North Dakota Delta Kappa Gamma's link to the
U.S. Forum Connection
U.S. FORUM CONNECTION #174, JUNE 2018
This publication is intended for your information about issues important to education, women and children. How you choose to use the information included here is up to you.
This free newsletter is sponsored by the United States Forum of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International is an organization of leading women educators with over 80,000 members. Delta Kappa Gamma members wishing to subscribe to this FREE newsletter should send a request to the editor Angela O. Bedenbaugh at [email protected]. We urge you to share this newsletter with other interested individuals who are not members of Delta Kappa Gamma or members who do not subscribe to this publication.
IN THIS ISSUE
RIGHT TO TRY ACT
UNUSUAL VOTING METHODS
NET NEUTRALITY TAKES EFFECT
VOTER SUPPRESSION
NEW MEDICARE CARDS
CONTACTING YOUR LEGISLATOR
FORUM FACEBOOK PAGE LINK
FORUM WEB SITE
RIGHT TO TRY ACT
The Right To Try Act (H.R.2368) would allow terminally ill patients to access pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and experimental treatments which have not totally completed certification by the Food And Drug Administration (FDA). The patient and either a medical or legal representative of the patient would have to provide evidence to support the dire need of the patient for the treatment. The pharmaceutical device or pharmaceutical drug/s would have had to successfully passed several clinical trials in order to be considered for use before official, final approval. The manufacturer would have no liability.
UNUSUAL VOTING METHODS
In this year’s primary elections, there were two unusual voting methods employed.
This year’s California primary had what is called a “jungle primary” which has also been referred to as a “qualifying primary” or “top two primary.” The candidates are not categorized by party. The two candidates receiving the most votes will be on the November ballot. This method could result in both candidates being from the same party. Mississippi plans to employ this method of voting in its November election to determine who will fill the rest of Senator Thad Cochran’s senate term. Presumably if no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a run-off election would be held in December between the two candidates receiving the most votes.
The second unusual voting method was employed this year in Maine. This method is called the “ranked choice” system of voting. In this system each voter ranks all candidates for a given office in order of the voter’s preference. Candidates for each party would still be handled separately. If no Republican candidate got a majority of the Republican votes cast, the Republican candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated. The votes for this candidate would then be apportioned among the remaining candidates using the ranked votes from ballots for the candidate who received the least votes. Their second place votes would be considered first place votes and counted as votes for other candidates. The same method would be used for the Democratic candidates. In the Maine system, there are no runoff elections. The system was on the 2018 ballot to determine whether it would be used in future elections. The result was 54.2% to 45.8% to keep this voting method for this year’s November ballot. For a more detailed description of how this method works go to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/12/us/elections/results-maine-primary-elections.html. One advantage of this system is there are no runoff elections thus saving tax payers money.
NET NEUTRALITY TAKES EFFECT
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently approved rules which would allow Internet providers to give Internet access at different speeds to subscribers. This could result in slower Internet speeds for individuals while business subscribers could get higher Internet speeds. How much this change in rules will affect individuals remains to be seen. It has been predicted that individuals might see their Internet speed decrease substantially while large corporations could get faster Internet speeds. This ruling is now in effect. Net neutrality can be restored either by Presidential Executive Order or by Congress passing a law. The Senate passed a joint resolution (S.J.Res.52) which, if passed, would restore net neutrality. (A joint resolution is handled in the same manner as a bill. The difference between a bill and a joint resolution is that a joint resolution is used for emergency situations to move legislation more rapidly.) S.J.Res.52 was sent to the House where it has not been brought to the floor for consideration.
VOTER SUPPRESSION
The Supreme Court recently ruled to allow Ohio to vigorously purge its voter rolls. The result of this is that the name of anyone not voting in an election could be removed from the voter rolls. Thus anyone who fails to vote in an election would need to reregister in order to vote in subsequent elections. Although this ruling applies to Ohio other states may choose to adopt this strategy to control voting. You need to keep up with what is going on in your state to make sure that you are not removed from the voter roll and therefore are unable to vote.
NEW MEDICARE CARDS
New Medicare cards along with new non Social Security numbers are being issued. The new cards are similar to but not identical to the old cards.
****************************************************************************************************
FORUM FACEBOOK PAGE LINK
For those of you desiring discussion of legislative topics there is a U. S. Forum Facebook page online at http://www.facebook.com/DKG.US.Forum
FORUM WEB SITE: http://www.usforumdkg.org/
CONTACTING YOUR LEGISLATOR
If you wish to contact your senator to express your opinion, you can call the Congressional Switchboard at 1-866-327-8670 [this is a toll free number]. Another way of contacting your senator is via email or a telephone number which is not toll free both of which are available athttps://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Email access and addresses
http://www.house.gov/ for members of the House of Representatives http://www.senate.gov/ for members of the U.S. Senate
White House 1-202-456-1111
FIVE CONSTITUENT CONTACTS WILL CAUSE A LEGISLATOR TO PAY SERIOUS ATTENTION TO A GIVEN ISSUE.
This publication is intended for your information about issues important to education, women and children. How you choose to use the information included here is up to you.
This free newsletter is sponsored by the United States Forum of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International is an organization of leading women educators with over 80,000 members. Delta Kappa Gamma members wishing to subscribe to this FREE newsletter should send a request to the editor Angela O. Bedenbaugh at [email protected]. We urge you to share this newsletter with other interested individuals who are not members of Delta Kappa Gamma or members who do not subscribe to this publication.
IN THIS ISSUE
RIGHT TO TRY ACT
UNUSUAL VOTING METHODS
NET NEUTRALITY TAKES EFFECT
VOTER SUPPRESSION
NEW MEDICARE CARDS
CONTACTING YOUR LEGISLATOR
FORUM FACEBOOK PAGE LINK
FORUM WEB SITE
RIGHT TO TRY ACT
The Right To Try Act (H.R.2368) would allow terminally ill patients to access pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and experimental treatments which have not totally completed certification by the Food And Drug Administration (FDA). The patient and either a medical or legal representative of the patient would have to provide evidence to support the dire need of the patient for the treatment. The pharmaceutical device or pharmaceutical drug/s would have had to successfully passed several clinical trials in order to be considered for use before official, final approval. The manufacturer would have no liability.
UNUSUAL VOTING METHODS
In this year’s primary elections, there were two unusual voting methods employed.
This year’s California primary had what is called a “jungle primary” which has also been referred to as a “qualifying primary” or “top two primary.” The candidates are not categorized by party. The two candidates receiving the most votes will be on the November ballot. This method could result in both candidates being from the same party. Mississippi plans to employ this method of voting in its November election to determine who will fill the rest of Senator Thad Cochran’s senate term. Presumably if no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a run-off election would be held in December between the two candidates receiving the most votes.
The second unusual voting method was employed this year in Maine. This method is called the “ranked choice” system of voting. In this system each voter ranks all candidates for a given office in order of the voter’s preference. Candidates for each party would still be handled separately. If no Republican candidate got a majority of the Republican votes cast, the Republican candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated. The votes for this candidate would then be apportioned among the remaining candidates using the ranked votes from ballots for the candidate who received the least votes. Their second place votes would be considered first place votes and counted as votes for other candidates. The same method would be used for the Democratic candidates. In the Maine system, there are no runoff elections. The system was on the 2018 ballot to determine whether it would be used in future elections. The result was 54.2% to 45.8% to keep this voting method for this year’s November ballot. For a more detailed description of how this method works go to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/12/us/elections/results-maine-primary-elections.html. One advantage of this system is there are no runoff elections thus saving tax payers money.
NET NEUTRALITY TAKES EFFECT
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently approved rules which would allow Internet providers to give Internet access at different speeds to subscribers. This could result in slower Internet speeds for individuals while business subscribers could get higher Internet speeds. How much this change in rules will affect individuals remains to be seen. It has been predicted that individuals might see their Internet speed decrease substantially while large corporations could get faster Internet speeds. This ruling is now in effect. Net neutrality can be restored either by Presidential Executive Order or by Congress passing a law. The Senate passed a joint resolution (S.J.Res.52) which, if passed, would restore net neutrality. (A joint resolution is handled in the same manner as a bill. The difference between a bill and a joint resolution is that a joint resolution is used for emergency situations to move legislation more rapidly.) S.J.Res.52 was sent to the House where it has not been brought to the floor for consideration.
VOTER SUPPRESSION
The Supreme Court recently ruled to allow Ohio to vigorously purge its voter rolls. The result of this is that the name of anyone not voting in an election could be removed from the voter rolls. Thus anyone who fails to vote in an election would need to reregister in order to vote in subsequent elections. Although this ruling applies to Ohio other states may choose to adopt this strategy to control voting. You need to keep up with what is going on in your state to make sure that you are not removed from the voter roll and therefore are unable to vote.
NEW MEDICARE CARDS
New Medicare cards along with new non Social Security numbers are being issued. The new cards are similar to but not identical to the old cards.
****************************************************************************************************
FORUM FACEBOOK PAGE LINK
For those of you desiring discussion of legislative topics there is a U. S. Forum Facebook page online at http://www.facebook.com/DKG.US.Forum
FORUM WEB SITE: http://www.usforumdkg.org/
CONTACTING YOUR LEGISLATOR
If you wish to contact your senator to express your opinion, you can call the Congressional Switchboard at 1-866-327-8670 [this is a toll free number]. Another way of contacting your senator is via email or a telephone number which is not toll free both of which are available athttps://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Email access and addresses
http://www.house.gov/ for members of the House of Representatives http://www.senate.gov/ for members of the U.S. Senate
White House 1-202-456-1111
FIVE CONSTITUENT CONTACTS WILL CAUSE A LEGISLATOR TO PAY SERIOUS ATTENTION TO A GIVEN ISSUE.