Keep the GOP from killing vital legislation
Indivisible SF Newsletter
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For the first time in decades, public support and congressional momentum are both growing to end the racist, anti-democratic filibuster. Indivisible is part of the progressive campaign to end it, and your messages to Washington on this issue are having a positive effect. Senator Padilla is already with us, but Senator Feinstein still needs to hear from us day in and day out. Last November she told us she favored retaining the filibuster and that we would have to “agree to disagree on this issue.” However, last week she told us “I’m open to changing the way the Senate filibuster rules are used.” Similarly, last week President Biden – who had previously opposed abolishing or reforming the filibuster – endorsed a significant filibuster reform proposal.
Our constituent pressure is having an effect. Now is the time for a constant drumbeat of anti-filibuster messages. This week, we’re adding to the list of the good and necessary bills that have been passed by the House but now face death by filibuster in the Senate. These new bills are:
* HR.6: American Dream and Promise Act (provides dreamers with a path to receive permanent resident status)
* HR.1603: Farm Workforce Modernization Act (legalizes and provides some protections for farm workers under the H2A "Guestworker" program)
* HR.1620: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (renews and expands the Violence Against Women Act that expired in 2019 due to Republican opposition)
Each day that you can, please pick one bill from that list and send a brief one- or two-sentence message in your own words to Senator Feinstein and President Biden linking that bill to ending or reforming the filibuster.
Call Senator Feinstein ([link removed]) and tell her: end or reform the Filibuster to protect vital bills from the Senate Deathwatch!
In the meantime, we must continue our pressure about the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The last few months of the Trump regime brought more than 1,000 new rules and regulations designed to codify its extreme ideology. The CRA gives Congress 60 days to overturn rules and regulations. But as a practical matter, even if Congress moves swiftly, it will only have time to revoke a few of them. So we're working to identify the worst of the worst and asking you to urge your MoC to act immediately to start the process of revoking them.
Call your Members of Congress and tell them ([link removed]) : Use the CRA to Revoke Trump-Era Rules & Regulations
Police Accountability: Deep Dive on AB 481
Police militarization is a longstanding issue in the US. In the Bay Area alone, law enforcement agencies have received military equipment worth $11 million ([link removed]) in just the last decade. During many of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, police forces fired tear gas from military grenade launchers and baton rounds (a/k/a “rubber bullets”) from armored vehicles at unarmed, mostly peaceful people. Many of them also had cuffs, batons, shields, and gas masks obtained from the Pentagon.
Studies show that far from fostering public safety, militarized police departmentsescalate violence ([link removed]) . California legislators, including San Francisco’s own David Chiu (AD-17), are working to demilitarize the police.
In 2018, Indivisible SF supported AB 3131, which was introduced in the California State Assembly to provide public oversight and checks on militarized police forces. The legislator passed the bill, but then-Governor Jerry Brown vetoed it, calling it an “unnecessary bureaucratic hurdle.” Now we have a second chance with a revived version of the bill ([link removed]) , which has been introduced in the current state legislative session as AB 481 ([link removed]) . It would require a state or local law enforcement agency to obtain approval from the appropriate governing body for the purchase of military equipment, and to submit a use policy for approval. Chiu, who co-authored the bill, expects it to reach the Assembly’s Policy Committee in late March or April. If passed by the committee, the bill could be brought to a floor vote and
arrive on the governor’s desk by September.
We support AB 481 as part of a larger movement to demand that law enforcement agencies be accountable to the communities they are supposed to serve.
To learn more about the bill, read more in the deep dive on our blog ([link removed]) !
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ISF Federal Working Group meeting: Thursday, March 25, 7:00–9:00 PM. Register here ([link removed]) to help us develop strategies to influence our Members of Congress and the Biden administration to enact a progressive agenda. Zoom room opens at 7:00 PM for discussion and orientation, and the meeting agenda starts promptly at 7:30 PM.
ISF State and Local Working Group meeting: Friday, April 2, 7:30–8:30 PM. Register here ([link removed]) to help us plan to propose legislation to our state legislators and support progressive initiatives on the state and local level.
Indivisible National THRIVE 101 Training: Saturday, March 27, 10–11:30 AM. Join Indivisible to learn about the THRIVE agenda, which outlines the policies Indivisible wants to support going forward. RSVP here. ([link removed])
Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team ([link removed])
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