National Day of Action, opioid treatment changes, bill tracking, plus more ways to work for progress!
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:
- NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
The African American Policy Forum invites us to participate in “a National Day of Action on May 3, 2023 to defend the truth and to protect the freedom to learn. … Through collective actions across the country, we will resist restrictions on the freedom to learn, fight the right’s anti-woke disinformation campaigns, and demonstrate majoritarian support for equity in our schools, campuses, and workplaces.” We can sign up here. - TRACKING BILLS FOR COMMUNITY ACTION
The Indivisible Colorado Legislative Team has set up a simple spreadsheet of bills that they “recommend for unified action.” They give suggestions for how to take action, including how to testify in support of a bill. Let’s check this out and try to replicate it in our own state.
- COMMENT ON REGULATION CHANGES FOR SUBOXONE
Suboxone (Buprenorphine), one of the main drugs for treating opioid addiction, is under scrutiny by the DEA. The DEA wants to require people who are prescribed suboxone via telehealth to have to have an in-person visit with a provider within 30 days. That’s rolling back a flexibility put in place during the pandemic that has actually made it easier for people to get treatment for opioid use disorder . . . it IS too hard for a lot of people – especially those in rural America and the very addicts that suboxone treats (who often lack financial resources, transportation, and are on very thin emotional ice). “The additional 30-day-in-person requirement provides no benefit. Because all of the prescribers already require drug tests and screening, the additional hurdle of an in-person visit is just that. A hurdle. Except this one will kill people.” Let’s comment here. Comment period ends in 14 days.
- STANDING AGAINST ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION
For the past three weeks, Nebraska state senator Machaela Cavanaugh (D) has been filibustering every bill that has come to the floor, stalling the passage of the Let Them Grow Act (LB574), which would outlaw gender-affirming care for people 18 and under. Senator Cavanaugh plans to continue using the filibuster through the end of the 90-day session, stating “It [the Let Them Grow Act] is legislating hate. It is legislating meanness. The children of Nebraska deserve to have somebody stand up and fight for them.” Let’s send Senator Cavanaugh a huge “Thank you!” for using her position and power to stand up for trans youth in Nebraska. We can give her a shout out on Twitter @CavanaughforLeg, or contact her office: (402) 471-2714, mcavanaugh@leg.ne.gov Then, let’s check out ACLU’s anti-LGBTQ bill tracker and contact our own state legislators to ask them to follow Senator Cavanaugh’s lead.
- TELL AXIOS TO STAND BY THEIR REPORTERS
The executive editor of AxiosLocal fired Axios Tampa Bay reporter Ben Montgomery, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, for telling a DeSantis press staffer a press release he had been sent was propaganda in a private email. This decision came after the DeSantis communications team, as part of their continuing efforts to muzzle journalistic accountability, chose to publicize this private interaction on Twitter. Axios management told Montgomery his reputation has been “irreparably damaged” by the incident. Let’s contact Axios (editor-in-chief Sara Kehaulani Goo at sara.goo@axios.com, general inbox at info@axios.com) and let them know we believe Axios’ reputation has been irreparably damaged.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
- OH – HELP SECURE ABORTION RIGHTS IN OHIO THIS NOVEMBER
Abortion advocates in Ohio cleared a critical hurdle to getting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to choose on the ballot in November, and can now move on to the next step: gathering enough signatures to qualify. The amendment would secure abortion rights in Ohio up to fetal viability, and could be one of the biggest votes of the off year. Let’s get engaged by signing up to volunteer with, following on social media, and considering donations to Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and the #ProtectChoiceOhio Coalition as they lead this fight.
March 16, 2023
Presidential tax returns, Haitian asylum seekers, corporate money, plus more ways to work for progress!
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:
- PRESIDENTIAL TAX RETURNS
The Presidential Tax Transparency Act filed by Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA-16) would, if passed, require presidents, vice presidents, and major party candidates for both offices to turn over ten years’ worth of individual tax returns to the Federal Election Commission. This mandated disclosure would help Americans judge whether those seeking or holding these high offices are working in the public interest as opposed to their own financial gain. Let’s tell our Representatives to co-sponsor H.R.908. - HELP SPONSOR A HAITIAN ASYLUM SEEKER
A new U.S. program is allowing 30,000 refugees from Haiti (as well as 30,000 each from Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua) to apply for humanitarian parole. Immigrant Family Services Institute (IFSI) needs people to fill out the paperwork to serve as official sponsors for arriving Haitians. They will coordinate housing and assistance, so sponsors won’t have to physically house people. We can find out more in their virtual information sessions, which are held several times each week. Let’s contact IFSI here and see if we can help.
- GET DARK CORPORATE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS—AND THE JUDICIARYSenator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) have re-introduced the DISCLOSE Act. If this bill passes, it will require super PACS, 501(c)(4) dark money groups, and other organizations spending money in elections to disclose donors who have given more than $10,000 in an election cycle. It will also require groups that spend money on ads supporting or opposing judicial nominees to disclose their donors. Let’s tell our Senators to co-sponsor S.512 and our Representatives to co-sponsor H.R.1118 so that Americans can see exactly who is trying to influence their votes and the government officials who are supposed to be working for them.
- UPDATING U.S. RACIAL AND ETHNIC CATEGORIES
As our country becomes more diverse, it is important that the racial and ethnic categories better reflect who we are. The Biden administration has taken on the updating of those categories. In the 2020 Census, “some other race” category ranked as the second largest racial group in the US. Those who choose that category want to see a greater diversity of options. “The idea of revising categories for ethnic and racial identities, both in the census and in gathering demographic information between head counts, have fueled editorials and think-tank essays as well as thousands of written comments by individuals in what is almost a Rorschach test for how Americans identify themselves.” The comment period ends in 30 days. Let’s add our own comments here.
- TELL WALMART EXEC TO DEFEND BLACK HISTORY
In the wake of Ron DeSantis’ attack on the new Advanced Placement African-American Studies course, four more states are reporting they will look into the watered-down course to see whether it violates their state laws. The anti-accurate history movement is spreading, and we need to stay in the fight. Walmart’s director of public affairs and government relations, Monesia Brown, serves on the board of the Florida Department of Education, and Color of Change is asking folks to call Walmart executives to push that the company speak out against the FLDOE’s decision. Let’s join them in making the call and keeping up the pressure on corporate America to pick a side.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
- CA – LEARN HOW TO REGISTER CALIFORNIA VOTERS WITH FIELD TEAM 6
We can fight voter suppression by learning how to register California voters the Field Team 6 way. Registering more Democratic voters can help us swing elections, and we can have some fun along the way. By joining a call with Field Team 6, held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 6pm PDT, we’ll learn the secrets of successful voter registration and get our questions answered, leaving us motivated and equipped to lead our own voter drives. We can sign up for Field Team 6’s Voter Registration Training here. We’ll get trained on Zoom to lead in person voting drives.