
Missouri judge orders end to GOP officials' standoff over proposed abortion rights ballot measure
A constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights in Missouri will move forward after a judge on Tuesday broke a standoff between two Republican officials that had halted the process. Cole County Presiding Judge Jon Beetem ordered Attorney General Andrew Bailey to approve fellow Republican Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick's estimated $51,000 price tag on the proposal within 24 hours. Bailey had refused to approve the price estimate, arguing that if the proposal were to succeed, it could cost the state as much as a million times more than that figure because of lost Medicaid funding or lost revenue that wouldn’t be collected from people who otherwise would be born. But Beetem said Bailey has “no authority to substitute his own judgment for that of the Auditor.” “There is an absolute absence of authority to conclude the Attorney General is permitted to send the Auditor’s fiscal note summary back to revision simply because he disagrees with the Auditor’s estimated cost or savings of a proposed measure,” Beetem wrote in his ruling. A spokesperson said the attorney general's office will appeal. If approved by voters, the proposal would enshrine in the constitution the individual right to make decisions about abortion, childbirth and birth control. Missouri's Republican-led Legislature and Republican governor banned nearly all abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. The state now allows exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for cases of rape or incest. In Missouri, the auditor is required to calculate how much taxpayer money it could cost to implement ballot measures. The attorney general then reviews and approves the cost estimate in an administrative step that historically has been uneventful. Fitzpatrick’s office in March found that the proposal would have no known impact on state funds and an estimated cost of at least $51,000 annually in reduced local tax revenues, although “opponents estimate a potentially significant loss to state revenue.” Bailey said that cost estimate was so low it would bias voters and told Fitzpatrick to change it. Fitzpatrick refused, arguing that a multibillion-dollar projection for the initiative petition would be inaccurate, despite Fitzpatrick’s personal opposition to abortion. “As much as I would prefer to be able to say this IP would result in a loss to the state of Missouri of $12.5 billion in federal funds, it wouldn’t,” Fitzpatrick wrote in an April 21 letter to Bailey. “To submit a fiscal note summary that I know contains inaccurate information would violate my duty as State Auditor to produce an accurate fiscal note summary.” The standoff had blocked the secretary of state from allowing the pro-abortion rights campaign to start collecting signatures from voters. The campaign would need to collect signatures from 8% of legal voters in six of the state’s eight congressional districts in order to get the proposal on the 2024 ballot. ___ For more AP coverage of the abortion issue: https://apnews.com/hub/abortion Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Watch: Andrew Bailey questioned on BoE independence by House of Lords committee Missouri governor signs ban on transgender health care, school sports Hunter Biden reaches deal with DOJ to plead guilty to federal charges
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All the teen movie and TV references in Olivia Rodrigo's 'bad idea right?' music video
Olivia Rodrigo recently dropped the music video for her second single 'bad idea, right?' from her sophomore album GUTS and fans couldn't help but notice some references from iconic TV shows and films. The pop-rock song is all about leaving your friends and lying to them about meeting up with an ex-boyfriend (always a bad idea), and the music video plays out this exact scenario where Olivia leaves a house party to reconnect with her ex - with some obstacles getting in the way. Here is a breakdown of all the different TV and films that were referenced: Glee Perhaps the clearest reference of them all was when Olivia was on the bus and ends getting a red slushie chucked on her, ruining her outfit. Anyone watching TV in the 2010s will know that's a shoutout to Glee where members of McKinley High's Glee Club would often receive a slushie to the face. We know Olivia is a fan of Glee and the show even got a mention in another song of hers 'Deja vu', from her previous album SOUR, where the lyrics go: "Watching reruns of Glee, being annoying singing in harmony..." Euphoria Euphoria is one of the biggest teen shows of recent years and so it's no surprise there was a reference in Roderigo's video in the form of the singer channelling Maddie (Alexa Demie) with her persistent knocking. While Maddie was knocking to go to the bathroom, Roderigo was knocking on her ex-boyfriend's front door. Empire Records (1995) and Can't Hardly Wait (1998) Olivia is known for her vintage fashion looks and her outfit in the music video took inspiration from a look Liv Tyler's character Corey Mason wore in the 1995 film Empire Records. The outfit that was referenced was a pale blue jumper but instead of the tartan skirt Liv wore in the film, Olivia wore a silver sequined skirt. Danielle Goldberg, a stylist on the music video revealed this in an Instagram Story where she posted a still from Olivia's video along with images from 90s movies such Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and Empire Records (1995) with the image of Tyler, calling it the “90s mood board of [her] dreams." Here is a still from Can't Hardly Wait (1998) where you can see the party scene inspo. Olivia's second album GUTS will be released next month on September 8. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-08-19 19:00

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