Quote of the Week: “Tyranny is possible only if people submit to it. The Trump regime cannot control us through fear and intimidation if we’re energized, mobilized, and organized.” Robert Reich email newsletter, March 17, 2025. Legislative Actions: The Key to Statewide Activism is Using TAN!  If you're new to Take Action Network (TAN):
Sign in PRO/Support Justice SIGN IN "PRO" HB 1232 (Operational standards for private detention facilities): Senate Human Services's Public Hearing DEADLINE: Mar 24 • 12:30pm The Department of Health is required to adopt rules governing private detention facilities' operations, such as the Northwest ICE Processing Center, related to sanitation standards, dietary requirements, individual rights violation and environmental conditions. Support HB 1321 (Restrictions on out of state military forces.): Sign in "Pro" for Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections's Public Hearing DEADLINE: Mar 25 • 12:30pm HB 1321 gives the governor authority to limit outside military force activities within the state. Support SB 5490 (providing safer body searches of gender-nonconforming individuals in jails or prisons): Sign in "Pro" for House Community Safety's Public Hearing DEADLINE: Mar 26 • 3:00pm This bill would align state law with language in the Prison Rape Elimination Act to make conducting body searches safer for transgender, intersex, or other gender non-conforming individuals in jails or prisons. SIGN IN "PRO" SB 5103 (Expediting the review of sentences before a pending deportation proceeding.) House Community Safety's Public Hearing DEADLINE: Mar 27 • 7:00am This bill would provide an expedited process for petitions for pardons or clemency for noncitizens who have been convicted of certain criminal offenses, and are under threat of mandatory deportation. Education Support ESSB 5181 (Amending the "Parents Bill of Rights" Initiative to agree with existing state and federal law and preserve Title IX protections.): Sign in "Pro" for House Education's Public Hearing DEADLINE: Mar 24 • 12:30pm The Conservative Ladies of Washington are rallying against this bill, with hundreds signed in CON. We need to show our support for this bill loudly and clearly NOW! Support SB 5177 Considering the needs of marginalized groups in school professional development (House: In Committee (Education)) DEADLINE: Mar 27 • 8:00am The Conservative Ladies of WA are coming after this bill which expands professional development topics to include various identities. Educators will be better equipped to create inclusive environments that reduce discrimination and support the mental health of students Environment Support HB 1483 (servicing and right to repair of certain products with digital electronics in a secure and reliable manner): Sign in "Pro" for Senate Environment, Energy & Technology's Public Hearing DEADLINE: Mar 26 • 7:00am This bill requires digital electronic product manufacturers to make repair information, parts and tools available to repair items, reducing e-waste, reducing the need to manufacture new products – therefore also decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. Federal Actions:Oppose the Anti-Union National “Right to Work” Act Now! Photo: by Manny Becerra on Unsplash At the state level, Republicans have passed many deceptively named "Right to Work" laws. They are not about protecting workers' rights. They are intended to destroy unions and hand more power to corporations. Now, Trump and his allies in Congress are pushing the most dangerous version yet: the National Right to Work Act. The consequences of “Right to Work” laws are devastating:
Action: Stand up against this injustice today. Use this simple tool to send a message to your representatives demanding they reject the National Right to Work Act. Free Mahmoud Khalil  Photo: by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash Background:
On March 8, the Trump MAGA regime abducted Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student, husband and father-to-be, from his home — assaulting core freedoms we value as Americans:
Every person who values our freedoms must demand Mahmoud Khalil be brought home and removed from the crosshairs of persecution based on his background, faith, and beliefs. Only by joining together to confront these bullies will we protect our freedoms, our families, and our futures. A federal judge in New York recently blocked Khalil’s removal from the United States until after a hearing, but Khalil remains in immigration detention, far from his family. Action 1: Click on this link, and sign on with the ACLU’s letter to Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE: Free Mahmoud Khalil - ACLU Action 2: Contact our U.S. Senators and Representative Strickland demanding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately release anti-genocide activist Mahmoud Khalil.
Script: As your constituent, I am asking you to speak publicly and loudly demanding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately release anti-genocide activist Mahmoud Khalil. His detention is a violation of the First Amendment, and represents a dire threat to free speech. Protect Your Social Security Records Protect your record of earnings contributions to Social Security as well as your current benefit levels. Action 1: If you have not already done so, regardless of your age, go to the Social Security Administration website, establish an online account and download your benefits statement at: Get a benefits estimate | SSA. Review the information and, and if you find an error after viewing your full earnings records online, call 1-800-772-1213. Keep your information on file in a safe place in your home or on your computer. Action 2: Save our Social Security March and Rally When: Monday, March. 24: Type of Event: March/Roll and Rally Time: 12:30PM, march; 1-2pm, rally Where: March from Senior Services (222 Columbia St. NW, Olympia) to Rally at Percival Landing Park (217 Thurston Ave. NW, Olympia) Focus: Save our Social Security Sponsors: Sound Alliance of Older LGBTQ+, Olympia Indivisible and others Rain or shine, bring umbrellas!! Push Back Re: Privatization of US Postal Service  Photo: Philipp Michel Reichold via Wikimedia Commons Background:
Action 1: Write Governor Ferguson and Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to ask that they implement plans for alternative delivery systems in a timely manner.
Script (modify as you see fit): There is every indication the Trump Administration will seize control over the US Postal Service with the intent of interfering with states’ mail-in ballot systems. Washington state should protect our right to vote by designing and implementing alternative delivery systems for mail-in ballots, such as FedEx and UPS, or a completely independent State delivery service specifically for ballots. To be effective, plans for alternatives need to be implemented in a timely manner (before the 2026 elections). Action 2: Hands off USPS! When: Sunday, March 23 Type of Event: Nationwide Sign Wave Time: 1-3pm Where: Tivoli Fountain, Washington State Capitol,1199 Capitol Way S., Olympia Focus: Join letter carriers and working people at the Tivoli Fountain in front of the Washington State Capitol as we send a clear, unified message: Hands off USPS! For more information visit NALC. WA State Actions:Thank Our Governor for Funding Rainforest Access Photo: by Hasmik Ghazaryan Olson on Unsplash Background:
A washout had closed the only access road to Olympic National Park’s popular Hoh Rain Forest since December. There seemed to be a stalemate: the county didn’t have the money needed for repairs and the state budget deficit loomed. Governor Bob Ferguson asked for possible solutions to support the importance of tourism to this rural region, given 460,000 people visited last year. Governor Ferguson has allocated $623,000 in Economic Strategic Reserve Funds to repair the road, which may be ready by May. This makes good sense given that tourists spent $444 million in Jefferson and Clallam Counties, generating $39 million in state and local taxes. Action: Contact Governor Ferguson's office to thank him for allocating funds to repair the road leading to the Hoh Rainforest.
Script: As a Washington resident who sees Olympic National Park as one of most beautiful outdoor gems that support our collective well-being, I want to thank you and your administration for allocating funds to repair the road leading to the Hoh Rain Forest. Not only does this make good economic sense in support of our rural counties, but it is also an important place for relaxation and recreation for citizens of Washington and beyond. Investigate DOGE's Gift to the Chinese Communist Party Source: Original Design on Canva Background: Elon Musk is ‘kind of pro-China’. DOGE is targeting group working to counter CCP influence DOGE has turned its sights on the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a bipartisan non-profit corporation founded in the Reagan era to promote democracy worldwide. Republicans and Democrats have long agreed that NED serves American interests. But NED’s funding was cut off in February. A few programs directed at Cuba and Venezuela have been revived thanks to Cuban-American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but for the most part the Endowment is dead in its tracks. Who could have a problem with promoting democracy and American interests? The Chinese Communist Party, which resents the Endowment’s support for anti-communist efforts and its exposure of human rights abuses in Xinjiang; and DOGE strongman Elon Musk, whose company Tesla gets and spends billions of dollars in China, its biggest market after the US. Almost a third of Tesla’s 2023 sales revenue came from China; Tesla gets parts from Chinese battery manufacturer CATL, has borrowed more than half a billion dollars from Chinese state-owned banks, and got a tax break from the CCP. Action: Call and write your MOC and demand an investigation into how Elon Musk's ties to the Chinese Communist Party may be motivating DOGE's attacks on the National Endowment for Democracy. Members of Congress (MOCs)
Script: As a constituent, I strongly suggest investigating Elon Musk’s vendetta against the National Endowment for Democracy, a non-partisan, non-governmental, pro-democracy and pro-America organization that both Republicans and Democrats have supported for decades. Musk’s substantial business interests in China reveal an obvious conflict of interest. This deserves an investigation and immediate restoration of NED’s funding. SAVE THE DATE! When: Saturday, April 5th: Hands Off! Olympia Fights Back! Remove, Reverse, Reclaim! Type of Event: Nationwide Mass Rally, Sign Wave Time: 2-4pm (Indivisible National, 50501 and others): Details to come! Where: Washington State Capitol Focus: Express your refusal to consent to the destruction of our government, our economy, our civil rights, and our Constitution for the benefit of a lawless administration and its billionaire allies. This event has a permit and is part of nationwide events supported by 50501 and Indivisible National. Local Sponsors: Evergreen Resistance Olympia (the local chapter of the Washington State 50501 movement) with support from Olympia Indivisible Department of Good News: From Fix The News: Global solar installations expected to increase again this year Annual solar installations are set to reach 698 GW in 2025, a 17% increase from 2024 and almost triple 2022's capacity additions. China leads the charge, with the United States, India, and Germany following, despite emerging challenges including grid constraints and declining spot prices. Projections suggest continued growth through 2027, potentially reaching 780 GW annually. PV Magazine UNICEF has almost single-handedly prevented the collapse of Afghanistan's healthcare system, providing basic services to over half the population and hospital care to three-quarters. The program maintains 2,400 health facilities and employs 28,000 health professionals, including 11,200 women. A 32,000-strong volunteer force bridges geography barriers, helping achieve a 20% increase in institutional deliveries since 2019. UNICEF |
Archives
March 2025
At the bottom of the page lick the "<<Previous" link to see older posts.
|
RSS Feed
