Actions – Haverhill Democrats

Fighting back

October 28, 2018

The 2018 midterms are almost a week away. This week, our action items are all about the midterms. If you have 5, 10, 15 minutes; an hour; an afternoon — help Democrats swing Congress on November 6.

Take action in nearby swing districts.
Get involved and do something — text and phone bank for candidates all over the country
Coordinated campaign in Haverhill for the Democratic ticket: Saturday and Sunday. Canvass shifts are usually at 10 am, 12 pm, and 2pm, however, please contact Danny Adames at dadames@masssdems.org or call 978-397-5908 for canvassing, phone banks, and other activities in Haverhill MA. Meeting place for Haverhill activities is the field office at 310 Main St. in Haverhill next to Walgreens.
Texting to MA Voters to get the vote out. Indivisible groups in MA will soon be able to text with Hustle to GOTV in MA! PLEASE SIGNUP here and include as group name Greater Haverhill Indivisible. The Mass Dems will be in touch soon with the workflow assignments. Instructions will be sent after you signup. Please also Create Hustle Account by visiting web.hustle.life/signup.Privacy info about Hustle is provided below at the end of page.

1) TEXTING

Indivisible in Andover are texting at Cafe Nero every Tuesday at 630; and Demet of Haverhill will be having a seminar on Texting at 8pm at her house this Tuesday, 10/30. Texting is a great way to Swing Congress on the national level. I have met with Indivisible in Andover. They are doing Texting of Congressional Candidates every Tuesday at Cafe Nero on the main street in Andover at 630p.

I texted with them on Tuesday (10/2). It was a lot of fun and very fast. I texted 150 voters in Florida in 20 minutes. Once you get setup on your phone, tablet or laptop (or home computer) you can text voters all day long. They are working with the Environmental Voter Project.You can text on your device at home, once you are set up.

Call or email me at grahamsch@comcast.net, or 978 302 5661 for more info.

2) CANVASSING in NH.

Haverhill Indivisible is organizing canvassing in NH for Chris Pappas for NH Congressional District 1, out of Newton – about 15m away. These cavasses will be on Saturday and Sunday this week

If you are interested, contact: grahamsch@comcast.net, or 978 302 5661.

Times and locations will be announced this week.

3) Indivisible Haverhill and HDCC is planning to go to Maine too canvass for Jared Golden this Saturday.

If you are interested, contact: grahamsch@comcast.net, or 978 302 5661.

Times and locations will be announced this week.

October 14, 2018

Move ON, Indivisible Common Cause, and many other groups
Coordinated campaign in Haverhill for the Democratic ticket: and Sun. Canvass shifts are usually at 10 am, 12 pm and 2pm, however, please contact Danny Adames at dadames@masssdems.org or call 978-397-5908 for canvassing, phone banks and other activities in Haverhill MA. Meeting place for Haverhill activities is the field office at 310 Main St. in Haverhill next to Wallgreens.
have a Nobody is Above the Law rapid response plan in place. If you have not already registered, please look for an event near you: https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/
Review this video. If you know people in any of these states, please reach out to them and ask them to vote these people out.
Go to the Vote Save America website. On this website you can check to see if you’re registered, If you’e not, you can register. You can research the candidates for your local election; ballot measures too. You can also get involved locally or nationally in campaigns across this country and your own town. Please share this site with all of your friends and family in other states. Remind them that voters in many states are being purged from the voting rolls.

September 23, 2018

If you have five minutes. . . .

Make a commitment to vote November 6. Be sure you are registered and know your voting location. Talk to at least 3 friends and make sure they are committed to vote.

Check to see that you are registered to vote here: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx

If you are not registered you can do so here: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/ Last day to register online is October 17.

And here is your voting location: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/wheredoivotema/bal/MyElectionInfo.aspx

Know and follow the Democratic candidates in your district and support them by following, retweeting and reposting on social media.

US Senate: Elizabeth Warren https://elizabethwarren.com/

US House District 3: Lori Trahan https://loritrahan.com/

Governor: Jay Gonzalez https://jay4ma.com/

Lieutenant Governor: Quentin Palfrey https://www.quentinpalfrey.com/

Secretary of State: William Galvin http://www.billgalvin.org/

Attorney General: Maura Healey http://www.maurahealey.com/

Treasurer: Deb Goldberg http://www.debgoldberg.com/

Auditor: Suzanne Bump http://suzannebump.com/

State Senate First Essex district: Diana DiZiglio http://votedizoglio.com/

State House of Representatives Third Essex District: Andy Vargas http://www.andyforhaverhill.com/

Governor’s Council District 5: Eileen Duff https://www.voteduff.com/

Make phone calls: (From the web site https://5calls.org/ )

The current administration continues to place families in detention centers.

Please call Niki Tsongas: 202-225-3411

Here is what to say:

Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from Haverhill. I’m calling to demand that Rep. Niki Tsongas oppose any effort to overrule the Flores settlement and allow the indefinite detention of migrant families. Alternative methods, such as the Family Case Management Program, have already proven successful and cost effective. Congress must work to fund and implement these methods instead of inhumane detention of children and families. Thank you for your time and attention. [IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied]

Continue to call about Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court hearing. More information here: https://www.indivisible.org/resource/must-stop-kavanaugh-becoming-trumps-next-supreme-court-justice/

Call Senators Ed Markey 202-224-2742 and Elizabeth Warren 202-224-4543 with either of the following scripts:

Hi, my name is _____, and I’m a constituent from Haverhill.

I’m calling to urge Senator Markey/Warren to demand that the Senate delay any vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh until the FBI investigates the serious and credible attempted rape allegations against Kavanaugh. His accuser’s allegations have been deemed highly credible, and law enforcement must assess her claims before Kavanaugh can be seated on our nation’s highest court. Thank you for your time and attention.

IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.

Or use this script:

Hi, my name is ____, and I’m a constituent from Haverhill.

I’m calling to urge Senator Markey/Warren to speak out against Brett Kavanaugh and demand he withdraw his nomination for the Supreme Court. The serious and credible allegations against Kavanaugh show he is not fit to serve on and must remove himself from consideration immediately.

Thank you for your time and attention.

IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.

Want to do more? Donate to support women traveling to Washington D.C to participate in Cancel Kavanaugh here: https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/cancelkavanaugh

September 11, 2018

If you have five minutes. . . .

Note: this is a re-run of the July 15 action items to #SaveScotus.

First, the bad news: understand that Republicans hold power in the Senate, and they can vote to affirm Kavanaugh with no Democratic votes. Now, the good — or hopeful — news: there is a slim path to defeat Kavanaugh.

According to Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible:

To #SaveSCOTUS we need these dominoes to fall:
1) Safe Dem Senators publicly oppose
2) Red state Dems feel pressure & oppose
3) Collins/Murkowski feel pressure & oppose

Can’t get to #3 without #1. If your Dem senators aren’t publicly against Kavanaugh yet, they’re helping Trump.

Remember the health care fight? Remember when people overwhelmingly rallied to save the Affordable Care Act? That needs to happen again.

Phone calls:

Call Senators Warren and Markey first. Yes, they will not vote to confirm Kavanaugh, so thank them and urge them to do everything they can to block this nomination. Call more than once. They need to know that this is worth fighting for.

Contact your friends in other states and encourage them to make phone calls to their senators. You can give them the number of the U.S. Capitol Switchboard, at (202) 224-3121, to facilitate phone calls.

Share on social media, using the hashtag #StopSCOTUS.

For more information on Kavanaugh and sample scripts, see Indivisible.

Find a way to help vulnerable liberal senators up for reelection: The website Road to 2018 has identified 12 especially vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2018, including Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri. If you can, donate to these campaigns. Contact friends in these states and make sure that they’re registered to vote. Make sure that they know when their primaries are. For more information and a complete list of the 10 most vulnerable senators, see Vox.

Write a letter to the editor. This will take longer than 5 minutes, of course, but schedule it into your day now, gather some resources (any of the links in this action item list), and have at it. Here are some tips from Duke University on how to write an effective article.

Read this from Ezra Levin:

If you want to get plugged into more local advocacy opportunities, you can text “SCOTUS” to 977-79 (that’s for @IndivisibleTeam).

Want to do more? Well, you can donate. In addition to @IndivisibleTeam, a TON of groups are fighting hard on this – @NARAL, @WeDemandJustice, @PPact, @nwlc, @@moveon, @CAPAction and many others. Pick a favorite or a few, and fund them to run this campaign throughout the country.

But if the choice is between real-world action and money, PLEASE take action. It was a quixotic people power campaign that killed TrumpCare. People power will #SaveSCOTUS. Red state, blue state, purple state – doesn’t matter. We need you in this fight with us now.

August 22, 2018

If you have five minutes. . . .

Scroll down to July 15. The #SaveSCOTUS action items are more important than ever. With the president implicated in a crime, we must not have a Supreme Court Justice with Kavanaugh’s views of presidential power. And then scroll down to June 17 — more than 500 children are still separated from their families because of the Trump administration’s family separation policy, and organizations can use your help. Listen to The Daily podcast, August 21, 2018: Divided, Part 1: How Family Separations Started.

The most important thing you can do in the next two weeks is VOTE on SEPTEMBER 4 in the Massachusetts state primary. Check out where to vote — if you’re not sure — here. Make a plan! Bring a friend.

2. Time is running out — the September 4 primary is less than 2 weeks away! If you haven’t decided who to support for the Third Congressional race, please take a few minutes to get to know these candidates:

3. Know the important dates, stats, and candidate facts for these 2018 primary elections. Get the top 10 things all Massachusetts voters should know delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up with Ballotpedia today.

4. Check out Vote.org — everything you need to vote: check your registration, get your absentee ballot, find out where to go on election day, and get election reminders. If you are on top of the voting situation, share this site with friends in other states. Remember that Republicans are purging voter lists, so checking registration is very important!

Postcarding, Saturdays at Panera

Postcarding to Swing Congress.

We have been post carding now for over 6 weeks, supporting US Congressional Candidates, as well as down ballot candidates in State Assemblies, etc. We must Swing Congress and take it back from the Republicans. If we do not do this Trump will be in a stronger position to be re-elected.

Every Saturday (except Labor Day Weekend) Panera, Plaistow, 2:30 -4p. We are planning to postcard every Saturday, on going until the election. (HDCC Action Committee, Swing Congress).

Also, we are going to begin Hub dialing or Hub texting in the near future.

Graham Schwass – grahamsch@comcast.net – Chair of Swing Congress.

Boston Swing Left.

Voter Support for nearby Congressional Districts

Jared Golden – Maine 2nd Congressional District

Jared Golden (ME-02) is a progressive, military veteran, and experienced political leader in Maine. He has an excellent chance at defeating conservative Republican incumbent, Bruce Poliquin, a millionaire real estate developer—New England’s only Republican member of Congress. Join Maine Democratic Party Chair Phil Bartlett, Congressman Joseph Kennedy III, and Newton Democrats for a private reception in Newton. Let’s make New England blue! Join us, or donate to support Jared https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jgfm?refcode=SHL . Sponsored by Force Multiplier and Newton Democrats.

Ready to canvass, phone bank, and support Jared’s campaign? Check out the ME-02 district calendar swingleft.org/district/ME-02/calendar. For more information about ME-02 and other events, see the Swing Left Greater Boston local events directory tinyurl.com/slgbevents

Learn more about Jared Golden, and the people and issues of ME-02 swingleft.org/static/resources/primers/district-primer-ME-02.pdf and at Jared’s campaign web site jaredgoldenforcongress.com.

350.0rg Movement – September 8 – Global Rallies – Boston

In 2017, we proved that the climate movement would be a key pillar of the Trump resistance, and launched a grassroots effort to stop every new fossil fuel project and build 100% renewable energy in towns and cities nationwide.

Now on Sept 8, we’re not just rising up against Trump’s assault on people and planet, we’re setting the bar for our mayors and governors to step up. Now.

Just days after we take to the streets, hundreds of local elected leaders are invited to make climate commitments at the Global Climate Action Summit to “prevent dangerous climate change and realize the historic Paris Agreement.”1

The Trump Administration can only continue their attacks on our climate future with the cooperation of local and state governments.

Our leaders must put people before profits, keep fossil fuels in the ground, and create a just transition for workers in a 100% renewable energy economy. The only way they’ll do it is if we’re visible, vocal, and impossible to avoid.

There are bold, creative actions planned in 322 cities across 62 countries. This will be the biggest chance to send a message to Trump, and the local elected leaders who could stand in his way.

Click here to join an action near Haverhill on September 8th to demand real climate leadership.

Right now we’re seeing deadly heat waves around the world and unprecedented wildfires across the country. California is in the midst of the largest fire in the state’s history, Japan just recorded its highest temperature ever, and record heat in Pakistan and India resulted in approximately 4,000 deaths in the last four years.2

This will be a day where the creativity, size, and power of the climate movement will match the size of the crisis we’re facing. It will put local leaders on the spot, and ask them: are you with us, or are you with Trump and the fossil fuel billionaires wrecking the planet?

To change everything, it takes everyone. Join in now.

Democratic National Committee – Backsliding on Fossil Fuel

The day before yesterday, the Democratic National Committee voted to break its promise and start taking money from fossil fuel companies again. Tell the DNC this reversal is unacceptable, and demand they stop taking money from Big Oil, Coal and Gas.

In their justification, the DNC said they would accept the dirty donations because they supported an “all of the above” energy strategy.

Are you kidding me? California is on fire and a heatwave is scorching the country coast to coast, but the bureaucrats at the DNC are back to kissing the boots of Big Oil instead of supporting the bold climate action we need.

We can get the DNC to change its position, but only if we can show them that voters across the country are outraged. Click here to sign our petition to Chairman Tom Perez, and we’ll make sure he gets your messages at the DNC summer meeting in Chicago later this month.

They — and Democrats across the country — deserve a party that stands with the people, not the polluters.

We don’t have time for politicians to backslide on showing real climate leadership. Sign today to tell the DNC that you want the party to clean up its act and stop this fossil fuel corruption.

July 31, 2018

If you have five minutes. . . .

Scroll down to July 15. The #SaveSCOTUS action items are still valid. If you’ve done them, do them again! If not, no time like the present. And then scroll down to June 17 — there are still families divided by the Trump administration’s family separation policy, and organizations can use your help.

Local (Haverhill) — plastic bag ban: The City Council will meet on Tuesday, Aug.7 at 7pm at City Hall, to take a final vote on the plastic bag ban for Haverhill. Please call 978-374–2328 or email the Haverhill City Council members or Jim Fiorentini at mayor@cityofhaverhill.com. Please express your support of this ban, except protest the addition of “biodegradable plastic bags.” These bags have added chemicals, and they don’t break down in cold temperatures ( in the ocean, for example). According to the Sierra Club, avoid “oxodegradable plastics that are polyethylene with an unnamed chemical additive.” Most municipalities do not allow these bags because paper bags are readily available. Please attend the August 7 meeting if you can. (Thanks to Demet Haksever for this information.)

Local (Massachusetts) — #AVRinMA: Automatic voter registration in Massachusetts passed both the House and the Senate. All that’s needed is for Governor Baker to sign the bill. Contact Governor Baker at 617 725.4005. Tell him to sign the AVR bill, H.4667 as soon as it lands on his desk. You can also email Governor Baker HERE; TWEET to @GovernorBaker using #AVRinMA. For more information, see #AVR in MA: Action Plan.

Local (Massachusetts) — immigrant reunification: From 5calls.org, call Governor Charlie Baker at 617-725-4005 and ask that he publicly demand that the Department of Health and Human Services immediately formulate a plan to reunite the remaining migrant children separated from their families by the Trump administration.

National — voting: Know people who don’t vote or who aren’t registered? Remind them that #TheVoteOfYourLife is about 100 days away: Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Share Indivisible’s Turbo Vote, where they can sign up, check registration, and get updates on local elections. Tweet the #TheVoteOfYourLife hashtag because Nov. 6th will be the most important vote of our lives.

National — health care: Planned Parenthood has launched Unstoppable to fight for a world where all people have the freedom and opportunity to control their own lives. Support this effort and take action here.

National — treasonous president: Sign here to demand that Congress censure the President now, as well as take immediate bipartisan action to protect our electoral integrity and advance investigations.

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Postcarding Saturdays at Panera

Postcarding to Flip Congress every Saturday. At Panera, Plaistow, 230 -4p.

We are planning to postcard every Saturday, on going.

Have some fun creating colorful postcards, eating pastry, and talking bull on politics

Also, we are going to begin Hub dialing and Hub texting in the near future.

Graham Schwass – grahamsch@comcast.net – Chair of Swing Congress.

(HDCC Action Committee, Swing Congress).

Text for Danny O’Connor – Congress, Ohio

Special Election is August 7

BUILD THE WAVE

With more than 500,000 texts sent in 2018 alone and a team of over 2,000 volunteer texters, Build the Wave is one the fastest growing and most impactful texting operations in the nation.

We need your help to win back Congress in November.

Outside money pours into Ohio special election

Washington (CNN)The race to represent suburban Columbus, Ohio, is heating up.

A series of outside groups and committees, viewing the race as one of the last referendums on President Donald Trump before November’s midterms, have steadily poured money into the special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, ratcheting up the national implications in the race between Democrat Danny O’Connor and Republican Troy Balderson.

A test run for November

The uptick in money and attention is the latest sign that both Democrats and Republicans are closely watching the special election as a sign of how each party will fare in November. The congressional district, whose seat was opened when Rep. Pat Tiberi retired, has long been represented by Republicans and in another political environment would likely be out of reach for most Democrats.

What has surprised Democrats most in the race, however, is the fact that Republicans have largely abandoned the pro-tax reform messaging that national operatives called central to their 2018 strategy just months ago.

Crunch Time: Ohio 7 Special Election

Set aside at least one hour to phone bank from home for Danny O’Connor. Ohio-07 voted for Trump is ready to reject a Trump-loving candidate in favor of a Democrat. This is an opportunity to have an impact right now!

To Text for Danny O’Conner for Congress in Ohio:

Put in Browser – https://www.textthevote.com

On the web site, hit volunteer to register and they will send an email to open account.

CENTER for BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Save the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is under attack like never before.

The Trump administration has rolled out a series of proposals to weaken protections for endangered animals and plants, make it easier for their most precious habitat to be drilled and bulldozed, and ensure hundreds of species waiting for protection face even more lethal delays.

Meanwhile Republicans in Congress have once again snuck harmful riders into three must-pass bills to fund the government and authorize the military. It adds up to the worst attack the Endangered Species Act has ever seen. From wolves and grizzly bears to monarchs and burying beetles, everything has a target on its back.

Wolves could lose protection nationwide. Toxic pesticides could be exempt from environmental review. And threatened wildlife could be forced to wait for lifesaving protection while industry gets the green light to destroy our public lands. And that’s just a glimpse of what Congress is trying to get away with.

Will you tell your senators they must oppose these environmental attacks?

Over the past seven years, Congress has launched hundreds of backdoor attempts to gut the Endangered Species Act and sidestep the laws that protect our air, water and public lands.

Right now the attacks are at a fever pitch, and some of the worst proposals stand a chance of passing. If enacted into law, they would fundamentally alter which species get protected, how critical habitat is chosen, and whether climate change can be considered a factor at all.

Demand that your senators oppose these dangerous riders and uphold the bedrock environmental laws that saved our country’s wolves, grizzlies and bald eagles.

Click on this web address:

https://act.biologicaldiversity.org/onlineactions/kI6tpzUoukShooLX4Dpeqw2?sourceID=1004352&utm_source=ad&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=currentalerts

July 15, 2018

According to Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible:

Remember the health care fight? Remember when people overwhelmingly rallied to save the Affordable Care Act? That needs to happen again.

Phone calls:

Share on social media, using the hashtag #StopSCOTUS.

For more information on Kavanaugh and sample scripts, see Indivisible.

Read this from Ezra Levin:

If you want to get plugged into more local advocacy opportunities, you can text “SCOTUS” to 977-79 (that’s for @IndivisibleTeam).

June 11, 2018 (updated June 17, 2018)

If you have five minutes. . . .

Many are deeply upset at what is happening on our borders — children being taken forcibly from their parents and kept in detention centers. Although we sit a continent away, there are ways we can help:

Donate money. For a list of worthy organizations fighting family separation, see this page.

From The New York Times:

Call Congress. Find out who represents you in Washington, and let them know you want the practice of family separation to end. Ask them to support bills that will help reunited children already taken from their parents and also prohibit future removals. Those include the Senate’s HELP Separated Children Act and Keep Families Together Act. The American Civil Liberties Union offers a script for calling the Senate, though we suspect most callers will be able to find the right words themselves.

From Indivisible: Make a call to end family separation. The heartbreaking details of the Trump administration’s treatment of children continue to unfold. Call on your member of Congress (MoC) and urge them to speak out against this cruel policy.

Again, from The New York Times:

Donate to legal and humanitarian efforts. (See also this page for a more complete and updated list of organizations that you can help.) Immigrants, even children, have no guarantee of legal representation as they pursue asylum or face deportation. Most do not know their rights or speak English well enough to represent themselves. In 75 percent of cases where children had counsel, an immigration judge determined they had a strong enough claim for asylum or humanitarian protection and allowed them to stay in the United States.

The proposed Fair Day in Court for Kids Act would require the government to appoint counsel to unaccompanied children, and it’s important to ask Congress to support its passage. Until then, there are several nonprofits providing vital free legal aid that need financial support: The Texas Civil Rights Project; the Florence Project in Arizona; and Kids in Need of Defense and The Young Center, which work nationwide. Lawyers might also consider lending their expertise. The Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas is helping families with supplies and humanitarian relief.

Vote. Your 2018 primary election may be coming up soon. Please be sure to register and vote. Elections are ultimately the most important tool Americans have to seek change in how their government operates — and the values it espouses.

Sign MoveOn’s petition, which will be hand delivered to Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security: Stop separating families at the border.

Call the Department of Health and Human Services and demand that Scott Lloyd, current head of HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, resign: 202-205-5445. From the 5calls script page, Lloyd’s policies are causing unaccompanied minor and immigrant children to be detained for months or even years, separated from families.

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The Massachusetts Senate passed a budget that included amendment # 1147, which spelled out protections for undocumented residents of our state:

No police inquiries about immigration status.
Ends 287 contracts between county sheriffs and ICE that deputize them as immigration agents.
Due process protection for immigrants
Massachusetts will not contribute to any registry based on protected categories (religion, ethnicity, etc. )

Please ask your state representative to express support to the House Joint Conference Committee for the protections in amendment 1147.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is taking public comment on its proposal to ban bump stocks. Bump stocks increase the maximum rate of fire of semiautomatic rifles and have been used in mass shootings, such as Las Vegas. You can comment until June 27, so let the government know how you feel about this issue. This article has more information.

Add your name to fight the GOP’s $800 million cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

And if you have a little more time. . . .

RAISE UP MASSACHUSETTS

Time is running out on the legislative calendar, and it’s time for us to send a message. After six months of negotiations with the legislature and business groups, our message is clear: It’s time to pass comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave and a $15 Minimum Wage.

The latest proposal we have received from the Retailers Association for a $15 Minimum Wage continues to insist on anti-worker changes that would violate our coalition’s core principles by harming workers or leaving vulnerable families behind. We want to tell the legislature that we will only accept comprehensive policies that don’t hurt workers and families. We will not accept policies such as a sub-minimum wage for teens or the elimination of Sunday time-and-a-half pay.

Will you join us for a week of action this week to send our message loud and clear?

Here are the ways that you can join us this week:

•On Monday, join us with the Poor People’s Campaign for “Everybody’s Got the Right to Live,” to take action for a living wage, jobs, income, and housing! Monday, June 11th, State House at 2:00PM.

•On Tuesday, join Restaurant workers to rally for a living wage for tipped workers! Tuesday, June 12th, State House 3rd Floor at 1:00PM.

•On Wednesday, join retail and grocery workers to deliver a letter to the legislature defending Sunday time-and-a-half pay for workers. Wednesday, June 13th, Macy’s at Downtown Crossing Boston, 11:00 AM.

•On Thursday, rally with teenagers to demonstrate that a teen minimum wage is crucial for young people to save for the future and support their families. Thursday, June 14th, State House Steps at 4:00 PM.

By taking action with us, you can help us tell the legislature that they can avoid the ballot by passing a sensible minimum wage increase that moves all workers forward. It’s time to pass $15 minimum wage legislation we can all celebrate, with a 50 percent tipped credit, no teen sub-minimum wage, and no elimination of Sunday time-and-a-half pay.

UU Mass Action Newsletter

June 11, 2018

RALLY TO PROTECT IMMIGRANT FAMILIES – Here’s how you can take action!

We have a significant opportunity to pass statewide protections of basic rights for Immigrants here in Massachusetts, but only if we create an avalanche of advocacy right now! Many of you have already taken action – thank you! Here’s what we need to do now:1. Sign this letter – the letter will be delivered to the conference committee members, Speaker DeLeo and the Governor at the action on June 13th (read the letter) Sign, and then share with 10 of your friends, post on Facebook, post in your congregation’s communication – anything, just help get the word out.

2. Come to the Rally on Wed June 13th at 10:30 AM – we need lots of people, especially clergy! We will meet at the State House Steps at 10:30 AM. Then, we’ll enter the State House together, march through the halls singing together, as we deliver the letters. We will occupy the space outside of the Governor’s office reminding him #FamiliesNotFear and #DontDeportMyDad (#DontDeportMyDad is in honor of Father’s Day)

When we are outside of the Governor’s office, we will hear testimony from our immigrant friends and neighbors. We will also invite clergy who are with us to lead us in prayer and we will sign together.

Participants: Please bring a picture of your loved ones – your children, your parents, or anyone you love. Also, please bring signs for the march. Note: big signs and signs on stick won’t make it through security. Bring an 8 ½ x 11 sign or something you can roll up and put in a backpack

3. Keep making those calls! Click the link to learn how Thank you for taking action! We can do this, but only if we work together!

BUZZ KILL X 3 FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

1. The European Union is acting to save bees from extinction. It just banned toxic neonicotinoid pesticides from all fields after a major report found that these chemicals are decimating bee populations.

But the United States is refusing to do the same – and if we don’t act soon, it could be too late for bees.

In just the last year, U.S. beekeepers reported 40.1% bee colony losses. The fact is, global bee populations are plummeting, and it’s putting our food system at risk. Friends of the Earth is leading the charge against the pesticide industry and its toxic products, but we won’t win without you standing with us. We need to hear from 15,000 activists before midnight tomorrow. Take the survey:

Should Congress ban bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides?

Use Browser: http://action.foe.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=21694

2. Tell your Senators to help save bees!

The best way to protect bees is to reduce the use of toxic pesticides — and support non-toxic management of our environment. This bill brings us closer to doing that.

Tell your Senators to support this bee-saving bill!

Pollinator Recovery Act

Dear Senator,

As your constituent, I urge you to co-sponsor Senator Merkley’s Pollinator Recovery Act to help protect pollinators and our food supply because bees and other pollinators are dying at alarming rates.

Pollinators are a critical part of our food supply. Bees are responsible for one in every three bites of food we eat and pollinators contribute as much as $577 billion in global food production and nearly $27 billion in the U.S. alone. Without them we would lose many foods such as apples, almonds and blueberries.

The U.N. estimates 40 percent of pollinator species, including bees and butterflies, are on the brink of extinction. Beekeepers have lost an average of 40 percent of their hives with some beekeepers losing 100 percent of their operations. In the past twenty years, monarch butterflies have declined by nearly 90 percent. Native bees are dying at alarming rates too. In March, the rusty patched bumble bee was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act after having declined 87 percent in recent years. While this is an important step forward, all pollinator species need your help.

This bill would help protect pollinators by expanding conservation programs, emphasizing the development and adoption of integrated pest and vegetation management practices, increasing pollinator-friendly habitat that is regionally appropriate, offering financial and technical assistance for growers to implement a variety of conservation practices and restoration efforts on active and retired lands and increasing research into the issue.

Senator Merkley’s bill modernizes agricultural statutes and enhances conservation activities to deliver creative solutions that protect America’s pollinator species and the vital agricultural systems they serve.

It is vitally important that you co-sponsor The Pollinator Recovery Act and advocate for its passage this year. The reasonable steps in this bill will help protect the health of pollinators and keep bees, butterflies and other pollinators healthy and thriving.

Sincerely,

click this link: https://us.e-activist.com/page/3617/action/1?ea.tracking.id=Website

3. Sign the petition: Tell Kroger to step up and protect bees!

Supermarkets can make a big impact in the fight to protect bees. They sell billions of dollars of food each year.

By investing in and selling bee-friendly food, Kroger can help transform our food system. We need YOU to make that happen!

Tell Kroger: Stop selling food produced with bee-killing pesticides!

I urge you to help protect bees, butterflies and other pollinators, upon which our food supply depends, by committing to establish a pollinator protection policy that includes the phase-out of pollinator-toxic pesticides, including neonicotinoids and glyphosate, in your company’s supply chain and encourage suppliers to employ alternative pest management strategies. I also urge your company to increase USDA certified organic food and beverages to 15 percent of overall offerings by 2025, prioritizing domestic, regional and local producers.

Bees are essential to the production of one out of every three bites of food we eat and without them your store would run out of many of the products it sells, such as strawberries, almonds, apples and broccoli. Globally, between $235 billion and $577 billion worth of annual food production relies on direct contributions by pollinators. A growing body of science points to the world’s most widely-used insecticides, neonicotinoids, as a leading factor in bee declines, and glyphosate, the most widely-used herbicide worldwide, as a key culprit in monarch butterfly declines.

A new report by Friends of the Earth, Swarming the Aisles: Rating top retailers on bee-friendly and organic food, grades 20 of the largest food retailers in the U.S on their policies and practices regarding pollinator protection, organic offerings and pesticide reduction. Of the top food retailers, 17 received an “F” for failing to have a publicly available policy to reduce or eliminate pesticide use to protect pollinators. Kroger received an F for pollinator protection as well.

The report also found that while consumer demand for organic and sustainable, pesticide-free food items is increasing and major food retailers have started to increase their organic food offerings, few major food retailers have adopted clear goals or metrics outlining policies to continue to significantly increase organic food offerings in the future. Your store provides organic food, including its own organic line, Simple Truth®, but it has not provided a metric for increasing sales in the future. According to publicly available data, Kroger’s overall organic sales are only 1 percent of its total sales. Your company’s organic sales are far behind those of its competitors such as Costco and Whole Foods.

Because you are the second-largest retailer in the U.S., I urge you to be a leader on this issue. I call on your company to adopt formal policies to stop selling food grown with neonicotinoids, glyphosate and other pollinator-toxic pesticides and significantly increase your organic offerings, prioritizing local, regional and domestic suppliers.

A YouGov Poll commissioned by Friends of the Earth and Sum of Us conducted in 2016 found that 80 percent of Americans believe it is important to eliminate neonicotinoids from agriculture. Among Americans who grocery shop for their household, 65 percent would be more likely to shop at a grocery store that has formally committed to eliminating neonicotinoids. Further, 59 percent of American grocery shoppers believe it is important for grocery stores to sell organic food, and 43 percent would be more likely to shop at a grocery store that sells more organic food than their current grocery store.

Organic farms — farms that have eliminated all synthetic pesticides — have been shown to support 50 percent more pollinator species than conventional farms while also protecting and regenerating the water, soil and other resources that we need to produce healthy food for generations to come.

As a concerned customer I ask that you help protect the bees and our food supply by committing to offer significantly more organic food options in your stores, while taking major steps to eliminate food produced with pollinator-toxic pesticides.

Thank you

Use Browser: https://us.e-activist.com/page/3605/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=Website

May 28, 2018

If you have five minutes. . . .

But if Democrats gain power, they will try to reverse these incredible gains. These are historic gains. They will try and reverse many of them. So your vote in 2018 is every bit as important as your vote in 2016 — although I’m not sure I really believe that, but you know. (Laughter.) I don’t know who the hell wrote that line. I’m not sure. (Laughter and applause.) But it’s still important.

Donald Trump, speaking at the Susan B. Anthony dinner, May 22, 2018

Local, state, and national: The biggest and most important action you can take this year is to encourage people to vote. Yes, this takes more than five minutes, but right now, in the next five minutes, write a quick list of people you can talk to about voting. And then, throughout the day, the month, and the year, ask, “Are you registered to vote?” “Remember that the primary is coming up — do you need a ride to the polls?” Sign up — and encourage others to sign up — at TurboVote. Find out if you’re registered to vote, apply for an absentee ballot, and get election reminders. Make the blue wave happen!

[bctt tweet=”Are you registered to vote? In Massachusetts, register at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr/. Also sign up at https://indivisible.turbovote.org for voting reminders and information. Make the #BlueWave happen! ” via=”no”]

State: Safe Communities Act actions:

Call Speaker DeLeo — 671-722-2500 — and tell him you want him to include immigrant protections in the final budget.

And then call the Governor at 617-725-4005 and tell him to read the Senate budget amendment protection immigrant families before criticizing it. Then let him know that you are disappointed that he can’t give pro-immigrant legislation the same fair shot he gives other legislation. Read about the Safe Communities Act here.

National: Sign the petition: Demand Congress offer a fair and accurate Census in 2020 — drop the citizenship question.

National: use the tools at battleforthenet.com to thank Massachusetts representatives via Tweet or email for supporting a net neutrality vote in the House of Representatives. Share this site on social media and with your friends and family in red states so they can take action.

If you have just a little more time. . . .

Pipelines – We will pay for them.

By the time new fracked gas pipelines are built, most renewable energy will cost less than gas, causing many Gas-fired plants to close. That’s the conclusion of a new study, released this week by the Rocky Mountain Institute and reported in Forbes.

Even after these pipelines close, ratepayers like you and me will continue to pay for them, which, if you’re the Eversource Corporation – is the beauty of it. Massachusetts allows regulated pipeline companies and their investors to make the highest guaranteed profit margins in the country – up to 14% in some cases- which we pay for in our bills, until the pipelines are paid off, whether they are used or not!

Do we want more pipelines that we will never need, never use, and that we will be forced to pay for over the next 20 years? If you think that’s a good idea, please ignore this post. If not, please help us to defeat them, now and in the future.

The best way to do that is to urge your elected officials to stop new fracked gas pipelines! Just click here to send a letter.

Consumers for Sensible Energy is a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to advocate for sensible energy policies that protect consumers, communities and the economy. We join our allies in Massachusetts in their fight against gas pipelines.

Raise Up Massachusetts – $15 Living Wage, Paid Medical Leave

Collecting signatures in June

Raise Up Massachusetts is a grassroots coalition of community organizations, religious groups, and labor unions committed to building an economy that works for all of us. Since 2013, through the work of amazing volunteers like you, we’ve raised the minimum wage in the Legislature, we’ve passed earned sick time at the ballot, and we’ve collected more than 157,000 signatures and won two votes by the full state Legislature needed to place the Fair Share Amendment on the November 2018 ballot. But we still have work to do to build an economy that invests in families, gives everyone the opportunity to succeed, and creates broadly shared prosperity. That’s why this spring, we’re collecting signatures to put Paid Family and Medical Leave and a $15 minimum wage on the 2018 ballot as well.

Timeline for Collecting Signatures

• Saturday, June 2nd – Sunday, June 3rd, 2018: Faith in Action Weekend

• Sunday, June 3rd – Wednesday, June 6th, 2018: Initial wave of signature return

• Thursday, June 14th – Tuesday, June 19th, 2018: Sort-A-Thon

• Saturday, June 16th, 2018: Last day of signature collection

•Sunday, June 17th, 2018, 11AM: Final Deadline to Return Signatures to RUM Regional Offices and RUM Boston HQ

Use this address to find out more about getting Signature Petitions and more info.

http://raiseupma.org/volunteer-portal/

Merrimack Valley Project

Stop the Destruction of Immigrant Families:

Merrimack Valley Clergy Announce Interfaith Sanctuary Network to Support Undocumented Immigrants

“He who saves one life, it is as if he had saved humankind entirely.”

(The Holy Qur’an, Surat l’Maidah, chapter 5 verse 32)

“For I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.”

(Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, verse 35)

“That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your neighbor – that is the whole Torah, and all the rest is commentary.”

(Rabbi Hillel, as reported by the Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 31b)

“America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and Religion.” (George Washington, 1783)

Today we announce the creation of an interfaith congregational network in the Merrimack Valley to offer Sanctuary to undocumented immigrants who are at immediate risk of deportation.

It is immoral to force their return to countries which they may not have seen in decades, and where they may face danger and death. When we tear families apart, we tear apart the fabric of our society. As Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel asked, “How can a human being be illegal?”

The need for sanctuary is not hypothetical. Five immigrants were recently arrested at a U.S. Customs and Immigration Services office in Lawrence, as they attempted to come out of the shadows and apply for legal status in this country.

We call on other faith leaders, communities of faith, and all residents of the Merrimack Valley, and beyond, to join us in this work and to revive our country’s moral legitimacy. We call on our elected officials to pursue policies that welcome and protect the vulnerable individuals and families who come – often at great risk – to the United States of America, in search of a better life.

Join with Merrimack Valley Project and/or Your Place of Worship

http://www.merrimackvalleyproject.org/new-page/

UU Mass Action

ACTION #1: PROTECT IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

1. Please make a call today! (be sure to add your personal info to the email text).

We’ve struck a nerve. The Senate budget has become a ‘battleground’ over immigration, the Herald proclaimed. On May 17, anti-immigrant groups held a press conference to spread falsehoods and stoke fear.

They’re nervous, and they should be. Because, in the Senate, we have a real chance to get new protections for immigrants included in the FY 2019 budget. Now is the time to mobilize strong support – we need you to make these calls today!

Tomorrow, Tuesday May 22, the State Senate will take up its version of the FY 2019 budget. We believe that Sen. Jamie Eldridge’s amendment #1147, which would add 4 key protections, has a good chance of succeeding; but we need to get as many Senators as possible to co-sponsor – and be ready to fight for it.

Note: If your Senator was Senator Rosenberg, you may contact any of these three Senators

Senator Anne Gobi, 617-722-154 anne.gobi@masenate.gov

Senator Adam Hinds, 617-722-1625 adam.hinds@masenate.gov

Senator Eric Lesser, 617-722-1291 eric.lesser@masenate.gov

If Senator Rosenberg was not your Senator, follow these three easy steps:

a. Look up your Senator’s Email here: Search by your address or Search by the Senator’s name

b. email subject: Support Amendment #1147 and Protect Immigrant Families

c. Copy and paste this message (be sure to add your personal details):

Hello, my name is __________ and I live in [city or town]. I am calling to urge Senator [name] to take a stand for immigrant families by co-sponsoring Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1147. I also urge the Senator to advocate with Senate leadership, and vote for the amendment when it comes to the floor.

I also ask the Senator to OPPOSE Sen. Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would end the protections we won under the State Supreme Court’s Lunn decision.

I expect Massachusetts to take the lead in protecting immigrant families in our state. Anything less in the Trump era is unacceptable. Thank you!

2. Next, please call Senate Leadership, too

Senate President Chandler 617-722-1500 harriette.chandler@masenate.gov

Chairwoman Spilka 617-722-1640 karen.spilka@masenate.gov

If you want more info about the amendments, our partners at MIRA have created this 2 page Information sheet

To help make the calls easier, MIRA has created this easy tool for you! It will connect you to your Senator – no need to look up the number. Just Click Here to get started

Willing to do a little more? Help us have the greatest impact, sign up to phone bank with the ACLU on May 22 and/or 23!

ACTION #2 END MASS INCARCERATION

1. Please make a call today! (be sure to add your personal info to the email text).

Note: If your Senator was Senator Rosenberg, you may contact any of these three Senators

Senator Anne Gobi, 617-722-154 anne.gobi@masenate.gov

Senator Adam Hinds, 617-722-1625 adam.hinds@masenate.gov

Senator Eric Lesser, 617-722-1291 eric.lesser@masenate.gov

If Senator Rosenberg was not your Senator follow these three east steps:

a. Look up your Senator’s Email here: Search by your address or Search by the Senator’s name

b. email subject: Support 5 Amendments to Reduce Recidivism

c. Copy and paste this message:

REENTRY and DIVERSION PROGRAMS

1. Reentry Programs in residential programs 0339-1011 Senator Brownsberger’s amendment #1015

2. Job Training for Ex-Prisoners $150,000 in SWM 7003-0150 Senator Barrett’s amendment #776 calling for $500,000

3. Diversion to residential addiction treatment programs—Senator Brownsberger’s amendment #641 calling for $5 Million.

4. Resolve to Stop Violence Program (RSVP)—demonstration program DOC is ready to implement for using “best practice” model to reduce violence of prisoners convicted of violent crimes. Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1042 calling for $300,000.

5. Juvenile and Adult Justice Reporting Requirements to include data by race/ethnicity, gender, age, etc. Senator Creem’s amendment #997

http://www.uumassaction.org/campaigns/

May 13, 2018

If you have five minutes. . . .

Massachusetts: Call your state representatives; encourage them to ask the speaker to bring Automatic Voter Registration in Massachusetts. Here are the details (see lifteveryvote.net/help-pass-avr-in-ma/ for more information):

We’re close, but stalled. H. 4320 was favorably voted out of the Elections Committee, endorsed by Secretary Galvin, praised by Maura Healey. We’ve got 90+ Democratic Reps on board, ~25 GOP votes, and a lot of momentum, because three more states have passed AVR this year. MA H.4320 is all dressed up and ready to go! But we’re fighting inertia and competing with a lot of other bills, and time’s running out. Because our Lead Sponsor died, we all need to do a full court press if we want this to pass.

OUR GOAL NOW: TO ASK EVERY SINGLE SUPPORTER IN THE HOUSE TO ASK THE SPEAKER TO PUT AVR UP FOR A VOTE.

Massachusetts — environment: Call your state representative and ask them to petition the Ways and Means Committee to release H.4234 to the House for a vote. This is the bill that would ban single-use plastic bags statewide.

National: Encourage your friends and family in red states to call their senators and say “Overturn FCC; vote yes on Net Neutrality.” Here is an article from the Washington Post to share on social media: Why the Internet is suddenly protesting on net neutrality all over again.

National: Call Senators Markey and Warren and ask them to oppose Gina Haspel for CIA Director. Ms. Haspal’s history running a black-ops site in Thailand and overseeing the use of torture makes her unqualified to run the CIA. For more information, see Indivisible Guide.. Use the hashtag #BlockHaspell on social media.

[bctt tweet=”Haspell’s role overseeing torture and running a black ops site makes her unqualified to run the CIA. #BlockHaspell” via=”no”]

Actions related to 2018 Congressional Elections: See the HDCC website Swing Congress page.

LETS SAVE THE BEES!

Action: Contact your US Senators using the links below.

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

Tell your Senators: Don’t make it easier for pesticide companies to poison our food system!

Bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides. Monsanto’s monarch-harming Roundup®. Dow’s Agent Orange pesticide.

All these toxic chemicals and more could soon find their way into organic agriculture — if some members of the Senate get their way.

These Senators want to strip protections from pesticides out of our national standards for organic farming. They’re trying to sneak this attack into the Farm Bill — a massive piece of legislation that touches every aspect of our food system.

Your Senators can stop this attack on organic agriculture in its tracks. But they need to hear from you today!

We need your help to stop this attack on organic agriculture: Email your Senators today!

This attack on organic agriculture is coming straight from the pesticide industry. Pesticide companies want to undermine organic because it’s the blueprint of a future food system that doesn’t depend on the toxic chemicals they sell. The more we grow and eat organic food, the more we chip away at their profits.

Organic sales are booming while their top products — from RoundUp® to bee-killing neonics to the Agent Organic chemical 2,4-D — are up against a growing body of science that details their devastating effects on our health and the environment.

Simply put, pesticide companies want to stamp out organic. And they’re pushing their allies in the Senate to do their bidding for them.

But we all have a right to healthy, organic food free from toxic pesticides. We need more support for organic in the Farm Bill, not a sneak attack aimed at taking this healthy and sustainable option away!

Tell your Senators: Don’t make it easier for pesticide companies to poison our food system!

The science is clear: Organic farming is better for people, pollinators, and the planet. It protects eaters, farmworkers, farmers and rural communities from exposure to toxic pesticides. It helps bees and butterflies flourish. And it’s a climate change solution because it emits fewer greenhouse gases than industrial agriculture and sequesters carbon in the soil — where it belongs.

We need a future where all food is organic. Organic farmers, farmworkers and all of us depend on a robust organic standard. We cannot let the Senate use the Farm Bill to put pesticide companies above people and the planet.

Email your Senators and tell them: Don’t gut protections for organic agriculture in the Farm Bill!

Standing with you,
Kendra Klein, PhD,
Senior staff scientist,
Friends of the Earth

MASS DEMS

ACTION: The Mass Dems are asking that people write Letters to the Editor (Eagle Tribune, Haverhill Gazette, Boston Globe) on Att Gen Healey’s efforts on the opioid crisis.

Please me know if you write a letter and to whom, and I will let the State Democratic Committee know (They would like to keep track). Graham Schwass at grahamsch@comcast.net. See below for info on the opioid crisis from Mass Dems.

Dear Chair,

Opioid overdose rates have risen every year in Massachusetts since 2014. While Republicans refuse to call for new investments in prevention and treatment programs, Massachusetts Democrats have led the charge in the fight to combat the deadly opioid epidemic, which is impacting each and every community in the Commonwealth.

One of our strongest leaders on this issue has been Attorney General Maura Healey. Attorney General Healey has consistently been a champion for funding the life-saving overdose-reversal drug, Narcan. In April, she made two deposits totaling $297,000 to the Municipal Naloxone Bulk Purchase Trust Fund, which ran out of funding in the fall. The fund has previously relied on investments from Healey, who deposited $325,000 from a settlement her office reached in 2015 with a drug company, and investments from our leaders in the Legislature.

Recently, Attorney General Healey kicked off a tour of local public schools that have implemented her Project Here program, a $2 million public-private initiative to expand substance abuse prevention programs in all of our public schools. The initiative promotes social emotional learning and empowers students to make healthy decisions through its three components: an educational toolkit, a digital app, and a grant program for evidence-based curriculum. More than 200 schools across the state have registered and received the Project Here Toolkit, which provides materials including teacher guides, lesson plans, educational resources, video content, and outreach materials.

Action Alert

•Write a letter to the editor in support of Attorney General Healey’s work to combat the opioid epidemic, calling on Republican leaders to join her efforts and call for new investments for treatment and prevention programs by responding to this email

•Share the AG’s press release on the Project Here program

•Share recent news articles on the AG’s trips to schools in Taunton, Braintree, Haverhill, and Newburyport to highlight Project Here

Campaign Finance – Lawrence Lessig

Action: Sign up with Equal Citizens (See link below).

EQUAL CITIZENS

FIX DEMOCRACY FIRST

Our Framers promised us a representative democracy. Our politicians have given us anything but. From the corrupting influence of money in politics, to the gerrymandering of congressional districts, to the games played to suppress the vote, to the absurd ways that states allocate Electoral College votes, our government has destroyed the core promise of a Republic — that citizens would be equal and represented equally.

Equal Citizens — a nonprofit organization founded by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig — is dedicated to reforms that will achieve citizen equality. We will launch a series of campaigns that will end the corruption of our representative democracy by restoring the core promise of citizen equality in our Constitution.

JOIN THE FIGHT

AND THE ELEPHANTS!

Wildlife Conservation Society

Action: Send email to US Congress using the links below.

SUPPORT THE WILD ACT

Speak Out for Elephants

Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve could be home to tens of thousands of elephants. Or the elephant population there could be zero. The choice is ours.

The problems facing African elephants and other iconic species around the world have not disappeared. Traffickers still deal in ivory. Forests are still being whittled away. We can’t let the programs we have in place to help get taken, either.

Urge your representative to cosponsor the WILD Act. The bill supports several measures essential to saving endangered animals.

April 29, 2018

This week we fight back by taking care of ourselves. If you have five minutes. . .

Get inspired: Valerie Kaur’s powerful prayer for America (this one is 6 minutes, but it’s worth it).
Laugh: the Trump Resistance Workout, Tasting Notes for a Teetotalling President, and a Doonesbury cartoon.
Learn how to cope: How to Cope with the Trauma of Trump — this presidency has caused an enduring traumatic shock.
Find inner peace: Mindful Awareness Research Center‘s five-minute meditation.
Be thankful: call Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Representative Niki Tsongas and thank them for fighting for us. Thank the people who answer the phones too!

Immigration action items

From the ACLU: The Greyhound bus company is allowing Border Patrol agents to board its buses and question and arrest passengers without a warrant. . . .Greyhound must not throw its loyal customers under the bus as part of Trump’s racist, anti-immigrant agenda. It’s unconstitutional, unfounded, and just plain wrong. By law, the company is fully capable of not allowing Border Patrol agents on board.

Sign this petition telling Greyhound to stop letting Border Patrol violate its passengers’ constitutional rights. Will you join me in the fight?

April 15, 2018

If you have five minutes. . . . .

Call your member of congress and speak out against Trump’s dangerous escalation of the war in Syria.
Call your member of congress and urge passage of the Mueller Protection Bill: Congress must pass legislation to protect Mueller from being fired. Senators can co-sponsor S. 2644 and Representatives in the House can co-sponsor H.R. 3654.
Be ready if Trump fires Mueller or Rosenstein: sign up for a rapid-response event near you. (There is one planned for Haverhill; sign up here.)
Thank Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren for their opposition to Pompeo and Trump’s war cabinet. Then urge your friends and family in red and blue states to call their senators and oppose Pompeo’s confirmation.
Share this and similar articles on social media and click below to Tweet:

[bctt tweet=”Pompeo is dangerous to our planet and will bring this country closer to war. #StopPompeo.” via=”no”]

Immigration

The revised Safe Communities bill – now called COPPS (HR 4603) has been backed by the Massachusetts Association of Chiefs of Police. However MIRA and Safe Communities Coalition have concerns over the bill because it allows for undocumented people who are arrested (and have prior serious convictions) to be held by local police for 6 hours in order to give ICE the opportunity to come and pick them up.

I think we should call our State Representatives and Senators and ask them to push forward on passing the bill even if some additional amendments are needed. We need to stand as a state and protect our undocumented residents even if the bill is not perfect – it is something

Andy Vargas: 617-722-2014 andy.vargas@mahouse.gov

Leonard Mirra 617-722-2488 Leonard.Mirra@mahouse.gov

Linda Dean Campbell 617-722-2380 Linda.Campbell@mahouse.gov

Kathleen O’Connor Ives 617-722-1604 Kathleen.OConnorIves@masenate.gov

Diana DiZoglio 617-722-2800×8932 Diana.DiZoglio@mahouse.gov

Federal : We must keep up the pressure on Dems and Republicans. We have not forgotten the DACA’s. We will keep on calling our members of Congress until they pass a bill that gives a path to citizenship to the Dreamers.

House Minority Leader Pelosi: 202-225-4965

Senate Minority Leader Schumer: 202-224-6542

Moderate Republican Latinos:

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fl) 202-225-4211

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) 202-225-3931

Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-Fl) 202-225-2778

Swing Congress

Haverhill Democratic Action Sub-Committee (Swing Congress) is forming to organize people in Greater Haverhill to take action to swing US Congress, House and Senate, to the Democrats. This is the only way to stop Trump and the Republicans.

Initially, we are planning to join other cities and town groups to have Post Carding nights to write cards to selected national congressional candidates. We will also begin to organize Hub Dialing parties for candidates.

Below is a selection of groups who are posting candidates to take action on now (there are many primaries being held now. Each group has its own means of Hub Dialing and instructions on how to use. You can access now on your own or wait for our lead -.

Swing Congress hopes to organize people around these actions.

THE PROBLEMS OF CHOICE: There are numerous candidates to choose from now from various action organizations. Swing Congress hopes to help in the selection of candidates in the coming weeks for post carding and Hub Dialing, and organize events around these actions.

Action: Please notify me by email if you are interested in these actions (grahamsch@comcast.net) and let me know what nights or weekend days you might be available.

Graham Schwass, Hav Dem Action Committee

3 Groups Below Organizing to Recapture Congress.

Here’s a rundown on three GOP-held battleground states:

• Nevada: Jacky Rosen (D) is leading Dean Heller (R) by just ONE-POINT in the polls and now Mike Pence (and Donald Trump) are swooping in to bail out Heller.

• Texas: Beto O’Rourke (D) just unveiled record-breaking fundraising that’s made Ted Cruz NERVOUS. And he should be — Beto’s already polling within single-digits of Cruz!

• Arizona: Kyrsten Sinema’s (D) going hard at what CNN named the “Senate seat most likely to flip in 2018” — meanwhile Joe Arpaio (R) is telling Trump voters he’ll re-launch the investigation in Obama’s birth certificate.

If we can flip just two of these seats, we can flip the Senate, Graham. But Republicans are doing everything in their power to hold onto these seats…and we’re going to need an outpouring of grassroots support to get the job done.

Pitch in $1 now to support battleground Democratic Senate candidates and all our efforts to beat Republicans across the country >>

SWING LEFT

No matter where you live, the Swing Left phonebank program allows you to reach out personally to swing district voters all over the country. These calls are the essential one-on-one conversations we know are vital to getting Democrats to the polls next November. Phonebanks harness the power of volunteers living outside swing districts to energize voters in key races throughout the country.

From your own living room, you can reach hard-to-visit districts and rural voters – people we may otherwise miss. If you live in a swing district, phonebanking helps you easily find and connect with your neighbors. Taken together, we’ll make thousands of calls, each one a crucial step in winning the 23 seats we need to flip the House

Here are the 2 NH swing districts identified by Swing Left nearest Haverhill.

New Hampshire’s 2nd District (NH-02)

In the last election, Annie Kuster won this district by only 15,546 votes (4.4%).

Let’s support Annie Kuster in 2018 and make sure Democrats hold onto this critical seat. Sign up to receive alerts as we add opportunities.

Select this for 2nd district Candidates:

https://swingleft.org/static/resources/primers/district-primer-NH-02.pdf

New Hampshire’s 1st District (NH-01)

Know Before You Go: NH-01 District Primer

March 2017 • Researched, summarized, and edited by Swing Left’s all-volunteer research team!

In the last election, Democrat Carol Shea-Porter won this district by only 5,000 votes (1%).

That’s too close! With your help, we’re going to keep this seat for the Democrats in 2018.

Democratic Candidates for this seat have not been identified as yet.

Select this for 1st District NH

https://swingleft.org/static/resources/primers/district-primer-NH-01.pdf

Justice Democrats

Call Voters for Rick Treviño (TX-23)

1 possible candidate to call for.

Select for candidate or Info on Justice Democrats:

https://justicedialer.com/candidate/rick-trevino

May 8 – to the State House

RAISE UP MASSACHUSETTS

All year, we’ve been pushing for the passage of Paid Family and Medical Leave and a $15 Minimum Wage: both on the ballot and in the legislature. We collected over 174,000 signatures to put both questions on the 2018 ballot, have made over 125,000 phone calls to legislative districts across the state, and turned out over 1,500 residents to community briefings across Massachusetts.

Now, we’re going big and taking our statewide campaign right to the State House. On May 8th, 2018, at 1:00PM we are going to the State House for our largest legislative rally to date: The Raise Up Congress.

We will be joined by community, faith, and labor leaders from across the State, as well as activists like you who support a higher minimum wage and paid leave. We want to make sure that folks from across the Commonwealth can join us on this historic day – that’s why we are running buses from all parts of Massachusetts to bring the people to the halls of the State House. Sign up for our bus program here!

You can RSVP and learn more about the event here. If you are unable to make it to the event but still want to help us pass these policies, sign up to join our phone program or consider donating to help us move our campaigns forward.

In Gratitude, Raise Up Massachusetts

Environment Massachusetts

Action: Signature Requested

In the next few weeks, we have a critical opportunity to urge a major meat company to stop polluting our water.

You might not have heard of them, but Pilgrim’s Pride is the second-largest chicken producer in the world.

Another thing they produce? Manure — tons and tons of it. And all too often, the manure from factory farms raising chickens for companies like Pilgrim’s Pride finds its way into our rivers, streams and lakes.

Environment Massachusetts is calling on Pilgrim’s Pride to clean up its act. Will you add your name today?

Agribusiness pollution is a major factor behind toxic algal blooms — like the one in Lake Erie that contaminated drinking water for 500,000 Ohioans in 2014.

The same is true of dead zones, which choke the oxygen out of the water and kill fish and other marine

April 1, 2018

If you have five minutes. . . . .

Call your state legislator and ask them to support Raise Up Massachusetts $15 minimum wage (H.2365) and paid family leave (H.2172).
From the Consumers for Sensible Energy. Write to Senator Ives — O’ConnorIves@MAsenate.gov (or your state senator) — script follows:

We need to move toward renewable energy and away from the fossil fuels that pollute our environment while contributing to climate change.

I urge you to vote FOR the omnibus energy bill (S.2302) that would ban the pipeline tax, stop new pipeline construction, speed up emissions reductions and move away from our reliance on fracked gas and other fossil fuels.

The bill would move us toward the future – more solar, more wind and increased energy efficiency.

I urge you to vote YES for the Omnibus Energy bill, “An Act to Promote a Clean Energy Future” (S.2302).

Please contact your state Representative today and ask them to vote yes on Automatic Voter Registration. The Joint Committee on Election Laws gave the legislation a favorable report. There are nearly 700,000 Massachusetts residents who are eligible to vote but not currently registered. AVR could give them a voice in our democracy and enhance the accuracy and security of our elections. AVR is a priority and should be adopted now.
Call Senator Elizabeth Warren at 617-565-3170 and Senator Ed Markey at 202-224-2742 and say, “Vote no on Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel for cabinet positions.” Pompeo is anti-Muslim, pro-torture, and anti-Iran deal. Haspel oversaw torture programs, A simple majority can prevent them from being confirmed. Senators need to use this opportunity as a first step to stop Trump’s march to war. Spread the word to your friends in red states.
Block the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Final Criminal Justice Package Released – Will Brownsberger

After four months of negotiations, the conference committee between the House and Senate reached final agreement on a criminal justice reform package. Below is my statement at our press conference and further below is an outline of the bill.

Put in Browser for info: https://willbrownsberger.com/final-criminal-justice-package-released/

Action: Contact the Governor

Friends of the Earth

Tell your Representative: Protect our oceans from Trump and Big Oil!

Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke are trying to hand over our oceans to Big Oil. This would put our marine life and coastal communities at risk.

Momentum is building to stop Trump and Zinke’s plan. More than 60,000 Friends of the Earth members like you sent comments opposing it. Now, some Members of Congress are trying to hold Zinke accountable for this giveaway to Big Oil. They need your support!

Tell your Member of Congress to protect our oceans and coastal communities from offhore drilling!

Action- Signature – Paste in Browser: https://us.e-activist.com/page/4159/action/1?ea.tracking.id=Website

Democracy for America

Support candidates

(These are primarily asking for donations – $3-up. I would not usually put in items simply asking for donations, but this is a good way to show initial support – Graham)

Primaries matter: These California progressives need you now

Victories across California in 2018 are going to be absolutely critical to Democrats’ chances of taking back the House and gaining the political power necessary to confront and defeat Donald Trump’s bigoted and oligarchic agenda.

Donate now to help send progressives Bryan Caforio, Katie Porter, Sam Jammal, and Mike Levin to Congress — and to support Democracy for America’s work to help them win.

Also: The Democracy for America web site list many current issues that have signature requests – easy to sign.

Action Link: Select – http://www.democracyforamerica.com/our_candidates

Also: Democracy for America – Hubdialing for Candidates

DFA Dialer: GOTV for Marie Newman for Congress

or other candidates

This is the first time you’ve signed into HubDialerSM

Watch our DFA Dialer training video, read the candidate biographies below — then log in to start calling voters!

Action – Copy in browser: http://www2.democracyforamerica.com/dfadialer?[QUERYSTRING]

Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign Mass Meeting

Public · Hosted by Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign and Ben & Jerry’s

Saturday, April 7 at 10 AM – 2 PM
1199SEIU Massachusetts 108 Myrtle Street Suite 400, Quincy, Massachusetts 02171

March 19, 2018

If you Have Five Minutes. . . . .

Call Senators Warren and Markey and urge them to support the joint resolution introduced by Sanders and Lee, which would declare our participation in Yemen’s civil war illegal and end our participation. Here is a call script.
Even though Congress still hasn’t passed relief for Dreamers, they will soon vote to deport them. Republicans plan to pass an omnibus spending bill by March 23 and they hope to increase funding for Trump’s deportation machine. Use our resource to tell your MoC to oppose increased funding for agents, detention center beds, and Trump’s wall. Scroll down to the heading Republicans are Intent on Jacking Up Funding for Trump’s Deportation Machine.
Sign a petition calling on Starbucks to stop filling our oceans with its trash by switching from single-use plastic cups, cutlery and straws.
Support the Boston March for Our Lives: The students created an Amazon wish list for necessary supplies for day of march: http://a.co/5I4PqUM and an online donation site here https://www.youcaring.com/publichighereducationnetworkofmassachusettsinc-1126572.
Sign up for Crooked Media’s new daily newsletter, What a Day.

ENVIRONMENT MASSACHUSETTS

100% Renewable Energy

Imagine being able to power your life without harming the environment. Imagine our country producing and consuming energy while we enjoy healthy, livable communities. We have the power to give kids growing up today a livable future. That’s why we’re calling for a nationwide commitment to 100% renewable energy.

100% Clean. 100% Possible.

Burning oil, gas and coal has not only polluted our air, water and land for decades. Now it’s changing our climate even faster than scientists feared it would. We can have healthier communities right now and a livable future for kids growing up today. But to get there, we need to transform the way we produce and consume energy.

That’s why we’re calling for a nationwide commitment to 100% renewable power.

Sign Your Name:

https://environmentmassachusetts.org/programs/mae/100-renewable-energy?_ga=2.229252060.1153883663.1520011024-2089148766.1520011024&mc_cid=40dac4fb6a&mc_eid=5b3429362b

Justice Democrats:

Call Voters for Marie Newman (IL-03)

The dialer will be open until 9 PM. Is now not a good time? Sign up for a calling shift to make calls later.

VOTING INFORMATION

District: Illinois, 3rd District
Primary Date: 03/20/2018
Primary Type: Party Members and Unaffiliated

“I believe strongly that Members of Congress must be loyal to their constituents and thhttps://haverhilldems.org/eir consciences. But I also believe there is a difference between the two political parties and their basic principles regarding economic fairness, women’s rights, equal rights and the role of government. That’s why I’ve always been a Democrat.” – Marie Newman

https://justicedialer.com/candidate/marie-newman

Wildlife Conservation Society

TELL CONGRESS: NO CUTS FOR WILDLIFE

https://secure.wcs.org/campaign/tell-congress-no-cuts-for-wildlife

March 4, 2018

If you Have Five Minutes. . . . .

Scott Gerber shares these six important ways every citizen can help defeat the gun lobby and the NRA (shared via Facebook by George Lakoff):

Call or write your congressional representatives and tell them enough is enough. Support the ban on bump stocks, approve a permanent assault weapons ban, and make sure that every purchase of a gun goes through a background check, every time. Tell them to take the handcuffs off the ATF and CDC; those agencies should be allowed to do research on effective ways to stop gun violence.

Support the #BoycottNRA movement. Pressure big corporations to stop being in bed with the NRA. Already some companies — like United, Best Western and Dick’s Sporting Goods — have acted.

Support advocates for commonsense gun safety measures like Everytown for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign. These organizations and many more are on the front lines, and they are hugely outspent by the NRA.

Don’t support candidates — financially or otherwise — unless they support ending gun violence. One big Republican donor, Al Hoffman Jr., has done this. We should all do the same.

Come to Washington, D.C., on March 24 to join the March for Our Lives. Or find a local event to support.

Vote. Tell your friends to vote. Tell strangers to vote. Lasting change on guns won’t happen until there are durable majorities in the House and Senate that support gun safety.

Elections

Indivisibles,

Remember Alabama? Remember how good it felt to turn that Senate seat blue — and send ultraconservative Roy Moore packing?

We have a chance to do that in Pennsylvania.

There’s a special election happening in less than two weeks for Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District. Republican Rick Saccone — who’s bragged that “he was Trump before Trump was Trump” and has pushed Trump-like policies in Harrisburg for years now — is running neck-and-neck against Democrat Conor Lamb, a Marine Corps veteran who believes in affordable healthcare and repairing our nation’s infrastructure.

This is a heavily Republican district (thanks, gerrymandering!)… but new polls have Lamb trailing Saccone by just three points. As we get closer to E-Day, momentum is building.

Here’s how we’ll flip PA-18: We’ve identified a group of voters in PA-18 who are likely to sit this election out — people who don’t often vote outside of presidential election years. In a race that could come down to a few hundred votes, these are the people we need to move to secure a victory for Conor Lamb.

In Alabama and Virginia, we found that text-banking voters is a great complement to door-to-door canvassing. It’s super simple — volunteers download an app on their desktop or device and text voters in the district from the app. It doesn’t cost a dime on the volunteer’s phone plan and one can do all this from home, in their pajamas.

We need 1,500 Indivisibles to send texts to these voters about what’s at stake in this special election and convince them to go out and vote on March 13. Will you volunteer to help out? Here are the details:

• Who: You and other Indivisibles!

• What: Text-banking to get out the vote for Conor Lamb

• When: This weekend (March 3 and 4) and the final days of GOTV (March 10-13), in 2-hour shifts between 12pm-4pm each day

• Where: On your personal computer or device

• RSVP to sign up now! When you sign up, you’ll receive instructions on how to create your account and an invite to a short webinar to walk you through how to text your way to electoral victory.

We won in Alabama and Virginia because we kept fighting. We refused to accept that some seats are “too red,” “too unwinnable,” to fight for. And you know what? We were right. Now it’s time to bring home a victory for the Keystone State — in yet another race pundits wrote off as “unwinnable” and “a long shot” just a few weeks ago.

A text message from a fellow progressive like you could be just the push someone in PA-18 needs to make it out to the polls. Will you sign up to text-bank this weekend or next?

In solidarity,
The Indivisible Team

https://www.indivisible.org/text-team-pa-18/

Swing Left also has opportunities in PA-18.

This site is using texting to reach constituents.

One thing’s certain: If Lamb doesn’t have the resources he needs, there’s no way he can win this election, which is happening in just four weeks. Make a donation now to flip one of 24 seats we need to take back the House.

See the link below for text dialing.

And if you want to hear about more opportunities to help Lamb’s campaign, like knocking on voters’ doors in the district, sign up for Swing Left’s PA-18 list.

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/swing-PA-18-left?refcode=em_0214218_lamb&link_id=1&can_id=b97c7c5fd91caac59545360b338b1a48&source=email-we-can-flip-this-house-seat-in-just-4-weeks&email_referrer=email_301980&email_subject=we-can-flip-this-house-seat-in-just-4-weeks

Justice Democrats

justicedialer.com

Upcoming Elections.

This site offers a way to dial people in that constituency to ask their support for a candidate. It has specific instructions on how to use the dialer and scripts. It is focusing on Texas, but has many other sites to participate in. This is an easy way to learn a system of dialing constituents

Environment

Friends of the Earth

Tell Congress: Don’t let factory farms destroy our health and environment!

Factory farms pollute our environment and harm our health. They create massive waste pools that emit dangerous chemicals.

Now, the Senate is advancing a bill that would make it easier for these industrial polluters to hide their emissions of hazardous substances.

This bill would give Big Ag a blank check to poison people and the planet while increasing its profits. We’d never know about it. And Big Ag would never pay for it.

Tell Congress: Don’t let factory farms destroy our health and the environment!

Factory farms are some of the worst actors when it comes to polluting our air. The waste from hundreds or thousands of confined animals emits dangerous levels of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. These chemicals can cause asthma, scar the respiratory track, and even cause death.

The DC Circuit Court acknowledged that the health threat posed by factory farms is real and people have died as a result of Big Ag’s pollution. Shouldn’t people who live near factory farms have a right to know if their life is in danger? And shouldn’t they be able to hold Big Ag accountable for the disastrous impacts on their air quality?

This Senate bill is so extreme that it would allow a factory farm that emits even more hydrogen sulfide than a power plant to not report it. This is unacceptable.

Tell Congress: Don’t let Big Ag hide the toxic chemicals factory farms are putting into our air!

Hazardous waste sites like power plants, polluting factories, and toxic landfills currently have to report the dangerous substances they are putting into the air. This information is critical for the health of residents who live nearby. And it helps hold the polluters accountable for cleaning up their own mess.

If Congress starts exempting one industry at a time from this law, pesticide giants like Monsanto and DuPont will be asking for special treatment next.

Big Ag is pushing hard to get this exception so they can earn unchecked profits while they destroy the planet and our health. We can’t let them get away with it.

Let your Senators know you won’t let factory farms get away with destroying our planet!

Campaign Finance

BREAKING: KOCH NETWORK TO SPEND $400 MILLION ON 2018 ELECTIONS

Add your name now to tell Congress: Overturn Citizens United!

The Koch brothers’ network will spend $400 MILLION this cycle to affect elections everywhere and advance Donald Trump’s reckless agenda – putting the interests of billionaires miles ahead of everyday Americans. It’s flat-out wrong and goes against EVERYTHING our democracy stands for, so now more than ever, we’ve got to speak out against this.

Democrats continue to fight for a constitutional amendment to overturn the disastrous Citizens United decision that lets unknown sums of money pour into our elections – but the ONLY way we’ll win is if grassroots Democrats like you speak out right now. We need 870 more signers from MA. Can we count on you?

https://surveys.signforgood.com/DA-overturncitizensunited?code=email%7Cjtk3364%7CNN_P_CG_NL_ON&firstName=Graham&lastName=Schwass&email=grahamsch@comcast.net&zip=01830&ask=5&amounts=5%2C25%2C50%2C100%2C250%2C500

Immigration

MIRA – EMAIL MA STATE LEGISLATORS

The time to act is now: Support the Safe Communities Act!

From the Boston Tea Party to the anti-slavery and marriage equality movements, Massachusetts has been a leader on civil rights. We need to show that same courage again today.

One in six Massachusetts residents is an immigrant. Yet under the Trump administration, our immigrant friends, neighbors and coworkers are being demonized and targeted for mass deportation. The federal government wants state and local law enforcement to serve as “force multipliers” for its crackdown on immigrants. The Safe Communities Act would stop that from happening in our state.

The Safe Communities Act protects the civil rights, safety and well-being of all residents by drawing a clear line between immigration enforcement and public safety. Sponsored by State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (S.1305) and State Rep. Juana Matías (H.3269), it ensures that our tax dollars are not used to help the Trump administration deport immigrant families or create a Muslim registry.

Nearly half the Massachusetts Legislature has co-sponsored the bill, and more than 100 organizations have endorsed it so far. On June 9, 2017, hundreds of people came to show their support at a hearing by the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, with testimony from elected officials, to civil rights leaders, health care providers, educators and community members.

Now we need your help to keep up the momentum! Click here to email your legislators and join our campaign.

February 11, 2018

If You Have Five Minutes. . . .

The news is upsetting. If you’re paying attention, you likely feel a level of stress not felt in this country in my lifetime. So take five minutes and re-center, breathe, and restore.
Sign the petition to let our legislators know that clean energy is important to us!
Leave a comment on the regulations.gov website about Trump’s plan to expand offshore drilling. Sample script: I strongly oppose the expansion of offshore drilling. The most recent data indicate that the United States should end offshore drilling in all areas and instead invest in renewable energies like solar and wind. In addition, oil spills have the potential of destroying wildlife as well as the economies of coastal communities. More than 150 cities and towns on both coasts have expressed opposition to offshore drilling. For these reasons I urge you to remove offshore areas from the list of potential drilling areas.
Call your representatives to protest the Trump Administration’s plan to let the boss pocket the worker’s tips. According to the New York Times, “critics have denounced this plan as legalizing wage theft.“
Call your representative: demand that Congress pass a clean dream act now!

IMMIGRATION

Action Item from Immigration Task Force (Repeat from 1/28/2018)

Now Is The Time!

Action Item for DACA

Now is the time to raise our voices and urge the Senate to make a path to citizenship happen for DACA recipients. Please call one or both of these leaders in the Senate this week and tell them how important this one issue is to you.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts)

to email go to her website: www.warren.senate.gov

Twitter: Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren

to call DC office: (202) 224-4543

Suggested script for Senator Warren:

My name is __________. I am a resident of Haverhill, Ma. My zipcode is ________.

Senator Warren: Please use your strong leadership skills to bring about a bipartisan resolution that gives DACA recipients a path to citizenship by February 8th. I am confident that the majority of Massachusetts citizens want this to happen now not later. Thank you for being our dedicated advocate in the Senate.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina)

to email go to his website: www.lgraham.senate.gov

to call DC office: (202) 224-5972

Suggested script for Senator Graham:

My name is __________. I am a resident of Haverhill, Ma. My zipcode is ________. .

Senator Graham: I am a Democrat from Massachusetts and truly appreciate your dedicated and thoughtful leadership in the Senate – especially in regard to seeking a path to citizenship for DACA recipients. Your work in bringing together fellow Senators this past week to find a bipartisan solution gives many of us concrete hope that a resolution is possible, even by February 8th. I am confident that the majority of United States citizens want this to happen now not later. Thank you for the work you are doing.

Indivisible

Immigrant Ally Toolkit: How You Can Be an Immigrant Ally Locally

Supporting actions on the local level, in addition to continuing to push your Members of Congress to pass a clean Dream Act and reject Trump’s immigration priorities, is a critical way to help protect immigrant families.

https://www.indivisible.org/resource/immigrant-ally-toolkit-can-immigrant-ally-locally/

The Environment

Friends of the Earth

Bees are dying — with potentially devastating impacts on our food system. And bee-killing neonic pesticides are largely to blame.

The Environmental Protection Agency has the power to eliminate these pesticides. Now, it’s accepting public input on its assessment of four bee-killing neonicotinoids. We need you to tell the EPA to take action on these pesticides NOW!

Help us send 40,000 comments: Tell the EPA to ban the use of bee-killing pesticides!

https://foeaction.org

Mass Power Forward and Carbon Pricing Bills

The Action Network/Massachusetts

Climate change and the continued use of fossil fuels puts the lives and well-being of our citizens in danger. Failure to take urgent action diminishes our leadership, leaving communities and jobs at risk. We ask that our legislators act now to pass effective climate legislation, specifically the Mass Power Forward 5-point agenda

Sign the Petition

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/mass-power-forward-and-carbon-pricing-bills

Jobs

Fight for $15

Thousands of workers to carry on fight for higher pay, union rights

MEMPHIS—Thousands of fast-food cooks and cashiers announced Thursday they will walk off their jobs and protest nationwide Feb. 12 – the 50th anniversary of the historic Memphis sanitation strike – carrying on the fight for higher wages and union rights led by hundreds of black municipal workers whose 1968 walkout became a rallying cry of the Poor People’s Campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Workers in the Fight for $15 declared they will participate in six weeks of direct action and nonviolent civil disobedience beginning Mother’s Day as part of the new Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, uniting two of the nation’s most powerful social movements in a common fight for strong unions to lift people of all races out of poverty.

Sign Up with Fight for $15 to get future action announcements.

Use browser: https://fightfor15.org/thousands-workers-carry-fight-higher-pay-union-rights/

January 28, 2018

If You Have Five Minutes. . . .

Hot! Vote is 1/29! Call senators to oppose a Federal 20-week abortion ban.
Sign up for the Indivisible Massachusetts Climate Action Network — stay informed about local collaborative actions on climate change.
Sign a petition: Tell your member of congress to stop the FCC’s plan to destroy Net Neutrality.
Call your senators now to demand that they back bipartisan legislation to protect Mueller’s investigation from Trump.
Sign another petition: the Senate must investigate whether the NRA launder money from Russia to help Trump win?

Action Item from Immigration Task Force

Action Item for DACA

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts)

to email go to her website: www.warren.senate.gov

Twitter: Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren

to call DC office: (202) 224-4543

Suggested script for Senator Warren:

My name is __________. I am a resident of Haverhill, Ma. My zipcode is ________.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina)

to email go to his website: www.lgraham.senate.gov

to call DC office: (202) 224-5972

Suggested script for Senator Graham:

My name is __________. I am a resident of Haverhill, Ma. My zipcode is ________. .

Safe Communities Act – Statewide Call-in Day

Wed January 31st! (Handout for Coffee Hour)

In the past year, we’ve seen the Trump administration go after immigrants with shocking aggression: from the travel ban, to stepped-up arrests and detentions, to threatening Dreamers.

Often we feel helpless. But right now, we have a chance to make a real difference.

The Safe Communities Act, which is before the Massachusetts Legislature, would keep our state and local law enforcement from being used to help round up and deport immigrants. While in some states, police now ask people for their papers if they “look illegal,” and hold them for ICE agents, we can make sure our police focus on fighting crime so that everyone feels safe calling 911, regardless of their status.

If we want the SCA passed this year, it needs to be reported favorably out of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security as soon as possible. So NEXT WEDNESDAY, January 31, we plan to flood legislators with calls urging them to advocate for the SCA with their leadership.

Will you join our Statewide Call-In Day, and invite 5 more friends to do it?

It’s easy: Just text SAFEMA to 52886 or go to http://actnow.io/UD4o884 to be connected automatically. Or if you prefer, look up your legislators here and call.

You can learn more about the bill here, and see a list of legislative sponsors. But for your call, keep it simple:

• Introduce yourself as a constituent from [your city/town].

• Say you’re calling in support of the Safe Communities Act [if they ask, the bill numbers are S.1305 and H.3269].

• Tell them, in 1 sentence, why the bill is important to you.

• End by asking that your legislator advocate to have the bill reported favorably out of committee by the Feb. 7 deadline.

People all across our Commonwealth will be calling on January 31. Can we count on you?

Let us know how your call went HERE

MA Clean Energy Call in Day January 31

Please take a moment today to call your legislators today! The MA Power Forward coalition is calling on activists to advocate for our priority legislation. There are 200 climate action organizations that are part of this coalition, including UU Mass Action. The prioritized bills have been selected because they reflect the coalition’s values and they have a good chance of passing with our continued support. See below for the MA Power Forward 5-Point Agenda

Here’s what you need to take action:

We’re calling State legislators, find yours HERE

Click: Call in Script

Links to: legislative fact sheets and more info about MA Power Forward

The Mass Power Forward 5-point Agenda

•Meet at least 50% of our energy needs with clean energy by 2030

•Advance environmental justice,

•Reform the Department of Public Utilities,

•Ensure all communities can access solar energy

•Fully implement the Global Warming Solutions Act.

Bill Information:

1 50% clean energy by 2030 (In “TUE” or Energy Committee) – (H2700 and S1876) There are many bills filed on the Renewable Portfolio Standard, our clean energy mandate. Please support at least 50% by 2030.

2 Environmental Justice (In Environment Committee) – H2913 and S426

3 Solar for All (In “TUE” or Energy Committee) – H3396 and S1831

4 Reform the DPU and Prevent the Pipeline Tax (In “TUE” or Energy Committee) – H3400 and S1847 –

5 Implementing the Global Warming Solutions Act (currently in the Senate climate change committee) – H2149 and S479

WildLife Conservation

Right now. At a time when many animals are already on the edge of extinction, Congress is threatening to cut support for an organization that protects endangered species.

URGENT: Tell Congress

No Cuts for Wildlife!

Your voice is needed now. Please speak out on behalf of tigers, elephants, and other wildlife. Click Here for link

Tigers, elephants, and rhinos need your help.

At a time when many animals are already on the edge of extinction, Congress is threatening to cut support for an organization that protects endangered species.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is critical in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade that is driving the slaughter of elephants and rhinos — yet funding for it is on the chopping block.

Tell Congress that we must lead the charge, not withdraw our support when it is needed most.

The GEF brings together the world’s governments, non-profits, and the private sector to address the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet. This organization works with both supply and demand countries to strengthen national legislation, enhance wildlife law enforcement, and reduce poaching and smuggling.

The GEF also partners with the U.S. Forest Service to combat illegal logging in the Amazon and Congo Basins, saving habitat for jaguars, monkeys, and turtles, and shutting down key sources of the illegal timber that floods global markets.

It’s safe to say the GEF is vital for the survival of some of our planet’s most beloved species.

The Administration and the House of Representatives propose slashing funding to the GEF. The U.S. Senate has recommended restoring most of the cuts. The U.S. is so close to honoring its full commitment. We need you to write Congress to tell them fully funding the GEF is important for wildlife.

It’s up to us. Click here to tell Congress that the GEF must be protected.

tigers, elephants, rhinos, and countless other species need your help right now. These animals are vulnerable to extinction, and cannot afford to have one of their most vital sources of protection weakened or removed.

Make your voice heard.

Thank you for being a champion of wildlife and the power of science.

Military budget action

Trump signs $700 billion military budget into law

More info: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-signs-700-billion-military-budget-into-law

Politics Dec 12, 2017 3:45 PM EST

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law a sweeping defense policy bill that authorizes a $700 billion budget for the military, including additional spending on missile defense programs to counter North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons threat.

But there’s a catch. The $700 billion budget won’t become reality until lawmakers agree to roll back a 2011 law that set strict limits on federal spending, including by the Defense Department — and they haven’t yet.

The law caps 2018 defense spending at $549 billion……..

SEE ACTION at end of stories below.

Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey support $700 billion defense bill; reps say each likely to advocate cuts when time to appropriate funds comes

More info: http://www.leftvoice.org/Elizabeth-Warren-Votes-for-Massive-Increase-of-War-Budget

Updated September 21, 2017 at 6:57 AM; Posted September 20, 2017 at 2:53 PM

Massachusetts’ U.S. Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, on Monday cast votes supporting a $700 billion defense policy bill, but representatives from Warren’s office say she “plans to advocate for defense cuts” and an increase in non-defense spending when the time to appropriate funds comes later in the year.

“We cannot support a buildup in military spending that leaves our country weakened and unable to build a strong economy going forward,” Warren said on the Senate floor Sept. 12.

Elizabeth Warren Votes for Massive Increase of War Budget

Elizabeth Warren votes for a defense budget that is higher than the one that Donald Trump requested.

Sonja Krieger

October 02, 2017

More Info: http://www.leftvoice.org/Elizabeth-Warren-Votes-for-Massive-Increase-of-War-Budget

On September 18, Elizabeth Warren, the much beloved poster child of the “progressive” wing of the Democratic Party, voted for a bill that authorizes $700 billion in defense funds. This includes $640 billion for the Pentagon and an additional $60 billion for military operations in countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This bill increased military spending by $80 billion, which far surpasses the increase requested by America First President Trump ($54 billion). There were 8 no votes (against 89 yes votes) and three abstentions, but Warren was not one of them.

ACTION ON MILITARY BUDGET: Call Massachusetts US Senators and Representatives: to cut the US Military Budget, NOT raise it. The US has a military budget larger the next 11 countries combined.

This will be an ongoing Action for the next 6 months, during the budget process.

January 15, 2018

If You Have Five Minutes. . . .

[bctt tweet=”#Congress must pass a clean #DreamAct by Jan. 19th. CALL THEM NOW: (844) 551-6766″ via=”no”]

Environment

1. Take Action Against the Toxic Chemicals

Thousands of toxic or potentially toxic chemicals are in our food, garden and agricultural products, furniture, clothes, and many other products that we use daily. Europe tests and bans many of these products, but the US does little.

Take this simple action through Clean Water Action

https://www.cleanwateraction.org/states/massachusetts/actions

2. Stop Offshore Drilling

Trump is trying to open up the entire eastern seaboard of the US to offshore drilling.

Take this simple action now through Clean Water Action.

https://www.cleanwateraction.org/actnow

Wages/Benefits

Raise Up Massachusetts

$15 Wage and Paid Family Leave

Take the simple action of signing up with Raise Up, to follow and support their actions in the coming year. Bills in the State Legislature for $15 wage and Family Leave are beginning the legislative process that will come to a head in June/18.

https://raiseupma.org/about-us/

Social Security/Medicare

Chicago Tribune

GOP eyes post-tax-cut changes to welfare, Medicare and Social Security

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-gop-welfare-medicare-social-security-cuts-20171201-story.html

Action: Make plans for the coming weeks to call the President, Senators and Representatives. There may be a Hub Dialing campaign to call people in other states to ask them to call their Senators and Representatives

December 10, 2017

If You Have Five Minutes. . . .

If You Have a Little More Time

URGENT — Monday and Tuesday! Please join a phonebank to help elect Doug Jones. These phonebanks allow you to contact African American voters in urban Alabama as well as the rural Black Belt.

November 27, 2017

If You Have Five Minutes. . . .

If You Have 30 Minutes. . .

ACTION: We are going to use Hub Dialer to call voters in states with swing Republican senators, so voters can call their senators on the Bill.

It’s the End of the World

Not Really but Close

Trump and the Republicans will destroy the economy and Obama Care with the new Tax plan.

People can use Hubdialer at home. Hub Dialing is used to call voters in the states of Swing Republican Senators. We need to turn 3 Republican senators, such as Collins, Murkowski, Corker, Portman. The Hub Dialer has already targeted states.

The Hub dialer is easy to use; it selects a voter to call. You identify yourself and ask the voter to call their senator and ask them to vote against the Tax Bill.

Talking Points: The inclusion of the Repeal of the Obama Care Mandate on Health insurance will destroy health insurance for 13 million. The Tax Plan will primarily help the rich and well off and hurt the middle class.

To get to the Hub Dialer, register at the following link. Once you register the rest is easy. Check it out.

https://www.trumptaxscam.org/calls-to-kill-the-tax-scam/

If You Have an Evening. . . .

Have a Hubdialer house party. Invite a few friends over to make calls together. Friends should bring laptops or tablets, cell phones, and chargers.

For More Information

From the National Review (believe it or not, also very amusing)

The GOP’s Tax Plan: Paving the Way to a Democratic Majority

Like the Titanic steaming towards that iceberg, the GOP’s tax plan is reported to be moving forward at some speed. No, no, what am I saying? For all his faults, the Titanic’s captain did not actually design the iceberg that sank his ship. The Republican leadership, on the other hand…. Even if we forget about their impact on the deficit (and we shouldn’t), the Republican tax plans have been characterized by extraordinarily sloppy thinking, so sloppy indeed that it’s impossible not to wonder what, if anything, was going through the heads of the GOP leadership.

November 11, 2017

Election 2018

Sister City Project: You Just Made History.

11/8/17

Tonight, we’ve already won 13 of our 14 Sister Races, and one is headed for a recount on a razor thin margin of 12 votes. We flipped the Senate in Washington to turn it into a Democratic trifecta state, and we are within striking distance of flipping the Virginia House of Delegates. Democrats also swept statewide races tonight: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General in Virginia and Governor in New Jersey. This is a big, beautiful, blue tidal wave—and we are going to ride it straight into 2018.

You proved that the Sister District model works. All told, we raised over $350,000 in small-dollar cash donations, another $350,000 in partnership with allied organizations, hit 100k dials and doors, wrote 30,000 postcards, and sent 185,000 text messages.

ACTION: But there’s no time to rest, and we’re already at work for 2018. We’ve got our eye on chambers to flip or hold—many states are within just 1 to 4 seats. We are so grateful for your support so far, can you help us kickstart 2018?

Economy – Tax Reform

Esquire: The Republican Tax Plan Is Chaos and Suicide All at Once

BY CHARLES P. PIERCE

NOV 1, 2017

The only things one can be sure of regarding whatever it is that the Republican congressional majorities come up with for a tax plan is that it will shove more of the nation’s wealth upwards, that the math will be mostly magical thinking, and that there will be various strategies employed to keep the country from noticing these first two characteristics. From Politico, we learn that, yes, the Republicans are pretty much a mess on this front, too…………

Esquire: As Expected, the Republican Tax Plan Is All Unicorns

The cuts are for corporations and the rich. The “growth” will never come, because it never does.

BY CHARLES P. PIERCE

NOV 2, 2017

With Sam Clovis suddenly cleared out, there was room for the House Republicans to uncrate their long-awaited tax plan and it was pretty much as disastrous as you thought it would be.

One good way to understand what’s going on with this latest exercise in financial misdirection is to notice that this plan will tax the interest payment on one student’s loans, but that it may no longer tax another student’s multibillion-dollar inheritance. Of course, the estate tax will go away entirely in six years, probably when nobody’s watching. It also will cap the mortgage-interest deduction, probably in the interest of eliminating it entirely when nobody’s watching. So that’s what all that “middle-class” bafflegab is really all about…………

……Brownback’s catastrophic imbibing of straight supply-side Sterno crippled his state, and the Center for American Progress immediately pointed out the similarities between what Brownback did in his state and what the Republican plan proposes to do to the country. Otherwise, the Republican plan is pretty much the same thing as David Stockman long ago said the first Reagan budget was: a Trojan horse to cut taxes on corporations and the wealthiest among us…………….

ACTION – CALL REPUBLICAN SWING SENATORS TO BLOCK THE TAX REFORM.

Environment

A Running List of How Trump Is Changing the Environment

The Trump administration has promised vast changes to U.S. science and environmental policy—and we’re tracking them here as they happen.

November/2017

By / Michael Greshko, Laura Parker, and Brian Clark Howard

The Trump administration’s tumultuous first months have brought a flurry of changes—both realized and anticipated—to U.S. environmental policy. Many of the actions roll back Obama-era policies that aimed to curb climate change and limit environmental pollution, while others threaten to limit federal funding for science and the environment.

The stakes are enormous. The Trump administration takes power amid the first days of meaningful international action against climate change, an issue on which political polarization still runs deep. And for the first time in years, Republicans have control of the White House and both houses of Congress—giving them an opportunity to remake the nation’s environmental laws in their image.

It’s a lot to keep track of, so National Geographic will be maintaining an abbreviated timeline of the Trump administration’s environmental actions and policy changes, as well as reactions to them. We will update this article periodically as news develops…………..

ACTION: Call your Massachusetts National and State Representatives to ask them what they are doing about the environment whether it be Climate Change, Endangered Species or a topic of your choice.

Friends of the Earth

Great news! This week the Massachusetts State Senate advanced a bill banning consumer use of bee-killing pesticides. This means we’re one step closer to passing this important bill to save our bees!

Now, we need your help to ensure the bill passes.

ACTION: Tell your Representative to vote YES on the bill to save bees from toxic pesticides!

Bees and other pollinators are declining at alarming rates. In October, a new study came out showing insect populations have declined by nearly 80 percent in the last three decades. This shows how much our ecosystems are struggling.

Criminal Justice Reform

Good News! ACTION – Call your House Representatives on this bill.

Massachusetts Senate approves sweeping criminal justice reform bill repealing mandatory minimums

Updated on October 27, 2017 at 10:44 AM Posted on October 27, 2017 at 7:54 AM

By Kristin LaFratta kristin.lafratta@masslive.com

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/10/massachusetts_senate_approves_16.html

Massachusetts legislators approved a bill calling for sweeping changes to the state’s criminal justice system early Friday.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 27-10 in favor of the measure around 1:30 a.m. Friday morning, after many hours of debate over the amendments proposed in the legislation.

Such reforms include the repeal of mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenses, a stricter set of guidelines for judges regarding the bail system, raising the age at which someone can be charged in adult court, and allowing for the compassionate release of elderly or weak inmates.

The bill also proposes allowing low-income defendants to pay lower court fees and fines, to eliminate what Senate President Stan Rosenberg’s office calls a “modern day ‘debtor’s prison.'” Statutory rape law would also change under the legislation, which would legalize sex between teenagers on the basis of age difference rather than the ages themselves.

“It’s time Massachusetts joins the national let’s get smart on crime movement,” Rosenberg (D-Amherst) said in a statement. “This bill protects public safety and makes commonsense reforms while improving outcomes with our precious tax dollars.”

Health Care

Center for Budget and Policy Priorities

Sabotage Watch: Tracking Efforts to Undermine the ACA

President Trump has said that, politically, the best thing to do would be to let the Affordable Care Act (ACA) “explode.” This timeline tracks Administration actions that would sabotage the ACA by destabilizing private insurance markets or reversing the law’s historic gains in health coverage.

November 1

The Trump Administration reduces email outreach for the marketplace open enrollment period. Although the HealthCare.gov database has email addresses for about 20 million consumers — those currently or previously enrolled or who have expressed interest in HealthCare.gov coverage — the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will only reach out to current enrollees.

When announcing its plan to slash its outreach budget by 90 percent, the Administration said that it would focus its open enrollment advertising and outreach activities on email, digital media, and text messaging. Yet HHS isn’t emailing millions of people who need information about open enrollment and coverage.

See article for October 2017 and further back.

ACTION – CALL REPUBLICAN SWING SENATORS TO BLOCK THESE DESTRUCTIVE MEASURES.

October 29, 2017

Elect Andy as your next State Representative!

This is the Final Week before Election!

Let’s keep fighting for all Haverhill families.

We made history electing Andy to the City Council at the age of 22. Let’s make sure we keep up the pace in 2017 and help Andy get to the State House so he can keep fighting for us in a greater capacity. It’s going to be a tight race, so we hope you can get involved!

Andy on Facebook: “Shaun Toohey is a good man. It’s unfortunate that his campaign stoops this low in a desperate and false mailer with 10 days to go. This isn’t the Haverhill I love.We suspect more of these mailers to hit. Please help us combat ignorance and negative campaigning by donating and volunteering!”

See More on Andy Vargas on Facebook

Voter Registration

League of Women Voters

Mass State Voter Registration

Automatic Voter Registration Twitterstorm Oct. 30!

If you’re on Twitter, we need your help! On Monday, Oct. 30, LWVMA and our partners in the election modernization coalition are creating a “Twitterstorm”-a flurry of tweets, all on the same day-to help pass automatic voter registration this legislative session. On that day, please tweet this message using the hashtag #AVRinMA:

“Why #AVRinMA? We want elections to be more inclusive, accurate & secure. AVR is the solution. @SpeakerDeLeo @SenStan #mapoli”

Passing automatic voter registration (AVR) this legislative session is a priority for LWVMA. Please contact your state Representative today. (i.e., we have Diana DiZoglio and Linda Dean Campbell ) The House leadership needs to know right now that AVR has widespread support and interest so the bill comes out of committee and to the floor for a vote. Ask your Representative to let the leadership know AVR (S.373/H.2091) is important and deserves a vote in the House. Learn more about this major voting improvement on Greater Haverhill League of Women Voters website here.

Tax Reform

The Ignorance of Trump’s Vague Tax Plan | The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news…/the-ignorance-of-trumps-vague-tax-plan

Resist Trump’s Tax Plan – Tax breaks for the rich and impoverishment the middle class.

Call the Swing Republicans US Senators and Representatives.

Sister City Project

Milton sister City has already had a meeting on the Virginia Elelctions, but it is a good model for what we could do for the 2018 Election

Virginia State House Elections

Milton Action Meet-up – Sister District Project

Host Contact Info: sisterdistrict.ma04@gmail.com

Why Virginia and why state elections? Because state policies matter, for constituents and for all of us. As the federal administration continues its crusade against humaneness and common sense, state legislatures are becoming more important as bulwarks against injustice. ALL 100 SEATS in Virginia’s House of Delegates are up for election on November 7th and we have two compelling candidates to support: Jennifer Carroll Foy (VA-02) and John Bell (VA-87). Republicans currently hold 66 of these seats. FORTY-NINE PERCENT of VA voters would prefer Democratic control of the state legislature. Let’s help them get there.

Why Virginia Matters 2017

Jennifer and John are two progressive Democrats are up against big-spending Republicans, and they need our help. Control of Virginia’s state legislature hangs in the balance.

October 15, 2017

Local Elections

Support Andy Vargas for Rep in 3rd Essex

https://www.facebook.com/CouncilorVargas/

Volunteer!

Healthcare

Donald Trump’s Terrible Executive Order on Health Care

DSCC Action on Trump’s Order

http://action.dscc.org/page/s/stop-gop-attacks-on-obamacare?source=PT-20171012-Signature_DS-ProsHV

Criminal Justice UU Mass Action Newsletter 10/9/17

Take Action

Safe Communities Act – Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform

What a week! The Senate bill S.2170 was released on 9/28 and is 114 pages! After many conversations with Senate leaders and coalition allies, UU Mass Action’s End Mass Incarceration Team has made the decision to support the bill. We recognize that there is room for improvement, especially with Solitary Confinement Reform, and will continue to work with our partners in the MA Against Solitary Confinement Coalition to address these concerns.

Our ask: The Senate plans to vote on on S.2170 on Oct 19th. Now is the time to call and send an email to your senator and ask for their support. To help you with this, we have drafted a template to help you get started. If

http://www.uumassaction.org/uuma/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/UUMA-Newsletter-10-16-17.pdf

Foreign Affairs

Susan Rice responds to praise of Trump’s Iran deal speech: ‘BS’

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/355455-rice-on-praise-of-trumps-iran-deal-speech-bs

ACTION: Call the White House, Senators and Representatives to protest Trump’s action on Iran Deal.

Environment

IFAW’s (International Fund for Animal Welfare) mission is to rescue and protect animals around the world. We rescue individuals, safeguard populations, and preserve habitat.

Tell Congress to protect big cats

http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/get-involved/tell-congress-protect-big-cats

Also: On other Endangered species at http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/get-involved

October 2, 2017

Economic

Washington Post: Trump’s tax ‘miracle’: Cowardice and dishonesty

By Editorial Board September 28 at 7:30 PM

TAX REFORM was supposed to attract wide, bipartisan support. Lower rates would be fully offset by cutting unneeded deductions and loopholes. The benefit would be a simpler, more efficient tax code. But the idea has moved steadily toward just another irresponsible GOP tax cut, paid for with magical thinking, that would erode the nation’s fiscal health and burden future generations. Republicans who know better must resist this path.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-promises-tax-reform-and-delivers-cowardice/2017/09/28/b1571552-a3c6-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.78b2b4fced04

Call the White House. 202-456-1111. 1To send an email to the White House in general, in the “To” line enter the following: comments@whitehouse.gov. 2To send an email to the President, in the “To” line enter president@whitehouse.gov.

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

Tell your legislator: Save bees from toxic pesticides!

Massachusetts is on its way to passing a bill to protect bees from bee-killing pesticides.
This summer Senator Eldridge introduced a bill in the state Senate to remove neonicotinoid pesticides from consumer use. This bill would be a big step forward in the fight to save bees, which pollinate one in every three bites of food that we eat.
We need your help to build support for this bill!

https://us.e-activist.com/page/3432/action/1?ea.tracking.id=Email&ea.url.id=6002

Make Haverhill a Green Community

http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-utilities-clean-tech/green-communities/gc-grant-program/

Support has been building to make Haverhill a Green Community, but the Mayor needs to hear from the citizens.

Call Mayor Fiorentini to support Haverhill in becoming a Green Community.

978-374-2300

Support Mass Power Forward’s Legislative Agenda

Mass Power Forward and 350 Mass for a Better Future has created a tool to send a letter to your representative and senator (UU Mass Action is a member of Mass Power Forward). If you can come to the Solar Hearing (details below), please RSVP here: RSVP to go to the hearing. I not, please send a letter to your legislators. Click here for an easy way to do that.

Helpful Info:

1. Solar Hearing, 10/3 Room A2 at 1:00 PM TUE Committee: Fact Sheet

https://malegislature.gov/ Events/Hearings/Detail/2758

Priority Bills:

H.3396: An Act Relative to Solar Power Equity in Low Income and Environmental Justice Communities, Rep. Russell Holmes

S.1831: An Act Relative to Solar Power Equity in Environmental Justice Communities and Urban Communities, Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz

H.2706/S.1846: An Act Relative to Solar Power and the Green Economy, Rep Paul Mark and Sen. Jamie Eldridge

There’s also a hearing coming up for Divestment on Oct 10 (H.3281, Rep Decker Fact Sheet)

And there’s the Gas Leaks/DPU hearing on Oct 17, which will include:

S.1847/H.3400 Clarifying Authority & Responsibilities of DPU, Sen. Eldridge/ Rep. Kulik

S.1855/H.2698 Protect Ratepayers from Pipeline Expansion Costs, Sen. Jehlen/Rep. Gordon

S.1845/H.2683 Protect Consumers from Paying for Gas Leaks, Sen. Eldridge/Rep. Barber

Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts Action Item

Campaign Finance
Take Action: PDM, through the action of its Campaign Finance Working Group, has endorsed the Massachusetts We the People Act calling for a US Constitutional Amendment overturning Citizens United (H.1926 and S.379). If you would like more information about the bill or this issue, please visit the website of We the People Massachusetts, which is leading the fight for this bill, at http://www.wethepeoplemass.org/. PDM will communicate our endorsement to legislators and our allies. We encourage you to share this endorsement with your state representative and senator, as well as others. We will monitor the progress of the bill and let you know when there are specific opportunities for action. Contact: John Lippitt jlippitt@verizon.net.

Support Doug Jones in Alabama Senate Race

Dem just 6 points behind in Alabama Senate race: poll

Alabama Republican Roy Moore leads Democrat Doug Jones by less than 6 points in a new Senate special election poll that’s likely to raise questions about whether the deep-red state is in play.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/353132-dem-just-6-points-behind-in-alabama-senate-race-poll

Google Doug Jones to support.

International

Kremlin warns of consequences as North Korea stand-off heats up

http://thehill.com/policy/international/352436-kremlin-warns-of-consequences-as-rhetoric-with-north-korea-heats-up

Call the White House, and Secy Tillerson to urge an end to Trumps insulting and threatening North Korea and Kim Jong Un, and to begin negotiations.

Secy of State: https://register.state.gov/contactus/ Press Contact Us Form

October 15, 2017

Local Elections

Support Andy Vargas for Rep in 3rd Essex

https://www.facebook.com/CouncilorVargas/

Volunteer!

Healthcare

Donald Trump’s Terrible Executive Order on Health Care

DSCC Action on Trump’s Order

http://action.dscc.org/page/s/stop-gop-attacks-on-obamacare?source=PT-20171012-Signature_DS-ProsHV

Criminal Justice UU Mass Action Newsletter 10/9/17

Take Action

Safe Communities Act – Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform

UUMA-Newsletter-10-16-17.pdf

Foreign Affairs

Susan Rice responds to praise of Trump’s Iran deal speech: ‘BS’

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/355455-rice-on-praise-of-trumps-iran-deal-speech-bs

ACTION: Call the White House, Senators and Representatives to protest Trump’s action on Iran Deal.

Environment

IFAW’s (International Fund for Animal Welfare) mission is to rescue and protect animals around the world. We rescue individuals, safeguard populations, and preserve habitat.

Tell Congress to protect big cats

http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/get-involved/tell-congress-protect-big-cats

Also: On other Endangered species at http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/get-involved

October 2, 2017

Economic

Washington Post: Trump’s tax ‘miracle’: Cowardice and dishonesty

By Editorial Board September 28 at 7:30 PM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-promises-tax-reform-and-delivers-cowardice/2017/09/28/b1571552-a3c6-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.78b2b4fced04

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

Tell your legislator: Save bees from toxic pesticides!

https://us.e-activist.com/page/3432/action/1?ea.tracking.id=Email&ea.url.id=6002

Make Haverhill a Green Community

http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-utilities-clean-tech/green-communities/gc-grant-program/

Support has been building to make Haverhill a Green Community, but the Mayor needs to hear from the citizens.

Call Mayor Fiorentini to support Haverhill in becoming a Green Community.

978-374-2300

Support Mass Power Forward’s Legislative Agenda

Helpful Info:

1. Solar Hearing, 10/3 Room A2 at 1:00 PM TUE Committee: Fact Sheet

https://malegislature.gov/ Events/Hearings/Detail/2758

Priority Bills:

H.3396: An Act Relative to Solar Power Equity in Low Income and Environmental Justice Communities, Rep. Russell Holmes

S.1831: An Act Relative to Solar Power Equity in Environmental Justice Communities and Urban Communities, Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz

H.2706/S.1846: An Act Relative to Solar Power and the Green Economy, Rep Paul Mark and Sen. Jamie Eldridge

There’s also a hearing coming up for Divestment on Oct 10 (H.3281, Rep Decker Fact Sheet)

And there’s the Gas Leaks/DPU hearing on Oct 17, which will include:

S.1847/H.3400 Clarifying Authority & Responsibilities of DPU, Sen. Eldridge/ Rep. Kulik

S.1855/H.2698 Protect Ratepayers from Pipeline Expansion Costs, Sen. Jehlen/Rep. Gordon

S.1845/H.2683 Protect Consumers from Paying for Gas Leaks, Sen. Eldridge/Rep. Barber

Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts Action Item

Support Doug Jones in Alabama Senate Race

Dem just 6 points behind in Alabama Senate race: poll

Alabama Republican Roy Moore leads Democrat Doug Jones by less than 6 points in a new Senate special election poll that’s likely to raise questions about whether the deep-red state is in play.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/353132-dem-just-6-points-behind-in-alabama-senate-race-poll

Google Doug Jones to support.

International

Kremlin warns of consequences as North Korea stand-off heats up

http://thehill.com/policy/international/352436-kremlin-warns-of-consequences-as-rhetoric-with-north-korea-heats-up

Call the White House, and Secy Tillerson to urge an end to Trumps insulting and threatening North Korea and Kim Jong Un, and to begin negotiations.

Secy of State: https://register.state.gov/contactus/ Press Contact Us Form

September 18, 2017

Healthcare

Republicans’ last-ditch effort on Obamacare repeal is gaining some steam. Call Swing Republican Senators Collins, Murkowski, Portman, and Heller to urge their no vote.

[bctt tweet=”Stop Trumpcare now for once and for all! #KillTheBill” via=”no”]

Immigration

DACA

Lawrence Community Works and other organizations are sponsoring a DACA application renewal on Saturday, 9/30/17, for DACA recipients whose status will expire on March 5, 2018 (at 61 Warren St, Lawrence, MA), 10am to 6pm. THESE DACA RECIPIENTS MUST APPLY BEFORE 10/5/17. Lawyers will be available to assist.

These applications have a fee (Homeland Security Office) of $495. Donations are requested to help with these fees.

Send to: Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc.

305 Essex St. 4th Floor

Lawrence, MA 01840

Please get the word out.

From The 65

Explanation of the new DACA bills and scripts for calling Members of Congress

Environment

Tell Congress Irma is a Climate Change Disaster, from 350.org.

Stop Congress from gutting the EPA

Friends of the Earth

September 3, 2017

DEFEND DACA

Merrimack Valley Interfaith Sanctuary Network

We are deeply concerned that President Trump could terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program this week. This move would turn our nation’s back on immigrant youth who are valued members of our communities. Terminating DACA would place the nearly 800,000 DREAMers whom the program allows to work and live legally in the United States at immediate risk of deportation.

CALL CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE

Representatives: 1-888-496-3502

Senators: 1-888-410-0619

*Please call your 1 Representative and then your 2 Senators

Sample Script to Representative/Senators: “Hi, my name is X and I’m calling from City, State and my zip code is X. I am a person of faith. I’m deeply concerned about the reports that President Trump could end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) this week. I support the program and strongly oppose any attempt to terminate or alter it. I urge the Senator/Representative to do everything in his/her power to protect 800,000 DACA-recipients from deportation and support their right to work and study in this country. There are three things I’m hoping your office will do right now. Can the Senator/Representative (1) appeal directly to the President to keep this program in place, (2) issue a public statement of support for DACA recipients, and (3) support a clean passage of S.1615/H.R.3440, the Dream Act of 2017?”

CALL PRESIDENT TRUMP: (202) 456-1111 (please leave a message)

Sample Script for President Trump: “I’m from [City, State]. I am a person of faith and I support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and strongly oppose any attempt to terminate it or phase it out. DACA has provided nearly 800,000 young people the opportunity to pursue their dreams. I urge you to defend the DACA program well beyond September 5, protect DACA recipients from deportation and detention, and work with Congress toward a permanent solution.”

Please also tweet @realDonaldTrump and your Senators/Representatives: “.@ [HANDLE], protect DACA! My community stands with immigrant youth! #DefendDACA #HeretoStay #Faith4DACA”

Both President Trump and Members of Congress must hear that communities of faith demand DACA remain in place until the Dream Act passes, and that there be be no gap between DACA ending and Dream passing! Also, DACA recipients should not be used a political bargaining chip to increase a deportation force and tear apart families and communities.

To: Governor Charlie Baker

Defend DACA Now in Massachusetts!

Publicly defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) from recent attacks with a statement about how it benefits your state.

Info: https://action.unitedwedream.org/petitions/defend-daca-now-289?bucket&source=facebook-share-button&time=1504295079

CALL TO ACTION

***PLEASE SHARE WIDELY***

Conservative Republican Paul Ryan publicly came out to defend DACA for young undocumented immigrants. Will Governor Baker do the same?

Call 617.725.4005 AND 617.725.4000 and say:

“My name is _____________, I’m a resident of Massachusetts and I am asking that governor Charlie Baker publicly state his support for the DACA program and ask President Trump to keep it. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan just came out publicly in support of DACA today. What side is Governor Baker on? Will Governor Baker do the same?”

MERRIMAC VALLEY PROJECT

MVP will be pushing for Senator Ives to support the Safe communities Act. Unfortunately, this has been construed as a Sanctuary Act, and due to the threat of losing funding, Governor Baker sees this Act as endangering Massachusetts in as far as retaining monies needed, and would most likely veto it, if it gets House and Senate approval. The current actions around DACA however have shifted the mood both of the public and legislators. Most are against throwing kids under the bus so to speak. Our Mass Senate has passed a resolution to protect these children, and young adults… So the mood may be changing. This article goes into the detail around what happened in June.. Perhaps as the mood of the Nation changes, the threat of financial punishment will diminish. We hope so, and will be trying to persuade our Senator that her support is needed , and it is safer to step up.

IMMIGRATION

Calls needed to The Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security

Last Monday evening, Aug. 21, Representative Juana Matias visited The Immigration Task Force. She explained the value of the “Safe Communities Act” officially known as “An Act to protect the civil rights and safety of all Massacusetts residents, House bill No. 3269 and Senate bill No. 1305. The intent of the bill is to protect undocumented residents of our communities from being arrested or detained solely on the basis of a civil immigration request. It does not however, prevent law enforcement from arresting a person in the course of a criminal investigation.

I invite all of the members of the HDCC to read the entire bill, both Senate and House versions. I believe the enactment of this bill could go a long way to reassuring immigrants in our communities who are not involved in criminal activities that they are safe. It could also serve to encourage them to report to local police criminal activities that they witness in their neighborhoods. Overall this bill could mean safer communities for all of us.

Right now the bill is in the hands of The Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. I include here the names and contact info of the Chair and Vice Chair of that committee both on the Senate side and House side. I spoke to Rep. Juana Matias’ office and was asked to contact members of that committee. It will be that committee’s decision whether to move or not move the bill forward to the legislature for a vote. Please try to make as many calls/e-mails as you can. Thanks. Kathy Rurak

Senate: Chair: Michael.Moore@masenate.gov 617-722-1485 508-757-0323×3

Vice-Chair: Mike.Rush@masenate.gov 617-722-1348

House: Chair: Harold.Naughton@mahouse.gov 617-722-2230 978-365-1955

Vice-Chair: Alan.Silvia@mahouse.gov. 617-722-2230 774-526-1122

ENVIRONMENTAL

Defenders of Wildlife – this is a good point of attack against the Trump Environmental Policy

Monumentally Misguided

The Trump administration’s “review” of national monuments is based on a faulty legal premise.

Nearly a quarter billion acres of public lands and waters – 11,335,910 acres of terrestrial national monuments and 217,899,925 acres of marine national monuments – are under threat from the Trump administration.

Info – http://www.defendersblog.org/2017/08/monumentally-misguided/

Take Action:

Protect Our National Treasures

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3231

ESA Under Attack on Capitol Hill

Posted by: Mary Price |Defenders of Wildlife 7/19/17

They’re at it again. Today Congress reviewed six bills over the course of two legislative hearings in both the House and Senate that would undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This is just the latest chapter in the ongoing assault against the ESA by one of the most anti-wildlife Congresses we’ve seen in decades.

http://www.defendersblog.org/2017/07/esa-attack-capitol-hill/

Take action:

If you care about wildlife and the Endangered Species Act, please call your Senators at (202) 224-3121

Please email comments here.

ECONOMIC

Join Raise Up Massachusetts for a State House Hearing on a $15 Minimum Wage

Join us on Tuesday, September 19th at the Massachusetts State House for an important public hearing on our legislation for a $15 Minimum Wage. Raise Up Legislative $15 Minimum Wage Hearing

Rally and Lobby: Tuesday, September 19th, 2017 at 10:30AM in Room 222 of the Massachusetts State House

Hearing: Tuesday, September 19th, 2017 at 12:00PM in Gardner Auditorium of the Massachusetts State House

http://action.raiseupma.org/page/s/2017-15-minimum-wage-hearing

August 20, 2017

HEALTHCARE

From The 65:

This will be Trump’s first chance to dismantle the ACA, and he is planning to make a decision this week.

LAST WEEK’S CTA: Tell the Senate to Protect Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments and Americans’ Access to Affordable Care!

https://thesixtyfive.org/weeklyCTA

This link gives info on CTA’s and their importance. Basically they are used too pay insurance companies for giving subsidized policies to low income people and are vital to the stability of the ACA.

I would call the White House rather than our representatives, as we know where they stand. There is a script for a call at this link. – Graham S.

Call the President.

Comments: 202-456-1111.

Send your email: To send an email to the White House in general, in the “To” line enter the following: comments@whitehouse.gov. To send an email to the President, in the “To” line enter president@whitehouse.gov.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Jobs not Jails

Justice Reinvestment Act/An Act to Increase Neighborhood Safety and Opportunity (S. 64)

Background: A coalition of community, religious, and union organizations has come together behind an omnibus bill to improve Massachusetts’ systems of criminal justice, end mass incarceration, and re-invest in our schools and in job-creation.

Our neighborhoods are filled with people who cannot find life-sustaining work. Our prisons are filled with people who suffer from addiction or trauma, and people who struggled in school, yet they are serving long mandatory minimum sentences that do not address the underlying problem. Our nation has 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s prisoners; the most in the world. Much of this over-incarceration is driven by racial bias at every stage in the criminal justice process.

This link is a clear exposition of this bill.

https://www.uteclowell.org/uploads/uploads/fact_sheet_general__an_act_to_increase_neighborhood_safety_and_prosperity.pdf

Call your Senators and Reps to find where they stand on this bill.

ENVIRONMENT

Mass Power Forward Coalition

1. Legislative Agenda 2017-2018

The MPF is pleased to announce our 2017-2018 legislative agenda. Download the agenda here.

This is a very clear call to environmental legislative action for the nest year. Call your Senators and Reps to see where they stand on environmental action.

2. 100% Renewable Energy Communities

Our dependence on dirty energy like oil and gas pollutes our air and water and harms the health of Massachusetts’ communities. Pipelines threaten our safety and our green spaces. Pollution from fossil fuels are changing our climate and increasing the frequency of droughts, severe storms, and other damaging weather events.

We need local action across the globe to advance our clean energy future – and that’s why Mass Power Forward has decided to launch local clean energy campaigns across the state.

Check out our new 100 RE toolkit here, assembled by the Mass Climate Action Network, 350 Mass, Environment Massachusetts and Clean Water Action! Or, check out fact sheets on

Conducting a Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Green Communities

Developing a Climate Action Plan

Energy Efficiency for Municipal Buildings

Green Municipal Aggregation

Climate Planning for Equity

Renewable Heating

Local Solar Initiatives

Encouraging the Adoption of Electric Vehicles

Complete Streets

Net Zero

http://mapowerforward.com/100re

Baker-Polito Administration Designates 30 Cities and Towns as Green Communities

64% of Massachusetts Residents Live In Green Community

BOSTON – February 2, 2017 –

How to Become a Green Community and Qualify for Grants

http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-utilities-clean-tech/green-communities/gc-grant-program/

IMMIGRATION

Merrimack Valley Project

SEIU #509 Stands Up for Quality Care & a Living Wage

MVP leaders joined member group SEIU #509 yesterday to rally with direct care workers for a fair contract in their negotiations with Fidelity House. Fidelity House workers provide support, home care and residential services for more than 700 individuals and families across the Merrimack Valley. Also at the rally were State Reps. Marcos Devers, Frank Moran and Mayor Daniel Rivera.

According to SEIU #509 workers at Fidelity House, here’s what needs to change:

High turnover that harms the care of the individuals they serve.
Wasting critical resources on temporary agency staff.
Wages have fallen behind other organizations providing the same services; it’s time for Fidelity House to pay a living wage.

Action Alert: Support people with disabilities, and the workers who care for them. Contact Fidelity House CEO Yvonne Allard (yallard@fidelityhhs.org or 978-685-9471) and tell her people with disabilities deserve quality care, and that means investing in front-line staff who provide critical services.

August 7, 2017

End Mass Incarceration

S.819/H.741 End Mandatory Minimums Related to Drug Offenses

Sen. Creem/Rep. Carvalho:

To allow judges to determine sentences to fit the crime for drug offenders.

These laws contribute to the cost of prison and jails, and to their overcrowding.

See: UU Mass Action

More information:

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017

[bctt tweet=”2.3 million locked up in US. New report Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017 shows where & why https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017.html via @prisonpolicy” via=”no”]

By Peter Wagner and Bernadette Rabuy

Environment

Mass Climate Action Network

Join MCAN and other Indivisible groups for an informational webinar!
On Thursday August 10th, MCAN will be hosting a webinar to discuss important clean energy initiatives that are before the current legislation on Beacon Hill. Our focus is on carbon pricing, renewable portfolio standards, and expanding solar energy.

What: Clean Energy/Indivisibles Webinar
When: Thursday, August 10th, 8-9pm

See: http://www.massclimateaction.org/calendar

TELL PRUITT: HANDS OFF OUR CLEAN WATER!

URGENT: Donald Trump and EPA Admin Scott Pruitt announced the repeal of the EPA’s Clean Water Rule, giving polluters a pass to dump waste in our waterways and threaten the drinking water of 117 million Americans.

Trump and Pruitt’s attack on the Clean Water Rule is their first step towards gutting the entire Clean Water Act and the nearly 45 years of water protections that go with it. We can’t let this happen. Send a message today to tell Scott Pruitt to keep his hands off our water!

http://p2a.co/N1sxLdT

Healthcare

Our Revolution

Health care is a human right. There is something horribly wrong when a country as wealthy as America cannot help guarantee what countries far smaller than ours do. As part of our Summer for Progress we are pressuring Democrats and Republicans to support Medicare for All legislation in the House. HR 676, the Medicare for All Act, could determine the fate of millions of uninsured people. Your support is critical in our grassroots effort to demand that our Representatives in Congress support the same level of health care for all Americans that they receive compliments of the American taxpayers.

Sign our petition for House Democrats to support HR 676, the Medicare for All Act, as part of our Summer for Progress lobbying effort for the People’s Platform.

SIGN THE PETITION »

https://go.ourrevolution.com/page/s/medicare-for-all-now?source=em170803_1

Healthcare

The 65

7/31 Tell the Senate to Protect Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments and Americans’ Access to Affordable Care!

https://thesixtyfive.org/home

Raise Up Massachusetts

WHY ALL WORKERS NEED $15

Our legislation, H.2365 (filed by Rep. Dan Donahue) and S.1004 (filed by Sen. Ken Donnelly), would raise the state’s minimum wage by $1 each year over four years until it is $15 an hour in 2021. The minimum wage would then be adjusted each year to rise along with increases in the cost of living.

The Fight for $15

http://raiseupma.org/campaigns/the-fight-for-15/

July 24, 2017

No, you’re not reading the last newsletter — it’s still about health care. If you care about only one thing this week, please let it be health care:

Healthcare – The living dead will return to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid this week.

The Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act: the new Senate health care plan, explained.

Action: Say no to Repeal of ACA and Medicaid cuts. Here are the Swing Republican Senators (contact friends in these states; call senators and leave message or talk to aide). See also The Fight to Protect Our Care Is Not Over

The Opioid Crisis

Action: Call state reps and senators: Support School Education on Substance Abuse: MA House Bill H.2845. Introduced by By Representative DiZoglio of Methuen and Senator O’Connor Ives.

Action: Ask your state representatives to support legislation that would improve treatment and rehab programs — Bill S.1103:

Introduced by Mr. Keenan, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1103) of John F. Keenan, James M. Cantwell, Elizabeth A. Malia, Eric P. Lesser and other members of the General Court for legislation to provide access to full spectrum addiction treatment services. Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.

Raise Up Massachusetts: Living Wage and Paid Leave/Medical Leave

Action: Ask your Senators and Reps to support the following legislation:

Living Wage: House Bill H.2365 (Rep Dan Donahue) and Senate Bill S.1004 (Sen Ken Donnelly) would raise the state’s minimum wage by $1 a year over 4 years until it is $15 in 2021 with cost of living increases.
Paid Leave: H.2172 (Rep Ken Gordon) and S.1048 (Karen Spilka) would allow employees to take paid leave for serious injury, care for an ill family member, or for a new child.

Environment

Mass Power Forward: Natural Gas Pipeline Leaks. There are 20,000 gas leaks in Massachusetts, including hundreds in Haverhill that threaten health and the environment. Is there one near your home? (There’s two near mine!)

Action: Call Reps and Senators and ask them to support Bills H2683/ S1845 — Stop Charging Customers for Lost Gas!

Action: Call Your Senators: Oppose the Dirty Energy Bill!

Action: Please call your Massachusetts elected official(s) and ask them to support House bill H.1726 and Senate bill S.1821. Here are talking points for your call:

a constituent living in Town/City
a member of HDCC, Indivisible, or LWV
we need to support putting a price on carbon because it is one of the most immediate and important ways to:
- reduce our reliance on fossil fuels
- support the state economy by keeping energy dollars and jobs in the state
- improve and protect the health of MA residents by shifting to clean, renewable energy.
Economists across the political spectrum, and others Tesla CEO Elon Musk — agree that carbon pricing is the key to reducing greenhouse gases.

Immigration

Action: to protect DACA, call your Attorney General 832-610-3896 and say:

“Hello, my name is [name] and I am calling to ask the Attorney General to come out publicly to defend the DACA program. This program has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth across the country and it must be protected. I expect my attorney general to support the immigrant community and protect DACA.”

Action: For Immigration Update or to join: Contact the Haverhill Democratic City Immigration Task Force through Kathy Rurak 978-407-2945, jarandkas@comcast.net

Voting and Elections

Action: REJECT ‘ELECTION INTEGRITY’ COMMISSION’S VOTER SUPPRESSION AGENDA!

July 10, 2017

Unfortunately, it’s still about health care. If you care about only one thing this week, please let it be health care. And try our new Click to Tweet plug-in!

[bctt tweet=”@SenWarren and @SenMarkey: fight Trumpcare: withhold consent on all Senate business and filibuster by amendment.” via=”no”]

Submit your Trumpcare amendment. Let’s bury the bill!
Join the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action’s healthcare phone bank! Please contact hannah.jalsa@gmail.com for information. You can do this at home or join the Brookline group Tuesday, July 11, from 6-8 p.m.
Call Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey: tell them you support resisting by procedure by withholding consent and filibustering by amendment. More information here. Call daily. Tell your friends; share on social media. Also ask our senators to demand that this health care bill have hearings. Ask them to take leadership roles in condemning this process. And while you’re on the phone with them, share your ACA story! Have you or a loved one been helped by Medicaid? Tell them your story. Continue to reach out to your red state friends and family, asking them to call on their senators to oppose Trumpcare.
Continue the momentum on Automatic Voter Registration (AVR): Review the fact sheet on the AVR bill (S373/H2091). If your Senator and Representative are co-sponsors, call and thank them and ask them to urge the Joint Committee on Election Laws to report the AVR bill out favorably and soon.
Community Action Network has done the work for you! Check out their page for scripts for all of the current issues: automatic voter registration; oppose the Republican Health Care Bill; raise the minimum wage — and more.
Join the Day of Action for Net Neutrality: July 12: Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality.
From the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts: Criminal Justice Reform. Contact your Senator about criminal justice reform! On July 12, the Massachusetts Senate is holding a retreat to determine which criminal justice reform bills to focus on. Let your Senator know the Governor’s bill is not enough; please ask for support for the following bills:

Bill #	Topic	Bill Title	LWVMA Action
S777 / H2359	Deals with having to serve jail time because unable to pay court fees and fines	An Act to reduce the criminalization of poverty	Support	Testimony
S874	Conditional medical parole	An Act relative to medical placement of terminal and incapacitated inmates	Support	Testimony
S779 /H3121	Increases participation in rehabilitation programs, adds to parole board membership	An Act related to parole	Support	Testimony
S770/H3072	Allow alternative sentences for primary caregivers of minor children	An Act providing community-based sentencing alternatives for primary caregivers of dependent children convicted of non-violent crimes	Support	Testimony
H74	Reduce Recidivism	An Act implementing the joint recommendations of the Massachusetts criminal justice review	Support	Testimony
S944/H2309	Remove records of mistaken and juvenile arrests	An Act relative to sealing juvenile records and expungement of court records	Support	Testimony
S873/H967	Felony larceny amount	An Act relative to larceny	Support
S834/H3120	Pretrial and bail reform	An Act reforming pretrial process	Support	Testimony
S847/H793	Restorative justice	An Act promoting restorative justice practices	Support	Testimony
S1306/H3071	Solitary confinement restrictions	An Act reducing recidivism, curbing unnecessary spending and ensuring appropriate use of segregation	Support	Testimony
S819/H741	Repeal certain mandatory minimum sentences	An Act to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences related to drug offenses	Support	Testimony
S773	Increase participation	An Act to expand sentencing options	Support	Testimony

June 19, 2017

Here is contact information for our senators and their legislative aids:

Sen. Edward Markey (D)

Avenel Joseph
Senior Policy Adviser
avenel_joseph@markey.senate.gov
202-224-2742

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D)

Julia Frederick
Legislative Correspondent
julia_frederick@warren.senate.gov
202-224-4543

Call Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey: tell them you support resisting by procedure by withholding consent and filibustering by amendment. More information here. Call daily. Tell your friends; share on social media.

Call Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey: ask them to demand that this health care bill have hearings. Ask them to take leadership roles in condemning this process.

Call Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey: do you have an ACA story? Have you or a loved one been helped by Medicaid? Tell them your story.

Do you have friends or family in the “Trumpcare 10” states?

Alaska
West Virginia
Maine
Nevada
Arizona
Colorado
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Louisiana
Arkansas

If you’re not sure, this link will let you search for your Facebook friends in these states. Message, email, or text your friends in these states; you can copy and paste the following:

Soon, the Senate will vote on replacing the ACA. It’s estimated that 23 million people will lose health insurance coverage; many more will be priced out of the market. Will you please contact your senator and ask him or her to

Commit to voting against any bill that will result in anyone losing coverage.

Commit to voting against any bill that does not guarantee people with pre-existing conditions won’t see higher premiums.

Vote against to any bill that eliminates funding for Medicaid.

If you’d like to see the impact of the new health care bill in your state, please click this link. This will also give you contact information for your senator and legislative aids.

Do you have friends and family in any other state with Republican senators? Please email, message, or text them the above.

Click to tweet: Is your member of congress lying to you about healthcare? Know the facts.

Ask your state reps to support SD939 and HD450, which would ensure that Massachusetts residents continue to get no co-pay birth control, no matter what the federal government does. This bill has been languishing awhile, but it’s becoming more important now. From VoxCare:

The Trump administration is making plans to roll back Obamacare’s birth control mandate. A draft regulation obtained by Vox would allow all employers to opt out of the Affordable Care Act requirement to cover birth control at no cost to the patient. Religious organizations wouldn’t have to notify the government at all. “This rule would mean women across the country could be denied insurance coverage for birth control on a whim from their employer or university,” says Dana Singiser, Planned Parenthood’s vice president for policy.

Join Conservation International in building a healthier, more prosperous and more productive planet. Right now, humans are taking more from nature than nature can give. We’re weakening the Earth’s ability to provide the clean air, fresh water and food we depend on. But with big ideas and bigger solutions, we’re proving that we can save our future — today and for generations to come.

June 19, 2017

Here is contact information for our senators and their legislative aids; you will need it for the action items below:

Sen. Edward Markey (D)

Avenel Joseph
Senior Policy Adviser
avenel_joseph@markey.senate.gov
202-224-2742

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D)

Julia Frederick
Legislative Correspondent
julia_frederick@warren.senate.gov
202-224-4543

Call Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey: ask them to demand that this health care bill have hearings. Ask them to take leadership roles in condemning this process.

Call Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey: do you have an ACA story? Have you or a loved one been helped by Medicaid? Tell them your story.

Do you have friends or family in the “Trumpcare 10” states?

Alaska
West Virginia
Maine
Nevada
Arizona
Colorado
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Louisiana
Arkansas

If you’re not sure, this link will let you search for your Facebook friends in these states. Message, email, or text your friends in these states; you can copy and paste the following:

Soon, the Senate will vote on repealing and replacing the ACA. It’s estimated that 23 million people will lose health insurance coverage; many more will be priced out of the market. Will you please contact your senator and ask him or her to

Commit to voting against any bill that will result in anyone losing coverage.

Commit to voting against any bill that does not guarantee people with pre-existing conditions won’t see higher premiums.

Vote against to any bill that eliminates funding for Medicaid.

If you’d like to see the impact of the new health care bill in your state, please click this link. This will also give you contact information for your senator and legislative aids.

Do you have friends and family in any other state with Republican senators? Please email, message, or text them the above.

Click to tweet: Is your member of congress lying to you about healthcare? Know the facts.

The Trump administration is making plans to roll back Obamacare’s birth control mandate. A draft regulation obtained by Vox would allow all employers to opt out of the Affordable Care Act requirement to cover birth control at no cost to the patient. Religious organizations wouldn’t have to notify the government at all. “This rule would mean women across the country could be denied insurance coverage for birth control on a whim from their employer or university,” says Dana Singiser, Planned Parenthood’s vice president for policy.

June 12, 2017

Hot! June 13: National Call-in Day. We need an independent commission to investigate Russia’s meddling with our elections and Trump’s obstruction of justice. Tell your Representative and Senators to support bringing the Protect Our Democracy Act (H.R. 356 and S.27) to the floor!

After a Tuesday meeting, Republicans are more energized than ever to repeal Obamacare (McConnell whips Senate GOP back in line on Obamacare repeal; Senate Republicans Are Closer Than Ever To Repealing Obamacare). Continue to call Senators Markey and Warren; let them know that the ACA remains an issue of great importance. Reach out to your red state friends and ask them to call their senators.

Join the Campaign for Guaranteed Healthcare by filling out the form at this link. You will receive email and text updates about how to get involved in this social movement where you live, including public demonstrations, lobbying efforts, call-in days, outreach efforts, and more.

H.R.10 – Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 — has passed the House. Now it goes to the Senate. Let your senators know that this bill is not acceptable — we do not want our financial protections stripped away.

TELL YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE TO SUPPORT H.CON.RES. 63, the #MillionsOfJobs principles about what does belong in an infrastructure bill and what definitely does not (from IndivisibleGuide.com).

Hot! The League of Women Voters has invited Linda Dean Campbell to discuss her bill on Civic Education/Civic Engagement on Monday, June 12th, at 6:30 in the UU Church on Kenoza Ave. If you haven’t already, please notify your rep/senators and ask them to support Civic Education in the schools — HD2189/SD954 — before the hearing on June 13th. More information: Benefits of Project-Based Civics, An Act to promote and enhance_0D_0A civic engagement Section by Section-2-2, and An Act to promote and enhance civic engagement_FACT SHEET.

Homelessness prevention: Please sign our 1-minute online action to your State Rep and Senator. This month, the Legislature will be finalizing its budget recommendations for the year ahead, and the choices they make will have deep impacts for people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. The action includes focus on the campaign to ensure that families experiencing homelessness do not have to stay in places not meant for human habitation before accessing shelter, the expansion of the RAFT homelessness prevention program, and increased funding for housing and services for unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. Click here and enter your address to get started: http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51618/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=22501. More details about our advocacy are here: http://www.mahomeless.org/advocacy/item/fy-18-conference-committee-budget

Please ask your state reps to support H2845 Substance Abuse Education, a bill introduced by Diana DiZoglio and Katie O’Connor Ives.

Jim Braude, on his show Greater Boston, interviewed people around the city, showing people pictures of the three democratic candidates for governor and asking if people recognized them. Only two persons knew any of the three democrats running for governor. Last week, the newsletter said this: “In the main convention hall, we met three candidates for governor for the 2018 election: Jay Gonzales, Bob Massie, and Setti Warren. Please get to know these candidates — each one can provide a solid challenge to Charlie Baker.” This week, use social media to get their names in front of people. Share their pages with your friends; check these candidates out on social media. Let’s start to get the word out that we’ve got three great candidates for governor!

June 4, 2017

Join me in taking the Climatarian Challenge. Download the app, and then try to stay within your carbon budget of 8000 carbon points for a month by recording your meals (it’s easy — just click “fish,” “chicken,” “vegetables” — the app doesn’t want the details). After each recorded meal, the app will subtract the carbon footprint of that meal from your remaining carbon budget. I thought I was helping the planet by eating local — I was surprised to find out that maybe not.
Sign the pledge to become an environmental voter.
Join Elizabeth Warren’s DeVos Watch: “To ensure that the Education Department acts in the public interest, Congress and the public must demand accountability.”
No Kid Hungry, an initiative of the non-profit organization Share Our Strength, has access to information about groups serving free meals nationwide as part of the the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service Program. If you know a school-aged child in need of breakfast & lunch this summer, simply text “FOOD” to 877877. After you send them your zip code, you will receive a message back with a location closest to you where a child get free summer meals. Spanish speakers can text “COMIDA” to that same number.
Sign the petition asking the FEC to investigate the private prison company Geo Group: “During the 2016 presidential election, they donated money to Trump’s campaign. This is clearly in violation of campaign finance laws as they contract with the federal government and are prohibited from donating any funds to a political campaign.”
In light of the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, here are action items from Leonardo DiCaprio:

You can start by supporting these organizations on the front lines of this fight:
Indivisible Guide: https://www.indivisibleguide.com/act-locally
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): https://www.nrdc.org
Resistance Manual:https://www.resistancemanual.org/Climate_/_Environment
Stand Up America: https://www.standupamerica.com/act
Take action on https://www.beforetheflood.com/act. (Scroll down past Add Your Name to find a number of climate-related action items and activities, including the Climatairian Challenge.

Massachusetts Action Items

Notify your rep/senators that you support Civic Education in the schools — HD2189/SD954. American History, social studies and Civic Education have been pushed aside with a constant focus on computerized testing in reading and math. Haverhill State Rep Linda Dean Campbell has filed this bill. Please call your state representatives and ask them to SUPPORT THE BILL before the hearing on June 13th. More information: Benefits of Project-Based Civics, An Act to promote and enhance_0D_0A civic engagemen Section by Section-2-2, and An Act to promote and enhance civic engagement_FACT SHEET.

The Trump administration is making plans to roll back Obamacare’s birth control mandate. A draft regulation obtained by Vox would allow all employers to opt out of the Affordable Care Act requirement to cover birth control at no cost to the patient. Religious organizations wouldn’t have to notify the government at all. “This rule would mean women across the country could be denied insurance coverage for birth control on a whim from their employer or university,” says Dana Singiser, Planned Parenthood’s vice president for policy.

Pledge to join the Raise Up Massachusetts campaign in 2017. Urge your state reps to support these bills; calling sheet here.

Click on the links below to see what other actions Democrats are focusing on.

Health Care

Budget

Education

Environment

Immigration

Presidential tax returns

Retirement and Social Security

Vote

Women’s Health Care and Issues

Internet privacy

And one more thing to be outraged about this week: Congress passed S.J.Res.34, which takes away your internet privacy. Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 and protest this bill; urge the president to not sign it. If your senator or representative voted for this, call them and express your outrage and disapproval.
Labor: 7. H.R.785 National Right to Work (this one ends unions)

Massachusetts Action Items