Despite both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump’s White House attempting to undermine the bipartisan efforts to draw up a COVID relief bill with their own “offers,” the relief bill may soon become a reality, either as an addition to the Omnibus appropriations bill or a Continuing Resolution. We need our Members of Congress to stand strong and refuse to compromise with Republicans on the key issues.
Call your Members of Congress now and tell them: provide real relief in the COVID relief bill.
Yesterday Democrats rejected McConnell’s proposal to eliminate liability protection for corporations in exchange for eliminating aid to state and local governments. The Trump Administration then jumped in with a $916 billion relief offer that dramatically reduces spending on jobless benefits. While Republicans’ willingness to shift on some key issues marks progress, their proposals continue to be woefully inadequate to address the severe economic fallout of the pandemic.
To recap: House Democrats originally asked for $3.3 trillion (HEROES Act). McConnell stonewalled. Dems compromised down to 2.2 trillion. McConnell stonewalled.
Now Democrats seem ready to accept less than a third of what they originally proposed as the minimum necessary to meet the crisis (sigh). Just as they promised with all the previous inadequate bills when they settled for whatever pittance they could beg from the Republicans, Democratic leaders promise (again) to fight for what we really need in the next bill–after President-elect Biden takes office.
Sadly, we may have to accept something rather than achieve nothing because people are really dying and suffering and they are desperate–and we care about that, which Republicans clearly do not.
But it's not just about the money. There are also crucial policy issues involved. We have to demand that our MOCs take a firm stand on four key policy issues:
- Extending the CDC's health-emergency eviction moratorium, scheduled to terminate at the end of this month, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s foreclosure moratorium, which dies at the end of January. We need to tell our MoCs that any relief bill must extend federal eviction and foreclosure moratoriums. (California also has a moratorium, which expires at the end of January.)
- Granting desperately needed aid to state and local governments to fill in funding gaps.
- Extending unemployment benefits beyond the meager amounts Republicans propose.
- Ensuring that no immunity to liability is included in the bill. As a negotiating tool, McConnell has offered to eliminate liability immunity, but we need our MoCs to hold Republicans to this when this legislation is finalized.
Get ready for the Assembly District Delegates (ADEMs) election!
The ADEMs election is coming up soon, and it’s all vote-by-mail—the safest and most convenient way to vote! Register for a vote-by-mail ballot by January 11.
California Democratic Assembly District Delegates (AD delegates) are responsible for working within the Democratic State Central Committee to shape the party’s platform on behalf of their community. There are 14 delegates from each California assembly district. The delegates elected in each district represent the district in the Democratic Party conventions; those elected in the coming year will be your district’s representatives in 2021 and 2022.
AD Delegates vote within the CA Democratic Party on behalf of the community they represent. They can affect important California Democratic Party initiatives such as:
- Ballot proposition endorsements
- Electing California Democratic officers, including the Chair
- Endorsements for statewide offices
- The California Democratic State Party platform
We can move the Democratic party to progressive initiatives by electing Assembly District Delegates who represent those needs, or by running to be a delegate!
To run for office, the deadline is Tuesday, December 15, 2020. There is a $30 candidate fee to apply. You can apply to be a candidate here.
If you’re not running, you must register for a vote-by-mail ballot by Monday, January 11, 2021. Register for a ballot here. You must be a registered Democratic Party voter. (Do not fill out this application if you intend to run as a candidate.) After you register, you will receive a ballot in the mail. Fill out your ballot and mail it back in time for it to be received before Wednesday, January 27.
Fighting to win in Georgia.
Organizations in Georgia are ramping up to register voters before the December 7 voter registration deadline for the Senate runoff. And we’re joining in! Remember, we want to follow the lead of the community organizers on the ground in Georgia. Local organizers know what the community needs and how voters in Georgia are feeling. We must listen to them and give them the resources they need. Here’s how you can help right now:
- Donate to Fair Fight and the candidates. Fair Fight, led by Stacey Abrams, contributed greatly to flipping Georgia. The candidates, Jon Ossoff and Rev. Warnock, are up against Republican incumbents with the full force and funding of the Republican machine behind them. They will need a lot of money to fund their campaigns.
- Contact voters to get ready for the runoff. DemAction SF and the New Georgia Project have already organized some phone banks, and more will be coming.
- Phone bank every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday with the New Georgia Project to register voters before the December 7 registration deadline.
- Phone Bank with DemAction SF on Saturday.
- Sign up with Vote Forward for opportunities to write letters to Georgia.
- Sign up to volunteer with local organizers. There will be plenty of opportunities to phone bank, text bank, and even canvass, but we want to make sure local Georgia organizations are leading.
We’ll be sending updates on how you can get involved as we get more information.
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ISF General Meeting: Sunday, December 20, 1–3 PM via Zoom. Register here to join our online meeting. The meeting is open to anyone interested in resisting Trump's radical agenda of hate, division, and greed.
Thursday, Dec 10, 7:00–9 PM: Indivisible SF Members of Congress Planning Meeting. Please join us for our Members of Congress planning meeting, where we will discuss our federal calls to actions and priorities on the federal level.
TOMORROW: Wednesday, Dec 9, 6:30–8 PM:SF YIMBY Action Monthly Meeting Focused on ADEMS election with Scott Wiener and David Chiu. Join SF YIMBY Action for their monthly meeting. They will be focusing on the ADEMS election (read more on our blog), and will be joined by State Senator Scott Wiener and Assemblyman David Chiu. RSVP here.
Saturday, Dec 12, 1–4 PM: GA Runoff Elections Phone Bank with DemAction SF and Swing Left. Please join us to make calls for the runoff elections in Georgia. This work is more crucial than ever. Add your voice! RSVP here.
Daily through January 5, 2:00 PM–5 PM: Make calls with the New Georgia Project Action Fund. With the Senate runoffs coming up on January 5, NGP is phone banking every day to get Georgians to the polls! Sign up for a shift here.
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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