Outside groups descend on Virginia for redistricting referendum

A liberal dark money organization has launched a $5 million campaign to persuade voters to back the Democrats’ redrawn congressional map in an April referendum.

The effort by Virginians for Fair Elections includes a two-week, $2.7 million ad campaign across the commonwealth’s six major TV markets.

Republican-allied organizations are also waging a PR blitz to sway Virginians against the redistricting plan that could give Democrats five more seats in the midterm election battle for control of the U.S. House.

That side’s effort is spearheaded by No Gerrymandering Virginia, which has much of the same bipartisan leadership that pushed the successful 2020 state constitutional amendment prohibiting partisan gerrymandering.

The group includes former Republicans Gov. George Allen, former House Speaker Bill Howell and former Roanoke Delegate William Fralin. Its Democratic members include former state Sen. Chap Petersen of Fairfax and redistricting reform activist Brian Cannon.

A look into New England’s expensive energy

Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation released a new analysis explaining how New England became the country’s most expensive energy market.

It explores women’s perspectives in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont on energy policies, and details solutions to reach a more affordable and sustainable path in the future.

“New England suffers higher electricity rates, not due to geography, but because of policy choices at the state level,” the report says. “Under the Federal Power Act, states have exclusive authority to regulate the electricity generated and sold within their borders.”

The law has allowed states to adopt policies, such as clean energy standards, 100% renewable energy targets and energy efficiency standards for houses and cars.

“As a result, the region boasts the highest electricity rates in the nation—with no end in sight,” according to the conservative women’s organization.

New England households confirmed the skyrocketing energy costs, according to the Independent Women’s New England Energy Survey.

Maine households experience electricity costs 40% higher compared to five years ago, with 84% saying they are paying more for energy than they were five years ago.

In New Hampshire, household electricity costs are 27% higher than the national average, with 78% saying they pay more for energy than they did five years ago.

Massachusetts households say their electricity costs are 16% more than the national average, and 85% say they are paying higher costs for energy than they were five years ago.

Meanwhile, Connecticut households have seen electricity costs spike by 22% above the national average, while Rhode Island households have seen electricity costs climb 10% above that threshold. An overwhelming majority of both states’ residents, 79% and 88%, respectively, have said they are paying more for energy than they were five years ago.

Maryland county coaches how to evade ICE authorities

Maryland’s largest school district hosted a training to teach families how to identify and respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

New documents, which included a slide presentation, were posted online by Defending Education, showing how a session titled “ICE Response & Organizing Tools for PTAs, Parents & Guardians” was conducted on Jan. 20.

The session for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) featured Montgomery County Councilwoman Kristin Mink. She provided instructions for how to recognize ICE authorities and create “safe passages” so families can “get to and from school safely,” among other strategies, according to the documents Defending Education posted to their website.

One of the first slides in the presentation, in both English and Spanish, calls for law enforcement and the media to leave.

“This is intended to be a safe space for MCPS families to learn. It is not open to the general public,” the slide says. “If you are here as media or law enforcement, or if you are not part of the MCPS community, this presentation is not intended for you, and we ask that you leave now.”

Subsequent slides delve into how to identify various Department of Homeland Security officials and local law enforcement, including ICE, Federal Protective Service, Customs and Border Protection, Enforcement and Removal, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Montgomery County Police. Each position is accompanied by images of people in their respective agency uniform.

Trump pressed to invoke the Insurrection Act

The Federation for American Immigration Reform called on President Trump to act “decisively,” including by invoking the Insurrection Act, when demonstrators and local politicians turn policy disputes into coordinated assaults on federal authority.

The group released a new investigative report titled “Quelling the Insurrection against Immigration Enforcement,” which called on Mr. Trump to restore order, protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and reaffirm federal supremacy over immigration.

The report draws from focused research and public records and describes how the amping up of anti-enforcement rhetoric has intensified turmoil in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, and led to recent clashes in Minneapolis that took the lives of two American protesters.

“The hot spots of resistance featured in our report are not spontaneous protests. They are coordinated assaults on our elected federal representatives’ authority to set immigration policy,” said Dale L. Wilcox, FAIR’s executive director and general counsel. “The Insurrection Act is a proven tool that empowers the President to deploy federal forces when states refuse to uphold the law.”

• The Advocates column is a weekly look at the political action players who drive the debate and shape policy outcomes in Washington. Send tips to theadvocates@washingtontimes.com.