Protect free speech online—Stop KOSA
We’ve already asked you to call your Senators to oppose the censorship bill SB 1409, the Kids Online Safety Act or KOSA, but we’re asking you again since the Republican co-author of the bill, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, has recently explicitly stated that the bill is intended to harm trans kids.
This bill, introduced in the previous Congress and reintroduced in this year, threatens to force social media and messaging companies to gatekeep who can participate in online life and to monitor what we say.
This is a dangerous, poorly-thought-out bill with a dangerously high number of bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate. We must stop this bill from becoming law.
Contact your Senators and tell them: Stop KOSA!
Tax Day is coming up next month. Are you ready?
You may remember that the state and federal tax deadlines for almost all Californians were deferred earlier this year due to the winter storms. The revised deadline is October 16, and that date is approaching fast.
If you haven’t already submitted your state and federal taxes for tax year 2022, now’s the time to get on it. Don’t wait until the last minute; get your paperwork in order and contact your tax preparer today.
Heads up: Cell phones will play an emergency alert on October 4
FEMA and the FCC have planned a nationwide emergency alert test for October 4, starting at 11:20 AM our time and running for approximately half an hour. If it’s postponed, the backup date will be October 11.
If, at that time, you need your cell phone to remain quiet, the safest way to ensure that is to either put the phone into airplane mode until such time as the noise would no longer cause a problem, or turn it off outright for the same duration.
Keep it up: Repeal the Utility Tax in AB 205
Our big utility companies and Governor Newsom rammed through a state bill that will force everyone, especially lower middle class folks, to pay an exorbitant baseline fee for their hook-ups. This is an example of utility companies trying to extract ever more money from the middle class, instead of cooperating with climate-friendly and budget-friendly solutions like home solar panels. We at Indivisible SF, as well as many other local groups, are participating in a crash effort to get the California legislature to repeal it before it goes into effect. Feel free to peruse the effort’s letter, with 150 other groups, as well as the fact sheet.
The Utility Tax is Section 739.9 of Budget Trailer Bill AB 205 (2022). It requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to add a fixed charge to electricity bills based on household income. Because of this provision, the utilities and other organizations (NRDC, TURN, and Public Advocate) have proposed the highest fixed charges in the country, between $400 to $1,500 per year—three to twelve times the national average for such a fixed charge. These proposals would function as a Utility Tax that would apply to all residential customers of PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, and CCAs. For more information, see the Utility Tax fact sheet.
This week, we want to drive calls to Assemblymember Phil Ting’s Sacramento office. If you live in his district, or if you know someone active who does whom you can let know, please call or email about this critical matter.
Contact your Assemblymember and tell them: repeal the Utility Tax in AB 205!
If you’re interested in participating in activities like drafting letters to our Members of Congress and developing our strategy for influencing them, the Indivisible SF Federal Working Group is where it happens.
True to Blue IN-PERSON Phone Bank for VA, OH and CA: Saturday, September 16, 10:00–12:00 PM at 541 Castro Street. Join an in-person phone bank with the Bay Area Coalition to make calls to voters in key states for critical elections in 2023 and 2024. RSVP here.
Nat’l Voter Registration Day Virtual Rally & Drive w/Sister District: Tuesday, September 19, 2–3 PM. Join Field Team 6, Sister District, and more to register voters in VA and OH! RSVP here.
Swing Left SF Bay Area Coalition Phone Bank: Wednesday, September 20, 2:30–4:30 PM. Join Swing Left SF and the Bay Area Coalition to phone bank for all the key 2023 elections, as we organize swing states for key elections in 2023. RSVP here.
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on Twitter and Facebook, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue.
Today’s graphic is a graphic by Fight for The Future opposing KOSA.
