June 1, 2023
Budget bill moves to Senate, #WearOrange this weekend, ban juvenile life without parole, 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:
- BUDGET BILL PASSED IN THE HOUSEThe newest bipartisan budget plan, disguised as a bipartisan debt ceiling limit deal, made it out of the House Rules Committee by a squeak vote of 7-6 meaning that Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (H.R.3746) could move on to a full-House vote which happened last evening. The bill passed the House by a vote of 314 to 117 with more Democrats voting yes than Republicans. The bill now moves on to the Senate ahead of schedule and should be voted on soon before the June 5 default deadline. Let’s thank our representatives for making this happen and let’s encourage our senators to vote yes so that we can all get back to the work of running the country and improving citizens’ lives.
- #WEARORANGE WEEKEND OF ACTION AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE
The headlines blend into one another: three shot dead at a motorcycle rally in New Mexico, nine shot at a boardwalk in Florida, a gun battle at a water park in Missouri. The scourge of gun violence stalks our country daily. This weekend, we’re taking action. Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand are hosting #WearOrange events nationwide for National Gun Violence Awareness Day June 2nd-4th. Let’s find one near us we can attend here, or show our support on social media with this toolkit.
- BAN JUVENILE LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
Minnesota recently became the 28th state to ban life prison sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles. Now, Michigan, which has the largest population of juvenile lifers in the country, might be the 29th. If we’re in Michigan, let’s contact our legislators and Governor Whitmer and encourage them to support Senate Bills 119-123 and House Bills 4160-4164 to eliminate death-in-prison sentences for youth under 19, allow them the possibility of parole after 10 years and cap sentences at 60 years. For the rest of us, let’s check out the status of death-in-prison sentencing for children laws in our state and push our legislators to take action if need be, and sign up with the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth to get engaged in the fight.
- DOMESTIC TERRORISMIn the United States, “incidents of domestic terrorism increased by 357% between 2013 and 2021.” Recent examples include the May 6, 2023, mass killing of 8 people in a Texas mall by a neo-Nazi, last year’s racist attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket that left 10 dead and 3 wounded, and the 2018 attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11 worshippers. Democrats have introduced the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, a bill that, if passed, will establish federal law enforcement offices that are dedicated to domestic terrorism and hate crimes, and provide training and resources to help state, local, and tribal law enforcement. Let’s tell our U.S. Senators to co-sponsor S.1591 . And, to learn more, let’s listen to this Fresh Air interview with Kathleen Belew, author of Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America.
- TODAY PROTEST FLORIDA’S DRACONIAN NEW IMMIGRATION LAW In addition to the national boycott of Florida currently happening, a boycott of its products has been called for today, June 1st, by a conglomeration of groups supporting immigrants. Using the hashtag #NoFlorida, supporters are protesting the new draconian, and possibly unconstitutional, anti-immigrant law (SB 1718) that DeSantis put into effect in Florida. Let’s watch this video and support their boycott in any way we can.
CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES
The link for writing postcards was missing in yesterday’s entry. It was corrected on the Substack site. Here is the correction for our email subscribers. Thanks to our readers for keeping us honest!
- WIN BACK THE HOUSE WITH POSTCARDS TO VOTERS IN KEY “BIDEN REPUBLICAN” DISTRICTSIt’s time to flip the House! In the last election, New York and California had 11 districts that went for Biden in 2020 but also sent GOP Representatives to Congress. If we can turn out enough Democratic votes here, we can regain the house and Activate America has a plan to do just that. We can start by writing postcards to Democrats and Democratic leaning independents in key New York and California House districts with Activate America. The voters we are contacting haven’t voted regularly, and we’ll be encouraging them to get to the polls by letting them know what Democrats are achieving and what their Republican representatives are opposing. For example, California Republicans, Mike Garcia (CA-27), and Ken Calvert (CA-41) have voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, which capped Insulin at $35 a month for Medicare recipients. Meanwhile, New York MAGA extremists, George Santos (NY-3), Anthony D’Esposito (NY-4), and Mike Lawler(NY-17), have voted to cut Social Security and Veteran’s benefits, eliminate Student Debt relief and climate change actions. We can find out more about writing postcards to voters in NY and CA Biden Republican districts and sign up here.