Action Alerts (Week of May 15)

Monday (May 15): One phone-calling action and two in-person events (unfortunately conflicting with one another)

Support Universal Health Care in NYS: NY Health Act (A4738)

Congressional Republicans have moved one step closer to repealing the ACA and passing the AHCA. It is more important than ever that NYS step up to counteract this measure that threatens our health care coverage. The State Assembly is expected to vote on the NY Health Act tomorrow. Call your Assembly Member today and demand support. Most of us are represented in the Assembly by one of the following, but if you’re not sure whose district you’re in, click here and enter your address to find out:

Assembly Member Pamela Hunter: 315-449-9536
Assembly Member Al Stirpe: 315-452-1115
Assembly Member William Magnarelli: 315-428-9651
Assembly Member Gary Finch: 315-255-3045

Faux Town Hall with John Katko (and People’s Town Hall w/o him!)

Rep. Katko, in collaboration with CNY Central TV has scheduled a Town Hall Meeting at Storer Auditorium at OCC from 7-8 pm. A limited number of tickets have been distributed to the public by lottery. The venue has 350 seats, but published reports indicate that only 150 tickets have been distributed.

If you have a ticket, we encourage you to attend and do your best to get a question answered. We recommend questions that briefly describe a personal experience, followed by a straightforward Y/N question. If you don’t have something like that ready and would like a list of recommended questions, please reply to me at tmkeck@maxwell.syr.edu. All attendees are required to arrive by 6pm.

If you don’t have a ticket, we encourage you to assemble on OCC’s Quad at 6pm. We’ll hold a People’s Town Hall of our own on the Quad—protesting the inadequacy of Katko’s “town hall” inside (too short, too few seats, photo IDs required for entry, etc.), as well as protesting Katko’s refusal so far to stand up to the Trump administration and defend our diverse CNY community. In addition to music, chanting, and speeches, everyone outside will have a chance to pose the questions that they’d like Katko to answer—either on social media, on index cards, or by voice. A small team of Coalition members will compile these questions and present them to Congressman Katko either immediately after the Storer Auditorium event or the next day at his Syracuse office. More details here.

Whether you’re inside, outside, or at home, we urge you to amplify our collective voice on social media from 6-9pm tonight.

Directions to the campus and a downloadable campus map can be accessed at https://www.sunyocc.edu/index.aspx?menu=390&id=1815. Ticket holders have been instructed to park in lot 2 or 3. So far as we know, these lots should work for non-ticket holders too. A campus map with the demonstration area and parking areas marked can be found in the Facebook event listing.

Annual Nakba Commemoration

Monday, May 15, 7-9 pm

ArtRage Gallery, 505 Hawley Ave. in Syracuse

Special guest: Dr . Osamah Khalil

Hosted by Jewish Voice for Peace-Syracuse and Syracuse Peace Council

Please RSVP and spread the word on Facebook.

Tuesday (May 16): One phone-calling action, plus CNY Solidarity meeting tonight

Call for an independent prosecutor to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia.

Hopefully we got a chance to ask Rep. Katko about this at OCC last night, but to date, he has not yet called for appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate. Democratic Senators Schumer and Gillibrand have issued such calls, but today we want to encourage them to step up the pressure. Call their offices, thank them for their efforts so far, and demand that they withhold consent and filibuster all Senate business until a special prosecutor is in place. Schumer’s numbers are 202-224-6542 and 315-423-5471. Gillibrand’s are 202-224-4451 and 315-448-0470. Click here for more background on the Russia investigation and Trump’s firing of FBI Director Comey.

CNY Solidarity meeting

7-8:30pm, Bishop Harrison Diocesan Center

1342 Lancaster Ave, Syracuse, New York 13210

More details here.

Wednesday (May 17): 2 phone-calling actions (1 state, 1 federal)

Support NY voting rights

Last week, Pres. Trump announced his intention to create a so-called Election Integrity Commission, co-chaired by Kris Kobach, a notorious advocate of voter suppression (and anti-immigrant) legislation in Kansas. (Click here for the League of Women Voters statement on this issue.) These federal developments make progress on voting rights reform at the state level all the more important.

Today, please call your state senator and express your support for voting rights reform. We need systematic statewide reforms that would increase voter turnout and make our elections more accessible to more people. The savings obtained if local/state/federal primaries were all held on one day could be used to fund early voting, more accessible/readable ballots, no-excuse absentee ballots, and automatic voter registration at DMV. 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.

Defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Returning to DC after a 2-week recess, the House of Representatives is likely to vote this week on the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R.10). This bill would destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which was created by Senator Elizabeth Warren and President Obama to provide consumer protections in the banking industry. The CHOICE Act would obliterate these protections, once again allowing banks to gouge consumers with debit card fees. It would also eliminate many of the regulations on financial institutions enacted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Please call Rep. Katko today and urge him to oppose this bill. As always, Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC). Click here for a suggested call script.

Thursday (May 18): 1 phone-calling action today

More support for Universal Health Care in NYS

One more phone call this week to support the NY Health Act (S4840 & A4738). Please call Governor Cuomo at 1-518-474-8390 and urge him to push for the Act to get a vote in the Senate as well as the Assembly. If you also want to send an email to double your impact, go to www.governor.ny.gov and select CONTACT in the menu.

Friday (May 19): 1 phone-calling action and 1 in-person event tonight

Support immigrant rights in New York

Please call your NYS Senator and demand that s/he support the Liberty Act (#S4075), which would make NYS a sanctuary state. It has already passed in the NYS Assembly. Undocumented Immigrants contribute $40B in economic activity & $1B in taxes in NYS. We must stop treating them like they are a burden. They now have access to legal counsel in NYS, but we need to protect them from being detained in the first place. 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.

Support young people finding their voices in the struggle for social justice, peace and preserving our democracy

Youth Voices Matter—Speak Out

6:30-8:30pm, South West Community Center

401 South Ave, Syracuse, New York 13204

Saturday (May 20): No actions today (until further notice!). Take the day for yourselves and your families.

Sunday (May 21)

CNY Solidarity Coalition meeting

3-5pm, Most Holy Rosary School

1031 Bellevue Ave, Syracuse, NY 13207

Note new location. Agenda details will be circulated later in the week.

Save the date for these upcoming events:

May 30, 7-9pm: CNY Solidarity Town Hall in Camillus