Friends,

At a time when our country demands change after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, state legislatures are taking action today to address police violence against Black people. After Democrats won back power in state legislative chambers in Colorado and New York in 2018, these states are now at the helm of this critical progress while the U.S. Senate stalls on recently proposed federal legislation by House Democrats:

• Colorado: The state legislature “passed one of the most comprehensive police reform packages in the country Saturday.” Banning chokeholds, requiring body cameras, and ending qualified immunity, Senate Bill 217 takes bold action to limit police force and advance individual civil rights. The bill now heads to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

• New York: State legislators approved a marathon of 10 police reform bills in three days including a ban on chokeholds and repeal of 50-a, which prohibits the release of police personnel records without permission from the officer or a judge. Four of the bills have already been signed into law by the governor.

State legislatures are leveraging their power to represent the will of the people today in tackling systemic racism and a broken justice system.

Indeed, it’s only a start, but imagine what progress we could make looking at Republican-controlled states like Texas and Florida that are the worst actors when it comes to the disenfranchisement and voter suppression of Black and Brown people.

As Rev. Jesse Jackson and Forward Majority advisor, David Daley, wrote in TIME this week, “Republicans responded to the election of Barack Obama in 2008 not by trying to broaden their own base or appeal to a changing nation, but by modernizing voter suppression tactics out of the old Jim Crow playbook...Together, these gerrymandered legislatures and their judicial enablers have empowered the angriest and most hateful elements of the shrinking GOP base, and locked them into office nationwide, even when they win fewer votes.”

We’re continuing our fight to win back power where it counts this November—in the key Republican-held state legislative chambers that present us with the once-in-a-decade opportunity to break GOP trifectas of power, halt their gerrymandering, and unwind their voter suppression.

In solidarity,

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