June 20, 2023
Climate-friendly Farm Bill, work permits for asylum seekers, LGBTQI+ summer travel, and more!
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
PASS A FARM BILL THAT PROTECTS THE CLIMATE
Every five years, Congress reauthorizes the Farm Bill, omnibus legislation that sets the nation’s federal farm, food, and rural policy. With the current Farm Bill set to expire on September 30, 2023, Congress is now working on developing the Farm Bill that will be in effect for the next five years. With agriculture contributing 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, it’s important that the next Farm Bill include climate-friendly provisions. The Center for American Progress is recommending that the Farm Bill increase funding for conservation of wetlands, grasslands, and forests; programs that support regional conservation collaboration; Inflation Reduction Act investments in climate-smart agricultural practices; programs that support resilient national forests; and more. Let’s send this link, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/why-the-farm-bill-may-be-the-highest-stakes-climate-fight-flying-below-the-radar/, to our Members of Congress and tell them that we want these strong conservation and climate protections in the next Farm Bill.
SUPPORT BI-PARTISAN BILL THAT EXPEDITES WORK PERMITS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
HR 1325, The Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, would reduce the waiting period for asylum-seekers to obtain permits to work in the U.S. from 6 months to 30 days. With current administrative backlogs, asylum seekers are now often waiting from 8 to 15 months to get a work permit, which leads to more economic crises for them and more burdens on U.S. taxpayers and municipalities. The bill has bipartisan support and is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. Let’s check here to see if our House Representative has sponsored the bill, and ask them to co-sponsor it if they haven’t, and if our House Rep. is on the Judiciary Committee, we can ask them to advocate bringing it up for a vote. We can also raise awareness of the bill on social media with this tool kit.
OUR HARD-RIGHT SUPREME COURT
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU’s School of Law is holding a one-hour, free, virtual live panel discussion on how the Supreme Court’s hard-right turn is wreaking havoc on democracy and what we can do about it. Panelists are Brennan Center President Michael Waldman, author of “The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America;” and Brennan Center Senior director for voting and representation Kareen Crayton, with Dean of NYU School of Law Troy McKenzie moderating. The event takes place Wednesday, June 21, at 1 p.m. ET. Let’s attend by signing up here.
LGBTQI+ SUMMER TRAVEL
"Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) travelers can face unique challenges when traveling abroad. Laws and attitudes in some countries may affect safety and ease of travel. Legal protections vary from country to country. Many countries do not legally recognize same-sex marriage. Approximately seventy countries consider consensual same-sex sexual relations a crime, sometimes carrying severe punishment." We can check conditions and recommendations at this special Department of State website before we go.
WRITE POSTCARDS TO HELP ELECT GUN SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES IN NY AND CA
We need better guns safety laws in this country, and we need better representation to get them. Activate America is launching a postcard campaign targeting six GOP Congress members who refuse to support gun safety laws. This campaign reaches out to infrequent Democratic leaning voters who, if enough of them turn up at the polls, could flip their districts and give us the votes to make real change! If we decide to join in, we’ll be writing to voters in the New York districts of Congressmen George Santos (NY-03) Marc Molinaro (NY-19) and Brandon Williams (NY-22), or California voters in the districts of Congressmen David Valadao (CA-22), Mike Garcia (CA-27), and Ken Calvert (CA-41). Let’s check out this postcard-writing campaign out here.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
ALL – MEDICAID DISENROLLMENT
For most of the pandemic, Medicaid recipients were prevented from losing their health insurance benefits through continuous coverage protections. However, those protections ended when the federal Public Health Emergency lifted. Since then, at least 1,295,000 people have been disenrolled from Medicaid in 22 states. Approximately 74% of disenrolled people had their coverage terminated because their renewal was not completed. Let's join the Biden administration by asking our governors to slow down Medicaid disenrollment to give Medicaid recipients more time to complete the renewal process. Let's also share the Medicaid How-To page, where we can find coverage status, and resources on how to enroll in each state.
FL/ALL – DAY OF ACTION TO PUT ABORTION RIGHTS ON THE BALLOT
The effort to put abortion rights on the ballot in Florida in 2024 is proceeding apace, with organizers reporting they have already mobilized thousands of volunteers and gathered 100,000 petitions out of the 900,000 they need before February. This Saturday, Floridians Protecting Freedom will be holding a statewide Day of Action to expand their signature gathering efforts. If we’re in Florida, let’s sign up to help out here. If we’re not, let’s consider a donation to support their work.
You are the bomb! Thank you for your work. It is truly invaluable. I would have no idea what is politically crucial without the information you provide. Please know it is truly appreciated!!!