Weekly Call To Action - September 05, 2021

9/5/2021

Take Two Actions Now:

The Big Moment is Here, What is Our Strategy??

The reconciliation package is our one and only chance to invest in Childcare, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Affordable Housing and to actually do something about Wealth Inequality.

We are in a key moment for advocacy as we fight to win the most progressive reconciliation bill possible.

Right now, House committees are drafting the budget reconciliation package, which is the Democrat’s legislative vehicle for passing an inclusive recovery package that addresses so many of our critical priorities.

There are many critical elements to the reconciliation bill, but one that is on all of our mind’s right now is climate change, as Hurricane Ida overwhelmed much of the east on very short notice, due to climate change. Read more about why this budget reconciliation package is our ONLY chance to do something about climate change.

House leadership has set a September 27 deadline for an up-or-down vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIF) that the Senate has already passed. Conservative Democrats in the House and Senate love the BIF. They’re desperate to pass it. And they’re, at best, lukewarm on the reconciliation package. So our best leverage to pass the reconciliation package is to demand that it passes together with the BIF. That means we need the reconciliation bill ready to go on the same timeline as the House vote on the BIF.

This week, House Committees begin work on the budget reconciliation package, and Indivisible has a three-prong strategy:

urge progressives to hold the line,
put the heat on conservatives, and
work the committee process.

Actions: The House will be moving on the bill first -- that means

Calling Representative Marilyn Strickland TODAY at 202-225-9740 or use her Contact Form to let her know you expect her to support an inclusive recovery package, and to pass it before voting on the bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIF) and
Showing up at her Town Hall this Friday to urge the same. Register here now. You can submit your questions on the registration form.

Script: My name is __________ and I am a member of Olympia Indivisible. The budget reconciliation bill is our single, best chance to make investments in solutions to many of the most important challenges facing our nation: including childcare, clean energy, affordable housing, wealth inequality, and climate change. Action on these is absolutely essential to preserving the middle class and to reducing poverty.

Rep. Strickland must know, as Co-chair of Congressional caucuses on middle-class jobs and Puget Sound recovery, that making progress on those issues is totally dependent on the actions in the reconciliation bill. This is the critical moment we have been working so hard to get to, and I need to know that Rep. Strickland is part of the solution to our nation’s problems, and is working hard to bring all of her Democratic colleagues, conservatives and progressives, along in support of this package.

The only leverage we have to pass the reconciliation bill is the bipartisan infrastructure bill; she must be publicly committed to passing the reconciliation before voting on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Please tell me what Rep. Strickland is doing to ensure the success of this critical effort and that she is willing to use all available leverage to make the reconciliation package a reality, without watering it down.

Protect The Reproductive Rights Of Women

This week, in the dead of night, the Supreme Court took a major step towards overturning Roe v. Wade by allowing Texas to deny pregnant people the right to an abortion after six weeks -- i.e., before almost anyone knows they’re pregnant. As if that wasn’t dystopian enough, they also allowed Texas to effectively offer bounties for reporting anyone who might have been involved in enabling an abortion (including cab drivers!). Quite literally, they promised every Texan a $10,000 check to personally interfere in strangers' reproductive choices.

It’s hard to overstate how horrifying this is. Make no mistake -- this ruling and Texas’s barbaric new law will kill people. Banning abortion does not stop abortions from happening, it just makes them less safe.

Reproductive healthcare advocates have been warning for years that this would happen, and it’s frightening and saddening to know they were right; if we are silent in response to this challenge, then opponents of reproductive rights will be emboldened. We cannot let that happen. There are things you can do right now to fight back.

Action 1: Contact our Members of Congress to thank them for their support of federal legislation (Judy Chu’s Women’s Health Protection Act) that will protect reproductive rights and urge them to prioritize passage.

Senator Patty Murray, Phone: 253-572-3636 or Contact Form
Senator Maria Cantwell, Phone: 253-572-2281 or Contact Form
Marilyn Strickland: 202-225-9740 or Contact Form
- Email all three MOCs at once using Democracy.io.

Script: My name is __________________ and I am a member of Olympia Indivisible. Thank you (Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, Representative Strickland) for your support for federal legislation that will protect the reproductive rights of women in every state, and save women’s lives by keeping abortions safe and available. I urge you to prioritize passage of this legislation, the recent Supreme Court decision to not overturn Texas’ barbaric new law makes it clear that Congress must act now before more state’s criminalize abortion and empower vigilantes.

Action 2: Support and donate to groups doing critical on-the-ground work to make sure Texans have access to reproductive healthcare and abortions. Click here to make a donation to Texas abortion funds today.

Please Register Today; Turnout Matters!

Town Hall with Representative Marilyn Strickland, Friday, September 10, 2021 at 10am

Join Olympia Indivisible, Indivisible Tacoma and WIN in welcoming Washington’s freshman Congresswoman, Rep. Marilyn Strickland.

Learn how Washington’s first African American Congresswoman (and first Korean American Congresswoman) sees her first half year in office, what her priorities are, and what she sees ahead for both Washingtons.

This is a town hall specifically for Indivisible chapters. We do need to have a good turnout for these meetings so that Representative Strickland will be available for future meetings. You can submit a question for Representative Strickland on the registration page.

REGISTER: https://bit.ly/Strickland_TownHall

Good News

A Thank You Note to One of Our Teams

Last week a good friend of mine from North Seattle was ebullient in her praise for OI’s website and asked how it is that we have this professional quality work. I couldn’t answer her. I thought it was like all the other Indivisible websites until I went looking at other sites. That’s when I discovered, we do have a fantastic website and Facebook page.

So we on the Call to Action Team would like to thank the Communications-Tech Team for not only their hard work in publishing the CTA each week, but for their extraordinary work in producing our Olympia Indivisible website and Facebook page.

Action: Please reach out to the Comm-Tech Team and let them know how much you appreciate all they do for everyone in OI to keep us the active and effective organization we are.

Supporting Our Candidates

A Quote from Joel Hansen
Candidate for Port Commissioner

Joel Hansen’s stand on Environmental Restoration

We need to be preparing for a future that’s proactive, responsive, and fair. One way we can do that is by getting the Port to join the Cities of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater, as well as Thurston County, in activating the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan. I also plan to incentivize clean energy and encourage the restoration of the Deschutes Estuary and Budd Inlet.

Find out more about Joel Hansen on his website.