PLI Bulletin

LGBT Fairness, Cybersecurity, Coronavirus and More

Posted on February 13, 2020

LGBT Fairness Act: Senator Adam Ebbin, who became Virginia’s first openly gay legislator in 2003, is about to see his long-time legislation enacted to prohibit housing and employment discrimination against LGBT people. The LGBT Fairness Act, which is similar to Adam’s bill and can be enacted at the state or local levels, amends existing state or local civil rights laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

When and how should you argue on social media? What should you do when you see lies about political issues, officeholders or candidates? Your best tactic will be to address not the writer but the facts, and the best response will be to hyperlink to objective proof that the meme is untrue. For more, read the latest IdeaLog, our blog intended to raise eyebrows and engage minds.

NPR Coronavirus Podcast: This podcast from National Public Radio is just 11 minutes long, but in a question-answer format it covers a lot of points about the 2019-nCoV epidemic that average Americans barely understand.

Unique opportunity to raise revenues from health insurance companies: States have a new opportunity to raise revenue by continuing a fee on insurance companies that already exists—something that Maryland and Delaware have already done. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains how.

Cybersecurity must be a top priority for both cities and states: Last year saw more reported ransomware attacks against states and localities than any prior year. The FBI has traced attacks to organized crime syndicates in Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Read more in a recent Governing Magazine article.

Repro Rights Report for the first six weeks of sessions: The Public Leadership Institute’s most recent Repro Rights Report describes 55 proactive abortion rights bills introduced in the 2020 sessions as well as another 55 that carried over from 2019 sessions.