What a great WofA meeting in August! We welcomed Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible and honored guest on the action packed agenda.
- Brett Kavanaugh could be the fifth vote to dismantle Roe v. Wade.
- He is no moderate!
_________________________________
Keeping Families Together
Indivisible National is urging everyone to join the nationwide push against the inhumane policy of separating families at the border.
They’ve put together a call page for activists to drive calls to members of Congress to stop Trump’s family separation agenda. Please use and share this page widely! http://act.indivisible.org/call/family-separation/
_________________________________
Equal Rights
Only one more state is needed to pass the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment – this state could be Virginia!
The Equal Rights Amendment will provide that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.”
The ERA has been ratified by 37 of 38 states required for full ratification, most recently by Illinois in June, 2018. That’s right, now that Nevada and Illinois have ratified, only one more state is needed.
But what about the deadline – and didn’t some states try to undo their ratifications? Although the ERA was accompanied by a deadline for ratification, legal scholars have concluded Congress can extend, remove, or ignore it, and ignore state rescissions as was done for the Fourteenth Amendment. Virginia’s Attorney General released an opinion confirming this could be the case. Most likely the Supreme Court will decide after we get all the ratifications.
Do we really need it? The U.S. now has equal pay statutes and more protections against discrimination than it used to… Statutes can be overturned or amended – and often are. The ERA would be more permanent in protecting all of us from unjust government discrimination on account of sex.
What can we do to help? Sign up for a group such as the Virginia Equal Rights Coalition. Write letters to the editor or to members of the Virginia state legislature. And spread the word about the ERA. Tell everyone you know. Together, we can make a difference!
_________________________________
Virginia Needs Medicaid Expansion!
Medicaid Expansion has passed! Congratulations to all of you who called, wrote, and visited your members of the Virginia legislature! This will bring healthcare access to as many as 400,000 Virginians, and saves nearly $400 million in the state budget, which can go to education, transportation, and other needs.
_________________________________
The Time for Gun Safety is Now
Please contact your lawmakers and tell them #EnoughIsEnough! It’s time to pass gun safety legislation. Find your lawmakers at http://www.whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov and https://whoismyrepresentative.com/
When you call, please give your name and zip code so they can verify you are a constituent.
_____________________________
Your Vote Is Your Voice!
With the House of Delegates majority decided by a single vote last year, we saw the importance of fair, accurate, and transparent elections. We are committed to voting every year for peace, justice, and integrity.
_________________________________
More Calls to Action
Immigration
Call to help DACA Dreamers! Enter your zip code at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members to find your U.S. Senator and Representative, then call to request a Clean DREAM Act, a restoration of deportation deferral for young immigrants without increased enforcement. Deportation would mean a new, often dangerous, country. Help them stay in the only country they know.
Redistricting
Gerrymandering subverts your votes and our democracy!
When districts are gerrymandered, politicians only speak to the partisan majority in their areas, driving us apart as a nation. To bridge the divide, we need better districts.
Call your state legislators now. Go to whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov and click their names to get their phone numbers.
Provide your name and zip so they can verify that you live in their district. Urge them to support Rip Sullivan’s bill HJ 21 (https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HJ21), to reduce the influence of political parties on electoral districts.
Together, we can help bring our nation back together.
We of Action 