School lunch, safety rules, electric grid, and more!
Contact all members of Congress:
- By phone: (202) 224-3121
- By email: democracy.io
- By US mail: Representatives / Senators
- By fax: Representatives / Senators
- By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
- NO KID SHOULD GO HUNGRY
Universal free school meals were one of the great pandemic success stories, feeding hungry kids at a time of economic instability and increasing test scores while providing a boost to America’s farmers for only $11 billion a year more than the pre-COVID school meal programs. Unfortunately, that program came to a halt at the end of the last school year, despite widespread popularity. This year will see the reauthorization of the Farm Bill, legislation passed every five years covering a range of policies related to agriculture and food including school lunches, and at least one state legislature is actively pursuing universal free school meals. Let’s contact our members of Congress and tell them we want to see universal free school meals return as part of the Farm Bill, and get engaged with the advocates at No Kid Hungry to stay in this fight. Let’s also talk to our state legislators about bringing universal free school meals to our state, like California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada and Vermont already have.
- SUBMIT COMMENTS DIRECTLY TO FEDERAL REGISTER FOR BIDEN ASYLUM RULES CHANGE
Yesterday’s post alerted readers about the important action of commenting on the Biden Administration’s asylum change policies, which subverts due process for asylum seekers by separating families, restricting access to asylum for the most vulnerable, and prohibit asylum for anyone who travels on land through anywhere the U.S. deems a “safe third country.” We have less than 30 days to make public comments on this unfair and inhumane rule. Our previous post linked to a page coordinated by several respected immigration justice advocacy organizations, who are collecting comments, but they warn that if the comments look too similar, they will not be counted separately. It would therefore be best if we submitted our comments directly to the Federal Register at this link. We can find important talking points from this fact sheet put out by Human Rights First.
- STRONGER EPA SAFETY RULES ARE NEEDED
Chemical accidents are happening on average every 2 days in the USA. Industry representatives say the rate of accidents is decreasing but worker and community advocates have disagreed noting that incomplete data and reporting delays of incidents skew the accurate count of these events. “Senator Cory Booker and US Representative Nanette Barragan – along with 47 other members of Congress – also have called on the EPA to strengthen regulations to protect communities from hazardous chemical accidents.” Let’s encourage our representatives in both houses to pressure the EPA to strengthen the regulations so all our communities and the environment are safer.
- POSTCARDS TO VOTERS FOR THE WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT RACE
In addition to the great actions already shared for Judge Janet Protasiewicz in her race for the critically important Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, Postcards To Voters is writing for her campaign. She has already said thanks to all who have swung into action:
If we are already approved with PTV, we can text, email, or Slack message to get addresses. If we are new to PTV, we can start the simple approval process to get going: https://postcardstovoters.org/
- SECURE OUR ELECTRIC GRID AGAINST EXTREMISTS
We’ve seen a wave of attacks on our power grid in recent months, well beyond the attack that took out electricity for 45,000 people in North Carolina in December. While it’s unclear who is responsible for all of them, federal officials have long warned that neo-Nazis have made attacking the grid a part of their “accelerationist” playbook and in each of the last three years law enforcement has foiled right-wing plots to attack our electrical infrastructure, including a recent conspiracy broken up In Maryland. North Carolina legislators have proposed upgrading security for our grid, and federal regulators have ordered a review of physical security standards nationwide. Let’s call on our own state legislators to follow North Carolina’s lead, and encourage our members of Congress to be proactive about responding to this threat.