An Indivisible Group
Desert Progressives
Making a Difference - March 5, 2017
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." ~Edmund Burke
Our power as citizens continues to grow as more and more of us pay attention and ACT on bad proposals in Arizona and in Washington DC. Our little group alone now reaches more than 260 of us each week.
Thank you for taking action at whatever level you can! This past week, together with many other other grassroots groups, we helped stop at least three bad bills in the Arizona House, including SB1142, the bill that would have allowed protest organizers to be prosecuted for racketeering if a demonstration turned violent. Your calls and emails to Speaker J.D. Mesnard turned the tide and killed the bill.
But, we're just past halfway through the AZ legislative session, and there's a lot more action needed this week. Please read the Arizona Action section below and start chipping away at it - Melinda Iyer gives us Urgent Priorities - AND a little bit to do each day.
We've also been busy following up with our Citizens' Town Hall for the (absent) Rep. David Schweikert. The big stack of your handwritten concerns, stories and questions for your representative are being hand delivered with our cover letter to his Washington DC office on Monday morning! The video will follow. In the meantime, YOU can find videos of each individual citizen who spoke to our absent Representative that night here on our YouTube channel.(We're still in the process of uploading more.)
If you know of others who might join us, please send them to our website where they can sign up for our mailing list, as well as find more information about upcoming activities and tools for contacting decision makers. Check our DP Facebook page for updates during the week - and to post information and actions yourself. If you haven't already, just click Join to, well, join. ~Judy Schwiebert & Mickey Tucker
|
|
Upcoming Events
Our next Desert Progressives Meeting will be on Tuesday, March 21 at 7 pm at Shadow Rock, 12861 N. 8th Ave, Phoenix. The agenda will include a) a presentation by White Hat Democrats, another new grassroots group, focused on how we can help elect progressive Democrats to the Arizona legislature and b) a conversation about where to focus our energy. Think about it. In the meantime, we're also talking to leaders of other grassroots groups on how to coordinate with each other.
A Reminder: If you live in Phoenix City Council district 3, we encourage you to vote for Deb Stark who is in a run-off election against extreme right-wing Chris DeRose on March 14! You can even canvas this one last Saturday for her. Supporters will be meeting up in the Safeway parking lot at 7th Street and Thunderbird at 9 am to distribute door hangars with a group of 2-4 others. Deb has dedicated her life to public service, worked closely with Mayor Greg Stanton on many issues, and is by far the best candidate. And if you have a mail-in ballot, please mark it and send it in!
|
|
|
|
Arizona Action
The Iyer Report: AZ Legislature Weekly Update Read it! Print it! Make notes! Do it NOW! I know, there'are so many things to do. But even with just 10 minutes each day, you can make a really important difference! Here's a preview from the Iyer Report. Keep this link handy since you can go back to it during the week for updates!
Our #1 Priority today: Last Thursday night, the AZ House passed a package of bills that would make sweeping changes to the Arizona Constitution's citizen initiative process, NOT to the benefit of voters. CONTACT the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, Judy Urges (R-22) at jburges@azleg.gov or 602-926-5861 and urge her NOT to assign the bills HCR2002, 2007, 2320, 2404 and 2029 for a hearing.
Other URGENT Alerts include action on AZ bills regarding #2 Health & Reproductive rights, #3 Defending our Constitution from a Koch brothers push for an Article V convention where our US constitution could be re-written, and #4 Supporting Common-sense Gun Laws. See the Iyer Report for what to do!
* If you have not yet setup an account with AZ Request to Speak, email Mickey for help.
One More Thing! We've been forwarded an email from the Arizona Heritage Alliance alerting us to HB2369 which would eliminate the State Parks Board which provides a citizens' oversight of our parks. It's passed the AZ House, but hasn't yet been put on the Senate Government Committee agenda. HB2369 is opposed by the Alliance as well as Sierra Club and other groups. They're asking that we sign on to their open letter that will be sent to the Governor and Senate soon. Sign on here and scroll to the bottom to add your name.
|
|
|
National Action
Check out tonight's Rogan's List: Today's To-do List for what's on our national radar right now. There's always so much. Here are a few priorities I've selected from Susan Rogan, retired university librarian and information, fact-checking geek and partner in Action Alliance, a collaboration of call-to-action websites.
DREAMers were not supposed to be deported. Call Homeland Security and demand that DREAMer Daniela Vargas be released. Find background information and call script at 5Calls.
Demand an independent investigation into whether Jeff Sessions perjured himself. If you haven't called yet your DC representatives yet, here are phone numbers and a call script from the ACLU.
This March 8, International Women's Day, organizers are holding an International Women's Strike, calling it "A Day Without a Woman" Find out more about it here and go to the Women's March website for more about how to participate.
Don't get distracted by disinformation from the White House. Go to Rogan's List for important actions this week!
|
|
|
|
|
|
