Tuesday
1. Local Government Shenanigans
Minnesota legislators are busy working on the omnibus bill. Unfortunately, the Minnesota GOP has insisted on tabling some important legislation. Last week we discussed Rep. Dave Pinto’s gun safety bills. Catch up here:
Minnesota legislators are busy working on the omnibus bill. Unfortunately, the Minnesota GOP has insisted on tabling some important legislation. Last week we discussed Rep. Dave Pinto’s gun safety bills. Catch up here:
Minnesota’s Representative, Dave Pinto has been in the lead, fighting for sensible gun legislation. Unfortunately, the Republican majority in the House has prevented any gun safety bills from passing, despite overwhelming support from Minnesotans. Today would be a good day to contact Rep. Pinto and thank him for his hard work. It has not gone unnoticed. If you have a GOP Congressperson, give them a call today and ask them why HF 1669 and HF 1605 are not not in the Republican Public Safety omnibus bill HF 2856. Their lack of leadership has not gone unnoticed.
HF 2856 Public Safety omnibus bill https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php…
HF 1669 Criminal background checks for firearm saleshttps://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php…
Hf 1605 Prohibit people who are a danger to themselves or others from possessing a firearm https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php…
Rep. Pinto’s statement: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/pressrelease.asp…
HF 2856 Public Safety omnibus bill https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php…
HF 1669 Criminal background checks for firearm saleshttps://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php…
Hf 1605 Prohibit people who are a danger to themselves or others from possessing a firearm https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php…
Rep. Pinto’s statement: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/pressrelease.asp…
Now the Senate is up to the same shenanigans. This week, the House voted in favor of changing the definitions of sexual harassment in state law. They looked to eliminate the requirement that someone’s words our actions must be “severe or pervasive” in order to constitute sexual harassment. The change was due to be presented to the Senate, but Republican Senator Karin Housley (who is running for Senator Al Franken’s open U.S. Senate seat) has tabled the bill for this year.
The problem with the severe or pervasive requirement is that it is so strict that sexual harassment cases rarely progress. It’s time for that to change.
The problem with the severe or pervasive requirement is that it is so strict that sexual harassment cases rarely progress. It’s time for that to change.
Read more about it here and then give your Minnesota senators a call. http://m.startribune.com/change-to-sexual-harassment-sta…/…/
If our leaders can't act in the best interest of their constituents, it’s time to vote them out.
If our leaders can't act in the best interest of their constituents, it’s time to vote them out.
Want to keep track of what’s going on in the omnibus bill? Watch Your Reps MN is a great resource. Check it out:
https://mailchi.mp/…/watchyourrepsmn-action-alert-for-week-…
https://mailchi.mp/…/watchyourrepsmn-action-alert-for-week-…
2. H.R. 2152 – Citizens’ Right to Know Act of 2017
This Citizen’s Right to Know Act will be coming to the House floor for a vote this week.
This bill requires a state or local government that receives funds under a Department of Justice (DOJ) grant program and uses such funds for a pretrial services program to annually report the amount of funds received by the pretrial services program and certain information about participating defendants. DOJ must publish the information. Additionally, DOJ must reduce the grant allocation of a state or local government that fails to comply.
This Citizen’s Right to Know Act will be coming to the House floor for a vote this week.
This bill requires a state or local government that receives funds under a Department of Justice (DOJ) grant program and uses such funds for a pretrial services program to annually report the amount of funds received by the pretrial services program and certain information about participating defendants. DOJ must publish the information. Additionally, DOJ must reduce the grant allocation of a state or local government that fails to comply.
Why is this bad? According to the ACLU, this bill raises big privacy concerns for those participating in the DOJ’s pretrial services program. The bill would allow the Attorney General to make public the names, arrest records, and failure appearances of anyone in the program. While it may be important for the AG to collect this data, the privacy of the participants should be paramount.
This bill also only requires collecting negative data (like refusing to show up to trial) which could give a negative connotation of the pretrial services program. If local governments refuse to comply, they could lose this grant money.
Read more about it here: https://www.aclu.org/…/aclu-opposes-hr-2152-citizens-right-…
Here’s the bill: https://www.congress.gov/…/115t…/house-bill/2152/cosponsors…
Here’s the bill: https://www.congress.gov/…/115t…/house-bill/2152/cosponsors…
Call your congresspeople and let them know they should say “NO” to this bill, especially if you call Rep. Lewis your own. He likes to toot his horn about criminal justice reform.
3. Good Guy Dick
(From Rogan’s List)
After ceasing sales of assault rifles and banning gun sales to anyone under 21 shortly after the Parkland shooting, Dick’s Sporting Goods has taken another strong step and hired a lobbyist to push for common sense gun control efforts. http://thehill.com/…/386162-dicks-sporting-goods-hire-lobby….
Let’s thank Dick’s by calling (724) 273-3400; leaving feedback on their corporate site (http://www.corporate-office-headquarters.com/dicks-sporting…), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/dickssportinggoods/), and/or Twitter pages (https://twitter.com/DICKS), or writing to Edward Stack, CEO, Dick’s Sporting Goods, 345 Court Street, Coraopolis, PA, 15108. We can also patronize our local Dick’s store if we need some workout clothes or a new pair of sneakers and make sure to tell the people behind the counter why we are shopping there.
Parkland moms are organizing a Shop-In on Saturday, May 12 to thank responsible businesses like Dick’s Sporting Goods, which stopped selling assault rifles and is lobbying for gun reform after the Parkland shooting, for their actions on this crucial issue (http://thehill.com/…/386075-parkland-moms-plan-national-sho…). And there’s an opportunity to do more here, too. NuDay Syria is taking donations for those affected by the civil war, and they’re looking for sneakers, flip-flops and casual footwear. If we’re able, let’s order new shoes at Dick’s on May 12th and have them sent directly to the NuDay Syria offices (http://www.nudaysyria.net/contact.html), and post about it on social media with the hashtag #ShopInForMoms.
(From Rogan’s List)
After ceasing sales of assault rifles and banning gun sales to anyone under 21 shortly after the Parkland shooting, Dick’s Sporting Goods has taken another strong step and hired a lobbyist to push for common sense gun control efforts. http://thehill.com/…/386162-dicks-sporting-goods-hire-lobby….
Let’s thank Dick’s by calling (724) 273-3400; leaving feedback on their corporate site (http://www.corporate-office-headquarters.com/dicks-sporting…), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/dickssportinggoods/), and/or Twitter pages (https://twitter.com/DICKS), or writing to Edward Stack, CEO, Dick’s Sporting Goods, 345 Court Street, Coraopolis, PA, 15108. We can also patronize our local Dick’s store if we need some workout clothes or a new pair of sneakers and make sure to tell the people behind the counter why we are shopping there.
Parkland moms are organizing a Shop-In on Saturday, May 12 to thank responsible businesses like Dick’s Sporting Goods, which stopped selling assault rifles and is lobbying for gun reform after the Parkland shooting, for their actions on this crucial issue (http://thehill.com/…/386075-parkland-moms-plan-national-sho…). And there’s an opportunity to do more here, too. NuDay Syria is taking donations for those affected by the civil war, and they’re looking for sneakers, flip-flops and casual footwear. If we’re able, let’s order new shoes at Dick’s on May 12th and have them sent directly to the NuDay Syria offices (http://www.nudaysyria.net/contact.html), and post about it on social media with the hashtag #ShopInForMoms.
Sites to Check:
If Trump fires Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, please be ready to take to the streets in protest.
https://act.moveon.org/…/mueller-firing-rapid-respo…/search/
If Trump fires Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, please be ready to take to the streets in protest.
https://act.moveon.org/…/mueller-firing-rapid-respo…/search/
CD2Action https://cd2action.com/, @CD2action
League of Women Voters MN https://lwvmn.org/
Klobuchar-202-224-3244
Smith (202) 224-5641
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/
Smith (202) 224-5641
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/
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