Tag Archives: Arizona

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Bring Voting into the 21st Century! Will YOU Help

09/20/2015 Nativegrl77

a repost

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States Act To Expand Voting Rights For Citizens

Busy Months with minimum wage news: first, Senate Republicans in Washington, D.C. blocked increasing the federal minimum wage; then, a coalition of business, labor, and community leaders in Seattle, Washington announced a deal to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15.

But there have also been a number of positive developments in the states on other issues, including efforts to expand voting access. We’ve put together a run-down of some of the best from the last few weeks:

1. Wisconsin: Federal Judge Strikes Down Voter ID Law, Finds That ‘No Rational Person Could Be Worried’ About Voter Fraud. The April 29 decision, in an overwhelming win for plaintiffs who argued that the voter ID law suppresses ballot access in the state, could still be overturned on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. But U.S. district judge Lynn Adelman did not hold back: he found not just that the law disproportionately deters minorities and low-income individuals from voting; but also that purported instances of voter impersonation are so infrequent, if they exist at all, that “no rational person could be worried about it.”

2. Hawaii: Aloha State Enacts Strong Voting Rights Law Including Same Day Registration. In 2012, even with its native son Barack Obama atop the ballot, just a paltry 44 percent of eligible Hawaii voters showed up to vote–the worst turnout rate in the country. On April 29, though, Hawaii lawmakers passed legislation to fix that, allowing citizens instead to register to vote when they show up to cast a ballot. Academic studies have found that allowing same-day registration increases turnout between 7 and 14 percentage points.

3. Minnesota: One Day After Judge Orders Online Voter Registration Shut Down, Legislature Passes Law To Revive It. This Monday, a district judge ordered Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to shut down the state’s online voter registration portal by Tuesday night because he lacked legislative authority when he launched it in September. On Tuesday, the Minnesota state legislature passed and Gov Mark Dayton signed into law a bill giving him that authority. Minnesota becomes the 23rd state to have online voter registration, which makes it easier for anybody with access to a computer to register and is simply common-sense for the 21st century.

4. Georgia: 12,000 Citizens Use New Online And Mobile Voter Registration System, More Than Double Than Expected. The new online system rolled out in the end of March, expecting around 5,000 users in the first month. Instead, more than 12,000 enrolled, including 7,000 newly registered voters, according to Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

And be sure to keep an eye out for…

5. Delaware: State Senate Set To Vote On Same Day Registration After Passing The House. The bill is an important step for expanding access to the polls in Delaware. But its not clear right now whether it’s a sure thing to pass.

BOTTOM LINE: Like we see with minimum wage legislation and so many other important issues for a more prosperous and just nation, cities and states are taking the lead while Congress stalls. When it comes to voting rights, at a time when some conservative-run swing states are doing whatever they can to roll back access, other states are showing the way forward for ensuring that voting is not a privilege, but a right.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

the other Washington … Seattle

09/18/2015 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

rent control

SnoqualmieTribe says city is building on sacred ground PNB

Expanding climate-change issue to diverse communities

It’s time to acknowledge that people impacted by global warming include the poor and disenfranchised, and they need a stake in policy decisions.

Washington health insurance rates to go up 4.2 percent

The rate increases approved Thursday by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner are lower than the insurance companies had requested.

Judge asks for SPD accountability framework

Parents upset about a Methadone Clinic near Schools

Dozens of Sturgeon found dead in Columbia River

Final Inslee Compromise Budget Provides Tuition Relief to Over 388,000 Students Enrolled in Community and Technical Colleges

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Leaving Children Behind … CAP

09/15/2015 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Congressional Republicans’ Education Bills Could Harm Our Most At-Risk Students

This week House and Senate Republicans are working to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—also known as No Child Left Behind. Reauthorization of our largest K-12 education law presents a rare opportunity for Congress to ensure that all students—regardless of zip code, background, or family income levels—can receive a quality public education. Unfortunately, this afternoon the House passed H.R. 5 its version of the reauthorization bill that cuts federal funding from our most at-risk students and brings us a step backwards to the days when our most underserved communities were ignored.

This letter, written by the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights and signed by more than 50 other organizations, outlines how H.R. 5—also known as the Student Success Act—undermines important federal protections for some of our most vulnerable students.

The most egregious provision included in the House bill is a “portability” provision, which eliminates the targeting of federal funding to schools and districts with the highest concentrations of students living in poverty. That means federal funding that goes to schools with the most low-income students would flow out of those districts and into richer districts. This could cause the most impoverished districts to experience a federal resource cut as large as 74 percent, while the most affluent districts could receive an average of more than $290 dollars per student. The graph below shows how harmful that could be and more on portability can be found here.

The Senate is also working on its considerably more moderate version of ESEA reauthorization this week, known as the Every Child Achieves Act. The Senate’s bill takes important steps to curb over testing and maintains investments in research-based innovation. This afternoon the Senate also adopted an important amendment that allows schools to use Title 1 funds to create fiscal assistance teams designed to help schools spend their money efficiently.

The Senate bill does considerably more to help vulnerable students, but more should be done to ensure it fulfills its role as a civil rights law. And the bill is far from final. As it stands the Senate bill does not include a portability provision, but a portability amendment will be considered soon, which brings the potential damage one step closer to reality.

BOTTOM LINE: The opportunity to receive a quality public education should not be determined by a child’s zip code. HR 5, passed by House today, is a major step backward to a time when federal funding was inequitably distributed and our most vulnerable communities were ignored.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

I lost my sister, husband, and mother

09/15/2015 Nativegrl77

Petitioning President of the United States

Declare August 30th National Grief Awareness Day

Petition by National Grief Awareness Day

13,963

Supporters

Sign the petition

My name is Angie Cartwright.

I’ve endured a lot of loss in my life, starting with my baby sister when I was 5 years-old. In 1996, I lost my husband to a car wreck, and my mother died of a drug overdose in 2010. By then, I was paralyzed with grief.

I am now dedicated to raising awareness about bereavement and helping those experiencing grief to heal. I’m asking President Obama to make August 30th National Grief Awareness Day. Why?

By reaching out to hundred of thousands of grievers on social media for the past four years, I found that healing can only take place when grief is not shamed, rushed or tabooed. This is how I found my own healing. Unfortunately, we live in a world that sees grief differently. When we lose someone, we are told to move on and to get over our sadness, because grief is commonly perceived as something that needs to be fixed. As a result, the bereaved feel misunderstood, and they end up grieving in silence, while the topic of death becomes a stronger taboo.

And silent grief can become deadly grief. I’ve seen it too many times.

Having National Grief Awareness Day recognized by our government will be the first milestone in opening our eyes to a serious issue that has never been properly addressed. This way we’ll start seeing grief as the natural consequence of the love we have for someone we’ve lost.

Please, join me in asking President Barack Obama to declare August 30th as a day of awareness and education around grief.

Why August 30th? I picked this day because it’s my mom’s birthday.

This petition is also supported by #1MMemories, a movement where people are sharing 1 million memories of loved ones they’ve lost with the hashtag #1MMemories, via Twitter or Instagram.

All these memories will be beautifully gathered at 1MMemories.com, and then printed in a one-of-a-kind book that we will hand to President Barack Obama, along with the 1 million signatures supporting this petition.

Both your signature and you joining the #1MMemories movement will help millions of grievers.

With all my love,

Angie Cartwright, Founder of National Grief Awareness Day