(This is a great action from the great folks at IndivisibleSF.)
Minimal call script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep./Sen. [___] to use your power under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to revoke racist, destructive and corrupt rules from the Trump regime. This is an urgent issue, as I understand you only have 60 legislative days to do this. Please revoke the following:
Independent Contractor Status Under the FLSA
Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process
Fair Access to Financial Services
(Speak slowly, so the staffer can get the names down. Explanations on these rules below.)
On March 6th, President Biden thanked the American public for making the American Rescue Plan possible. “You say, “Well, how do they make it possible?” Well, quite frankly, without the overwhelming bipartisan support of the American people, this would not have happened. Your elected officials heard you. Overwhelming public support — every public opinion poll shows overwhelming support for this plan. And for the last weeks, it’s shown that. Every public opinion poll shows the people want this, they believe it’s needed, and they believe it’s urgent.”
Well, when it comes to background checks for guns, we, the American public, are once again the main bipartisan support. 93 percent of American voters support requiring background checks on all gun sales, including 89 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of gun owners. To get the job done, however, we need to finally pass two related bills, both of which may be voted on in the House tomorrow.
H.R. 8 – Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 requires all guns, with a few exceptions, to be sold from licensed dealers. The “Bipartisan” in the title is aspirational. Out of 210 total cosponsors for H.R.8, there are only 3 GOP cosponsors.
H.R.1446 – Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021 extends the background check time from 3 to 10 days to eliminate the “Charleston Loophole.” The name refers to the 2015 shooting of nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Charleston, S.C., where Dylann Roof – who was prohibited by law from possessing a firearm – was able to acquire one under current federal law from the dealer after 3 days, before the FBI could complete his background check. Only 137 cosponsors have cosponsored this bill, all Democrats.
We expect both to pass the House, but thank your legislators anyway. (Rep-check here for HR. 8 and here for H.R.1446.) Reps. Brownley and Carbajal are signed onto both already. The problem will clearly occur in the Senate, so we also need to start calling our senators, and urging friends and family in RED states to call theirs.
Quote from this LaTosha Brown. Update: The Georgia state Senate just voted along party lines on Monday to REPEAL no-excuse absentee voting after the state sent to Democrats to the Senate and voted for a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time in decades. All because 35 people out of 4,935,487 (or .0007% of the total) wrongly voted during the 2020 election. The bill would need to pass before March 31
Action:Write/email to these corporations – contact information below. Here are some points you can use.
You can write your own comment customized per company and/or use this sign-on form from the New Georgia Project here to send a message to eleven corporate heads. Mix it up a bit so your own voice comes through. You can add personal experiences of discrimination you’ve seen or been the subject of, as well.
Seriously. A lot of Democratic senators fell for this!
Minimal script for senators who voted FOR the Trust Act amendment in the 2021 budget: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Sen. [Feinstein] to make sure that Sen. Mitt Romney’s TRUST Act, which could endanger Social Security, is NOT included in the final COVID relief bill. Sen. [Feinstein] voted for this amendment to the 2021 budget. Perhaps [he/she] did not appreciate how it would circumvent legislative norms for changing Social Security and would allow cuts to be made to benefits without regard to how they would affect [his/her] constituents who depend on them.
Minimal script for senators who voted AGAINST the Trust Act amendment in the 2021 budget:: I’m calling from [zip code] to thank Sen. [Padilla] for voting against Sen. Mitt Romney’s TRUST Act, as an amendment to the 2021 budget, and to ask him to speak out against it being included in the COVID relief bill. This malicious amendment could endanger Social Security by allowing cuts to be made to benefits without regard to their human impact.
The amendment was voted into the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget as S. Amdt. 803 to S. Con. Res. 5. Senator Feinstein voted “YES” and Senator Padilla voted “NO“. Find your own senator’s vote here.
Note: If you haven’t made this call yet on adding unemployment tax relief and automatic stabilizers to the American Rescue Plan, do it at the same time.
Action #1:Washington D.C. is a living, breathing, racial and civil rights injustice and we need to fix it!
A member is printing up several thousand postcards!!!JOIN IN! If you’re unfamiliar with the hundreds of years that DC residents have been denied statehood, along with the rights we take for granted, like representation along with taxation, the ability to make laws without federal interference, and being able to call up the National Guard when they need it, here’s our post with lots of information and great videos. (Also 51 for 51 and DCstatehoodcoalition.org ) Both the House and Senate have reintroduced bills to fix this, H.R.51 & S.51– “Washington, D.C. Admission Act. Another important bill – H.R.1 – “For the People Act, declares, amongst many important voting reforms, “…that DC residents deserve full Congressional voting rights and self-government, which only statehood can provide.” (full text) (endorsements).
We need to get all Democratic representatives and senators onboard both bills as cosponsors quickly as possible! And the filibuster should be eliminated, at least for bills like this. There’s no reason the basic rights of the citizens of Washington DC should be held hostage to whether or not 60 Democrats are elected to the Senate.
Remove taxes on unemployment payments and add automatic stabilizers!
H.R. 1319 – The American Rescue Plan Act, is popular and full of great things for a country struggling with survival and rebuilding during this pandemic, but a couple of things would make it even better. (No, we’re not talking about the $15 minimum wage…that’s not happening in this bill, unfortunately.) It’s already passed the House, so we need to ask the Senate to amend it with some additional items.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Sen. [___] to add some important features to the H.R. 1319 – The American Rescue Plan Act to help struggling Americans.
Zero out taxes for unemployment checks for this entire pandemic period.The IRS code excludes government payments made “in connection with a qualified disaster in order to promote the general welfare.” What is the point of a $1400 stimulus check if people just have to send it back to the IRS?
Add automatic stabilizersto tie federal aid to economic conditions, so people don’t suffer waiting for new legislation to extend benefits if it becomes necessary.
(For GOP senators only) Zero out Pay-Go.This bill is an emergency measure that I, along with the rest of your constituents are expecting you to work together with the Democrats to make happen.
Latest anti-democratic news from the Nazi-symbol stage at CPAC: “As local and state Republicans seek to narrow access to the polls, Trump, who tried to force officials in Georgia to steal the election for him, called on the GOP to outlaw mail-in and early voting to ensure “honest elections” and made racially motivated insinuations about irregularities in Detroit and Philadelphia. He demandedcitizen tests for ballot access, said voting should only take place on Election Day and called for independent judges to be barred from adjudicating election disputes.”
H.R.1/S.1, first introducted in 2019, is a collection of reforms to campaign finance, voting rights, and government ethics for ALL THREE BRANCHES of government, including the presidency and the judiciary. After Trump’s real-time master class in corruption, we need this bill’s stronger guardrails more than ever. “Norms” are no longer good enough. H.R. 1 is an important first step towards building an equitable and functional democracy, along with the D.C. statehood bill and H.R.4 – John Lewis Voting Rights Act, without which we can’t achieve any of our other progressive goals.
(This helpful video below, from 2019, is a great conversation with the bill’s author, Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD-3). Short explainer videos from him on this bill here.)
Minimal script for Reps: I’m calling from [zip code] to thank Rep. [___] for cosponsoring and supporting H.R. 1 – the For the People Act and I urge [him/her] to work to swiftly pass this legislation. PASSED 3/3/2021
Note:We’re waiting on the script on this issue, as it’s now in flux.It looks like Democrats are drafting new plans to penalize big corporations that pay their employees less than $15 an hour.
HR 5 – The Equality Act:This bill just passed the House and over 70% of Americans support laws like this, including 50% of Trump voters. (What the law includes, here and here.) However, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has announced that he will oppose the Equality Act unless it includes language that would allow Christians to discriminate against LGBTQ people, essentially nullifying any civil rights gains, and the GOP will use the filibuster to stop it from coming to a vote.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to cosponsor and support HR 5 – The Equality Act and if necessary, remove the filibuster for this vote (even with a mini-nuke or carve-out), and for any other legislation that ensures equal civil rights for all Americans. The majority of voters want LGBTQ community members to be accorded the same rights and responsibilities as every other citizen. Allowing a minority to use the filibuster to maintain a legacy of human rights violations and discriminatory practices against a specific group of taxpaying Americans is both anti-democratic and morally wrong.
Email letters to Senate staffers to add a utility shutoff clause in the American Rescue Act.
Those Texans with multi-thousand-dollar power bills are just the tip of the utility debt iceberg. People who’ve been barely hanging on financially during this pandemic will be facing huge debt (“arrearages”) of their own when their local or state moratoriums lapse and months of utility bills come due. This will cripple the nation’s economic recovery as well as create dangerous conditions for COVID to exploit.
Create some quick emails to your senator’s legislative aides to ask that they support adding a nationwide moratorium on utility shutoffs that also addresses arrearages to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Staffer contact information is below.
SUBJECT: Please sign Dear Colleague Letter to stop utility shut-offs & address arrearages!
Hi [STAFFER’S NAME];
I am [YOUR SENATOR’S NAME]’s constituent and part of the nationwide #NoShutOffs coalition to stop utility shutoffs during COVID. In the wake of the Texas outage crisis and the dozens of deaths, we NEED you to please pass a shutoffs moratorium and address the arrearages crisis in the next COVID package to save lives across the country.
Our ask: Please sign onto a Dear Colleague letter to pass a nationwide moratorium on utility shutoffs and address arrearages in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The deadline to sign-on is at noon, Friday, 2/26.To sign on, please contact Ben Schreiber at Sen. Merkley’s office: ben_schreiber@merkley.senate.gov or 202-558-8563.
Action #1 – Tell your Senator that $15/hour minimum wage raise needs to be part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
Whether this issue affects you personally or not, please make the calls because we are indivisible, and our country is in deeper trouble than we may realize…
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to fight to keep the $15/hr. minimum wage increase as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
More script if you want it: A true rescue plan leaves no one behind. However, previous pandemic relief bills have given little relief to our minimum-wage essential workers, while handing out forgiveable loans and sneaky tax breaks for the wealthiest and corporations. Fully a quarter of us are now either jobless or earning poverty wages. There are food bank lines like from the Great Depression and a looming eviction crisis. The stress and inequity of living on the edge of financial disaster are destabilizing our country. A real rescue plan needs more than sporadic checks, welcome as they are. It must include true structural change – an hourly minimum wage that allows full-time workers to live in dignity and take care of their families’ needs, while boosting local economies hardhit by the pandemic. Despite dire predictions from the GOP, a UC Berkeley study found that minimum wage increases had no substantial impact on employment or hours. And more importantly, Americans from both parties, support the $15 minimum by a large margin. If this is truly an American Rescue Plan Act, make it count for us.
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 