Newsletter for Coconino Democrats

News From the Coconino County Democratic Party
September 19, 2021

Final Week: Campaign for Voting Rights, Education, and Fair Taxation

As we enter the final week of our Petition Drive, let’s congratulate ourselves on three months of tremendous activism. We’ve talked with thousands of voters about our values and how they differ from Republican values. We’ve made a significant contribution to the probable success of the Arizona Deserves Better and Invest in AZ campaigns and we’ve registered a good number of new voters along the way. From a party-building standpoint, we’ve engaged many PCs and Volunteers in an important off-year activity and did some database cleanup. Our campaign consisted of events — large and small, door-to-door canvassing, mailers, and phone and text banking.

In this final week, our notaries are assisting circulators from other counties and our circulators are scheduled to be active every day at community events, pop-up tabling locations, and going door-to-door. Please make sure everyone YOU know has signed these important referenda petitions:

Check out locations and times for this week’s opportunities to sign.
Share with your networks.

These events are too numerous to list here and new events are constantly being added, so please click on that link and spread the word!

The Freedom to Vote Act

The Freedom to Vote Act, written to please Joe Manchin, is actually EXACTLY what we need right now to secure our 2022 election. Yes, it doesn’t contain the ethics and finance provisions of the For The People Act but it does:

Establish federal standards for voter access and voter eligibility, including making Election Day a federal holiday
Protect elections and election officials from interference, intimidation, and subversion
Prevent gerrymandering, require financial disclosures, make investments in our election infrastructure

There is a lot in this bill! DemCast provides a great summary and link to the entire bill here.

This bill must pass NOW to stop the gerrymandering already underway in many states and to allow implementation of voter registration and other provisions in time to become effective for the 2022 Elections. Please use the scripts provided by our Legislative Committee to contact Congress — by phone and email — to force passage now. This includes carving out an exception to the Senate filibuster for Voting Rights bills. These scripts and alerts can be found on our website as part of this week’s Federal Alert.

Build Back Better Status

Soon, the House of Representatives will vote to advance several pieces of important legislation related to President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. This includes the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the Senate in August but adds important elements of Biden’s American Families Plan, like extending the very popular child tax credit for five years, expanding Medicare, guaranteeing pre-school and community college, providing support for caretakers, and taking action to save our world from climate change. These additional elements are likely to have little or no Republican support in the Senate, so they must pass using the budget reconciliation process, which requires all Democrats to vote “yes.”

So far, Manchin and Sinema have been hesitant publically, but the pressure on them is immense, from the President’s own personal lobbying to grassroots organizing like our own. The only objection to the House bills from these Senators is that the price tag is too high, but the American people know the difference between price and value. Without Republican votes, the plan is to combine the House bills into an omnibus Reconciliation Bill in the Senate. All 50 Democratic votes plus Vice President Harris will be required for Dems to deliver on their 2020 campaign promises.

Seven in ten Americans support President Biden’s Build Back Better plan.

Sometimes ordinary people are smarter than Senators. We understand the difference between value and price tags.

This topic is scripted by our Legislative Committee in this week’s Federal Alert.
Please take action!

State Committee Meeting: September 25

In deference to the Women’s March (next story), the Arizona Democratic Party changed the date of its State Committee Meeting from October 2 to September 25. If you are a state committee member, check your email for notice of this change and a link to register or give a proxy. Questions should be addressed to statecommittee@azdem.org. If you registered for October 2, you will need to RE-REGISTER for September 25.

For all Democrats: The Resolutions Committee has recommended that the full State Committee adopt two resolutions. Please read these and if you have questions or want to voice your position, contact one of our Coconino County State Committee Members. Our County Chair, Ann Heitland, attended the Resolutions Committee Meeting where these proposals were presented and the committee’s vote recommending them occurred. Please feel free to contact her if you have questions.

There will also be voting on by-law amendments.

September 22nd – Proxy forms are due

September 22nd – Agenda and ZOOM link will be sent out

September 25th, 9:00 AM – Meeting registration closes

September 25th, 10:00 AM – Meeting is called to order

Women’s March – Flagstaff

The Supreme Court’s Texas abortion decision ignited a nationwide fire. Our volunteers are working with others in the County to organize one of the hundreds of events that will take place on October 2. Please share information about the Flagstaff rally with your friends. Our PCs and Volunteers will be there registering voters!

Donate

Gear

Looking for a perfect gift for your favorite Coconino Dem? Check out our new tee shirts and other gear. A limited supply of tee shirts will be available for purchase at the County Fair. Online orders are usually delivered in 7 days.

Calendar of Coconino County Democratic Party

Here’s How to Reach Your Executive Committee Members