Fri 9/13: This is it – the last day for bills to pass out of the CA legislature.

Action #1 – Ask the Governor to sign AB 1282 – “No Private ICE Act”

AB 1282 will prohibit the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), our state prison system, from facilitating or allowing private security corporations to conduct immigration enforcement arrests of individuals in CDCR custody.  Currently, private security corporations, specifically notorious global private prison corporation G4S, conduct about 1/3 of the immigration arrests of individuals who have earned their release from CDCR and are subjecting them to inhumane conditions on ICE’s behalf without legal authority to make arrests.

Minimal script: My name is [___], and I am calling to urge Governor Newsom to sign AB 1282, the ‘No Private ICE’ Act. I support AB 1282 because this bill protects immigrants who have earned their release from state prison from being unlawfully arrested by private prison contractors paid by ICE. California should not allow private corporations to profit off of mass deportations.

Action – Call the Governor about the bills heading to his desk and find out how your favorites did in our bill update below.

  • Today 9/13:last day for bills to fight their way through both houses of the CA legislature.
  • Oct. 13: Last day for Governor Newsom to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature on or before Sept. 13 and in the Governor’s possession after Sept. 13

Let’s call him to ask him to vote “NO” on these bills. Continue reading “Fri 9/13: This is it – the last day for bills to pass out of the CA legislature.”

Wed 8/28: Two actions for health and plastic pollution and today’s update on our favorite CA bills!

ICYMI:

  • CA legislation actions on plastic pollution and chemicals behind the words “fragrance” and “flavoring” in your hygiene products and cosmetics earlier this week, go here.
  • Call the governor at (916) 445-2841 to sign the bill that bans trapping for fur in CA. IT’S ON HIS DESK! Also ask your federal legislators to use a CRA (Congressional Review Act) against the Endangered Species Act. Go here.
  • We asked Newsom to pull out some problematic amendments his office made to AB 1505  in favor of for-profit charter schools.

Also, check out bill updates from 8/16/19 at the bottom.)

Action #1 –  Today is SB 29 – Call-in Day!

SB 29 is a top priority for immigrant rights and health care advocates and would provide full-scope Medi-Cal to low-income undocumented adults by removing immigration status as an eligibility exclusionNo one in our state should have to wait until an emergency to be able to access health care.

Minimum script:  Hi, I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember [___] to to support SB 29 to expand Medi-Cal access to undocumented immigrant elders. California is stronger when everyone has access to healthcare and we are all healthier when everyone is covered.

Contact: 
[Click to tweet]
Patch-thru number: 760-891-CALI, press 2 to be connected

State Assemblymember Monique Limón (CA-37): SAC (916) 319-2037, SB (805) 564-1649, VTA (805) 641-3700 email
Not your people?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Action #2 –  There is no plan “B” for plastic waste.

Continue reading “Wed 8/28: Two actions for health and plastic pollution and today’s update on our favorite CA bills!”

Fri 8/16: Two actions for kids and today’s update on our favorite CA bills!

Summary of AB 1505 text reflects insertions in blue by, reputedly, the governor’s office to weaken the strong version passed by the Assembly. The language in red with strikeouts represents strong Assembly language in the April 24, 2019 version, and the blue text with red X represents a rollback to status quo Ed Code that favors charter authorization, as if the Assembly version had never been voted through.

ICYMI:

  • CA legislation actions against the proliferation of plastic pollution and the mysterious and possibly toxic chemicals behind the words “fragrance” and “flavoring” in your hygiene products and cosmetics earlier this week, go here.
  • Ask the governor to sign the bill that bans trapping for fur in CA. Also ask your federal legislators to use a CRA (Congressional Review Act) against the Endangered Species Act. Go here.

Also, check out bill updates from 8/16/19 at the bottom.)

Action #1 – Hey, Gavin, who got to you over summer vacation?

At the last election, we told our legislators that public funds should be prioritized for public schools with public oversight. Charters deplete Oakland Unified schools of about $57 million a year, and Los Angeles Unified of nearly $600 million a year. Our governor and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond were all on board and our state legislature responded by passing a strong Charter School Accountability Bill. But something happened over the June-July recess and the Governor’s office added amendments to AB 1505 and AB 1507 that once again allow state and county school boards to authorize charter schools while undermining the ability of local elected school boards to deny fly-by-night operators.  Local control with the intentional abeyance of the state, is crucial to the decision making of school districts to allow or deny charter expansion within their borders.

Minimum script:  I am a parent/ community member and support local school control and strong charter school accountability found in the Assembly version of AB1505. I DO NOT support the amendments you pushed on behalf of the California Charter Schools Association. Please recall those changes and sign into law robust Charter Accountability that ALL California families deserve!”

Please Call Governor Newsom at (916) 445-2841 and ask him to put AB 1505 back the way he found it.

Action #2 – Tell these kids they are not forgotten…

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Continue reading “Fri 8/16: Two actions for kids and today’s update on our favorite CA bills!”

Mon – 6/11: “Mr. President…there’s someone from the UN human rights office out in the hall…”

(Update: We are repeating this action from Friday to add in Senator Feinstein’s new bill. If you’re in her district, thank her. If you’re not, please call your senator to support it. If you haven’t made the calls listed below yet, please do so today. These are literally the most effective daily acts of resistance you can make.)

Update: Join us on June 14th, between 4 pm and 6 pm at the corner of the County Government Center for a Families Belong Together rally. More information here.  

On this day, thousands of people across the US will join marches, rallies, and vigils to protest the administration’s cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers.  If you’re not in Ventura, go here for the nearest rally or march.  There’s one in Carpinteria, and one in LA.

We do not have a good history of dealing with immigrants’ children. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported that earlier waves of unaccompanied minors were subjected to “a pattern of intimidation, harassment, physical abuse, refusal of medical services, and improper deportation” by the US Customs and Border Patrol between 2009 and 2014 . However, since there wasn’t a lot of photographic evidence at the time, the public hadn’t understood exactly what was being done in our name.

We can’t pretend not to see what’s happening anymore. The Trump administration has supersized our problem right onto the front page by tearing kids from their sobbing mothers on film. Senator Merkley then poked the wasp nest by making a highly publicized field trip to a Southwest Key Program shelter in Brownsville, TX. Originally for unaccompanied minors, the shelter now houses kids separated from their parents who were seeking asylum at our border. (wapo) (newsweek) (slate)  We believe this video has gone viral because, even without seeing the actual interior conditions, aspects of his visit made us uneasy.

Continue reading “Mon – 6/11: “Mr. President…there’s someone from the UN human rights office out in the hall…””

Fri – 6/8: “Mr. President…there’s someone from the UN human rights office out in the hall…”

We do not have a good history of dealing with immigrants’ children. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported that earlier waves of unaccompanied minors were subjected to “a pattern of intimidation, harassment, physical abuse, refusal of medical services, and improper deportation” by the US Customs and Border Patrol between 2009 and 2014 . However, since there wasn’t a lot of photographic evidence at the time, the public hadn’t understood exactly what was being done in our name.

We can’t pretend not to see what’s happening anymore. The Trump administration has supersized our problem right onto the front page by tearing kids from their sobbing mothers on film. Senator Merkley then poked the wasp nest by making a highly publicized field trip to a Southwest Key Program shelter in Brownsville, TX. Originally for unaccompanied minors, the shelter now houses kids separated from their parents who were seeking asylum at our border. (wapo) (newsweek) (slate)  We believe this video has gone viral because, even without seeing the actual interior conditions, aspects of his visit made us uneasy.

Continue reading “Fri – 6/8: “Mr. President…there’s someone from the UN human rights office out in the hall…””

5,147,878 kids in CA without health insurance?!? Extend CHIP!

Script: Hi,  I’m calling from [___] and I’m asking Represenative [___]  to extend the CHIP program.

More script if you want it: There are [see link below] children in our state that are enrolled in the CHIP program, and if the federal funding for this program isn’t renewed before September 30, their insurance is at risk.

Rep. Julia Brownley: (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779

OR Rep. Salud Carbajal: (CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348

Not your Rep.?: http://www.phoneyourrep.com


More Info and a listing of how many kids are affected by state
:  https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/news/2017/09/18/439136/congress-going-one-two-punch-taking-away-childrens-health-insurance/