Tuesday delivered a mixed bag for those of us looking to fight inequality and stave off the destruction of our representative democracy.
But here are some of the ways people came together to make our government work for all of us:
- Voters in Massachusetts agreed to increase taxes on income above $1 million.
- Illinois voters agreed to create a constitutional right to collectively bargain and to be represented by a union.
- Voters in Republican-controlled South Dakota approved a measure to expand the state’s Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act.
- Nebraska voters opted to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, up from the current $9 an hour. Nevada voters raised it to $12 an hour.
- Washington, D.C., will raise the minimum wage for workers who receive tips. Voters approved the measure in 2018, but it was repealed by the D.C. Council.
- Voters in four states—California, Massachusetts, Colorado, and New Mexico—chose to increase public education funding.
- Voters in Kentucky rejected adding language to the state constitution to say that nothing in the document could be interpreted to protect a right to abortion. Voters in Vermont, California, and Michigan added a right to abortion to their state constitutions.
- Four states—Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont—saw voters choose to end the practice of enslavement after criminal conviction, which will end the practice of forced prison labor.
- Arizona voters voted to cap the interest rate on medical debt at 3 percent and limit wage garnishment for medical debt to a maximum of 30 percent of earnings.
- Voters in San Francisco, California, agreed to give $60 million in grants to public schools for the “community school” approach.
- Colorado will slash tax breaks for households that earn more than $300,000 to help pay for a new school meals program.
There are surely many more wins around the country at the local level.
If you know of any that we missed—especially those related to privatization, public education, infrastructure, and other areas we focus on—please send us an email!