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We mailed nearly 60 postcards this past Sunday, bringing us up to roughly 200 postcards sent in September. These postcards to registered voters in Nevada, Pennsylvania, and CA-45 and CA-47 will help increase voter turnout and hopefully win the White House, hold the Senate, and flip the House of Representatives.
This Sunday, October 6, join us at Standard Deviant from 4–6 PM to write postcards to swing districts and swing states.
The time is now to do something. Join us in building the #BlueWave2024 to protect our freedoms, uphold our civil rights, and build a prosperous democratic future. RSVP on Eventbrite—we’d love to see you there!
Vote NO on Prop 36 (and tell 10 friends)
Ten years ago, California passed Proposition 47, which made punishments fit their crimes. Two years before that, 2012’s Proposition 36 ended the failed policy of “three strikes and you’re out” and the violence it caused, making all Californians safer.
This year brings a new Proposition 36, which aims to re-break some of the things that the earlier propositions fixed. It takes a huge step backwards in California’s progress by trying to take us back to the failed policy era of “tough on crime” and “three strikes.”
Proposition 36 is a false solution to real problems. As noted in this 48 Hills opinion piece:
Backed by big-box retailers and law enforcement, Proposition 36 is being touted as a solution to homelessness and the scourge of fentanyl on the streets. But the initiative does not provide money for housing or treatment beds or allocate any money to create new funding sources to enforce it. In fact, the ballot measure has little to do with addiction and nothing at all to do with homelessness.
Since 2014, Proposition 47 has reduced California’s prison overcrowding and saved the state more than $800 million, which the state uses instead to fund projects that prevent further crime, trauma recovery for crime victims, and programs to prevent violence in schools. By ending Prop 47’s successes, Proposition 36 would cost Californians between tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars every year,
Worse, Proposition 36 would create a new “three strikes” policy. We know these don’t work and create more violence as offenders seek to avoid a third arrest that could turn into a felony conviction. Let’s not have more police chases and armed showdowns on our streets.
Other resources to learn more about Proposition 36 include the LA Times Endorsement to vote No on Proposition 36, the Vera Institute's explanation, and the No on Prop 36 campaign website.
Let’s protect the progress we’ve made in making our cities safer. We urge you to vote NO on Proposition 36.
In addition, many of your friends and family are likely not aware of the harms that this proposition will do, and they’re likely getting lied to about Prop 47. We ask you to talk with 10 or more of your friends and family members about this proposition to help pre-bunk or debunk the disinformation and fill them in on the truth. The ACLU of Northern California has talking points, resources, and other ways to get involved.
Get your free COVID-19 tests and your 2024 vaccines!
The Biden-Harris administration has brought back COVIDTests.gov. You can order four more rapid tests from the USPS to be mailed to your home address.
Prepare now for the winter surge by ordering your tests today. Don’t wait—the earlier you order, the earlier you’ll have them.
And, good news for uninsured Californians: The California Department of Public Health has opened a statewide replacement for the CDC’s recently-expired Bridge Access Program, providing free COVID-19 vaccines this October through December. This, along with the annual flu vaccine that is also now available, will be vital protection for you and your community.
Two defeats in state legislative advocacy: Gov. Newsom vetoed SB 1374 and signed AB 2527
SB 1374 was a net metering bill that would have protected rooftop solar. Although weeks of calls from Indivisibles like you influenced the Assembly and the Senate to pass it, it was vetoed by Governor Newsom.
AB 2527 allows prisons to place pregnant people in solitary confinement for up to five days. Solitary confinement has been clearly shown to cause long-term harm to all incarcerated people, pregnant or not. Instead of codifying the use of solitary confinement, we should be moving to eliminate it from our prison system entirely.
Our partners believe that our collective advocacy was successful in disrupting the Governor's plan to tout this bill as a significant reform, and forced him instead to sign the bill quietly late Friday evening. Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan's office has also gone largely silent on the bill.
We won’t give up pressuring our state representatives and the governor to make our lives better and not worse. Energy should be plentiful, affordable, and resilient, and rooftop solar is a critical part of achieving all three. And nobody should be subjected to solitary confinement. We’ll keep up these fights and others in the legislative years to come.
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