“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability . . .” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr., Letters From A Birmingham Jail, April 1963 Happy Tuesday, Activists! We hope you had a good long weekend and found a way to honor Dr. King's legacy.
CALL FOR VOTING RIGHTS We're still focusing on voting rights because the Senate begins debate today on the Freedom To Vote Act: John R. Lewis Voting Act. It looks like tomorrow will be the final vote. So there's still time for us to make the calls! But first, thank you for coming to our virtual MLK Jr. weekend event on Sunday! Check out the fantastic video we made. We are sending it to Senator Casey now. Here's a follow-up action -- You can use this link to make calls to voters in Arizona and West Virginia, asking them to call their conservative Democratic senator and demand they vote to modify the filibuster to get voting rights legislation passed. Today - Call Senator Casey! We know you're weary of pushing and pushing for this legislation. It's been a long haul, but we’re coming down to the wire and we can’t stop now! Call Senator Casey now and show how much you care. Tell him you expect him to not just vote for voting rights and abolish the filibuster to do it, but to put pressure on his colleagues to do the same. We want Democrats to hold the floor and have a long debate, so please ask Senator Casey to make sure the debate is robust and lengthy. Sen. Casey – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. 202-224-6324; email link. For outside PA: Find your Senators’ phone numbers and emails at this link.
NEXT MONDAY! JOIN OUR MEETING WITH A.G. JOSH SHAPIRO Join our one-hour virtual meeting with Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is running for PA Governor this year. Getting a Democrat elected is critical to ensuring democracy endures in our own state! We’ll have a lot to ask him about his vision, and you should bring your questions too! When: Monday, January 24, 7:30 pm Where: Zoom Sign up here.
COMMENT ON NEW MAPS AND GERRYMANDERING First up -- We're also coming down to the wire to comment to the Legislative Reapportionment Commission (LRC), which is drawing the new state legislative districts. Today is our LAST CHANCE to comment on the LRC proposed maps for our state House and Senate. For more information click HERE. You can leave a comment here. If you're concerned about how the maps will impact your community, this is the last chance to use your voice. As for the Congressional maps -- The proposed maps are still going around in the legislature and Governor Wolf will likely need to veto the bills sponsoring them (thus probably sending it to the PA Supreme Court for them to draw - again). You can leave a comment on the Governor's comment portal here. Since Governor Wolf is the one who is ultimately representing the interests of a fair map, he is the one who will pay the most attention to your thoughts, and is the most likely to use that feedback to best effect. This is a very informative site and we recommend you check it out! Next up -- We need to keep up the pressure against HB 38 and HB 2207. You can see our full explainer in last Friday's newsletter. Here is the video of our meeting with Fair Districts PA and Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts on this topic. We also have a great summary of it on our website here. Call legislative leadership to register your opposition to these bills. Call Speaker Brian Cutler: 717-783-6424 Script idea: I'm calling Representative Cutler in his role as Speaker to ask him to oppose two bills, HB 38 and HB 2207.
Call House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff: 717-783-1918 Script idea: I'm calling Representative Benninghoff in his role as Majority Leader to ask him to oppose two bills: HB 38 and HB 2207. You can read more on the Fair District website here.
POSTCARDS! Write to Philly Voters Yes, they’re back! We are writing postcards to persuade infrequent voters to get out and vote this year to secure Democratic victories for the open U.S. Senate and PA Governor seats. We are writing to every voter in Philadelphia who does not usually vote in midterm elections. Here’s how it works – The hand-written script is short plus you’ll also write the address. We recommend you order enough cards to write over the next month. Then we’ll have updated cards. The packet you receive will include the postcards and the list of addresses. We’ll email you all the instructions and the script. Please order your postcards in multiples of 50. We ask that you donate $7.00 per set of 50 postcards to cover our costs at this link. But don’t let the donation stop you from signing up. On the other hand, if you can, please consider chipping in a little extra to cover the cost for those who cannot. Here’s how to sign up – Email us at this link to tell us how many postcards you want. Purchase your 40-cent postcard stamps online at this link or at your local post office. Donate $7.00 per set of 50 postcards at this link. (Plus an extra $5.00 if we are shipping to you.) Here’s how to receive your postcards – If you are in the Philadelphia area, we will deliver them to you or you can pick them up. If you are outside the Philadelphia area, we can ship them to you. Please add $5.00 to your donation for shipping costs.