PLI Bulletin

Flavored Tobacco, Opportunity Zones, SNAP Cuts and More

Posted on December 18, 2019

Flavored Tobacco Products Prohibition Act: The State of Massachusetts has banned flavored tobacco products—both flavored tobacco and vapes. The Flavored Tobacco Products Prohibition Act does the same in a simple format. Overwhelmingly, these flavors are designed to attract children – and they do.

All Politics Is Local: Why Progressives Must Fight for the States: This new book by Meagan Winter is about you – the policymakers, advocates and activists who push a progressive agenda at the state and local levels, usually against great odds. For an excerpt, see the latest IdeaLog, our blog intended to raise eyebrows and engage minds.

How Kids Learn: States and localities spend a lot of time and money on public education. That’s why it’s particularly valuable to understand brain development and how it affects how children should be taught. This Podcast from NCSL features Dr. Linda Darling Hammond of the Learning Policy Institute.

States should decouple from the federal Opportunity Zones giveaway: Opportunity zones are supposed to increase investment in “distressed areas” but the new federal law puts profit ahead of people and unjustifiably drains state tax revenues. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy explains that states should decouple from the federal law.

Here’s What Trump’s SNAP Cuts Will Really Do: The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a harsh new rule designed to cut 700,000 people off the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). A Mother Jones article analyzes the impact on your communities.

Consider giving Voicing Our Values and Preparing to Win as holiday gifts: For the past seven years, we have sold our communications and organizing handbooks on Amazon. Every year, we get many orders during the holiday season. Consider ordering Voicing Our Values here and/or Preparing to win here.