This Week in the States: March 15, 2019

Future Majority's strategy center is constantly monitoring what's happening on the ground in key states in the Midwest. 

Three big things to know this week that happened outside the beltway: 

• A pro-gun constitutional amendment that goes further than the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed both chambers of the Iowa legislature this week. The amendment passed the Iowa Senate 33-16 and the Iowa House 53-46, and it would again need to be passed by the legislature and then approved by voters before becoming law. 
• Trump is trying for a third year in a row to kill funding for the Great Lakes – this time proposing to slash $270 million from the $300 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The popular initiative funds wetlands restoration and projects to improve water quality across the Upper Midwest. The proposal in Trump’s budget is part of his plan to cut the EPA budget by $3 billion – more than 30 percent of its current budget.  
• The New York Times takes a look at how “Trump’s brand of grievance politics” played out in this week’s special election to fill a vacant Pennsylvania state house seat representing Lackawanna County. Democrat Bridget Malloy Kosierowski defeated Republican Frank Scavo III, the son of immigrants, 62 percent to 37 percent in the Democratic-leaning area. Scavo drew heavy criticism for a series of old Facebook posts, in which he referred to Muslims as “infidels” and propagated the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory. 

You can download the PDF of the full memo here which has more detail and other news from outside the beltway. 

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