5 actions! Seriously?! Yep! But they’ve all got easy scripts for you to follow and won’t take more than 30 seconds each.
- Action #1: Federal Action – CALL the White House NOW and Urge President Biden to Use the Bully Pulpit to Pass S.1 – For the People Act
- Action #2: Federal action – Call Feinstein EVERY DAY(!) until the S.1 – For the People Act passes the Senate.
- Action #3: State Action – CALL your state senator to pass the VISION Act.
- Action #4: State Action – CALL your state assemblymember to pass SB2 – Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021.
- Action #5: State Action – Dark money smackdown – Call out two assemblymembers for misusing their power.
Action #1: Federal Action – CALL the White House NOW and Urge President Biden to Use the Bully Pulpit to Pass S.1 – For the People Act
Pick an option that works for you, or make your own…
Call script option 1: In his Philadelphia speech, the President told the country about the danger to our democracy: “the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War” Since that’s the threat, he needs to do much more.
He needs to use the bully pulpit to push for filibuster reform so that the Senate can pass S.1. The choice is simple: keep the filibuster as it is, or save democracy. We elected him so he could make the right choice.
Call script option 2: (from Center for Common Ground)
Hi, my name is [NAME], and I’m calling from [CITY, STATE]. I’m calling to urge President Biden to do everything in his power to protect our freedom to vote by pressuring the Senate to overcome the filibuster and pass the S.1 – For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These bills are common-sense reforms to unrig our political system and make sure the voices of the American people are heard. Thank you.
Call script option 3: (from Jessica Craven of Chop Wood, Carry Water):
I voted for President Biden, and am grateful for all he’s doing, but I’m calling to ask him to do much more to pressure Democrats in Congress to pass voting rights legislation—namely HR1 the For the People Act and HR4 the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. And I want him to vocally support abolishing or reforming the filibuster to get this done. If we don’t protect our ability to vote now we will never get this chance again.
Contact: 202 456 1111 (Open only Tues-Thurs, 11am-3pm Eastern)
Action #2: Federal action – Call Feinstein EVERY DAY(!) until the S.1 – For the People Act passes the Senate.
Senator Alex Padilla is ready to go. It’s Feinstein who is waffling. (Information on S.1 here.)
Minimal phone script: I’m calling from [zip code]. I want to thank the Senator for her critical vote to move the For The People Act forward just before the recess. But we still need more from her to help protect our democracy from attack from a partisan minority cheating our election processes.
Reforming the filibuster to pass this bill may be our only chance to fix the election system this broadly in any foreseeable future, and there is no time to lose with gerrymandering already beginning.
I urge her to speak up publicly and apply the weight of your seniority to the priority not to let filibuster prevent this must-pass bill from being enacted into law in time to push back the gerrymandering.
Minimal email or postcard script: Dear Senator Feinstein,
Thank you for voting to move the For The People Act forward just before the recess. That was a truly critical vote, but we need more from you.
Our nation is under attack from within, with an anti-democratic minority attempting to gain a ruling position by cheating our sacred election processes, to their partisan benefit. This is a 5-alarm fire! We might not get another chance to fix the election system this broadly in any foreseeable future.
There is no time to lose, as the day after recess began the gerrymandering process began with census data delivered to the states. We need the provisions of this bill that ban partisan gerrymandering to become effective as quickly as possible for this year’s redistricting process.
Nothing must be allowed to prevent this bill from passing, even the filibuster. There is nothing more important.
Please speak up publicly and apply the weight of your seniority to the priority not to let filibuster prevent this must-pass bill from being enacted into law in time to push back the gerrymandering.
Contact: Senator Feinstein: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430, mailing address: One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104
Action #3: State Action – CALL your state senator to pass the VISION Act.
The trauma of familial separations is not just happening in war zones. It’s happening right here under the cloak of “ICE transfers”, and we can stop it.
We are here…
The VISION Act (AB 937) has survived the gauntlet of the Appropriations Committee and is now heading back to the Senate floor for a final vote. Make sure your state senator knows you support this important bill that promotes human dignity, equal justice, and reunification of immigrant families to the Governor’s desk! (Read more about this bill here.)
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to urge Sen. [___] to support the VISION Act (AB 937). This would stop ICE transfers of immigrant community members who have already served their time in local jails or state prisons. California must end double punishment and stop assisting ICE who routinely targets, detains, and deports Black, Latinx, & AAPI immigrants. I urge the Senator to vote yes on the bill, and keep our immigrant families and communities whole.
Contact:
- State Senator Monique Limón (SD-19): email, SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940
- State Senator Henry Stern (SD-27): email, SAC (916) 651-2027, Calabasas (818) 876-3352
- Not your people? Who is my state senator?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.
Action #4: State Action – CALL your state assemblymember to pass SB2 – Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021.
“The National Police Accountability Project is proud to support our members’ work in spearheading California Senate Bill 2, authored by California Senator Bradford (D-Los Angeles), and co-authored by Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego).
Existing law allows violence-prone officers to create an unsafe culture for the citizens they are sworn to protect, by providing immunities from the consequences of violating someone’s civil rights. Law enforcement officers in California currently enjoy unprecedented immunity from the consequences of violating someone’s civil rights with excessive force.
Kenneth Ross Jr., an unarmed Black man, was killed in broad daylight – gunned down in Gardena by an officer wielding an automatic rifle. Years later, Kenneth’s family has been unable to bring that officer to justice because court-created immunities in California and qualified immunity at the federal level have made it nearly impossible to hold rogue officers accountable for using excessive force.
Kenneth Ross Jr.’s story isn’t unique. State legislators in California can act right now to eliminate those immunities for police officers, and provide a pathway for the victims of excessive force or brutality to hold rogue officers accountable.
Senate Bill (SB) 2 also aims to implement a statewide system for revoking the license of police officers who commit serious misconduct, preventing bad cops who leave one law enforcement agency from being employed by any other police agency. This statewide decertification process means that cops who have been fired, or resigned while under investigation for misconduct, can no longer bounce around from community to community. It also means officers who were fired for excessive force, sexual misconduct, and dishonesty will no longer continue to terrorize community members by finding a job somewhere else.”
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and want Assembly member [___] to support SB2 – “Peace officers: certification: civil rights” bill.
Contact:
- State Assemblymember Steve Bennett: (CA-37): email, SAC (916) 319-2037, SB (805) 564-1649, VTA (805) 641-3700
- State Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin: (CA-44): email, SAC (916) 319-2044, CAM (805) 482-1904, OX (805) 483-4488
- Not your people? Who is my assemblymember?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.
Action #5: State Action – Dark money smackdown – Call out two powerful assemblymembers for misusing their power.
Legislative leadership failed the people by bowing to lobbyists to stop a bill that would make donors clear to voters. If we don’t show consequences, it will only get worse.
What Happened: After all our work, calling, petitioning, etc…two people – Assembly Appropriations Chair Lorena Gonzalez and Speaker Anthony Rendon, killed SB 752, the Disclosure Clarity Act. This was one of Indivisible’s top priority bills for this year – the first in the nation to require large online ads to clearly show their top funder. It would also have made it easier to see the top 3 funders of political ads on TV; improve ddisclosures on text message ads; and will ensured that voters knew they must be shown the top funders of initiative, referendum, and recall petitions before they signed. (Information on the bill and example advertisements here.)
This bill sailed through the State Senate 35-0 and the Assembly Elections Committee 6-0 and then at the last minute the same lobbyists who delayed California DISCLOSE Act by 7 years, showed up again and opposed it.
Assemblymember Gonzalez and Speaker Rendon killed the bill at their behest in the Appropriations Committee, rather than listening to the thousands of Californians who signed petitions and the progressive and good government groups like Indivisible, Common Cause, League of Women Voters, etc. This means in the next election of 2022 we will NOT have enough protection from special interests hiding in online ads, TV ads and initiative petitions.
A version of the bill will almost certainly be back again, but for it to have a chance we have to let them, Assemblymember Gonzalez and Speaker Rendon, know that there are consequences when they let the people down — like they just did!
MInimal script: I’m a supporter of [Indivisible, Common Cause, League of Women Voters, etc] and I want [Assm. Gonzales, Renden] to know that I’m very [disappointed, angry, pissed-off] that [she/he] killed SB 752 the Disclosure Clarity Act, which was a necessary tool in the fight against dark money in political ads. Democrats and progressives can’t compete financially with the giant corporations when they try to buy elections while hiding their identity on misleading ads and we, the public, lose.
Contact:
- Appropriations Chair Gonzalez: 916-319-2080
- Speaker Rendon: 916-319-2063
We need as many people from these groups to make to these calls as possible so they take us seriously before killing our top priority bills. So please call yourself and get others to call! We plan to bring the bill back next year and this will help us!
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 