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General

Social Policy Network Newsletter: October 18

Date

October 18, 2024

Deadlines are approaching!!

Tuesday, November 5th, is Election Day, and it's rapidly approaching. Make a plan about how you are going to vote!

  • Are you registered?
  • Can you vote early?
  • Can you vote by mail?
  • Can you work the polls?
  • If you vote in person; where is your polling place?
  • When are the hours?
  • How will you get there? 

Did you know that in some states, even if you registered previously, it is possible that you could have been removed from your states' voter rolls? You can quickly check your voter registration status to ensure you are still actively registered to vote. Here are important registration and voting deadlines for the tri-state area:

New Jersey:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about NJ voting here.

New York:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about NY voting here.

Pennsylvania:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about PA voting here.

Not from any of these states? Don't worry! Click the buttons below to register, verify your voting status, apply to work the polls, find your deadlines and polling place, and sign up to vote by mail.

Professional Opportunities
Research Analyst, Food Assistance - The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) (Hybrid: Washington, DC)

Human Resources & Training Associate, League of Conservation Voters (Washington, DC)

SNAP Navigator - RWJBH Social Impact and Community Investment (Somerville, Rahway, New Brunswick, Lakewood, Toms River, & Jersey City, NJ)

Assistant Professor of Social Work (MSW), Tenure Track Professor - Stockton University (Galloway, NJ)

Video Producer Fellow - More Perfect Union (remote)

Research Data Analyst 2 #158-24 - New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission (Ewing, NJ)

Program Officer - The Fund for New Jersey (Hybrid: Princeton, NJ)

National Policy News Highlights
Voting Is Social Work: Empowering Social Workers to Empower Voters
University of Connecticut
“Also known as the National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign, Voting Is Social Work supports nonpartisan voter engagement as central to social work’s mission, ethical mandate, and impact…Social work was founded as a political profession…and has always been committed to not only working with individuals, but also working to solve the complex issues and barriers within the communities they serve.”

Hurricane Helene’s Black Survivors Face Floods, Disinformation, and a Threat to Their Vote
Capital B
“‘It is absolutely a reality that voter turnout is going to decline because at this point, everybody is so discombobulated and distracted, who is really going to want to go to a damn poll at this point when you don’t have a house?’ said Falasha Talbert, a mother of 10 and small-business owner in Augusta.”

Regional Policy News Highlights
The Change Project: Next steps in NJ efforts to curb food insecurity and hunger
NJ Spotlight News
“...New Jersey took the next step toward unifying its response to food insecurity when it announced the start of the state’s first strategic plan to solve a problem that affects an estimated 800,000 New Jerseyans. The plan is due to be developed starting in December, based on input from stakeholders in the food-security ecosystem including food banks and pantries, state officials, nonprofits and philanthropic supporters, and is due to be released to the public in September 2025.”

Health equity: Panel details why it is good for patients, hospitals – and vendors
ROI NJ
“A recent panel during the second annual Supplier Diversity Summit hosted by Johnson & Johnson and sponsored by the New Jersey Pride Chamber of Commerce and the NJ Diverse Business Advisory Council, detailed how the small changes health care systems are making have big impact on so many undeserved communities.”

From the Governor's Desk
Governor Murphy Announces Second Round of Medical Debt Elimination, Totaling $120 Million in Debt Abolished for 77,000 New Jerseyans
10/16
“...77,000 eligible individuals and families across New Jersey are set to benefit from the elimination of an additional $120 million in medical debt. Governor Murphy sat down with Andrew Rose Gregory, who was a special guest at the 2024 State of the State Address, to discuss the announcement. Andrew and his wife, Casey, partnered with Undue and raised $1.1 million following her passing to help eliminate medical debt for others.”

Upcoming Events
State Constitutions and the Limits of Criminal Punishments
Produced in partnership with State Court Report and the State Law Research Initiative
Thursday, October 24th, 2024
8:30am - 6:15pm
Virtual and in-person at:
Rutgers Camden Campus Center - Multipurpose Room
326 Penn St, Camden, NJ 08102

"Decades of harsh sentencing practices have made the United States the world’s number one incarcerator. This symposium will engage with the growing legal and intellectual movement to challenge excessive criminal punishments — broadly understood to include both prison terms and conditions of confinement — via state constitutional prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishments and related clauses.

'The symposium will explore the interplay between state and federal law and the power of state courts to use the text, history, traditions, and unique policy goals of their own constitutions to emerge from federal law’s shadow and impose meaningful restraints on extreme sentencing, create a more humane legal system, and reduce mass incarceration."

Click here to register.

There's Nothing Scary About Democracy!
Presented by the NJ Institute for Social Justice & the NJVEA
Monday, October 28th, 2024
11:00am - 2:00pm
Statehouse Annex
131-137 W State St, Trenton, NJ 08608

"Join the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (if you dare!) for a spooky Halloween Democracy Fest for voting rights in NJ!"

There will be treats, a pumpkin painting contest, democracy trivia, and more. Legislators may also show up!

Click here to register.

Policy Focus: The Environment
Last week, we discussed how Project 2025 would impact the future of immigration policy and departments that handle immigration.

This week we'll examine how Project 2025 would impact climate policy, the environment, and departments that handle environmental issues.

1. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Following President Richard Nixon's 'Reorganization Plan No. 3' issued in July 1970, EPA is officially established on December 2nd, 1970. The agency consolidates federal research, monitoring and enforcement activities in a single agency. EPA's mission is to protect human health by safeguarding the air we breathe, water we drink and land on which we live.

  • "[T]he EPA needs to be realigned away from attempts to make it an all-powerful energy and land use policymaker and returned to its congressionally sanctioned role as environmental regulator," (pg. 417).
    • While Former President Trump was in office, his administration rolled back more than 100 environmental rules. What power would the EPA have as an environmental regulator if regulations continue to hit the chopping block?
  • The Project hopes to eliminate facets of the EPA that enforce its rules while furthering economic justice:
    • "...eliminat[e] the stand-alone Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights." (pg. 421).
    • "Eliminat[e] the Office of Public Engagement and Environmental Education," (pg. 421).
    • "...eliminat[e] the stand-alone Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance," (pg. 421).

1a. The Office of Air and Radiation (OAR)

  • "When doing cost-benefit analysis, use appropriate discount rates, focus on the benefits of reducing the pollutant targeted by Congress, identify “co-benefits” separately, and acknowledge the uncertainties involved in quantifying benefits," (pg. 423).
  • "Obey Congress’s direction in CAA § 32116 to “conduct continuing evaluations” of the employment and plant-closure effects of air regulations," (pg. 424).
  • "...ensure to the maximum extent possible that grants and funding are provided to state regulatory entities and not to nonprofits," (pg. 424).
  • "Remove any regulations or requirements that confer on third parties any authorities that have been provided to EPA, such as the oil and gas supplemental, which created a Super-Emitter Response Program that allows third parties to act as EPA enforcers," (pg. 424).
  • National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) reform: ...return the standard-setting role to Congress," (pg. 425).
  • On Climate Change:
    • "Remove the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) for any source category that is not currently being regulated. The overall reporting program imposes significant burdens on small businesses and companies that are not being regulated. This is either a pointless burden or a sword-of Damocles threat of future regulation, neither of which is appropriate," (pg. 425).
  • "Restore the position that California’s waiver applies only to California specific issues like ground-level ozone, not global climate issues. Ensure that other states can adopt California’s standards only for traditional/criteria pollutants, not greenhouse gases," (pg. 425).
  • "Restore the position that EPA cannot regulate a new pollutant from an already regulated source category without making predicate findings for that new pollutant," (pg. 427).
  • "Level-set past, misleading statements regarding radiological risk and reassess the Linear Non-Threshold standard," (pg. 427).
  • "Require regional air offices to receive approval from OAR before moving
  • forward with enforcement actions," (pg. 428).

1b. The Office of Water (OW)

  • "A rule that provides clarity and regulatory certainty regarding the CWA Section 401 water quality certification process to limit unnecessary delay for needed projects...assessing only water quality factors that are consistent with specific CWA sections, and excluding speculative analysis regarding future potential harm," (pg. 429).

1c. The Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM)

  • "...focus on project management more than policy creation" (pg. 430).
  • "Require training in project management for project managers (as opposed to all staff having a general science background)," (pg. 431).
  • "Revise groundwater cleanup regulations and policies to reflect the challenges of omnipresent contaminants like PFAS," (pg. 431).
  • "Eliminate or consolidate the regional laboratories and allow OLEM to use EPA, other government, or private labs based on expertise and cost," (pg. 432).
  • "Eliminate the Office of Emergency Management and reassign its functions," (pg. 432).

1d. The Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP)

  • "Ensure that decision-making is risk-based rather than defaulting to precautionary, hazard-based approaches," (pg. 433).

1e. The Office of Research and Development (ORD)

  • Day One requests (pgs. 436-437):
    • "Notify Congress that EPA will not conduct any ongoing or planned science activity for which there is not clear and current congressional authorization
    • "The new President’s Inauguration Day regulatory review/freeze directives should avoid exceptions for EPA actions. This freeze should explicitly include quasi-regulatory actions, including assessments, determinations, standards, and guidance, that have failed to go through the notice-and comment process and may date back years.
    • "Pause for review all contracts above $100,000 with a heavy focus on major external peer reviews and regulatory models.
    • "Call for the public to identify areas where EPA has inconsistently assessed risk, failed to use the best science, or participated in research misconduct.
    • "Eliminate the use of unauthorized regulatory inputs like the social cost of carbon, black box and proprietary models, and unrealistic climate scenarios..."
  • "Quickly nominate a reform-minded Assistant Administrator for Research and Development,"  (pg. 436).
  • "Appoint and empower a Science Adviser...charged with overseeing and reforming EPA research and science activities. Qualifications for these positions should emphasize management, oversight, and execution skills (including in leading state environmental agencies) as opposed to personal scientific output," (pg. 436).
  • "Suspend and review the activities of EPA advisory bodies," (pg. 437).
  • "Shift responsibility for evaluating misconduct away from its Office of Scientific Integrity, which has been overseen by environmental activists, and toward an independent body," (pg. 438).

1f. The Office of Mission Support (OMS)

  • "...ensure that grants are awarded based on need instead of ideological affiliation or academic preference," (pg. 444).
  • "Institute a pause and review for all grants over a certain threshold," (pg. 444).
  • "Put a political appointee in charge of the grants office to prioritize distribution of grants to those who are most in need and toward projects that will tangibly improve the environment," (pg. 444).
  • "Cap the number and dollar amounts of grants that the Office of Research and Development can award and require that they be reviewed by the Administrator’s office," (pg. 444).

2. A "Day One" Executive Order Plan
The day the next conservative president takes office, Project 2025 would like to implement the following executive order directly impacting the EPA (pgs. 421-422):

  • "Identify existing rules to be [eliminated] and reproposed and initiate rule development in appropriate media offices.
  • "Grant new petitions for rule reconsideration and [eliminations] of rules.
  • "Stop all grants to advocacy groups and review which potential federal investments will lead to tangible environmental improvements.
  • "...downsize by terminating the newest hires in low-value programs and identify relocation opportunities for Senior Executive Service (SES) positions.
  • "...eliminate or significantly reduce the number of visas issued to foreign students from enemy nations," (pg. 141).
  • "Develop a tiered-down approach to cut costs, reduce the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, and eliminate duplicative programs. EPA should not conduct any ongoing or planned activity for which there is not clear and current congressional authorization, and it should communicate this shift in the President’s first budget request.
  • "Revise guidance documents that control regulations such as the social cost of carbon; discount rates; timing of regulatory review (before options are selected); causality of health effects; low-dose risk estimation (linear no-threshold analysis); and employment loss analysis."

As of the posting of this newsletter, there are only 18 days left until the election on November 5th. Before voting (which we hope you do!), take time to learn about the policies most important to each candidate and how they may impact you as a social worker, and your clients around the country. We will keep you informed on the stances of each candidate as we approach the election.

Please email us to provide any comments, ask questions, and provide information you would like to see in the newsletter!

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