Kansas May Pay Aerospace Workers After Boeing Suspends Plane Construction

Kansas lawmakers are considering the possibility of paying workers in aerospace construction after Boeing announced that they were suspending the construction of 737 Max jets. Regulators grounded the 737 Max in March after 346 people were killed in two different crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Boeing continued to produce the planes at a slower pace until this week, when they indefinitely suspended production. Spirit Aerosystems, which supplies the fuselages to the 737, has about 13,500 employees in Wichita, Kansas, and state lawmakers like Gov. Laura Kelly are debating how to proceed. "The 737 MAX is a key program for Spirit and for our state’s aviation supply chain as a whole. The Wichita community is vibrant and will rally behind those who are impacted by this temporary production suspension. And, I remain hopeful that this temporary suspension will be short-lived and that the MAX can quickly and safely return to the skies," said Kelly. The governor also said that the state may use its unemployment system to pay part of Spirit workers' paychecks, should the company have to reduce workers’ hours. U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, whose district contains Wichita, said he is “monitoring any impact a suspension will have on the hardworking employees of Spirit and other local suppliers, as well as fighting for jobs for Wichita and our world-class aerospace industry." Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said that the U.S. economy has already seen the impact of reduced Boeing production, but that a suspension will make things worse. "The sudden suspension of production—bringing production down from 40 planes a month to zero—would actually have a much bigger impact on [economic] growth. Some of these employees will be geared toward other parts of Boeing's production chain, but that being said I wouldn't be surprised that as we move into 2020 there will be some layoffs announced," Daco said. [Wichita Eagle; Associated Press; KWCH; NPR]

GENDER NEUTRAL | The New York City Health Department announced that, starting in 2020, death certificates will now have a neutral “X” option for gender. The option will be available to non-binary New Yorkers who identify as neither male nor female, and will be retroactive if living relatives wish to change it for those who are deceased. Last year, the city approved an X gender for birth certificates and said that transgender or non-binary people who want to change their birth certificates would no longer need a letter from a physician to make that change. Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said that the step builds on the work the city has done to recognize non-binary individuals.“Reforming our institutions to reflect the identities of the people we serve is essential to being an inclusive, equity-driven agency and city. We can honor how non-binary individuals lived by ensuring their death records accurately reflect their identities,” she said. City Councilman Carlos Menchaca said it might seem like a small change but means “everything” to many people. “In death as in life, we want dignity and respect,” he said. [Reuters]

PAY RAISE | A conservative nonprofit is suing to stop pay raises for New York’s governor and lieutenant governor. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s salary was $179,000 when he took office in January 2018, was raised to $200,000 in 2019, and is set to jump to $225,000 in January, then $250,000 in 2021. After the final raise, he will be the nation’s highest paid governor. The Government Justice Center filed a lawsuit against state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, saying that the raises violated a portion of the state’s constitution that prohibits changing a governor’s compensation during their term. “By approving retroactive raises three months into the new terms for those offices, the Legislature blatantly ignored this prohibition, and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s payment of the higher salaries also violates the Constitution. Regardless of any arguments that might be made for raising these salaries for the first time in 20 years, ignoring the state constitution sets a dangerous precedent and threatens the rule of law in New York,” said Cameron Macdonald, the group’s executive director. Cuomo and DiNapoli have not commented on the suit. [New York Post; Associated Press]

MARIJUANA SALES | The Chicago City Council voted to allow recreational marijuana sales in January, despite requests from the Black Caucus to delay sales until July. Marijuana will become legal in Illinois in 2020, and ten dispensaries in Chicago are already licensed. None of those dispensaries are owned by minority business people, and the council’s Black Caucus said more time was needed to address the lack of black and Latino-owned dispensaries. “We are going to continue to work together and push for equity,” the group said in a statement in support of the delay. The city council voted to push for recreational sales in January with support from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who said the delay would cause problems. "Delaying sales will have a multitude of unintended consequences, including fueling illegal sales, placing the start of a new industry at the same time when our full public safety resources must be dedicated to combatting summer violence, and most importantly, stripping money from the social equity funds intended to benefit Black and Brown entrepreneurs," she said. [Chicago Tribune; WGN TV; NBC Chicago]

WITCH HUNT | The mayor of Salem, Massachusetts criticized President Trump over his comparison of his impeachment and the Salem witch trials. In a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump said that “more due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.” Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said that comparing impeachment to the unfair process that led to the conviction of more than 200 innocent people and the execution of at least 20 was insensitive. "The whole point of the witch trials is there was no rule of law and you are talking about fairly marginalized people who were accused. These victims, they were women, they were elderly, they were poor: anyone who was different or odd in way shape or form. To see both the president and his supporters using the witch trials is offensive to the descendants of those victims," she said. [Boston Globe; USA TODAY]