Good News 2018
note: Some of the older items may have new information not tracked here. It’s a record of what was uplifting at the time, not the current status.
November 2018
11/2 – U.S. top court rejects Trump administration bid to halt climate trial
11/8 – U.S. appeals court rules against Trump on DACA immigration program – rules that the program must continue
11/9 – Federal judge blocks Keystone XL pipeline, saying Trump administration review ignored ‘inconvenient’ climate change facts.
Midterms – so much winning!!
US mid-term election set record voter turnout, with Washington coming out on top with 69.4%!!!!
Women and LGBT candidates make history in 2018 midterms, including:
Record number of women to win seats in the House
First Native American women
First Muslim women
First openly gay man elected governor
First female senator from Arizona
All 19 Black Women Running for Judge in a Texas Race Won
11/30 – Democrats have 235 House seats to Republicans 199. Democrats gained 40 seats.
October 2018
10/27 – Judge says Census citizenship trial can proceed (although it will be appealed in Supreme Court)
August 2018
8/4 CREW Scores Major Court Victory Against Dark Money. A judge ruled that dark money groups that spend at least $250 in independent expenditures must report every contributor who gave at least $200
8/7 Incumbent St. Louis county prosecutor Bob McCulloch – a powerful Democrat known nationally for his handling of the 2014 grand jury decision to not prosecute Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Mike Brown – defeated by Wesley Bell, a black city council member from Ferguson
8/7 Two years ago today, Rashida Tlaib was kicked out of a Donald Trump speech in Detroit for asking him if he’d ever read the Constitution. Now, she’s on the verge of becoming the first Muslim woman elected to Congress.
8/9 Tribune withdraws from Sinclair merger, sues for $1 billion in damages over ‘breach’ of contract
8/17 Trump cancels military parade, blames local politicians as estimated cost balloons https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-military-parade-estimated-cost-92-million/story?id=57218363
Zinke nixes Interior’s plan to possibly sell public land
8/21 Manafort convicted on 8 counts; mistrial declared on 10 others
Michael Cohen, Trump’s Former Fixer, Reaches Plea Deal Over Payments to Women – Says He Arranged Payments to Women at Trump’s Direction
8/25 A federal district judge in Washington struck down most of the key provisions of three executive orders that President Trump signed in late May that would have made it easier to fire federal employees.
8/28 Nineteen House Republicans voted against raising taxes to increase teacher pay. After Tuesday’s primaries, only four remain.
8/30 The Kinder Morgan Candian “Trans Mountain” pipeline was stopped
July 2018
7/2 Carbon fee initiative 1631 headed for Washington’s November ballot
7/3 Court slaps down attempt to keep gun measure I-1639 off Washington state ballot
7/5 E.P.A. Chief Scott Pruitt Resigns Under a Cloud of Ethics Scandals
7/19 White House Withdraws Appeals Court Nominee Who Deplored Multiculturalism
The administration moved to avoid an embarrassing defeat for Ryan W. Bounds for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals after Tim Scott, the Senate’s only black Republican, said he would oppose the nomination.
June 2018
6/1 – Google to drop Pentagon AI contract after employee objections to the ‘business of war’
6/4 – A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump may not legally block Twitter users from his account on the social media platform based on their political views.
6/6 – Judge Aaron Persky from the Brock Turner rape case has been recalled from office by vote
6/8 – A federal judge blocks Indiana law allowing state to remove voters from the rolls based on match from Interstate Crosscheck program, a system run by Kansas SoS Kris Kobach. It’s important to note that Indivisible Chicago was instrumental in demonstrating the unreliability of the Crosscheck system, based documents they obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Indivisibles helped bring this down.
6/11 – Net Neutrality ended on 6/11, but due to HB 2282, remains active in WA state
6/12 – Gov. Jay Inslee and Secretary of State Kim Wyman are partnering to increase the number of young people who vote through a voter registration challenge aimed at students in Washington’s colleges and technical schools.
6/13 After Wisconsin’s Walker tried to block election, Dems flip a GOP seat The latest Democratic special election victory came in a Wisconsin district Donald Trump won by 17 points during his successful presidential bid.
6/14 – NY AG Barbra Underwood sues Donald Trump and family for illegal misuse of funds of the Trump Foundation. Important because it establishes a pattern of misconduct for personal gain, and a legal recourse.
6/18 – London Breed elected mayor of San Francisco. First black female mayor, only second woman since Dianne Feinstein.
6/18 – Judge strikes down Kansas voter ID law, orders Kobach take legal classes. A federal judge on Monday permanently struck down Kansas’s proof-of-citizenship voter registration law, handing down a blistering ruling against Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, one of the country’s most vocal advocates
6/18 Decrying the direction of Republican Party, AZ State Sen. Worsley withdraws from 2018 race calling family separations at the border “unacceptable behavior.”
6/19 Couple Wanted to Raise $1,500 for Immigrant Families at the Border. They Got Over $20 Million for RAICES.
6/20 Senate rejects Trump plan to claw back spending – In a 48-50 vote, senators failed to discharge the measure from committee.
6/21 ICE Shuts Down Its Portland Office As Protests Over Family Separations Continue
Protesters want Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy to end. 6/29 Kentucky’s requirement that Medicaid recipients must work is blocked by a federal judge
May 2018
5/1 Indivisible Kirkland’s Gun Safety Resolution adopted by Kirkland City Council
5/7 Postage on King County ballots will be pre-paid
5/15 Representative-elect Helen Tai won a special election for Pennsylvania House District 178
5/16 The Senate passed resolution to overturn the FCC net neutrality rollback.
5/18 Farm bill with SNAP work requirements fails to pass the House
5/22 – NY Governor Andrew Cuomo reinstated voting rights for over 24,000 people on parole.
5/23 – From Indivisible email: Stacey Abrams ran an impressive campaign and will vie to become the first woman elected governor of Georgia, and first Black woman elected governor in any state. In Texas’ runoff, Lupe Valdez became the first Latina and openly LGBTQ Texan to serve as a major party’s nominee for governor, and half a dozen Democratic women across the state advanced to the midterms. And last night, two more IndivisiCandidates — Josh McCall (GA-09) and Paul Walker (KY-01) — won their Democratic primaries!
5/30 – Virginia voted to expand Medicaid, following several Republican losses in state legislative elections. Elections matter! Voting matters!
5/31 – Louisiana House Bill 265 passed which restores voting rights to some people convicted of felonies
5/31 – Federal prosecutors Thursday dropped their cases against seven people charged with rioting during President Trump’s inauguration after a D.C. judge determined that the government intentionally misrepresented information and withheld evidence from the defense.
April 2018
4/11 Florida GOP Congressman Dennis Ross is retiring
4/11 Zinke ‘expresses doubt’ that offshore drilling will happen off Washington Coast
4/12 Zinke backs out of dramatically raising entrance fees at 17 National Parks
4/11 Paul Ryan will not seek re-election next term
4/18 Kris Kobach – Found in contempt of court for a 2016, order for Kobach to fully register thousands of Kansas voters who had registered at the DMV but had failed to provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, as required by a Kansas law that Kobach crafted.
4/18 170 Lawmakers sign resolution calling for EPA Chief Scott Pruitt’s Resignation
4/19 Appeals court rules against Trump administration over ‘sanctuary cities’
4/23 Another Democratic Victory As Six-Term GOP Congressman Doug Lamborn Is Kicked Off Ballot In Colorado
4/24 Third federal judge issues strongest order yet backing DACA
The order gives the administration 90 days to come up with better reasons to scrap DACA — or the judge will reinstate it in its entirety.
March 2018
3/8 compromise I-940 signed into law (but rejected by WA State Supreme Court 8/28/18)
3/13 Conor Lamb Wins Pennsylvania House Seat
3/15 Washington’s coast saved from drilling (for now)
3/15 Centralia coal mine to be site of major solar project.
3/19 Jay Inslee signs a package of voter access bills (pre-registration for 16 and 17 year olds, same-day registration, option for automatic registration when applying for an enhanced license or when registering for State’s health benefit exchange.) Start date for most measures is June 2019.
3/22 2020 census received much more funding than advocates had anticipated
3/28 Washington State becomes latest state to ban gay ‘conversion therapy’
February 2018
2/1 Republicans give up on ACA Repeal
2/19 Florida GOP Rep. Tom Rooney retiring
2/23 #BoycottNRA
2/26 King County passes ordinance preventing the use of its funds for federal immigration enforcement:
2/27 Supreme Court declines to hear appeal of DACA ruling:
Jared Kushner’s security clearance is downgraded:
WA State legislature passes bump stock ban:
2/28 Washington state passes Net Neutrality Bill
January 2018
1/3– “Election Integrity” Commission is dissolved!
1/8 – Senator Murray signs onto resolution seeking to overturn the FCC’s horrid net neutrality decision – timing coincided with pressure stemming from an Indivisible Eastside Facebook member’s post!
1/9 – Federal judge says DACA can’t end while lawsuit is pending
1/10 California Rep. Darrell Issa to retire joining a record breaking 30 House republicans who won’t seek re-election.
Pennsylvania’s congressional map has been thrown out by the state supreme court – gerrymandering. Ordered to come up with a new one.
1/20 Women’s Marches around the world!
1/20 Penn. Rep. Patrick Meehan to retire
1/22 Montana becomes first state to add Net Neutrality rules after repeal
1/24 LNG Permit put on hold pending Greenhouse Gas Report
1/25 New York joins Montana in enforcing Net Neutrality rules
1/27 Washington to no longer require residents give birthplace to get driver’s license
1/29 Gov. Inslee rejects permit for oil-rail terminal. Another link for above from a really good resource for research and information for the PNW
1/29 Rodney Frelinghuysen from New Jersey, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, is retiring abruptly in a very competitive New Jersey district.