We’re that much closer to 2022! Here are some issues we expect to take center stage in the new year!
California
- Freeway Expansion Bill
- Why we’re watching: Lately, the news cycle has been rife with the historic injustices of highway construction. Now, Assemblywoman Christina Garcia in California, wants to introduce a bill in 2022 that would prohibit the state from funding highway projects in areas of high poverty and those where residents have suffered health effects from living near the resulting high air pollution of heavy traffic. We love this bill!
Georgia
- SB325
- Why we’re watching: Following widespread, debunked claims of voter fraud in Georgia, a lawmaker there introduced a bill that would ban the availability of absentee ballot drop boxes. While claiming his proposal is the result of the pandemic slowing compared to last November, we can’t help but wonder if Sen. Butch Miller’s idea is more borne from a fear that Georgia is entering a new age of diversity and equity as we near 2022.
Maryland
- Montgomery County Bill 49-21
- Why we’re watching: After the Maryland legislature passed HB670 earlier this year, the governing bodies presiding over police operations were charged with creating police accountability boards. In Montgomery County, legislators proposed a system that would cap the board at five members, while requiring experience in “the management of a law enforcement agency.” In short, it dodges any actual accountability.
- Climate Crisis and Environmental Justice Act
- Why we’re watching: Our climate is changing and disproportionately hurting communities of color. Due to centuries of underinvestment and institutional racism, Black and Brown citizens breathe in harmful pollutants from cars more often than any other group. The proposed Climate Crisis and Environmental Justice Act would invest in clean energy while protecting such communities from further disparate punishment.
Texas
- Book Banning
- Why we’re watching: For people that care so much about “free speech,” why are they banning books? That’s what’s happening in Texas, where teachers aren’t allowed to teach anything perceived as inducing white guilt for institutional racism. We aren’t sure what sorts of books Texas legislators expect third graders to read but are sorely disappointed with this new law.
What do you think of the news in this week’s legislative roundup? Did we miss anything? Drop us a line on any of our social channels or hit us up through our contact us form. Let us know what’s happening in YOUR neighborhood!
