Hurtling down the 101 in Mendocino County, my web developer friend asked me, "what's the point of the federal government?"
This friend shares qualities with many people I know: chill, technically knowledgeable, relentlessly logical, experience-enjoying, socially liberal, and pessimistic about government. He was expressing dismay at a lack of government action in response to NSA spying and the drought crisis in California.
"I would argue that we're headed in the right direction on those issues," I replied. After all, I told him, President Obama had recently signed into law the USA Freedom Act, which prohibits the NSA from storing mass phone data, and about Governor Brown’s recent order restricting water usage.
My friend was surprised. Though these government actions directly addressed issues he purported to care about, he had not heard of either of them.
I understand why most of my friends are pessimistic about politics— Congress is too polarized to even vote on most legislation. It’s frustrating to read about so many urgent problems that government seems unable to fix. Meanwhile, even things like the USA Freedom Act don’t go far enough, and people are disappointed.
But in jurisdictions around the country, government is doing good. And even watered-down, symbolic measures have value; after all, Congress had to pass at least two weak civil rights bills before the cultural and political stars aligned to pass the big one in 1964. And while by no means do I want to suggest that congressional gridlock isn’t a problem, or that we shouldn’t radically change the system to mitigate it, I want to clue in the smart, tech-saavy, socially liberal, politically disengaged people in my world on the sane and fair policies getting put into place as I type.
And so, with that in mind I would like to introduce Stuff Government Does: a monthly rundown of the baby-steps our governments are taking. I’ll include actions taken by federal, state, and even local governments, provided that the local actions help illustrate a national trend that might affect large numbers of people. Given that this is meant to highlight and explain policy changes you may not have heard about, for now I won’t bother including things that made for huge, newsfeed-dominating stories, like the gay marriage decision from last week. If you think I’m leaving anything out, please let me know!
My hope is that seeing all the things government is doing well in one place will help some people find their optimism. Come hang out with me here when the rest of the news makes you think everything is fucked. It’ll be fun.
California’s vaccination law: Among all political positions a casual observer hears of people taking, only one is less rational than climate change denial, and that is to oppose vaccinating children. And so we should celebrate the recent enactment in California of one of the toughest mandatory vaccination laws in the country, which eliminates personal and religious exemptions for required vaccines.
The only thing worse than anti-vaxxers' comfort with endangering their own kids is their comfort with endangering other people’s kids, too. It’s a sign of how far we have come since the Salk vaccine that some parents are more worried about the drugs that stop disease than they are about disease itself. We have enough to deal with in the 21st century that we shouldn't invite the problems of the 20th back into our lives.
Expanding eligibility for overtime: Speaking of exemptions, we took a progressive step last week when President Obama announced plans to raise the annual income level above which workers are exempt from overtime pay from $23,660 per year to $50,440.
Overtime pay was mandated in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (fuck yeah, New Deal!), and includes a provision allowing the Labor Department to decide an income level above which a worker is considered well-off enough that they should have to work nights and weekends without making 50% more money. This exemption is aimed at workers in banking, consulting, law, medicine, and other glamorous professions.
But the Labor Department has not updated the exempted income level since 1975. Which is why, in 2015, you can be a retail worker making under $24k a year, and if an employer calls you a “manager” they can make you stack shelves on weekends without having to pay you overtime. But soon, you will have to get paid at a rate of more than $50k per year for your boss to tell you that working weekends for the same salary is “just part of the job.” According to the Economist, the threshold change should create upward pressure on wages, and eventually on the employment rate. It’s great when basic fairness translates into sound macroeconomic policy.
Sick leave in Oregon: One of the most discussed issues in progressive economics this year has been paid sick leave, and on June 23rd Oregon became the fourth state to require companies over a certain size (in this case, ten or more workers) to give five paid sick days per year.
These policies reflect an understanding that yes, sometimes everyone gets sick, and no, it’s not their fault. One of the benefits of the political culture’s newfound fixation on income inequality is that it has given momentum to humane, common-sense policies that will not drastically hamper economic growth but will give many, many people a much better shot at living happy lives. This is an example of that momentum leading to a real change in policy.
Decriminalization of marijuana in Delaware: Compared with the full legalization of marijuana in four states, the decriminalizing of marijuana in Delaware, signed into law by Gov. Jack Markell on June 18th, is the babiest of baby steps. But any time a state decides to stop arresting adults for possessing a drug that someone can certainly abuse, but with far fewer consequences for other people than any other intoxicating substance I can think of, it’s good news. I just thought you should know.
Uber driver considered an employee: As on-demand services grow in their significance to the economy, how they treat their workers now sets a precedent for how millions more workers will be treated in the future. Which is why it's a good thing that on June 16th, the California Labor Commission decided to consider a petitioning Uber driver an employee of the company—with all attendant rights and protections under the law — not as a contractor.
Don’t get me wrong: Uber is awesome. Never again will I stand at a cold intersection for 45 minutes squinting at approaching cabs to see if their “available” light is on. But even if many more jurisdictions start considering Uber drivers as employees, I think the company will find a way to adapt; they will just have to consider the implications of the economy they are helping bring about, where a significant proportion of workers are employed full-time, on-demand.