Friday Actions

****Actions 11/1/2019****

STATE:

Celebrate #21Strong:
Our state senators had to stay late and skip trick-or-treating with their families, but thanks to a show of incredible unity and commitment, the Democrats held strong and ran out the clock on the GOP’s efforts to overturn Governor Cooper’s veto on the budget. The bad news is that means that we will enter 2020 with continued budget uncertainty, but it also means that the GOP wasn’t able to force through a bad budget. Your reps are probably going to be hungover tomorrow from a long session, but take a moment to call the Democrats’ offices or tweet them and thank them for their solidarity. If you have a GOP rep, call them and tell them to support a budget that actually gives teachers good raises and that provides funding to expand Medicaid.

Details:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article236874893.html

Democratic Script:
Hello, I am a constituent calling from ______________ to thank Sen. __________ for standing strong on the state budget veto override vote. I appreciate your dedication and commitment to representing your constituents. Thank you so much!

GOP Script:
Hello, I am a constituent calling from _____________ to urge Rep./Sen. ____________ to reconsider their attempts to overturn Governor Cooper’s veto of the Republican budget. Instead of supporting further tax cuts for corporations, we need to fund teacher raises and Medicaid expansion. You should be negotiating with the Governor since he was elected by the majority of North Carolina voters. Thank you.

State Contact Numbers:
NC House: http://bit.ly/2CVneDK
NC Senate: http://bit.ly/2DamgAn



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Tell Governor Cooper to Veto SB 250:
[From the ACLU] SB 250 would require the State Board of Elections to identify and remove people from voting rolls who — at some point in the past — have been excused from jury service because they said they were not U.S. citizens. That information, however, is often unreliable and difficult to verify. For example, a person's information may not be updated after they become a naturalized citizen. Similar voter purge programs have resulted in eligible registered voters having their right to vote denied. Worse, because it makes these records publicly available, it could expose people to prosecution by ICE. I’m not going to recreate the wheel here. Go to the ACLU website and use their email tool to contact the Governor.

Link:
https://action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-gov-cooper-veto-sb-250 


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Other good news:
The NCGA finally passed the bill that closes the “Consent Loophole.” as many of you know, North Carolina had a horrible law on the books that did not allow people to revoke consent once the sexual act was initiated. It’s shameful that it took several years for the NCGOP to bring the bill to a vote, but the bill passed both chambers unanimously and now heads to Governor Coopers desk.

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FEDERAL:

Pass a Federal Revenge Porn Law:
California Rep. Katie Hill resigned from Congress earlier this week, and a once-promising political career has been derailed, in large part because a malicious ex chose to publicly humiliate her by providing naked photos to a right-wing propaganda site. Hill didn’t deserve to be treated this way. We know that women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community are far more likely to be victimized by revenge porn. The most prominent revenge porn bill on Capitol Hill — the Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act — would establish federal criminal liability for individuals who share private, sexually explicit or nude images without the consent of those photographed. While 46 states have revenge porn laws, we need a federal law because jurisdiction is often fuzzy. Questions come up like where the film was uploaded, where it was taken, and so on, all of which make prosecution more complicated. This is a form of violence, and it needs to be stopped. Period. We need a federal law.

Details:
https://thehill.com/news-by-subject/technology/468028-katie-hill-resignation-reignites-push-for-federal-revenge-porn-law

Script:
Hello, I am a constituent calling from ____________ to urge Rep./Sen. ______________ to pass the Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution, or SHIELD, Act. We need a federal law banning revenge porn. A patchwork of local laws is not sufficient, and it makes it much more difficult to prosecute. Revenge porn is a form of violence, and it needs to be stopped. Red State should have been punished for publishing the images of Katie Hill, and we need stiffer laws and stronger enforcement to prevent something like this from happening again.

Federal Contact Numbers:
Thom Tillis: DC: (202) 224-6342
Richard Burr DC: (202) 224-3154
Tim Scott (SC): Washington, DC: 202-224-6121
Lindsey Graham (SC): Washington, DC: 202-224-5972
House: https://www.house.gov/representatives/

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Oppose the Refugee Ban:
The Trump-GOP is once again attacking the rights of refugees and other migrants. The Trump Administration announced it would set a refugee cap of 18,000 people for the fiscal year, which is an incredibly small number, and the order would also allow states to ban resettlement. They have also not allowed a single refugee into the United States in the month of October. These changes to US refugee policy are “tantamount to destroying the program,” according to experts, as the amount of people displaced worldwide continues to grow. Let’s do what we can to stand up for the rights of refugees to seek asylum in our country.

Details:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/27/trump-refugee-cap-asylum-program

Script:
Hello, my name is _____________ and I am a constituent from ______________ calling to urge Rep./Sen. ______________ to oppose Trump’s attempts to shut down our refugee program. It is a travesty that Trump will only allow 18,000 refugees into our country this year. Worse, no refugees have been admitted into the United States in the entire month of October. These refugees are often fleeing completely inhumane conditions in their country. We need to welcome them into our country.

Federal Contact Numbers:
Thom Tillis: DC: (202) 224-6342
Richard Burr DC: (202) 224-3154
Tim Scott (SC): Washington, DC: 202-224-6121
Lindsey Graham (SC): Washington, DC: 202-224-5972
House: https://www.house.gov/representatives/

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MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS:

Vote, Y’all:
Many of you have municipal elections coming up on November 5. Some of you still have the chance to vote early. I live outside our town limits, so I’m counting on y’all to elect some good people because local elections matter.. Ballotpedia has an election calendar, in case you are unsure whether your own has an election coming up. Word on the street has been that turnout in municipal elections has been really low, so your vote (yes, yours!) could make a huge difference. You might also consider volunteering to poll greet or canvas for your favorite candidates. And if you’re in our groups, and you’re running for something, feel free to leave a shoutout in the comments.

Election Calendar:
https://ballotpedia.org/Elections_calendar

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Blog link:
https://indivisibletriangle.blogspot.com/