BADASS Briefing, March 14, 2024

The General Assembly is officially over for 2024!

With your help, 60 of the Virginia Grassroots Coalition’s priority bills were passed by the State House and Senate. Thank you. We are now waiting to see which the Governor decides to support, keep updated a the coalition’s website: https://virginiagrassroots.org.

Thank you to two of our savvy coalition leaders, Luisa Boyarski & Denis Orsinger for their endless help and guidance. Thank you to all the working groups: Climate and Clean Energy, Education, Working Families, Justice Reform, Gun Violence Prevention, Good Governance, Campaign Finance Reform, Women’s Issues, Voting Rights, Human Rights & Civil Rights.

If you, Katherine, or your organization would like to join our working groups for next session, please be in touch with Luisa (Luisaboyarski@gmail.com). We welcome input and collaboration with all.

Groups, organizations: consider joining the national Grassroots Directory. Everyone take a look – it is quite a fabulous project for collaboration and now is the time for that!

For leaders who just want to make a public display of grassroots muscle, a way to do so in minutes.
For leaders who want to learn more about all types of pro-democracy grassroots groups in “swing states”.
For leaders just wanting to locate other groups new to them, an easy ”yellow pages” for the grassroots community.

We have one important Call to Action: Support Women’s Right to Control Their Bodies. Let’s all take it and let Governor Youngkin know how we feel about this in Virginia!

ALL IN,

Stair

PS: Katherine, if your name is incorrect and/or you would like to update your information, please do so here. I want to be on !

Call to Action – Support Women’s Right to Control Their Bodies.

Email Governor Youngkin. Regrettably, there is no drop-down box on the form for women so you might use Health and Human Services–Social Services.

Call 804-786-2211 and press one to leave a message. Here are the bills we want him to sign:

SB 15 Reproductive health care services; prohibition on extradition for certain criminal violations.
SB 16 Search warrants, subpoenas, court orders, or other process; menstrual health data prohibited.
SB 237 Contraception; establishes right to obtain, applicability, enforcement.
SB 716 Unprofessional conduct; disciplinary action against doctor for providing abortion care, etc.
HB 78 Search warrants, subpoenas, court orders, or other process; menstrual health data prohibited. (HB78 incorporated HB1359.)
HB 519 Unprofessional conduct; disciplinary action against doctor for providing abortion care, etc.
HB 609 Contraception; establishes right to obtain, applicability, enforcement.
HB 819 Health insurance; coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices.

EVENTS:

Thursday, March 14th, 5:00pm – Legislative Working Group Meeting

Join us to debrief the legislative session and share our lessons learned.

Email Luisa to join: luisaboyarski@gmail.com

Thursday, March 14th, 6:00pm Phone Bank for NC HD24 Candidate Dante Pittman

We want to help North Carolina flips blue this year from the state house to the White House. Dante Pittman’s district is one of the most competitive in all of NC. Join Beyond Arlington virtually or in-person, to support Dante Pittman’s campaign. For information about this event and future opportunities, contact beyond@arlingtondemocrats.org. RSVP here

Thursday, March 14th, 5:00pm – Legislative Working Group Meeting

Join us to debrief the legislative session and share our lessons learned.

Email Luisa to join: luisaboyarski@gmail.com

Thursday, March 14th, 6:00pm Phone Bank for NC HD24 Candidate Dante Pittman

Water on the Rise

Friday, March 15th, 12:00pm

Special Report on Election 2024: Simon Rosenberg (Founder of Hopium Chronicles) 30-year veteran of US politics and Founder of Hopium on Substack will present a sharp analysis and commentary on the state of general election. President Biden’s fiery SOTU address to the American people officially kicked off the race to the White House. Simon will discuss the path to victory and what activists can do to ensure we win.

Coastal Report with Carrie Short (Co-Founder, COVA Coalition) will be a special guest host along with Katherine White.

Marjorie Mayfield Jackson (Executive Director, The Elizabeth River Project) will talk about how they are working to restore the Elizabeth river through equitable collaboration with diverse communities, businesses and government. She will talk about their successes turning corporate giants who are normally at odds with environmental issues into allies.

Andria McClellan (Norfolk City Councilwoman) will talk about how the climate crisis is impacting coastal Virginia and what we can do about it.

Missy Cotter Smasal (Chesapeake Bay Commission Virginia Citizen Representative and Virginia Congressional Candidate in CD2) will talk about the climate issues facing her Virginia, her district and how she plans to address it as a candidate for Congress.

Special Guest – David Pepper on Election Updates for Ohio

Please join and spread the love of our informative, current, upbeat hour with legislators, candidates, issues, music and door prizes! Register here.

**Monday, March 18th, 7:15pm Plastic Earth – Fairfax Screening**

“Plastic Earth” is a groundbreaking documentary that explores the urgent need to address the global plastic crisis. With plastic production from fossil-based sources on the rise, the world is facing an existential threat from climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Featuring the stories of the world’s unsung heroes, “Plastic Earth” showcases the innovative technologies and visionary solutions that offer hope for a sustainable future. This timely and impactful documentary will inspire and inform audiences about the importance of taking action to protect our planet for generations to come. Screening at Cinema Arts Theatre, followed by Q&A with an expert panel. Buy tickets here.

**Tuesday, March 19th, 7:30 PM Volunteering and Giving Wisely with Jessica Craven.**

Join Indivisible Waterfront to hear about making the most of your volunteer time and financial donations, no matter the size. Hear from Jessica Craven, author of Chop Wood, Carry Water newsletter about how to decide where to donate. Hear about how Indivisible Waterfront decides where to volunteer. Register here.

Wednesday, March 20th, 5:00pm

GO CD2 Meeting (Hampton Roads Grassroots Coalition)

Email Luisa to join: luisaboyarski@gmail.com

Wednesday, March 20th – 5:00pm

Voter Readiness Working Group Meeting

Zoom Link: https://georgetown.zoom.us/j/98422844279

Wednesday, March 20th, 7:30pm

Grassroots Collaboration Project March General Meeting

Ever our champion, Simon Rosenberg will be joining the meeting to talk about pivotal moments in politics that changed the nature of activism. Who created the concept of the War Room? How about Rapid Response? How hard was it to implement those changes? Other agenda items: Reports on the well-attended launches and next steps of the Social Media Working Group and Men’s Discussion of Men’s Activism; Announcement of the launch of a new “figuring out your group’s strategy” Discussion Group. Note that we have an orientation/discussion session from 7:30-8:00 pm ET and the meeting begins at 8:00 pm ET.

RSVP here