Action Alerts – Week of April 23 – CNY Solidarity Coalition

CNY Solidarity members and supporters:
Please find below the weekly legislative ACTION ALERTS from Indivisible NY24 and our legislative action teams.

Today (April 23)

One big rally in Albany, plus two opportunities for online engagement

Climate rally in Albany today

CNY Solidarity’s climate justice team has been working with 350.org and a long list of other groups to organize a massive climate rally in Albany today. We’ve still got free seats available on our bus, which departs 8:00am from May Memorial Church, 3800 E Genesee St in Syracuse. If it’s already past 8:00am when you’re reading this, please click here to read more about the rally, and then tweet, post on Facebook, and/or draft a letter to the editor in support. The rally’s three key demands are:

Stop new fracking infrastructure.
Move to 100% renewable energy.
Make corporate climate polluters pay for their pollution.

Net neutrality expires today (sort of)

Key components of net neutrality expire today, though some experts are predicting that internet service providers won’t make any meaningful changes until users are paying less attention. So let’s keep paying attention! This thread on Twitter has some helpful details about what’s actually changing this week, and why we should be worried even if we don’t notice immediate changes. If you run your own company, please consider signing this letter from small businesses in support of net neutrality. If not, please check out Fight for the Future online and consider following them by email and/or Twitter. We’ll post more concrete action alerts as we have them.

Tuesday (April 24)

One phone call today

Stop Regulating the Poor!

This one brings me back to one of my all-time favorite scholarly books, Regulating the Poor (and not in a good way). On April 12, the House released a draft farm bill that would impose new work requirements on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, aka food stamps). The draft language expands the population subject to work requirements, allows participants only a month to secure work or job training for at least twenty hours per week, and increases penalties for those who are unable to do so. The first “violation” of these requirements would result in removal from the program for one year, and subsequent violations would result in removal for a period of three years. More details here. As far as we’ve been able to tell, Rep. Katko has not yet issued a public statement on these provisions in the farm bill. Today, please give him a call and urge him to do so. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).

Wednesday (April 25)

Multi-Part Alert re GreenLight Legislation in Albany

This is a critical time to mobilize support for GreenLight driver’s license legislation in the NY State Assembly. (All of the activity focuses on the Assembly now.) The new GreenLight legislation was introduced in the Assembly 4/4/18 as the “driver’s license access and privacy act.” The bill # is A10273.

Last year Assembly Member Pamela Hunter was a sponsor. If you are in her district, please call her office at 315-449-9536 to thank her for her sponsorship then and ask her to become a major sponsor this year and to publicize her position on this bill. You can also email her at HunterP@nyassembly.gov.

Assembly Member Al Stirpe is focused on getting input from his constituents now. If you are in his district please call his office at 315-452-1115 and email him at StirpeA@nyassembly.gov.

Assembly Member William Magnarelli hasn’t taken a position on the bill. We will meet with him at his Syracuse office on Thurs. May 3 at 1:30 PM. The only issue on the agenda will be this bill. If you are in his district please email Ruth Kutz <rckutz@gmail.com> and Rebecca Fuentes rfuentes@workerscentercny.org to be part of this meeting. It is critical that we have a large and diverse delegation.

The Workers Center of CNY seeks to contact the Assembly Members in nearby districts to ask for their vote for this legislation, preferably by becoming sponsors now. We greatly need your involvement if you are in Anthony Brindisi’s, William Magee’s, Gary Finch’s, or Donna Lupardo’s districts. Please contact rfuentes@workerscentercny.org as soon as possible if you are in one of those districts or can recommend acquaintances from those districts who should be contacted.

Thursday (April 26)

One online action today, plus a presentation on Trump & Russia tonight

Publicly engage with Rep. Katko wherever we can

We’ve spent a lot of time calling Rep. Katko’s offices over the past year. We’re not abandoning that tactic, but we’re shifting some of our attention to more public forms of engagement. Today, please visit Rep. Katko’s page on Facebook, find a post of interest, and post a comment of your own. We recommend polite, substantive engagement on the issues. If you’re not a Facebook user, you can try the same thing on Twitter, being sure to mention @RepJohnKatko. If you don’t use FB or Twitter, you can sit this one out, but please keep an eye out for our next “Facebook for Activists” training.

Thugocracy: The Russian Mafia & The Trump Presidency

Our friends at Indivisible Cayuga are hosting a presentation by Dr. Nancy Ries from Colgate Univ. 6:30 pm at Cayuga Community College, Auburn. More details here.

Friday (April 27)

No actions scheduled (until further notice!).

Saturday (April 28)

Central New York Says No to Katko

This morning at 11am, and every Saturday until November, we’re partnering with Indivisible Syracuse, Knit the 24^th, and others to Say NO to Katko. We’ll be on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, near the traffic light, across from Talbots. More details here.

Sunday (April 29)

No actions scheduled (until further notice!).

Save the date for these upcoming events:

Mon., Apr. 30: One Fair Wage Rally & NYS Dept. of Labor Hearing, The Gateway Center, 1 Forestry Drive, SUNY-ESF. Rally/news conference 8:45am; Hearing 10:00am.

Mon., Apr. 30: AccessCNY hosts a community input session on what Syracuse should be looking for in a new police chief, particularly as it relates to policing of individuals with a mental health diagnosis and/or disability. 5:30-7pm at the Central New York Community Foundation Ballroom at 431 E. Fayette Street in Syracuse.

Wed., May 2: Moving People Transportation Coalition presents “How the community grid will improve traffic flow for you.” Carnegie Building at Montgomery & East Jefferson Streets in Syracuse. Doors open at 6:30 pm w/ program starting at 7 pm.

Thu., May 3: We’ll be meeting with Assembly Member Magnarelli about the GreenLight campaign at 1:30pm. If you live in his district and are able to attend, please contact rckutz@gmail.com and rfuentes@workerscentercny.org to be part of this meeting.

Sat., May 5, 10am-5pm: Nonviolent Direct Action Training, Lutheran Atonement Church, 116 W Glen Ave, Syracuse 13205. Note the new date. More details here.

Sat., May 5, 11:00-12:00: Weekly “Say No to Katko” protest, on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, near the traffic light, across from Talbots. More details here.

Sun., May 6, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, Bishop Harrison

Sat., May 12, 11:00-12:00: Weekly “Say No to Katko” protest, on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, near the traffic light, across from Talbots. More details here.

Mon., May 14: Plans are in the works for Poor People’s Campaign direct actions in Albany.

Sat., May 19, 11:00-12:00: Weekly “Say No to Katko” protest, on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, near the traffic light, across from Talbots. More details here.

Sun., May 20, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD

Tue., May 22, 5:30-7:30pm: A diverse coalition of many organizations is planning actions to demand that Gov. Cuomo use all of his authority and powers to carry out adequate school funding to every district, per court orders that have too long been ignored. These actions will take place on and around August 22. An early planning meeting will be held on Tues. 5/22 at Iron Workers Local 60, 500 W. Genesee St., from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. More details here.

Sat., May 26, 11:00-12:00: Weekly “Say No to Katko” protest, on the sidewalk outside Wegmans Dewitt, near the traffic light, across from Talbots. More details here.

Jun. 1: NYS voter registration deadline for federal primary.

Jun. 3, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD.

Jun. 19: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for federal primary.

Jun. 20, 7-8:30pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD. Note that for June, July, and August, we will meet on one Sunday afternoon and one weeknight per month.

Tue., Jun. 26: Election day (primaries for federal offices).

July 11, 7-8:30pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD.

July 29, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD.

Aug. 19: NYS voter registration deadline for state primary.

Sept. 6: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for state primary.

Thur., Sept. 13: Election day (primaries for state offices). Note the date change; and yes, it’s a Thursday.

Oct. 12: NYS voter registration deadline for general election.

Oct. 30: Deadline to request absentee ballot by mail for general election.

Tue., Nov. 6: Election day (general election for all offices). Click here to add it to your FB calendar.

Today and every day, be sure to follow us online and on social media.

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