Shutdown averted: Congress reaches a budget agreement
Speaker Mike Johnson has arrived at the realization that “As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.” The Speaker, along with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have agreed to pass a clean Continuing Resolution that funds the government through this December.
As expected for a CR, there’s a mix of good and bad in the decision to proceed with a narrow CR rather than pass a budget. The MAGA Republicans will not get their voter-suppression poison pill, the so-called “SAVE Act,” rammed through this Congress. On the other hand, VA funding is very de minimis and doesn’t fully resolve the agency’s shortfall. The one major funding boost included is for the Secret Service, following the most recent suspected shooting attempt at one of Trump’s golf courses.
Do your research now so you can vote ASAP in October
In just a week or so, we’ll start receiving our ballots in the mail. We encourage you to start right away and take your time. Our ballots will be long, so the earlier you start, the more runway you’ll have to finish your ballot with plenty of time.
Voting on Day One—as soon as you get your ballot—helps Democrats win by boosting voter turnout because:
- When you vote, it takes your name off of outreach lists used by campaigns and PACs. The mailers and texts and phone calls will gradually slow to a stop over a week or so.
- This focuses get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts on prospective voters who haven’t voted yet. As that pool shrinks, the proportion in it of people who might not vote grows.
- Concentrating GOTV efforts on low-propensity voters means less effort is spent on motivating the already motivated and more of it on people who might actually need that push.
The best time to start is now. You don’t have your ballot yet, but you can read the California Voter Information Guide and the San Francisco Voter Information Pamphlet to educate yourself on the candidates and propositions on your ballot. These and other resources are on our Vote page.
For local races in the City, you may want to check out the recent mayoral debate hosted by KQED and the SF Chronicle, as well as recent (and still upcoming) candidate forums hosted by the League of Women Voters.
If you’re already registered to vote, you’ll get your ballot in your mailbox near the start of October. So another thing to do now is check your voter registration status, and if you need to update it or it turns out you’re not registered, register to vote.
Help build the blue wave with Sunday Pints & Postcards
We mailed 125 postcards this past Sunday! These postcards to registered voters in Nevada and in CA-45 will help increase voter turnout and hopefully win the White House, hold the Senate, and flip the House of Representatives.
This coming Sunday is the final Pints and Postcards in September. Join us at Standard Deviant on Sunday, September 29, from 4–6 PM to write postcards to swing districts and swing states.
The time is now to do something. Join us in building the #BlueWave2024 to protect our freedoms, uphold our civil rights, and build a prosperous democratic future. RSVP on Eventbrite—we’d love to see you there!
Home stretch on Rooftop Solar: Tell Gov. Newsom to Sign SB 1374, which protects rooftop solar.
Thanks to weeks of calls from Indivisibles like you, both the Assembly and the Senate have finally passed SB 1374, the net metering bill that protects rooftop solar. This is a great achievement for protecting our environment and lowering energy costs, but it faces one final hurdle: Governor Newsom. It is unclear whether Gov. Newsom will sign the bill, so let’s call him and tell him to sign it.
Tell Gov. Newsom: Sign SB 1374!
Keep pushing: Tell Gov. Newsom to Veto AB 2527, which allows solitary confinement for pregnant people!
The California legislature has passed a bill under the guise of prison reform that will actually do more harm than good for pregnant people.
This legislation, AB 2527, would allow prisons to place pregnant people in solitary confinement for up to five days. Solitary confinement has been clearly shown to cause long-term harm to all incarcerated people, pregnant or not. Instead of codifying the use of solitary confinement, we should be moving to eliminate it from our prison system entirely. This bill is on Gov. Newsom’s desk, and we need to make sure he vetoes it!
Tell Gov. Newsom: Veto AB 2527!
Coming soon: More free COVID-19 resources
The Biden-Harris administration is bringing back COVIDTests.gov “in late September 2024”. You’ll be able to order four more rapid tests from the USPS to be mailed to your home address.
Once the site reopens (possibly as early as today!), get your free tests in preparation for the winter surge. Don’t wait—the earlier you order, the earlier you’ll have them.And, good news for uninsured Californians: The California Department of Public Health is opening a statewide replacement for the CDC’s recently-expired Bridge Access Program, providing free COVID-19 vaccines this October through December. This, along with the annual flu vaccine that is also now available, will be vital protection for you and your community.
Indivisible SF Pints and Postcards: Sunday, Sep. 29, 4–6 PM at Standard Deviant. Join us in reaching out to voters in other districts/states to help win the 2024 elections! Standard Deviant is at 280 14th Street (near Mission), San Francisco, CA 94103. RSVP here.
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on social media, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue.
Today’s graphic is a photo of Leader Jeffries and Leader Schumer by Jason Andrew for The New York Times from an article about the Democratic leaders’ endorsement of Vice President Harris for the presidency.
Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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