & GOINGS | In California’s capital, Sacramento City Manager John Shirey is preparing to move on from the job—his contract is up on Nov. 18. Mayor Kevin Johnson credits Shirey with getting the city’s “fiscal house in order.” And multiple City Council members say the outgoing city manager provided a “steady hand” at the helm of the city. [The Sacramento Bee]
PENSIONS | Pennsylvania police may have closed a criminal investigation into a Scranton pension program that inappropriately awarded $3 million in doubled retirement benefits to 35 city employees, but the city council is prepared to subpoena the agency to figure out exactly what happened and prevent it in the future. [The Times-Tribune]
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