LYNN'S LIST
        A Weekly List of Advocacy Items
June 4, 2018

If some of the advocacy items on the list this week look familiar, it’s because they are ones that were included in the Signing Event on May 31st.  If you weren’t able to attend the event, now is your chance to “catch up” on some important issues.

Protection of Civil Liberties
Federal
1.ICE Accountability:
Even though the U.S. already houses the largest immigrant detention system in the world, the current administration wants to build more detention beds funded by taxpayer dollars. As you know from previous lists and news reports, the countless number of assaults, senseless abuses and needless deaths of immigrants in detention show that ICE isn’t able to police itself. There is a bicameral bill being introduced in Congress called the Detention Oversight NOT Expansion (DONE) Act. The bill demands higher accountability of ICE and a stop to detention expansion. What we need is comprehensive immigration reform and real accountability.

Contact Senators Isakson and Perdue and your Congressman (Scott or Bishop) with the suggested script: I’m from Macon (or other city). Conditions in ICE detention centers are shameful and do not represent American values. Support the Detention Oversight NOT Expansion (DONE) Act demanding higher accountability of ICE.


2. DACA Discharge Petition:
Calls are for Congressman Scott only:  I’m your constituent from Macon (or other city). Sign the Discharge Petition forcing a vote on a bill that would protect DACA recipients and support Georgia’s economy and future.

3. Separating immigrant children from their parents at the border:
We must hold our elected officials accountable. Contact Senators Isakson and Perdue and your Congressman (Scott or Bishop) with the suggested script: I’m from Macon (or other city). Children are being separated from their parents at the border. The unethical, inhumane and immoral actions of DHS must be stopped. As my Senator (or Congressman) I expect you to fight for the rights of vulnerable children and stop the separation of immigrant children from their parents. When will you speak out against this policy?  Your silence condones these actions.  What are your plans to stop this policy?

4. The FCC has put into place a ruling that  puts the ISP in charge of which websites a consumer can visit, overturning what media calls net neutrality.  Without net neutrality, ISPs can choose profit over nondiscriminatory access allowing companies to purchase internet priority. Some of our members are advocating in favor of regulating the internet as a utility to insure free speech and sources of public educational opportunities.  Currently, only large urban areas offer consumers a wide choice ISP providers. Rural areas, which already have poor internet access, will be at the mercy of the ISP provider if this rule goes into effect. On May 16, 2018, the Senate voted 52-47 to restore net neutrality protections. That means that the fight to protect the free and open internet has moved to the House. We have until June 11 to contact House members to request a vote. Congressman Bishop has already said he opposes the rule change, so if you are in Congressional District 8, contact Congressman Scott with the suggested script:   I’m from Macon or other city. I want to be able to select the internet sites of my choice, not have them selected for profit purposes. The Senate voted to restore net neutrality. Add your name to the House members have voted to do so, too.

Access to Affordable Healthcare
Medicaid has long played a greater role in providing health coverage in rural areas than in urban areas, and the ACA has made Medicaid even more vital to rural America.  Nearly 1.7 million rural Americans have gained coverage through the Medicaid expansion. Hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid coverage to low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), particularly those in rural areas, have fared significantly better than hospitals in non-expansion states.  

Contact the below listed candidates (Governor and if you are in House Districts 141 or 144) with the suggested script:  I’m a member of Georgia Women (and Those Who Stand With Us). Medicaid expansion has markedly improved the health coverage of millions of Americans and has significantly improved the finances of rural hospitals.  Rural hospitals are vital to communities in not only by providing care but also jobs. Georgia cannot afford more rural hospital closures. If elected, are you willing to support expansion of Medicaid in Georgia?

The Georgia primary runoff election is July 24, 2018.  Early voting is July 2-23. If you need an absentee ballot, the request must be received by Friday July 20 and returned to the Board of Elections by the 24th.  If you voted on a Democratic ballot in the Primary, you may only vote in a Democratic runoff. If you voted on a Republican ballot in the Primary, you may only vote in a Republican runoff. If you did not vote in the Primary, you can request either. Those living in District 1 in Bibb, may vote in the runoff regardless of the party ballot they chose.

Only 24 weeks until the midterm elections. Thank you to everyone for your hard work.
Remember, as always -- it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Contact Sheet for our Public Officials:
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/7ce3fc_0ebe2d5af6274a6b9b5ea9dcd247cbc4.pdf