Tag: Regulations

End Federal Funding for Corporate Charter Schools. Comments NOW due 4/18.

Action #1: Email the U.S. Department of Education to advocate for the end of corporate charter schools and support accountability and transparency for all schools taking our tax dollars.

How do I do this?

Action #2: Sign the Network for Public Educations’ petition here.

Continue reading “End Federal Funding for Corporate Charter Schools. Comments NOW due 4/18.” →

Thurs 9/4 – The Trump administration is trying to kill off endangered species again. Deadline for comment tonight 11:59 EST

Either he’s still holding a grudge over this eagle or he’s owned by extractive industries, our president and his administration have been working fulltime to destroy the environment, wildlife, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  

Today’s action involves Trump’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who are targeting critical wildlife habitats with a deceptive and unresearched definition of “habitat” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). If finalized, it will be much more difficult to protect habitat critical for the survival and recovery of endangered species.

Let’s talk about how to comment on their proposed definition.

  • First, you write your comment here.
  • The proposed regulation is here. It is purposely hard to understand.
  • There are 47,880 comments already and you can read them for inspiration here. You can read about 5 of them before you realize…
  • …that about 47,870 of them are this exact one below, which means that, after they remove ALL THE COPIES, there will be about (11) original comments left.
Continue reading “Thurs 9/4 – The Trump administration is trying to kill off endangered species again. Deadline for comment tonight 11:59 EST” →

Fri 1/31: Last time the Social Security pulled this wicked stunt, over 20,000 people died. Trump wants to do it again. Comment tonight by 11:59 pm EST!

The last time this policy was implemented, 21,176 people died. Stop this now!

Trump is becoming bolder about doing things that kill people, either to pay back his biggest lobbyists, distract from his impeachment woes, or to prove his bonafides in the trickle-down war on the poor.

His administration now wants to recreate a 1980’s policy from the Reagan era that resulted in 200,000 Americans losing their earned Social Security disability benefits and 21,176 deaths. Several people committed suicide after being told they no longer qualified for benefits and Medal of Honor winner and Vietnam war hero Roy Benavidez was told to get a job, despite war injuries that left him with severe pain and shrapnel in his heart.

After massive public outcry, that policy was reversed, but now the administration is proposing a similar rule, which increases the frequency of eligibility reviews in an attempt to rip benefits away from hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities, especially adults nearing retirement and children.

So we say…Why wait to howl until AFTER people die? Let’s do it NOW!

  • Proposed rule change here.
  • Comment here.
  • View other comment for inspiration only here.
    Copies will be deleted by the administration.

More information!

While Social Security is best known as a retirement program, disability and survivors benefits are equally essential. That’s why we’re rallying our allies across the country to fight back against this proposed rule change and save the lives of thousands of Americans.  Continue reading “Fri 1/31: Last time the Social Security pulled this wicked stunt, over 20,000 people died. Trump wants to do it again. Comment tonight by 11:59 pm EST!” →

Tues – 11/12: Do it for immigrants. Do it for yourself. Write a comment against the enforced DNA sampling of immigrants. Deadline tonight, 11:59 pm EST.

  • Quote by Molly Ivens in 2003 Scripps College Commencement address.
  • Quote by German professor 7 years after WWII 

Action – Write a comment against the further criminalization of immigrants as well as the degradation of the assumption of innocence for all Americans. – Due tonight, 11/12, 11:59 pm EST.

Tonight, comments are due on an insidious proposal from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to amend regulations to remove an exemption that prevented their agents from collecting DNA samples from individuals who are arrested, facing charges, or convicted, and from non-United States persons who are detained under the authority of the United States. Exemptions from the DNA mandate include children age 13 and younger, legal permanent residents, and people entering the country legally.  This invasion of the essential privacy of non-violent people would be done in the name of “public safety”, a well of civil rights violations for which there is no bottom.

  • Comment here.
  • Read their summary here. Read their complete proposal here.
  • Inspiration here. If you’re having trouble getting started, cruise through other’s comments. DO NOT COPY. All identical comments will be culled, so channel your high school creative writing classes.

So what’s the big deal about swabbing immigrants for DNA and why should I care about it?

Let’s take a moment and talk about government data bases.

(ACLU) “Throughout history, the government has often tried to normalize new surveillance technologies by testing them on vulnerable communities and imposing initial restrictions on how any information collected will be used. The government inevitably expands those technologies beyond their original purposes. That’s why DOJ’s new rule could have wide repercussions for everyone in this country — not only those in immigrant detention sites.”

But more data equals more public safety, right? “…mass collection alters the purpose of DNA collection from one of criminal investigation basically to population surveillance, which is basically contrary to our basic notions of a free, trusting, autonomous society,” Vera Eidelman, a staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told New York Times when news of the mandate first came out. Continue reading “Tues – 11/12: Do it for immigrants. Do it for yourself. Write a comment against the enforced DNA sampling of immigrants. Deadline tonight, 11:59 pm EST.” →

Tue 10/15: Yes, it’s a pain in the ash, but you need to make a comment TONIGHT -(Tues.) by 11:59 pm EST.

Being a citizen in the age of Trump is tiring!

Every day, it seems, we need to do something to keep our President and his minions from stealing public assets, extorting foreign countries, torturing kids, or in this case, poisoning us with coal ash to increase profit margins for their friends.

“It is a disgrace to everything the EPA stands for, and we will do everything in our power to stop it.” – Lisa Evans, Earthjustice senior counsel and coal ash expert.

Continue reading “Tue 10/15: Yes, it’s a pain in the ash, but you need to make a comment TONIGHT -(Tues.) by 11:59 pm EST.” →

Mon 9/16: Busy day! After you write a comment against religious discrimination, do one on regulation rollbacks for nursing homes.

Your comments on each of these issues don’t need to be long. A couple of heartfelt sentences is good enough. Both of these issues touch just about everyone in this country. What if we all wrote and said, in our own unique voice – “ENOUGH”, you monsters!

Action #1 – Write to protect your LGBTQ family, friends and America from religious persecution, as well as women and religious minorities. Deadline tonight 11:59pm EST.

 

  • Comment here!
  • The proposed regulation is here.
  • Other people’s comments are here. Read for inspiration. Don’t copy. Identical comments and signatures on petitions will only count as (1) total comment.

America has a long history of slip-sliding towards religious intolerance, but common sense, and our Constitution, has kept us away from that abyss, allowing us to become the most powerful country in the world. Now, the Trump Administration, pandering to their far-right supporters, wants to allow a vastly expandable group of government contractors to discriminate for “religious” reasons against our fellow taxpaying citizens, including our LGBTQ community, women and religious minorities, on what are essentially private matters that are NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS.  

Read our posting on this issue here for more information and inspiration.

Action #2 – Write to protect our most fragile citizens from the greed of corporate nursing homes. Deadline tonight 11:59pm EST.

Continue reading “Mon 9/16: Busy day! After you write a comment against religious discrimination, do one on regulation rollbacks for nursing homes.” →

Thur – 5/9: URGENT!!! – “YES” on AB-1669 – Firearms: Gun shows and events. Voting soon!

Action – Vote “YES” to close a loophole on ammo sales & raise fees on firearms sales for gun-related programs.

AB 1669 updates existing law by applying the same gun show regulations that already apply to firearms dealers to ammunition vendors, increasing the Dealer Record of Sale fee (DROS) for firearm purchases from $14 to $32.19, and authorizing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to adjust the DROS fee as needed to ensure adequate funding for firearms-related notifications and services paid for by that account. 

These ever-increasing services and programs are provided by our state hospitals, mental health facilities, local law enforcement, and other agencies, and include assessments of those who may be prohibited from possessing weapons, the processing of protective orders, as well as the regulatory cost of processing firearms transactions.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember [___] to vote “YES on AB 1669: Gun Shows and events.

Call today and tomorrow. We’ll keep this updated for when the actual vote occurs.

Contact: State Assemblymember Monique Limón: (CA-37): SAC (916) 319-2037.
You can email here, but this is happening fast. Try calling first! It will take literally take 10 seconds.
Not your people?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Background and Major Provisions 

1) This bill updates existing law by aligning the requirements of ammunition vendors at guns shows with those of firearms dealers. According to the bill’s sponsor, Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California: “Proposition 63, the Safety for All Act, passed in 2016 and among several provisions related to firearms and ammunition, required sales of ammunition to be conducted by or processed through a licensed dealer.  Unfortunately, not all vendors were covered by the resulting law. “Independent ammunition vendors” – those that only sell ammunition, are federally-licensed, and are based outside of California – can sell ammunition at gun shows without being required to obtain the same state licenses that are required of California-based vendors. AB 1669 closes this loophole by requiring any entity selling ammunition in the state to be licensed by the state.”  Continue reading “Thur – 5/9: URGENT!!! – “YES” on AB-1669 – Firearms: Gun shows and events. Voting soon!” →

Tues 2/12: Cocktail-hour comments – Tell HHS why HIPAA privacy rights should be protected. Deadline tonight!

(From Indivisible San Francisco)

Action:  Stop Erosion of HIPAA Patient Healthcare Rights — Deadline TONIGHT, by 11:59 pm EST. 

HHS has proposed changes to HIPAA under the guise of “easing regulations,” so that patients diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) or opioid use disorder (OUD) could have their medical records released without their consent.

Post a comment with the HHS opposing this change by 11:59 EST  TONIGHT, Feb. 12th!

Sample Comment 

“I strongly oppose the proposed changes to HIPAA because the proposed changes extend far beyond the known benefits of coordinated care and will make patient healthcare less safe. [LIST ADDITIONAL PERSONAL OR POLICY REASONS WHY YOU FEEL HIPPA SHOULD BE PROTECTED. THEY SHOULD BE UNIQUE TO YOU.]

[Insert reason why you or a family member or a friend might be negatively impacted by the changes to the rules. Or insert a personal story.]

I urge you to not change existing HIPAA regulations on patient confidentiality.”

Continue reading “Tues 2/12: Cocktail-hour comments – Tell HHS why HIPAA privacy rights should be protected. Deadline tonight!” →

Fri – 1/25: Part 1 – Why do we keep killing Flipper and Friends? Comment today.

The government site appears dead, their offices are deserted and no one has responded to our comments from 2 days ago to extend the deadline due to faulty links. Assume it’s still due today.

Action: Because our Navy keeps wanting to. Deadline supposedly today (1/25)

Navy sonar harms whales and dolphins. Watch this 2007 video shot by the Center for Whale Research in Washington State. Hear what the sonar sounds like and see what it does to these marine mammals.

Continue reading “Fri – 1/25: Part 1 – Why do we keep killing Flipper and Friends? Comment today.” →

Fri – 1/18: Risky business – antibiotics as pesticides on food crops. Comments due tomorrow (Sat. 1/19)!

Action: Stop our race to a dangerous past. Write a comment here to stop the use of antibiotics as pesticides.

Citrus growers, from backyards to huge orchards, are fighting citrus greening disease, aka “yellow dragon disease“. The disease, which is caused by a pathogen spread by insects, causes discoloration and withering of fruit, making them inedible, and the eventual death of the affected tree. It first reached Florida in 2005 and it now threatens citrus crops across the nation (including Ventura County!), as well as in 33 other countries. There is no known cure yet, but there is one treatment that may be worse for us than the lack of our morning orange juice…treatment with antibiotics that are vital to our health.

The deadline is this  tomorrow – Saturday January 19th by 11:59 EST! Go here to comment.

Here’s the regulation site.  They currently have 33 comments! Seriously. 33. Continue reading “Fri – 1/18: Risky business – antibiotics as pesticides on food crops. Comments due tomorrow (Sat. 1/19)!” →