Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Happy New Year and welcome back!! I hope you had a wonderful break. I am certainly ready for our new House of Representatives to get started tomorrow!
There are so many things to look forward to and to fight for in the upcoming weeks. Here are a few to keep track of.
Happy New Year and welcome back!! I hope you had a wonderful break. I am certainly ready for our new House of Representatives to get started tomorrow!
There are so many things to look forward to and to fight for in the upcoming weeks. Here are a few to keep track of.
H.R. 1
After two years of playing defense, we will finally have some power to propose change in Congress. The first item up for bid will be H.R.1, a bill that contains multiple reforms that are way overdue. The goals of this bill are as follows:
*Establish nationwide automatic voter registration as well as promote online voter registration
*Allow for same-day voter registration
*Restore the Voting Rights Act which will protect against purging of voter rolls, require states to update their election equipment (we’re talking to you Georgia, Florida and Texas), and restore voting rights to criminals who have done their time.
*Attempt to end partisan gerrymandering
*Increase oversight on lobbyists, and expand conflict-of-interest laws
* Overturn Citizens United and get big, anonymous campaign donations out of politics; encourage small-dollar donations
* REQUIRE PRESIDENTIAL TAX RETURNS (TRUMP!!!!!)
* Require elected officials to disclose and divest from financial interests (Trump!)
After two years of playing defense, we will finally have some power to propose change in Congress. The first item up for bid will be H.R.1, a bill that contains multiple reforms that are way overdue. The goals of this bill are as follows:
*Establish nationwide automatic voter registration as well as promote online voter registration
*Allow for same-day voter registration
*Restore the Voting Rights Act which will protect against purging of voter rolls, require states to update their election equipment (we’re talking to you Georgia, Florida and Texas), and restore voting rights to criminals who have done their time.
*Attempt to end partisan gerrymandering
*Increase oversight on lobbyists, and expand conflict-of-interest laws
* Overturn Citizens United and get big, anonymous campaign donations out of politics; encourage small-dollar donations
* REQUIRE PRESIDENTIAL TAX RETURNS (TRUMP!!!!!)
* Require elected officials to disclose and divest from financial interests (Trump!)
Whew! This bill has some lofty goals. Go big or go home, right? A bill this large needs equally big support from us. Starting tomorrow, we need to let our members of Congress know that we want them to push this bill as far as they can get it. We may not see it come to fruition now, but if Democrats can take a majority in the Senate in 2020, it will be ready to pass ASAP.
Read more about H.R. 1 here: https://indivisible.org/re…/hr-1-strengthening-our-democracy
Make plans to attend the Rally for Democracy in support of H.R. 1 tomorrow (Thursday) at the Capitol building starting at 6:45 pm. Get more information here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1901620699934202/
Get Federal Employees Back to Work (But No Wall!)
Thousands of federal employees are currently furloughed or have been working without pay since December 22nd, while Trump and the GOP tantrum over money to build a border wall for security. Strangely enough, many of the employees affected work for airport or border security. Later today, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress will meet with Trump to discuss border security. Let’s hope Rep. Pelosi and Senator Schumer can convince Trump to stop this nonsense. Keep an eye out for that news as the day goes on.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/20c52266-0de9-11e9-831f-3a…
Thousands of federal employees are currently furloughed or have been working without pay since December 22nd, while Trump and the GOP tantrum over money to build a border wall for security. Strangely enough, many of the employees affected work for airport or border security. Later today, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress will meet with Trump to discuss border security. Let’s hope Rep. Pelosi and Senator Schumer can convince Trump to stop this nonsense. Keep an eye out for that news as the day goes on.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/20c52266-0de9-11e9-831f-3a…
A federal employees labor union has sued the Trump administration over the government shutdown. Stay tuned.
https://www.axios.com/federal-employees-union-sues-trump-sh…
https://www.axios.com/federal-employees-union-sues-trump-sh…
Environment
Now is the time for us to start taking a stand for the health of our planet. We have been pretty helpless for the last two years. 2019, is the year to change that.
Now is the time for us to start taking a stand for the health of our planet. We have been pretty helpless for the last two years. 2019, is the year to change that.
As a whole, Trump has proven to be a pretty ineffective leader. Unfortunately, one area where he has excelled is in slashing rules designed to protect our environment. The New York Times reports that 78 environmental rules are on their way out because of Trump. These environmental rollbacks could lead to an extra 80,000 deaths per year and could cause respiratory problems for more than 1 million people!
https://www.nytimes.com/…/trump-environment-rules-reversed.…
https://www.nytimes.com/…/trump-environment-rules-reversed.…
Last Friday, the Trump administration tried to sneak in an announcement that they are going to loosen regulations on mercury hoping that we would not notice. Let’s make sure that we pay attention. https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/epa-make-it-harder-tighte…/
Even Chuck “Both sides” Todd has decided that climate change is an issue that needs our full attention. https://www.mediaite.com/…/chuck-todd-covers-climate-crisi…/
It is “do or die” time for our planet. Now that Democrats have the majority in the House we need to make environmental legislation a priority. Let’s support the establishment of a Select Committee for a Green New Deal that would be responsible for developing legislation that could be implemented over the next decade. Read about the Green New Deal, https://indivisible.org/…/tell-your-democratic-member-congr… and then contact your members of Congress to support it.
Holding Trump Accountable
Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives now have subpoena power over Trump! Whoop! Stay tuned for that.
https://www.cnn.com/…/democratic-investigations-…/index.html
Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives now have subpoena power over Trump! Whoop! Stay tuned for that.
https://www.cnn.com/…/democratic-investigations-…/index.html
Special Events
Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison is hosting his third listening session tomorrow, Thursday, January 3rd from 6-8 pm, at the Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave N Minneapolis, from 6-8PM.
Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison is hosting his third listening session tomorrow, Thursday, January 3rd from 6-8 pm, at the Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave N Minneapolis, from 6-8PM.
Governor-elect Tim Walz will be having an inaugural celebration on Friday, January 11th in Mankato. Go here for more information- https://www.facebook.com/events/304461390194818/
Joy Reid will host a town hall with Nancy Pelosi on @MSNBC Friday, January 4th at 9 pm.
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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