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** alliance4action Newsletter
September, 2020

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Welcome to our monthly newsletter. If you have any comments or contributions for the newsletter, please email the editors, Pam Duchaine ([email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) ) or Henne Queisser ([email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) ).
a4a September General Meeting
(by ZOOM, of course)

Arizona Ballot Initiatives
by League of Women Voters

Sunday, September 20, 2:00 p.m.

Zoom link: [link removed] ([link removed])
Meeting ID: 813 9125 9434
Passcode: 086865


** At our September meeting, a guest speaker from the League of Women Voters will share a non-partisan presentation on the two remaining initiatives: Legalizing Recreational Marijuana, and the Education Initiative that will create an education tax on those taxpayers with an income over $250,000/annually.

In addition, we will hear from Steve Diamond whom we have endorsed for Pima County Supervisor. He will share with us ways we can help him become elected.
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Need help getting started with Zoom? Check out this introduction: [link removed] ([link removed])
alliance4action Treasurer’s Report

Balance as of August 1, 2020 $3,837.41

Income
Membership Dues and Donations $110.27
Expenses
Donation to Steve Diamond Campaign $2,000.00

Balance as of August 29, 2020 $1,947.68

Maggie Sievers, Treasurer
Proud of Our First Ever Zoom Meeting on August 16

We celebrated the 100^th anniversary of women’s suffrage by viewing a wonderful presentation by our own Maureen Brooks. She recommends the following resources that mark this historic moment:
* AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, “The Vote”, a dramatic telling of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote;
* AMERICAN MASTERS, “Unladylike2020”, a multimedia series featuring courageous, little-known and diverse female trailblazers from the turn of the 20th century;
* And, the POV miniseries, “And She Could Be Next,” that tells the story of a defiant movement of women of color transforming politics from the ground up.

If you missed the August presentation, a recording of it can be viewed here. ([link removed])

We also voted to endorse STEVE DIAMOND for Pima County Supervisor and to support him financially. Steve is an a4a member and will be speaking at our September meeting.
([link removed] [link removed])
a4a ACTION GROUPS

Climate Change

A massive hurricane fueled by super-heated waters hits the Gulf coast. An historic heat wave and wild fires devastate California and other parts of the west, causing dangerous air quality for hundreds of miles. Scientists are saying all of this has been made worse by climate change.

We see this knowing that there is no serious national policy in place addressing human caused climate change, the #1 threat to the planet and humankind. In fact regulations that would have some positive impact have been reversed and those declaring the climate in crisis are often mocked as hysterical.

This past week, four or us from the Climate Action Group had the opportunity to meet via Zoom with our Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick and her legislative assistant for the environment. Kirkpatrick shares the distress we feel about inaction on climate. In a frank discussion our Representative voiced her frustration at the inability to get things done in the current Congress.

This was the fourth time this year that representatives of the climate group have met with staff of one of our senators or member of the house to discuss climate legislation. However, Kirkpatrick was the first MOC to participate. Requesting a Zoom meeting probably made this possible, though unfortunately Kirkpatrick was only able to join us by audio. Her assistant was on video with us.

We presented (virtually) over two hundred letters from constituents supporting the "Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act". We were invited to share more information on carbon fee and dividend with Kirkpatrick's assistant and hope to continue our dialog next year when our country must enact bold measures to reduce carbon pollution.

Meanwhile coming right up is the Climate Solutions Film Festival, sponsored by Tucson Citizen Climate Lobby, on Labor Day weekend, beginning September 3, at 7 PM with a livestream event and online chat. There will be twenty new films filled with adventure, inspiration, science and good humor—all streaming. Watch from home through September 8.

Link to EVENTBRITE invitation:
[link removed]

To receive notices of upcoming a4a Climate Group actions and events send a message to [email protected] ([link removed]) with "Add to email list" on subject line.

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Education

The members of the Education Action Group have been working on the initiative that would tax higher wage earners to generate funds to support public education in Arizona. It’s been a roller coaster ride!

Several of our group members and other a4a members were active in the drive-by petition signing event which included this petition. We were thrilled when the petition was signed by many more people than was necessary to get it on the ballot.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill and the Maricopa Supervising Judge ruled that it could not be on the ballot because of the description on the petition. He thought the description of the action on the petition was vague and misleading. The decision was appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court and was heard this week. The Court reversed the earlier decision by ruling that there was no danger of confusion or unfairness.

The Invest in Ed petition will be on the ballot after all, and we will prioritize educating voters about the need to support this petition.

Our group has been monitoring the safe reopening of schools as well as many other issues associated with public education as a result of Covid-19. Our State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Kathy Hoffman, has been a leader in working on behalf of students, parents, and teachers in Arizona.

Please contact Polly Daly at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) if you would like to join us.

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Health Care
The Health Care Group generated two letters to the Green Valley News at its recent meeting. They were provoked by our disgust at the FDA’s and CDC’s statements on convalescent plasma as a COVID treatment and revision of testing criteria for asymptomatic people who have been in contact with positive cases.

The Arizona citizen’s initiative on four important aspects of health care in Arizona (pre-existing conditions, surprise billing, hospital wage levels and infection controls) will not be on the General Election ballot after all. It did not get enough valid signatures.

Group members continue to track issues of drug pricing, separation of health insurance from employment, nursing home reform, and the status of the Affordable Care Act.

We are learning about the Biden/Harris health care proposals so we can explain them to broader audiences. We are discussing what to do before November 3rd including phone banking, letter writing to swing state voters, strategic donations to national and Arizona state races, working at polling places and the “Blue Card Drop” strategy. The latter will be drive by and drop off of relevant voter information to Democratic and Independent voter households in our area.

The Health Care Group has 85 members and some 10 core members who are meeting monthly. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, September 23rd, at 1:00 pm via Zoom. We hope to start and finish our next gathering with original clarinet accompaniment. For more information or to join our group, contact Laurie Jurs at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

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Immigration

This summer the Trump Administration has taken every opportunity to dismantle our immigration system – using COVID-19 as the perfect excuse not to process new arrivals. The administration has:
1. slashed our main sources of legal immigration: family reunifications, refugee resettlements, and employment.
2. caused hunger strikes and unrest in immigration detention centers due to high COVID-19 infections.
3. increased court backlogs because most immigration courts were closed.

USCIS (the organization that processes applications for green cards and citizenship) has cancelled many naturalization ceremonies - delaying over 125,000 green card holders who have been approved for citizenship but who can not thereby take the oath.

Meanwhile, using Defense Department funds, the 30-foot tall border wall continues to be built at Sasabe, Arizona.

We urge every a4a member to:
* Watch “Immigration Nation” on Netflix (6-part series). You can learn how to sign up for one free month of Netflix here ([link removed]) .
* Read Jason Mark’s Washington Post Opinion piece “The US Hired me to Protect Refugees. Now it tells me to abandon them” here ([link removed]) .
* Call or email your U.S. Senators and Representative to urge a reduction of fiscal year 2021 funding for ICE and CBP and increase oversight for these organizations.

During the pandemic we continue to meet the 2^nd and 4^th Fridays of the month (9 am AZ time), and welcome new or returning members to our discussions. If you wish to join us or have questions, contact Gail Frank at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

For up-to-date information, check our website, [link removed] and Facebook page, [link removed] ([link removed]) .

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