Time Off to Vote, Fake vs Real News, Pharmacists Gag Rule and More

Posted on June 6, 2018

Time Off For Democracy Act: Broad participation in elections is essential to a healthy democracy, obviously. The Time Off For Democracy Act guarantees employees a minimum amount of paid leave to vote on Election Day as well as unpaid leave to serve as an election officer, poll watcher, or campaigner on Election Day.

Fake news versus real news: A democracy cannot function when truth is irrelevant to political debate, when facts are manufactured at will, when voter persuasion is no more elevated than a schoolyard shouting match. But we’ve sunk that low. How did this happen and what’s the solution? Read the latest IdeaLog, our blog intended to raise eyebrows and engage minds.

Voicing Our Values—Five Basic Rules of Persuasion: This is the second segment of our podcast series, which you can download and listen to at your convenience. It is 26 minutes long and explains five straightforward ways to structure arguments in order to successfully persuade our fellow citizens. To listen to or download the podcast, click here.

New report on Wage Theft: Walmart is still the worst wage theft offender, but a new study by Good Jobs First and the Jobs With Justice Education Fund shows that FedEx is second-worst, while banks—led by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase—steal workers’ wages at an alarming rate.

There Might Be a Cheaper Drug, but Pharmacists Can’t Tell You That: Pew’s Stateline has a new story about pharmacy “gag rules,” where a contract with a health insurance company prevents pharmacists from telling their customers about cheaper ways to buy prescription drugs. (But Stateline doesn’t seem to understand that it’s the insurance company, not the PBM, that’s in control.) See also PLI’s model bill, the No Gag Rule on Pharmacists Act.

2018 PLI Conference: Our State Strategy Forum will be held in Washington, D.C. on July 13-15. There are limited travel and hotel scholarships available for progressive state elected officials only. If you are interested, please contact mweiss@publicleadershipinstitute.org.

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