October 25, 2023
House Speaker search continues, wipe out medical debt, ban salmon-killing toxins, and more!
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Contact all members of Congress:
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By email: democracy.io
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THE SPEAKER OF HOUSE SEARCH CONTINUES
In a narrow internal secret vote yesterday morning, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) got the nomination for House Speaker in a process that sounded a lot like ranked-choice voting, which the GOP does not like. He won without collecting the necessary 217 votes among GOP members. The vote was to move on to the whole House, but without the confident support of his party, he withdrew. So, it was back to the drawing board for a Speaker of the House. Then last night, the GOP nominated Mike Johnson who was one of the original nine who were ousted in this morning’s vote. As we can see, Johnson’s voting record will not garner him Democratic support. There may be a floor vote yet today. The government shutdown is less than three weeks away, no bills are being passed, no funds are being allotted. Let’s let our GOP reps know that as soon as they put forth a reasonable nominee, the faster this can get done with bipartisan support and the work can continue.
COLUMBUS WIPES OUT MEDICAL DEBT FOR 340,000 PEOPLE
On Monday, Columbus, Ohio approved a landmark deal with the Central Ohio Hospital Council to wipe out $335 million worth of medical debt for 340,000 people in their city using American Rescue Plan funds. They’re just the latest in a series of communities to use ARP funds for this sort of relief, joining among others Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Cook County, Toledo and New Orleans. But unused COVID relief funds may be rescinded in this year’s appropriations, so local and state government are running out of time to take advantage of this opportunity. Let’s contact our local elected officials and encourage them to use remaining ARP funds to relieve medical debt burdens in our areas while they still can, and consider a donation to RIP Medical Debt to help them buy and retire debt for pennies on the dollar ourselves if we can.
BAN SALMON-KILLING CHEMICAL USED IN TIRE MANUFACTURING: Three Northwest tribes are calling for a national ban on 6PPD, a chemical commonly found on tires that has been determined to kill salmon. EarthJustice, an environmental advocacy organization, has joined this call by asking the EPA to strictly regulate the use of this chemical for future manufacturing. California has already instituted state regulations that require manufacturers to “look” for safer alternatives, but until this product is banned it will be easy to get around these requirements. Let’s join this effort by contacting the EPA, and asking our MoCs to introduce and pass legislation that addresses the issue.
GOTV TO CREATE THE FIRST PUBLIC-OWNED STATEWIDE UTILITY COMPANY
Mainers are about to get the opportunity to vote on creating the first statewide consumer-owned utility company in the nation – Pine Tree Power. This could help lower utility bills, increase accountability and reliability, and make Maine a leader in shifting away from fossil fuels. A win here could have ripple effects across the nation. Opponents are being heavily funded by the foreign-owned parent companies of the current private utilities. We can sign up to phonebank here and for GOTV weekend here, and can find more ways to help and a place to donate here.
LET’S SEE IF WE HAVE ELECTIONS COMING UP IN OUR AREA
Vote 411, a project of the League of Women Voters Education Fund, has a tool that lets us look up whether we have an upcoming election. Let’s use it. We can also use this checklist to make our plan to vote. And we can sign up for election reminders at TurboVote.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
MA – RALLY WITH AUTOWORKERS IN BOSTON 12PM TODAY
The UAW surprised the Big Three again this week, shutting down Stellantis’ largest and most profitable assembly plant on Monday and GM’s biggest moneymaker on Tuesday. Almost 12,000 more autoworkers are now on strike, bringing the total to more than 45,000 after 40 days. They need our solidarity now, so UAW members, Mass AFL-CIO and other allies are rallying at the State House at 12pm TODAY. Let’s join them if we can, and sign up for updates on future events from UAW Region 9A if we aren’t able to do so.