PLI Bulletin

School Reopening, Police Reform, Vote by Mail and More

Posted on July 15, 2020

Vote by Mail Act: We need to increase voting by mail as much as possible to prevent coronavirus infections and save lives. The Vote by Mail Act requires that all registered voters be mailed a ballot and that they can vote by returning that ballot by mail, by voting at an early voting center, or by voting at a polling place on Election Day.

Tearing down monuments to the past: The last several weeks have seen the removal or tearing down of monuments of every kind. This was both unprecedented and rather chaotic. There ought to be principles and ideals that we should follow when deciding about monuments. But what are they? For more, read the latest IdeaLog, our blog intended to raise eyebrows and engage minds.

How Cities Across the U.S. are Responding to the Demands for Police Reform: This is a recent episode from The Takeaway, a podcast from NPR. This segment explores how cities are responding to proposals that should reform or “defund” the police.

Map of School Reopening Plans: The Johns Hopkins University has produced a map-guided directory to each state’s current plans for reopening public schools. Compare your state with others.

Update on reopening high school sports: The sports news site Maxpreps has a report about the status of reopening high school sports in each state. Looking across states, what is most interesting is the lack of safety compared to how pro sports are handling the pandemic.

Nearly 200 model bills online: The Public Leadership Institute’s library of model bills covers wide-ranging topics from civil rights, public safety and the environment to health, education and reproductive rights.