Friday, September 1, 2017

Friday 9/`1 Call to Action

Friday
1. Voting Rights Advancement Act (S1419)
https://www.congress.gov/…/115th-cong…/senate-bill/1419/text
In 2013, the Supreme Court voted to invalidate key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. The VRA’s was designed to protect minority voters and ensure that they have equal opportunity to vote in elections. Without the VRA protections, states can make changes to voting rules without submitting those changes for federal review. Now states can change voting district boundaries, voter identification requirements, and polling locations with little notice. This is already happening all over the country. Just look at North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas to name a few.
The Voting Rights Advancement Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Teri Sewell (D-AL) on June 21, 2017 and in the Senate by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on June 22, 2017. Here’s a list of the protections the VRAA will provide:
1. Modernizing the VRA’s pre-clearance formula to cover states and localities with a pattern of discrimination;
2. Ensuring that last-minute voting changes do not adversely affect voters by requiring jurisdictions to publicly disclose all voting changes that occur 180 days before an election;
3. Expanding the Attorney General’s authority to send federal observers to any jurisdiction where it is believed there is a substantial risk of discrimination at the polls on election day or during an early voting period; and
4. Improving the voting rights for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives.
Both Sens. Klobuchar and Franken support this bill. Let’s call and give them a telephone high-five for protecting our right to vote.
2. ACA Sabotage
The Affordable Care Act is still the law of the land but that has not stopped Trump from trying to sabotage it. The Department of Health and Human Services announced that it will gut the budget that was used to promote enrollment into into the ACA and aid to help consumers sign up for coverage. The deadline for enrollment has also been moved up. Read more about it here: http://www.msnbc.com/…/trump-administration-takes-aca-sabot…
If we can’t rely on our government to do the right thing we will just have to do it ourselves. Check out this Indivisible ACA Sign Up Project. By using social media, we can help spread the word about the ACA enrollment period.
https://www.thunderclap.it/projec…/61147-aca-signup-reminder
3. Dont Forget your Republican party job evaluation.
Do you have a Republican elected official working for you (state or federal)? Today is your chance to evaluate their job performance!
https://www.change.org/p/chair-mngop-com-mn-republican-part…
4. Rogan’s List: If you are looking for a way to lend financial support to the people struggling with the effects of Hurricane Harvey in Texas (in addition to supporting the Red Cross), NBC has put together a list of charities working in the region: https://www.nbcnews.com/…/hurricane-harvey-how-help-storm-v… Let’s give as generously as our circumstances allow.
Franken-202-224-5641
Klobuchar-202-224-3244
House of Representative switchboard: (202) 224-3121
MN Legislators: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/legislators
Resistbot: https://resistbot.io/
Governor Dayton- https://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/
Congressional District 2 residents: Check out this website for information about groups and events in your area. mn02progressiveactionnetwork.com
Out and About
For those of us who missed the Burnout and Sustainability Training for Activists webinar last Saturday, the video is now available on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2wfVcwl We can also check out host Aditi Juneja's Self Care Sundays podcast and make sure that we're taking care of ourselves https://www.selfcaresundayspodcast.com/
Events for Labor Day weekend. Check out what’s happening in your neck of the woods.
http://www.mnaflcio.org/up…/2017-minnesota-labor-day-events…
Robert Reich explains how Putin stands to gain from Trump's presidency.
YOUTUBE.COM

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