10 a.m. September 18th – GET READY FOR ACTION: GREEN JOBS & VOTER SUPPRESSION Nick Ciarimitaro, former AFSCME Lobbyist and past state legislator, will speak on the provisions for Green Jobs in the American Jobs Act (aka the Infrastructure package) being debated by Congress. Also, hear Rochelle Rubin, a Team Leader for Voters Not Politicians, will speak about latest attempts to suppress the vote in Michigan and what we can do about them. This forum is sponsored by Gray Panthers of Metro Detroit and co-sponsored by MUUSJN. Click HERE TO RSVP. Click HERE to join the meeting.
2 p.m. September 23rd – FEDERAL ACTION RALLY — SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE BILL THAT INCLUDES FUNDS FOR CLIMATE ACTION. This event is supported by the Sierra Club and co-sponsored by MUUSJN. Click HERE for more information and to register.
7 p.m. September 23rd ZOOM 101:HOSTING AND PARTICIPATION IN ZOOM MEETINGS. This FREE Zoom training for beginners is being hosted by MUUSJN and was developed by MUUSJN Fellows. Click HERE to register.
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BACKGROUND
As of Wednesday, September 1st, the Texas legislature adopted and Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 8 that criminalized abortion after six weeks, effectively making illegal most abortions in Texas. This abortion ban would have no exceptions for rape and incest and would make abortion illegal before most women even know if they are pregnant. Without ruling on the Constitutionality of this law, U.S. Supreme Court refused in a 5-4 decision to not intervene to protect women’s choice to have an abortion in Texas. The Texas law, which allows anyone in the U.S., including anti-abortion vigilante’s, to cruelly file a $10,000 lawsuit against anyone they suspect of helping of perform an abortion, even a husband who drove his wife to a clinic.
Copycat laws are being introduced in other states.However, in Michigan, a “fetal heartbeat” abortion ballot proposal that bans abortion after six weeks, failed to get enough signatures to be adopted in 2020. A similar law adopted by the Michigan legislature would surely face a veto from Governor Gretchen Whitmer. However, the state of Mississippi is taking a 15 week abortion ban law to the U.S. Supreme Court this fall to challenge the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade long time abortion rights precedent. A ruling on this case could happen this coming summer. The Biden Justice Department has vowed to protect women seeking abortions in Texas as it pursues options to challenge this state’s restrictive law.
The Michigan Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition and many of women’s right groups are urging that citizens call their U.S. Representatives and urge them to vote YES on The Women’s Health Protection Act (HR 3755). This bill is co-sponsored by every Michigan Democratic U.S. Representative. A vote on HB 3755, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is expected on the first day Congress opens on Thursday September 9th. Please urge your Michigan Representative to be a strong advocate for this bill that would put a stop to many abortion bans and medically unnecessary restrictions.
For those looking for additional ways to show support for abortion access, Texan providers, pregnant people, and clinics, consider donating to one of the following: abortion funds such as The Lilith Fund and The Texas Equal Access Fund, organizations that provide donations to keep independent clinics like Whole Women’s Health open (Keep Our Clinics), and grassroots abortion rights advocacy groups in Texas (Avow). This article does a nice job of summarizing ways one might support Texans at this time and lists additional important advocacy organizations and donation opportunities.
On August 30th, a “Secure MI Vote” committee launched a petition drive to making it more difficult to vote after a record turnout in the 2020 election. A broad coalition, including Voters Not Politicians and many other organizations, is launching a counter campaign to educate the public about this troubling effort.
Nancy Wang, Executive Director of Voters Not Politicians, was quoted as saying “A Democracy only works when the voice of the people can be heard. No matter what they say, the purpose of the GOP’s petition drive is to make it harder for some voters to vote, pure and simple…Now is the time for voters across the state to stand up for our freedom to vote and to oppose this package of voter suppression measures”.
Michigan voters turned out in historic numbers in the 2020 election, one of the state’s most secure elections. A six month Republican study, released on June 23rd, debunked the former President’s “Big Lie” that there was widespread voter fraud in Michigan’s 2020 election. No matter what we look like or where we come from, all Michiganders want our voices to be heard in our democracy and our voting rights protected.
The “Secure MI Vote” Committee is seeking state approval of its petition language, a first step toward bypassing the veto of Gretchen Whitmer. If the committee collects 340,047 signatures, it could be adopted by the legislature. However, these signature would have to be collected before the end of 2021 for this proposal to impact the 2022 election.
Click HERE for more information from the August 30th issue of Bridge magazine. According to this article, the initiative would:
A Republican backed “Secure MI Vote” committee launched a petition drive today to tighten Michigan voter laws after a record turnout in the 2020 election. A broad coalition, including Voters Not Politicians and many other organizations, is launching a counter campaign to educate the public about this troubling effort to make it more difficult to vote.
Nancy Wang, Executive Director of Voters Not Politicians, was quoted as saying “A Democracy only works when the voice of the people can be heard. No matter what they say, the purpose of the GOP’s petition drive is to make it harder for some voters to vote, pure and simple…Now is the time for voters across the state to stand up for our freedom to vote and to oppose this package of voter suppression measures”.
Michigan voters turned out in historic numbers in the 2020 election, one of the state’s most secure elections. A six month Republican study, released on June 23rd, debunked the former President’s “big lie” that there was widespread voter fraud in Michigan’s 2020 election. No matter what we look like or where we come from, all Michiganders want our voices to be heard in our democracy and our voting rights protected.
The “Secure MI Vote” Committee is seeking state approval of its petition language, a first step toward bypassing the veto of Gretchen Whitmer. If the committee collects 340,047 signatures, it could be adopted by the legislature. However, these signature would have to be collected before the end of 2021 for this proposal to impact the 2022 election.
Click HERE for more information from the August 30th issue of Bridge magazine.According to this article, the initiative would:
This email is a red flare — a warning — that there are people who are attempting to suppress the vote in Michigan and to erode our democracy. More information will be shared about what we can do to fight back.
BACKGROUND: Michigan can’t get back to work unless families have access to quality child care. Child care businesses and teachers across the state are struggling to make ends meet. Congress recognized that earlier this year when it passed two rounds of federal stimulus funding through the COVID relief legislation, including the American Rescue Plan. Also a bi-partisan group of Michigan legislators voted to adopt the $1.4 billion package of child care bills to expand access to high quality child care and make it more affordable. House Appropriations Chair, Rep. Albert Thomas, acknowledged that the bill adopted in the House has some differences from Governor Whitmer’s proposal, but said “I’m confident that we will find common ground to move forward and make a real difference in helping Michigan families to meet their child care needs. Proposed reforms include:
However, Michigan Senators aren’t expected to take up the Senate bill until they return from recess at the end of August. Families wanting to get back to work and child care providers wanting to hire more child care workers need help NOW!!
The legal right to an abortion faces its biggest threat in decades, according to NARAL Prochoice America. In June, Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) and 188 U.S. Representatives co-sponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act (HR 3755) a bill that would block a barrage of state bans and restrictions on women’s access to an abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 561 abortion bans have been adopted since January of 2021. The Women’s Health Protection Act is needed to protect women’s right to make decisions about their own reproductive health care.
HR 3755 is co-sponsored by every Michigan Democratic U.S. Representative except for two: Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Rep. Haley Stevens. Please urge these two Michigan Representatives to join their colleagues to put a stop to many bans and medically unnecessary restrictions. This bill has been introduced in the Senate as S. 1875 and is co-sponsored by 48 Senators, including Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters.
During July, MUUSJN’s Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition voted to support and advocate for the Women’s Health Protection Act that would protect women from restrictions such as:
BACKGROUND On March 31st, the Biden Administration unveiled a $2 trillion “American Jobs Plan” also known as the “Build Back Better infrastructure Package” . This plan was a bold infrastructure bill that included investments in building bridges, roads, public transit, countering climate change, creating good paying green jobs and $400 billion for home and community based services as an alternative to nursing home care. This plan evolved into two plans: a bi-partisan basic infrastructure package (that reportedly has support from 20 Republicans) that covered roads, bridges, broadband internet, a network of charging stations for electric vehicles. etc. The larger, Democrat supported, $3.5 trillion plan ALSO includes an expansion of Medicare benefits and Medicaid funding, and expanded human infrastructure including in-home elder care, Medicare, child care, universal pre-school, two years of free community college and expanded child tax credits and more. Click HERE for more details on the benefits of the American Jobs Plan. For more information, see chart at end of this action alert.
Combined, these are two proposals called for boldly building a stronger America for low and middle income families, creating green jobs and rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure.
President Biden has proposed that additional revenue for these proposals should come from higher taxes on corporations (many of which paid NO taxes last year) and the wealthy families with incomes higher than $400,000/year. A study by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies released a report that shows that billionaires in the U.S. INCREASED their collective net worth by $1.62 trillion between March 18, 2020 and April 12, 2021. Other sources of funding are also being discussed. Democrats plan to use a “reconciliation” rule to allow passage of the American Jobs Plan with 51 votes without bi-partisan support.
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) has indicated that he expects that a vote on the bi-partisan infrastructure bill could happen as soon as Monday, July 26th.
Republican Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said “I feel good about getting that done by the end of the week”. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he’s going to demand that Senators not go home for their August recess until they vote on the infrastructure bill. Action on the bigger American Jobs Act is not expected until after the August recess. For more information, click HERE.
BACKGROUND: The rights of voters in Michigan, like in many other states, are under assault from right wing legislators who are working to make it more difficult instead of making it easier to vote. It’s part of a national effort to suppress the vote based on “the big lie” that the 2020 Presidential election was “stolen”.
Members of the Texas legislature bucked the tide of passing voter suppression bills by leaving the state so the Texas legislature could not get a quorum to adopt 11 controversial bills that included: excluding transgender students from sports teams, attacking “critical race theory” and several bills that would have expanded restrictions on the right to vote. These Texas legislators flew to Washington D.C. and have been appealing to members of Congress. They’re urging Senators to protect voting rights in all states by adopting the “For the People Act” and ending the filibuster that requires a supermajority of 60 votes to pass most legislation. For more information on this pro democracy Texas rebellion click HERE to read an article from the July 13th issue of VOX. Let’s honor Texas resistance and stand up for democracy!
(Source: Tonya Jacobi, a Law Professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, published in the Daily Labor Report, February 22, 2021)
BACKGROUND
On April 28th, the Biden Administration unveiled its American Families Plan, a bold $1.8 trillion package of proposals that would bring essential benefits to families with a special impact on women and young persons. The package would be partly financed by higher taxes on wealthy Americans.
During June, MUUSJN’s Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition voted to support and advocate for the American Families Plan (H.R. 928) that would provide:
For more information on the American Families Plan, click HERE to read a concise article written by the Center for Law and Social Policy.
H.R. 928, introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CA), is currently in the House Ways and Means Committee where it has gathered 167 co-sponsors, including the following Michigan Representatives: Rashida Tlaib; Brenda Lawrence; Dan Kildee (a member of the Ways and Means Committee) and Debbie Dingell.
Voter suppression bills SB 303 and 304 are coming back to the Michigan Senate for a final vote on Wednesday, June 30th the last day before Senators take their long August recess. Please call your State Senator TODAY and urge him/her to vote NO and SB 303 and 304. These bill were adopted in the Senate, then adopted with amendments in the House and now return for a final vote in the Michigan Senate.
After your call, click HERE to record your call with Voters Not Politicians Dial for Democracy campaign. VNP does not ask for your name or full address but wants to document how many people are making calls to each Senator. MUUSJN is working with Voters Not Politicians and other state level voter protection organizations in our effort to oppose voter suppression.
Michigan voters turned out in historic numbers in the 2020 election, one of the state’s most secure elections. A recent six month Republican study, released on June 23rd, debunked the former President’s “big lie” that there was widespread voter fraud in Michigan’s 2020 election. No matter what we look like or where we come from, all Michiganders want our voices to be heard in our democracy and our voting rights protected.
