Stopping armed insurrection, steps towards affordable housing, solidarity with people with disabilities, and more!
*** ANNOUNCEMENT: DECEMBER SCHEDULE ***
Rogan’s List will be taking a brief hiatus as we reach the end of the year! Our last regular edition will come out this Friday, December 22nd, and we will resume our usual schedule on Wednesday, January 3rd. We wish you all a happy new year and look forward to fighting for our democracy with you in 2024!
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:
- DEFENDING U.S. DEMOCRACY AGAINST ARMED INSURRECTIONThe Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has issued a new report that (1) summarizes the history of violent insurrection in the U.S.; (2) describes how this history and the ongoing practice of American domestic armed insurrection harms democracy; (3) counters pro-gun lobby claims that the Second Amendment legitimizes violent insurrection; and (4) offers policy recommendations. Let’s read the report (we can download it from this page), share it with our governor, state legislators, and local elected officials, and tell them that we support its recommendations to regulate the public carry of firearms, to prohibit paramilitary activity, to prohibit civilian possession of firearms in locations essential to political participation, to enact extreme risk protection order laws, and to give local governments the authority to address insurrectionism in their jurisdictions.
- DEMAND SAFETY FOR UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN ON BOATS INTERCEPTED BY THE COAST GUARDWhile people crossing land borders still have the right to claim asylum, those crossing in boats who are intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard at sea have no such right. And unaccompanied children crossing by sea are not required to be cared for. This very important and heartbreaking article from ProPublica outlines the horrors that these children face. A large percentage of them are from Haiti, where violence and rape are a daily threat. Let’s make sure to read this article and then share it with our MoCs and ask what can be done.
- AFFORDABLE HOUSING DESPERATELY NEEDEDIf someone earns $15/hour (like many local jobs) and works 40 hours/week, that person will gross (not take home) an average of $2600/month. Using the federal guideline for affordable housing as 30% of income, this person’s “affordable” rent should be $807/month. How many of those kinds of places are on the market anywhere? Rent costs have far exceeded income for decades. In an attempt to update and expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, The bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023 (S. 1557 /H.R.3238) was introduced last Spring and is still sitting in committee in both houses. Let’s tell our MoCs that something needs to be done about outlandish housing expenses and this looks like a good place to start. Let’s tell them to co-sponsor this bill and get it moving.
- NEW FEDERAL EFFORT AGAINST BOOK BANS
One of the major obstacles to schools pushing back the coordinated right-wing wave of book bans is financial. As PEN America notes, the hearings, legal representation and expert research and advice districts need can be a significant burden on already stretched budgets. Rep. Maxwell Frost is proposing the “Fight Book Bans Act” (HB 6592), which would give school districts up to $100,000 to oppose challenges to educational and library materials – helping ensure fewer bans go unopposed because the costs are too high. Let’s reach out to our members of Congress and urge them to support and push for a floor vote on this legislation, and let’s ask our senators to push companion legislation. - STOP CENSUS BUREAU REDUCING COUNT OF DISABLED PEOPLE – DEADLINE TOMORROWThe U.S. Census Bureau is proposing a new definition of disability in the American Community Survey (ACS) that could reduce the official count of people with disabilities in America by 40%. People will only be considered disabled if they report doing activities with “a lot of difficulty” or “cannot do at all,” excluding those with “some difficulty.” This approach contradicts the current understanding of disability and legal perspectives, potentially leaving out many people with disabilities, including more than half of people with mental health disabilities or chronic illnesses. The new proposal could also reduce the count of disabled women and girls, who make up over half of the U.S. disabled population. ACS data is key for distributing trillions of dollars in funding and enforcing civil rights laws. Reducing the number of categorized disabled individuals could impact programs related to housing, transportation, healthcare, education, and hinder civil rights enforcement efforts. The Bureau is open to public comments about this, but only until December 19. We can learn more and send in a comment but we must act by tomorrow!
AND FINALLY, SOME GOOD NEWS
- LAST WEEK’S WINSIt may not always feel like it, but our work is making a difference every day. Our friend Jessica Craven at Chop Wood, Carry Wateroutlines a few ways how in her run-down of last week’s wins, including five million veterans screened for toxic exposure thanks to the PACT Act, the US Army removing a Confederate memorial from Arlington National Cemetery, and the effort to secure reproductive rights in Florida securing more than 1.4 million signatures to get on the ballot.