Below please find the weekly ACTION ALERTS from our legislative action team. The health care fight isn’t over yet, there’s a big local immigrant workers’ rights march today at noon, and much more. As always, we try our best to keep this info current, but will post updates as needed to the CNY Solidarity website, along with the various social media channels linked at the bottom of this message.
But first, a request from our Town Hall Planning Committee: We’ve scheduled a town hall for Tuesday, May 30, 7-9pm at Camillus Middle School. We’re looking for some more folks who live in Camillus to help with organizing the event, spreading the word, reaching out to local community leaders, etc. If you’re willing to help, please email Kris Bryson at kristopherbryson@gmail.com.
And now, the ACTION ALERTS:
Monday (May 1): phone calls this morning, marching this afternoon, and artist talk tonight!
One last push (hopefully!) on health care in Congress
Rep. Katko has so far stood firm in opposing the American Health Care Act, which would repeal the Affordable Care Act and lead 24 million people to lose their health insurance. But Trump, Pence, and Ryan haven’t given up, and have reportedly been leaning on Republican “moderates” all weekend. Trump has also been tweeting that the bill will protect people with preexisting conditions, which is a blatant falsehood. The national Indivisible folks have suggested talking points here.
So please, one last (?) call to Katko’s office on this issue. If you’ve called on this issue multiple times and are concerned about calling again, just change something up. Call the DC office instead of the Syracuse office. Thank him for standing firm instead of demanding that he do so. Tell a different story about a friend or family member with ACA insurance. Etc. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).
March for immigrant workers’ rights in Syracuse
12 noon: Strike – Huelga Primero Mayo: To honor International Workers Day and say no to detentions and deportations, we’ll march through downtown Syracuse. March will begin and end at Perseverance Park, corner of S. Salina and Washington Streets.
No protest movement can survive without art
7-9pm: Attend the Artist talk with Earl Dotter at ArtRage and you’ll see some great documentary photos of workers in unsafe conditions on the job, while supporting an amazing local progressive gallery.
Tuesday (May 2): 2 phone-calling actions today—1 state, 1 federal
Support immigrant rights in New York
Building on our May Day energy from yesterday, please call Gov. Cuomo and urge his support for the Liberty Act, which would make NYS a sanctuary state. Undocumented Immigrants now have access to legal counsel in NYS, but why not reduce the number of times this is needed by protecting them from being detained in the first place? Governor Cuomo is at 1-518-474-8390.
Preserve and defend our natural resources
Building on the energy from Saturday’s climate marches, let’s tell the Trump administration that our national parks and monuments are not for sale. Last week, Trump took his first step to dismantle or shrink national monuments across the country. Call 1-202-601-3839 and tell Interior Secretary Zinke that any attempts to revoke or shrink our national monuments is an assault on our historical, cultural, and natural heritage. Then call Rep. Katko, 315-423-5657 or 202-225-3701, and ask him to stand against any attempt to roll back the Antiquities Act which protects these importance places.
Wednesday (May 3)
Keep supporting immigrant rights in New York
Let’s call Gov. Cuomo again today and urge his support for Green Light NY and the Dream Act. Green Light NY would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers’ licenses, marked specifically for driving only. When immigrants don’t have access to licenses, they can’t legally drive to work or to the doctor, and a routine traffic stop can lead to deportation and the separation of families. The Dream Act would provide state financial aid for college to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children. If the license fees resulting from Green Light legislation were used to fund the Dream Act, undocumented immigrants would fund college financial aid for undocumented immigrants. Governor Cuomo is at 1-518-474-8390.
Thursday (May 4): 2 phone-calling actions today—1 state, 1 federal—plus an opportunity to support local public schools
Remember the tax marches?
We’ve been marching on lots of fronts lately, but a few weeks back, many of us marched for tax transparency and justice. Please follow up by calling your NYS Senator and urge her/him to co-sponsor bill S5572A requiring the disclosure of the past five years of tax returns by statewide elected public officials, including the President of the United States. Most of us are represented in the State Senate by David Valesky (315-478-8745), John DeFrancisco (315-428-7632), or James Seward (607-432-5524), but if you’re not sure whose district you’re in, click here and enter your address to find out.
Remember the 2008 financial crisis?
The House of Representatives is considering a bill (H.R. 10) that would dismantle the 2010 Wall Street reform legislation, known as the Dodd-Frank Act. This law created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency committed to protecting consumers and making sure that banks, lenders, and other financial institutions treat you fairly. Dodd-Frank imposes important rules to rein in the kind of Wall Street speculation that crashed the economy and caused millions of people to lose their jobs, homes, and savings. The bill has been referred to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, on which Katko serves. Make sure he knows that you oppose Rep. Hensarling’s Financial CHOICE Act. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC). Recommended call scripts available here.
Support local public schools in Syracuse
The Board of Education of The Syracuse City School District will hold a Community Engagement Forum on Thursday, May 4th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Henninger High school (600 Robinson street). The public is invited to attend! There will be a brief presentation, followed by an open question period.
Friday (May 5)
Another opportunity to engage with our state legislators
Not a CNY Solidarity event, but we thought some might be interested in attending the League of Women Voters Annual Breakfast with New York State Legislators from the CNY area at the Craftsman Inn, 7300 Genesee St. in Fayetteville, NY. This is an opportunity to ask questions and hear where the NYS Assembly Members and Senators stand on the issues important to you and the community. Breakfast Buffet $20.00. No charge to just attend the program. Contact the LWV Office for more information at 315-396-8225 or visit their website at http://www.lwvsyr.org. Registration starts at 7:30am. Breakfast starts at 7:45.
Saturday (May 6): No actions today (until further notice!). Take the day for yourselves and your families. Remember, we’re in this for the long haul, so everyone needs to pace herself.
Sunday (May 7)
CNY Solidarity Meeting
12:30-2:30pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, Bishop Harrison Center, 1342 Lancaster Ave. in Syracuse. Note the earlier start time this week. First hour will be devoted to full-coalition business; second hour to committee meetings.
March with Refugees in Syracuse
3-4:30 pm: Procession of Neighbors in Support of Refugees, organized by InterFaith Works, White Branch Library, 763 Butternut St., Syracuse 13208
Save the date for these upcoming events:
May 19, 6:30-8:30pm: Youth Voices Matter—Speak Out
May 30, 7-9pm: CNY Solidarity Town Hall in Camillus. More details soon.
Today and every day, be sure to follow us online and on social media!
Check out our website: www.cnysolidarity.org
Follow us on Twitter: @CNYSolidarity and @IndivisibleNY24
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cnysolidarity/ and www.facebook.com/groups/IndivisibleNY24/
Check us out on Flickr and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
We also send these announcements by email through the CNYSolidarity list. This is a low-volume list (typically no more than 4-6 messages per week), which now has more than 1,600 subscribers. We also maintain higher-volume listservs (protectcnyfromtrump@lists.riseup.net and protectcnyfromtrump-legislativeaction@lists.riseup.net) as venues for discussion of key Coalition-wide organizing priorities and key legislative-action team organizing priorities, respectively. If you’d like to be added to the former, please email Hannah at hhmosier@syr.edu; if you’d like to be added to the latter, please reply to me.