Thurs 9/12: Call your CA legislators! A deceptively-named plastic industry group is trying to kill the plastics bills!

“Californians for Recycling and the Environment (CRE)”, a plastics industry front group,  is actively trying to kill SB 54 + AB-1080. They have an slick website and logo, filled with scary promises that we won’t have toothpaste, baby food and dog food. Nonsense. What’s NOT listed is who’s funding it. But according to Calmatters, there are no surprises. “The coalition represents the packaging industry and officially formed “maybe a few weeks ago,” according to spokesman Micah Grant. Despite its effort to kill at least one of the bills, Grant insisted in an email to CalMatters that the group “doesn’t ‘oppose’ SB 54.” However, their “Take Action” page says differently.

Tell your legislator to step up into the future we need. There’s a list at the bottom of nervous ones who haven’t signed onto SB 54 + AB-1080 yet. Call yours if they’re on the list. (Jacqui Irwin – we’re looking at you!) If your legislators AREN’T on the list, call them, thank them and ask them to encourage their colleagues.

Action  – “One word: Plastics. There’s a great future in plastics.“

Continue reading “Thurs 9/12: Call your CA legislators! A deceptively-named plastic industry group is trying to kill the plastics bills!” →

Thurs. 9/12: Sneaky “gut & amend” to AB 1299 – a bill about emergency services becomes a hall pass for an oil refinery.

Action – Call your state senator to vote “NO” on AB 1299

AB 1299 used to be a bill about the CA Emergency Services Act. However, all that has been crossed out and replaced with a cuckoo bird egg from the oil industry.

This bill was created to allow a specific Kern County refinery, Kern Oil, located next door to a neighborhood of about 1,000 people who are 70% Latino, and 1/3 children, escape monitoring the normal side effects of their product – hazardous and toxic air pollutants such as BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) (See Senate environmental analysis here).

Residents in the Kern Co. area already breathe some of the most polluted air in the nation, thanks to a confluence of vehicle exhaust, industrial operations, and stagnant valley air. In 2016, they sued the EPA over permit issues affecting pollution for a neighboring refinery and in January this year, the Kern County Board of Supervisors voted against a plan to allow tanker cars to deliver Bakken crude oil to that same refinery, due to air pollution and safety issues.

These people are fighting for their right to clean air. We stand with them.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want state senator [___] to vote “NO” on AB 1299. Continue reading “Thurs. 9/12: Sneaky “gut & amend” to AB 1299 – a bill about emergency services becomes a hall pass for an oil refinery.” →

Wed. 9/11: #DefundHate. Make this call.

This week marks the anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies in American history. When the forces of hate took human form, turned planes into weapons and destroyed over 3000 lives.

Hate has again taken human form, in the malignant leaders of our own government. Every day, we see crimes against humanity being sponsored with our own tax dollars. That we are seriously arguing as whether or not a facility is a concentration camp, shows how far we’ve fallen. That we sit quietly, while young children are dying or being terrorized in our custody, shows that we are not who we think we are.

Continue reading “Wed. 9/11: #DefundHate. Make this call.” →

Wed 9/11: FAST ACTION!!! Integrity in elections starts at home with AB 201! Call Senator Leyva now!

Action: Call Senator Connie Leyva’s office at (916) 651-4020

In a time when titles of bills are masterpieces of deception, knowing who’s funding any political message is key. Even the lowly text, sneaking a message right into our pockets or purses, should not be exempt. Call your own state senator and also call Senator Leyva’s office and leave this message…

Minimal script: I’m calling as a member of the CA Indivisible Coalition and I want Sen. [___] to put transparency first and vote “YES on AB 201.

Contact:

  1. Senator Connie Leyva’s office at (916) 651-4020
  2. State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (SD-19): SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940 email (Not your people?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.)

Continue reading “Wed 9/11: FAST ACTION!!! Integrity in elections starts at home with AB 201! Call Senator Leyva now!” →

Tues – 9/10: Guns meet common sense – access limitations and federal universal background checks for guns AND bullets.

See story and video of suspect stopped BEFORE people were killed here. This happened yesterday, 9/9.

Action #1 – Still in play! CA actions to limit access to guns – “YES” on AB 893 – Stop gun shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and SB – 61 – Firearms Transfers.

AB 893 – “22nd District Agricultural Association: firearm and ammunition sales at the Del Mar Fairgrounds” would, on and after January 1, 2021, prohibit the sale of firearms and ammunition at the Del Mar Fairgrounds property located in the 22nd District Agricultural Association, as specified, and would thereby make a violation of that prohibition a misdemeanor. The bill would exclude from its provisions a gun buyback event held by a law enforcement agency. (Assemblymember Gloria)

Minimal script for your State Senator: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to vote “YES” on AB 893.. It’s time for stop our public property to be used for gun shows and it’s also time that funding for all political messages, from whatever media, is no longer a secret from voters.

State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (SD-19): SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940 email
Not your people?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Action #2 – Still in play! CA actions to limit access to guns – “YES” on SB – 61 – Firearms Transfers.

Continue reading “Tues – 9/10: Guns meet common sense – access limitations and federal universal background checks for guns AND bullets.” →

Tues 9/10: We fund cancer research with actual money, not “thoughts and prayers.” We need to do the same with gun violence.

(Top graphic from the Journal of the American Medical Association – NPR)

Action #1 – We can’t stop or reduce a cause of death we don’t understand. The Senate needs to pass HR 2740 to fund research on gun violence 

“More than 30,000 people are killed with guns in the U.S. every year. That’s more than die of AIDS, and about the same number as die in car crashes or from liver disease. But unlike AIDS or car crashes, the government doesn’t treat gun injuries or deaths as a public health threat.” (NPR)

Science-based research has brought down the number of deaths from highway accidents and Ebola. We can do this with gun violence too. Continue reading “Tues 9/10: We fund cancer research with actual money, not “thoughts and prayers.” We need to do the same with gun violence.” →

Mon 9/9: Busy Day! The Brady folks have asked us to call in a “YES” on SB 61.

(from the Brady Campaign)
Dear Indivisible and friends, 

Another bill to prevent gun violence, called SB 61, is moving through the California legislature. There’s a big vote TOMORROW, and we need Californians to call their state Assemblymembers now to ensure it passes! This bill would prevent gun violence by —

  • Limiting the number of semi-automatic rifles that a person can purchase within a 30-day period. It’s already illegal in California for a person to purchase more than one handgun within a 30-day period. SB 61 would expand that common-sense public safety measure to apply to more firearms, including these rifles, which are often used in mass shootings. Data shows firearms acquired in large quantities at once are often resold on the black market and used in crimes. No one needs to purchase more than one gun a month. The purchasing limits under SB61 are a proven strategy to prevent gun violence.
  • Restricting the sale of semi-automatic weapons to people under age 21. SB 61 would eliminate the exception that 18-20 year-olds can acquire centerfire semi-automatic rifles if they have a valid hunting license. (The Gilroy shooter was 19. He bought his gun in NV at the age of 18 legally, bringing it into CA illegally. The Poway shooter was 18. The current age exception for hunting licenses may have made it possible for him to buy his gun.)

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember [___]
to vote “YES” to SB 61!

Continue reading “Mon 9/9: Busy Day! The Brady folks have asked us to call in a “YES” on SB 61.” →

Mon. 9/9: Yes on AB 1482 – Help people keep their homes!

The final deadline for the California legislature to send new laws to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk is September 13!

Action  – Call your state senator to vote “YES” on AB 1482!

“My survival depends on it,” a single mother stressed. “In order for me and my kids to stay in our homes, we need this bill. I’m one rent increase away from being homeless.”

San Francisco Assemblyman David Chiu’s bill, AB 1482 would prevent landlords from raising rent annually more than at five percent plus the rate of inflation—usually around two or three percent yearly in most metros. The law would be in effect until 2030. It would also eliminate no-cause evictions for renters with more than 12 months of tenancy. It doesn’t apply to homes built in the last 15 years.

In a joint statement released Friday, Newsom, Chiu, Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said, “The bill will protect millions of renters from rent-gouging and evictions and build on the Legislature’s work this year to address our broader housing crisis.”

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to vote “YES” on AB 1482. Continue reading “Mon. 9/9: Yes on AB 1482 – Help people keep their homes!” →

Mon 9/9: One-day notice! Join in to protect your community from oil industry pollution. County Supervisors Meeting Tuesday 9/10.

Actions – Write your supervisors and come to the meeting! 

“Hi indivisible and friends!
Los Padres National Forest is threatened by dangerously under-regulated oil development in Ventura County. We have a rare chance to change that.
On Tuesday, September 10, the Board of Supervisors will consider updating oil permitting to incorporate modern standards that better protect the health and safety of our communities and our environment. The proposed amendments would increase transparency, oversight, and public participation by ensuring that there is an environmental review, public notice, and a hearing before any new oil wells are drilled.

Mon 9/9: Show solidarity with Simi Valley City Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos TODAY! – 2 actions!

Action #1 – Stand with Ruth Luevanos Against Simi’s Racist Censure, Monday Evening at Simi Valley City Hall!

(Shared from Indivisible Conejo)
Background: “The hard-right majority on the Simi Valley City Council has finally gotten its ducks in a row to carry out its ridiculous censure of Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos — and it will consider the motion during its meeting on Monday evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. (Here’s Ruth’s uplifting election video)

If you’ve been following this story since it first boiled over in late July/early August, you know that both a censure effort and a recall petition have been touted as responses to the know-your-rights video Ruth made for immigrants concerned about July’s promised ICE raids. The recall is an uphill battle — supporters will need to raise and spend money to gather legitimate signatures on their petition — but censure is a considerably easier lift. And councilman Mike Judge, whose politics fall somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun, clearly has won over at least one of his colleagues in order to get the measure onto the agenda.

Continue reading “Mon 9/9: Show solidarity with Simi Valley City Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos TODAY! – 2 actions!” →