California should not try to amend the Constitution at this time

Indivisible SF Newsletter
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** NDAA passed House and Senate with an anti-trans provision: how our senators voted
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It happened before we could react: The House and Senate both passed the National Defense Authorization Act, the bill that funds the US military. Unfortunately, this year’s NDAA included a provision inserted by MAGA Republicans that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender servicemembers.

Our new senator, Senator Schiff, voted no on this bill, and we want to thank him for that. Our other senator, however, voted to pass this harmful bill, and he needs to hear from us that that wasn’t OK. (See how they voted here ([link removed]) .)

Tell Senator Schiff: Thank you for standing up for transgender servicemembers!
Tell Senator Padilla: We need you to protect trans rights, including those of transgender servicemembers.

Call ([link removed]) Senator Padilla and tell him: ([link removed]) I’m disappointed in your vote on NDAA which betrays transgender servicemembers. As a bonus, call Senator Schiff and thank him.



** State Sen. Wiener wants to withdraw California’s call for a constitutional convention. We agree
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This week, our State Senator Scott Wiener introduced SJR 1 ([link removed]) , a resolution to rescind previous applications for a federal Constitutional convention.

A Constitutional convention is a process by which states can propose amendments to the US Constitution. California’s legislature has asked for a Constitutional convention several times over issues such as reforming the Second Amendment. If enough states agree to such a request, then the convention is called and the negotiations over amendments would begin.

But there’s no guarantee that a Constitutional convention would go our way. The danger is that we could get outvoted by red states, and any amendments passed would move our country in the wrong direction.

With the current balance of power, now is an incredibly dangerous time to take this step. We need to stymie any efforts to attempt a Constitutional convention in this political environment.

Call your Assemblymembers and tell them ([link removed]) : support Sen. Wiener’s resolution to rescind previous applications for a constitutional convention.



** Want to help us do this work?
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We can help plug you in where your skills will do the most good to help resist the coming administration.

If you would like to join and do important work with us, we welcome you! Currently we are especially in need of volunteers to help with the following:

* Managing our social media and creating posts and graphics
* Making short-form videos to help educate people on our topics in an accessible way.
* Tracking state and local legislation and working with our state and local legislatures and Mayor-elect Lurie.

No experience is needed, and we will train you and provide everything you need. If you would like to help us, please contact us at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

You’re also welcome to join us at our general meetings. Next date TBD but it will be next year.


**
Tell your Senators to fill every judicial vacancy NOW
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We need to continue pushing our senators to confirm as many pro-democracy judges as possible before the end of the year.

While the Senate has confirmed over 200 of President Biden’s highly qualified judicial nominees, there are 6 nominations pending, and more vacancies ([link removed]) for which President Biden still needs to nominate someone. Democrats need to act fast and work through the procedural steps to get this done.

Remember that these judges serve lifetime appointments—we need them to be filled by candidates who will uphold the Constitution. And we need them filled by the time Trump takes office.

Tell your senators ([link removed]) to make the most of their time and to fill every judicial vacancy now.



** Don’t wait! Get your free COVID-19 tests and vaccines while you still can
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It’s unlikely that free COVID-19 tests ([link removed]) will last past the end of the Biden Administration, so if you haven’t ordered yours yet, the time to get on that is now.

Also, if you haven’t gotten this year’s COVID-19 vaccine yet, now’s the time. If you’re uninsured, you can still get it for free through California’s Bridge Access Program—but only through the end of the year. Insured Californians should be able to get the vaccine covered by their insurance.

[link removed]
TODAY: SURJ National's Gear Up Training and Action Program, Wednesday, December 18, 5–7:30 PM Online: Gear Up is a learning, training, and action program. With experts from social justice movements across the country and the world, we'll dig into education on topics like: the rise of the far right in the US, organizing strategies under authoritarianism, and the role of white people in social movements.RSVP here. ([link removed])



** About this week’s photo
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If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on social media, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue.
Today’s graphic is an original graphic featuring a photo of Senator Padilla with a call to action on his NDAA vote.

Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team ([link removed])

If you'd like to support our all-volunteer team:
DONATE HERE ([link removed])

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